After two years of inactivity on the iPad front, Apple on Tuesday announced new iPad Air and iPad Pro devices, boasting new sizes, faster processors, and the latest display technology.
Headlining Apple's "Let Loose" media event were new ultra-thin iPad Pro models powered by its latest M4 chip. The new iPad Pro devices come in 11-inch and 13-inch sizes, featuring Ultra Retina XDR OLED displays, which Apple says offer "stunning precision, color, and brightness."
Starting at $999, the 11-inch model is 5.3mm thick and weighs less than a pound, while the 13-inch model – starting at $1,299 – is just 5.1mm thick and weighs a quarter pound less than its predecessor. Apple notes that this makes the new iPad Pro the thinnest Apple product ever.
The M4 chip is built with second-generation 3nm technology and features a new display engine, as well as hardware accelerated mesh shading and ray tracing. It delivers up to 50% faster CPU performance than the M2 in the previous iPad Pro and four-times faster rendering performance.
In addition to the iPad Pro, Apple also announced a new iPad Air. Apple says it has been designed "to make features pioneered on iPad Pro at a more affordable price," with the brand new larger 13-inch model offering 30% more screen real estate than the 11-inch model.
Powered by a faster M2 chip featuring an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU, when combined with faster memory bandwidth, the new iPad Air is nearly 50% faster than the previous iPad Air with M1 for a wide range of productivity and creative tasks, according to Apple. Compared to iPad Air with A14 Bionic, the new M2 model also delivers up to 3x faster performance. Apple claims that the 13-inch model delivers better sound quality with double the bass than the previous generation.
The new iPad Air models feature an LCD Liquid Retina display, and both sizes come in several colors including new blue, new purple, Starlight and Space Grey, and a new 100% recycled aluminum enclosure.
The iPad Air is available starting with 128GB of storage, with more storage options including 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. Like the previous models, the iPad Air starts at $599, while the 13-inch device starts at $799. They can be ordered today, and shipping starts next week.
The iPad Pro is available with a nano-texture display option for the first time. The device's enclosure is made with 100% recycled aluminum and comes in Silver and Space Black. The 11-inch model starts at $999 and the 13-inch model starts at $1,299.
Both the new iPad Air and iPad Pro are available to pre-order starting today, and the devices launch on Wednesday, May 15, which means that you can pick them up in Apple retail stores from that day and expect pre-orders to be delivered on the same day.
