iPad Pro (12.9-inch, M1)
A Mac chip in an iPad, behind a mini-LED display with 2,596 dimming zones and Thunderbolt on the USB-C port.
Released May 21, 2021 · Discontinued October 18, 2022 · From $1,099 (128 GB, Wi-Fi)
Apple put a Mac processor in an iPad. The M1 in the 2021 Pro is the same chip as the MacBook Air, and it made an iPad faster than most laptops on sale, which raised a question Apple has never quite answered about what iPadOS is allowed to do with that. The bigger news was the screen. Apple built the 12.9-inch display from over 10,000 mini-LEDs in 2,596 local dimming zones, giving 1000 nits full-screen brightness, 1600 nits peak and an HDR contrast ratio a normal LCD cannot approach. It is a genuinely excellent display for HDR video and a slightly awkward one for white text on black, where the blooming shows. Thunderbolt arrived on the USB-C port, so the Pro could drive a 6K Pro Display XDR.
Reviews & Reception
The M1 and the mini-LED Liquid Retina XDR display outpaced what iPadOS could ask of them, which is where reviewers landed.
There's no question that this is the best, most impressive iPad Apple has ever built, and that there's enough horsepower here to future-proof this thing for at least a few generations.
The new iPad Pro very much feels a portent of dramatic changes to come, but in this moment, it's - for better or worse - just an obscenely powerful tablet.