Apple during Tuesday’s Spring Forward event announced exciting new devices and technologies. Among thosewas a refresh for both the 11-inch and 12.9-inch the iPad Pro tablets– now dubbed the 3rdgeneration and 5thgeneration respectively for the year of 2021.
There’s a lot to take in, and that’s why in this piece, we’ll compare the features and technical specifications of the 3rdgeneration 11-inch iPad Pro and 5thgeneration iPad Pro of 2021 with the features and technical specifications of the 2ndgeneration 11-inch iPad Pro and 4thgeneration 12.9-inch iPad Pro of 2020.
Without further ado, let’s get started in comparing this year’s iPad Pro refresh to the iPad Pro tablets that Apple introduced last year:
Perhaps one of the most distinguishable features of the 2021 iPad Pro refresh that will catch any user’s eye is the noveldisplaythat the tablet now possesses – or at least, for the 12.9-inch model, that is.
Processor & GPU
A less discernible difference at first glance, but more noticeable with regard to performance, is the upgraded SoC provided by the 2021 iPad Pro refresh, which now incorporates Apple’sM1chip – the same found in many of Apple’s Mac computers.
Apple doubled down on its largeststoragespace offering this year, which was a smart move given that more and more professionals are turning to the iPad Pro platform for projects involving larger file sizes.
Apple is advertising the amount of RAM provided by certain models of the iPad Pro for the first time starting this year, but as you might come to expect, more RAM is only available on the more expensive 1 & 2TB storage models.
Rear Camera
The specs of Apple’s rear-facingcameraare nearly identical in this year’s iPad Pro refresh as they were in last year’s model.
Front Camera
While the rear-facing camera didn’t change much, the same isn’t true about the front. Apple is proving significant updates to the front-facing camera in this year’s iPad Pro refresh when compared with last year’s model.
Apple is upgrading the way we connect devices and accessories to our iPad Pro in a big way this year, and much of that comes by way of the speedy newThunderboltand USB 4-in-one port. This is the first year that Thunderbolt has made its way to the iPad Pro.
As expected, the latest iPad Pro is capable of connecting to5Gnetworks – both sub-6GHz networks and the much faster mmWave variant – in addition to 4G LTE. This compares to last year’s model being 4G LTE-ready only.
Other notable differences
These features aren’t as important to all users as they would be to a niche few, so we’ll list them out to make consuming the information easier.
Conclusion
The 2021 iPad Pro lineup offers an enticing bump over the 2020 lineup, and perhaps even more-so if you have one of the older 2018 iPad Pro models. All of your existing accessories including the Smart Keyboard, Smart Keyboard Folio, and Apple Pencil 2 will continue to work with the latest iPad Pro lineup.
Are you excited about all of the hardware changes Apple is packing into this year’s iPad Pro refresh? Be sure to let us know in the comments section down below.
