Apple ipad Pro 12.9 (2021)
The new M1 processor chip and some revolutionary screen technology combine to create a tablet like no other
At this stage, each new ipad feels like an incremental improvement on the one before it. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course – Apple is almost unchallenged in the tablet arena, so a nip and tuck is generally all that’s required – but it’s not exactly exciting.
That’s where the new ipad Pro 12.9 comes in. Despite being aesthetically similar to its predecessor, this is a big step forward for tablets.
The headline-grabber is the new, high-end laptop-derived processor, but the new mini Led-lit display is the real game-changer as far as we’re concerned. Ever wanted an OLED or QLED TV that you could fit in a backpack? The new ipad Pro 12.9 is that – and plenty more.
It starts at £999 for the 128GB wi-fi-only model. There are lots of storage options available, all the way up to a £1999 2TB version. Adding cellular functionality to any model adds £150.
Design and appearance
There’s little difference between the physical design of this new ipad and its predecessor. In fact, other than the new model being 0.5mm thicker, the dimensions of the two are identical.
It is a large tablet, as you’d expect of a device with a 12.9in screen, measuring 28 x 21cm x 6mm in total. You have to be committed to the cinematic (or productivity) potential of the big display to opt for such a large device.
Unlike the ipad Air, which is available in a number of subtle metallic hues, the ipad Pro 12.9 comes only in Space Grey or Silver. More variation would be nice, but both finishes are lovely and the new Pro both looks and feels utterly premium.
On the otherwise flat rear is a protruding camera array that will rest directly on a surface when the ipad is laid down. It’s designed to resist damage from such placement, but a case that physically raises the lenses will be a first add-on for many.
The top and bottom edges of the tablet each have two sets of speaker perforations, so you’re listening in stereo when the ipad is oriented horizontally. Also along the edges are physical power and volume buttons, plus a USB-C socket that supports the much faster Thunderbolt standard, opening up the opportunity to connect higher-end storage devices and monitors.
The front is all glass, but there’s a 9mm black border between the display and the tablet’s edge. Embedded into this border is a new front-facing camera that can follow you around in the style of Facebook Portal. This is a great feature for Facetime calls, but the positioning of the camera on one of the shorter edges means you’re awkwardly off-centre when video calling in landscape mode.
Positioning aside, that front-facing camera is excellent in terms of image quality, thanks to a 12MP resolution and ultra-wide field of view. The rear camera array is impressive, too, boasting a main 12MP wide camera, 10MP ultra-wide camera and a true-tone flash. You can shoot videos in up to 4K at 60fps.
Apple positions its ipad Pro models as productivity and creativity devices, and the new M1 chip takes this to the next level. Apple claims this chip makes the ipad Pro’s CPU performance 50 per cent faster than that of the already lightningfast previous version, and GPU speed is up by 40 per cent. Frankly, that sort of power is overkill for those of us primarily interested in watching movies and listening to music but, needless to say, it makes the user experience smoother than Cristiano Ronaldo’s chest.
Handy accessories
If you are looking to use the new ipad Pro for creating as well as consuming, you might want to consider combining it with the Apple Pencil (2nd Generation), which wirelessly charges when magnetically connected to the tablet’s edge, and/or the new Magic Keyboard, which essentially turns the ipad into a slick laptop, trackpad and all. Both accessories are expensive, though. In fact, adding the £329 Magic Keyboard to the most affordable version of the Pro 12.9 makes it more expensive than an M1-powered 13-inch Macbook Pro.
Big-screen performance
While content creators might be most excited about the new ipad Pro’s M1 power, we content consumers will be far more excited about the 12.9-inch model’s new screen. Apple calls it a Liquid Retina XDR display, with the ‘XDR’ standing for ‘extreme Dynamic Range’. This is the first mini-led backlight in an ipad, and Apple claims the ipad Pro 12.9 can hit brightness peaks of up to 1600 nits, which is around double the peak brightness of a modern OLED TV.
Those screen specs should make the ipad Pro 12.9 a great performer with HDR content – and they do. It’s not so much that it goes vastly brighter than other ipad models, such as the ipod Air, it’s that it combines bright highlights with awesomely deep blacks to create a vastly more dynamic and exciting picture.
We play Blade Runner 2049 in Dolby Vision from the itunes store and set both models to their highest brightness setting. The Pro’s peaks are brighter than the Air’s but not vastly so. However, to reach those levels, the Air has had to entirely sacrifice its black performance, producing something clearly grey in hue. There’s no such sacrifice necessary with the Pro – its blacks are near perfect.
Thankfully, Apple hasn’t thrown away its reputation for colour authenticity while reaching for new heights in contrast. As we switch between films and TV shows from various streaming services and in various resolutions and formats (HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision are all supported), colours combine vividness and nuanced authenticity to an
exceptional degree. Everything looks awesome, but it also looks correct.
The 12.9 isn’t vastly sharper or more detailed than siblings such as the Air, but the deeper blacks help reinforce edges, making for a more solid and threedimensional image. And that solidity is fully retained even during fast and otherwise tricky motion.
Sonic boon
With two speakers on each of the short edges, the ipad Pro is capable of producing proper stereo when in landscape orientation and, with some clever on-board processing, it’s even able to deliver some virtualised surround sound, with some of the radio chatter at the start of Gravity appearing to come from your left and right rather than being completely tethered to the drivers.
That effect is ramped up to astonishing degrees if you add a pair of Airpods Max or Airpods Pro headphones and take advantage of the spatial audio feature. It’s incredibly effective – especially with the Airpods Max – and is like being in a personal Dolby Atmos cinema, with sounds coming from all around you.
“It combines bright highlights with awesomely deep blacks to create a vastly more dynamic and exciting picture”
Of course, the tablet will output sound to wired and Bluetooth headphones, although you will need to buy a USB-C headphone adapter for the former. As with its approach to video, Apple has always favoured authentic, uncoloured sound, and so it is here – movies and music are both presented with deft tonal balance, tight rhythmic organisation, lots of punch and detail and dynamic shifts.
Through headphones, the new ipad Pro does sound noticeably cleaner and more nuanced than the smaller, more affordable Air, with added richness and dynamic subtlety as well as an increase in available volume and weight.
Apple’s Pro tablets have, as the name suggests, always been aimed at professional, creative types, and they will be delighted by the huge power brought to the new models by the M1 chip. Our focus is on the picture and sound, though, and the ipad Pro 12.9 is at least as exciting here. The picture performance is superb – right up there with that of the very best TVS you can buy. Sound, meanwhile, is great from the speakers, excellent via standard Bluetooth or wired headphones, and simply amazing with a pair of Airpods Max cans.
This is a hugely expensive tablet and the price is hard to justify for anyone who has no intention of taking advantage of its productivity potential; but it’s also the best tablet you can buy for watching movies on the move.