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Apple unveils all-new 2018 iPad Pro with full-screen design, new Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard Folio

Apple has announced a new version of iPad Pro. The 2018 iPad Pro has a new full-screen design, flat edge, rounded corners, Face ID, and more.

The new iPad Pro has a blocky design with rounded corners for both the display and body. The structure appears sort of like the original iPad. It features a new Liquid Retina display just like the iPhone XR.

Display and Face ID

The new iPad Pro includes an 11-inch display that has the same footprint as the 10.5-inch mode. iPad Pro also includes a more portable version of the 12.9-inch display with a much smaller footprint than the previous version.

Both new iPad Pros are 5.9mm thin, that’s one millimeter thinner for the larger iPad Pro. iPad Pro now includes Face ID, first introduced with iPhone X, for unlocking the iPad with facial recognition. Face ID also powers Animoji, Memoji, and other features like Apple Pay, logging into apps, and more. Face ID on iPad Pro does not require a notch since the bezel is large enough to house the sensors needed.

iPad Pro gains the same Home indicator as iPhone X and later with gestural navigation and multitasking.

Power

A12X Bionic chip. Built in same 7nanometer tech as iPhone XS-class processor. 10 billion transistors. 8-core CPU, 7-core GPU. 35% faster CPU year-over-year. 90% faster CPU for multicore. 1000x faster graphics performance — Xbox One X graphics performance in a tablet form factor. 10 hour battery life as usual. New Neutral Engine on iPad for the first time. Apple highlighted Pixelmator Photo as one of the best uses of this new power, a new app from Pixelmator coming later this year.

1TB and USB-C

iPad Pro is now available in up to 1TB storage for the first time, up from 512GB. USB-C replaces Lightning. iPad Pro will support up to 5K display output. iPad Pro can also charge an iPhone or other devices over USB-C.

Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard Folio

The Apple Pencil (second-gen) automatically pairs and charges wirelessly. It magnetically snaps to the new iPad Pro. Tapping the screen wakes the iPad Pro. Apple Pencil has a new tap feature on the hardware that changes modes (like writing and erasing in Notes) that can be customized. More details here.

Smart Keyboard Folio also a new accessory with an adjustable screen-angle. This offers front and back coverage unlike the previous Smart Keyboard which was only a cover.

Price and Availability

iPad Pro also features Bluetooth 5.0, Smart HDR on the Face ID camera, Gigabit LTE, an 18W charging brick, and more. Oh and no headphone jack.

iPad Pro 10.5-inch remains available from $649. iPad Pro 11-inch priced from $799, and iPad Pro 12.9-inch priced from $999. Available November 7.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ5q8Wrkbdw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjaKHqDbzSA

New iPad Pro with all-screen design is most advanced, powerful iPad ever

PRESS RELEASE October 30, 2018

11-inch and 12.9-inch Models Feature Liquid Retina Display, Powerful A12X Bionic Chip and Face ID

New York — Apple today introduced the new iPad Pro with all-screen design and next-generation performance, marking the biggest change to iPad ever. The all-new design pushes 11-inch and 12.9-inch Liquid Retina displays to the edges of iPad Pro and integrates Face ID to securely unlock iPad with just a glance.1 The A12X Bionic chip with next-generation Neural Engine in iPad Pro outperforms most PC laptops and offers a new USB-C connector, Gigabit-class LTE, and up to 1TB of storage to enable powerful new mobile workflows.2 With over a million apps designed to take advantage of the large Multi-Touch display, including next-generation apps like Photoshop CC on iPad (coming 2019), the new iPad Pro will push what users can do on a computer further than ever before.

A second-generation Apple Pencil magnetically attaches to iPad Pro and wirelessly charges at the same time. A new touch sensor built onto Apple Pencil detects taps, introducing an entirely new way to interact within apps. The new Smart Keyboard Folio features a streamlined design that’s adjustable for added versatility. The new iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard Folio are available to order starting today and in stores starting Wednesday, November 7.

“The new iPad Pro is a huge step forward for powerful, creative, mobile computing; it has an all-new thinner design, speeds through projects with the super-fast A12X Bionic chip and unlocks with a glance using Face ID in any orientation — while you’re sitting or standing, with iPad Pro on your desk or lap, with the new Smart Keyboard Folio and new Apple Pencil,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “There has never been a mobile device anything like the new iPad Pro; it has a gorgeous edge-to-edge Liquid Retina display that curves into the corners, breakthrough performance that outperforms most laptops, Face ID, support for the new Smart Keyboard Folio and new Apple Pencil, advanced new cameras and sensors for the best AR experiences ever in any device, a high-speed USB-C connector, louder speakers, faster wireless and more, all packed into a thinner device that has all-day battery life and is 25 percent smaller in volume.”

All-New, All-Screen Designs

iPad Pro features the world’s most advanced display — a stunning, edge-to-edge Liquid Retina display with rounded corners that follow the curves of iPad Pro’s unibody enclosure. With precision-milled glass, advanced pixel masking, sub-pixel antialiasing and a new backlight design, the new Liquid Retina display in iPad Pro is Apple’s brightest and most color accurate iPad display, featuring wide color support, True Tone and anti-reflective coating for a natural, accurate viewing experience indoors and out. ProMotion technology automatically adjusts the display refresh rate up to 120Hz for ultra-smooth scrolling and incredible responsiveness on iPad Pro.

The new 11-inch iPad Pro packs a bigger display with more pixels in the same footprint as the 10.5-inch model, yet still weighs just one pound. The new 12.9-inch iPad Pro places the largest display of any iPad into a more portable package — a massive 25 percent reduction in volume.3 Both models are just 5.9 mm thin — the thinnest iPad design ever — making iPad Pro now even easier to take with you.

A12X Bionic and Next-Generation Neural Engine

Built specifically for iPad Pro, the A12X Bionic is the smartest and most powerful chip in a tablet, making even the most demanding computing tasks like editing photos or creating 3D models faster and more responsive. Built on industry-leading seven-nanometer technology, the powerful eight-core A12X Bionic features four performance cores and four efficiency cores for up to 35 percent faster single-core performance and a new performance controller for simultaneous use of all eight cores for an up to 90 percent boost during multi-threaded tasks.3 A seven-core, Apple-designed GPU delivers up to twice the graphics performance for incredibly rich and immersive AR experiences and console-quality graphics. On iPad Pro, the breakthrough performance and capability lasts all day thanks to great 10-hour battery life.4

Apple’s next-generation Neural Engine is built for advanced machine learning in everything from photography to AR, completing up to 5 trillion operations per second. This enables fast Face ID, faster plane detection for AR apps and other new features that use real-time machine learning. The Neural Engine is designed to deliver improved performance for Core ML tasks, empowering developers to build apps and new iPad workflows that utilize this highly efficient machine learning engine.

Face ID Comes to iPad

Face ID, the most secure facial authentication system in any tablet or computer, comes to iPad for the first time. Designed to work while holding iPad Pro in any position or while seated using the new Smart Keyboard Folio, Face ID takes advantage of the TrueDepth camera system to accurately map and recognize the face to securely unlock iPad Pro, enable Apple Pay in apps and online and allow users to easily gain access to secure apps. The TrueDepth Camera on iPad Pro also enables Animoji and Memoji.

Best Device for AR

Advanced cameras and sensors and improved four-speaker audio combine with the power of A12X Bionic to turn iPad Pro, with its large viewfinder, into the best device ever for AR. With support for the next generation of AR apps, a new world of AR experiences is possible on iPad, such as measuring the reflection on real-world objects, navigating buildings in 3D and exploring entire universes. Adobe’s Project Aero (coming 2019) will enable creators to design experiences that take AR on iPad even further.

Advanced cameras and sensors, improved four-speaker audio, powerful chip and a large viewfinder turn iPad Pro into the best device ever for AR.

New Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard Folio

The new Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard Folio, available for purchase separately, give iPad Pro users new levels of precision and productivity. The second-generation Apple Pencil magnetically attaches to iPad Pro for pairing and wireless charging. It becomes even more powerful and intuitive as users can select just the right tool or brush with a simple double tap on Apple Pencil within apps like Notes. Powerful apps from leading developers like Adobe, Autodesk and Procreate also give users the power to be even more creative than ever before.

The new Smart Keyboard Folio protects both the front and back of iPad Pro in a simple, thin and light design encompassing a full-size keyboard that never needs to be charged or paired. Easily adjustable for lap or desk use, the new Smart Keyboard Folio is perfect for getting thoughts down and multitasking.

New Power and Possibilities with USB-C

A new USB-C connector replaces the Lightning connector in support of the powerful ways iPad Pro is used. Incredibly versatile, USB-C offers power for charging, supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 for high-bandwidth data transfers up to twice the speed to and from cameras and musical instruments, and drives external displays up to 5K. With USB-C, iPad Pro can even be used to charge an iPhone.

iOS 12 on iPad Pro

iOS 12 brings new gestures to iPad that are already familiar to iPhone X and iPhone XSusers including tap to wake and swiping to go home, access Control Center and for multitasking. The new Shortcuts app helps iPad users link together powerful, yet simple automated workflows for photo editing, video editing and file and asset management. Improvements to Photo import and support for native RAW image editing give photographers more efficient ways to work and multitask on iPad Pro.

Group FaceTime now makes it easy to connect with groups of friends or colleagues at the same time. Participants can be added at any time, join later if the conversation is still active and choose to join using video or audio from an iPhone, iPad or Mac. With new Animoji and customizable Memoji, users can take advantage of the large screen on iPad to add more personality to photos and videos in Messages and FaceTime.

Pricing and Availability

  • The new iPad Pro models, Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard Folio are available to order starting today from apple.com with availability starting Wednesday, November 7, in the US and more than 40 additional countries and regions, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UAE and UK. Later this year, the new iPad Pro models will be available in Colombia, Greece, Greenland, Guatemala, India, Israel, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Macedonia, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Qatar, Russia, Thailand, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, with other countries and regions to follow.

Media

Images of iPad Pro

1 The displays have rounded corners. When measured as a rectangle, the iPad Pro 12.9-inch screen is 12.9 inches diagonally and the iPad Pro 11-inch screen is 11 inches diagonally. Actual viewable area is less.
2 iPad Pro is faster than 92 percent of all portable PCs sold between June 2017-June 2018. (NPD US data)
3 As compared to the previous iPad Pro model.
4 Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results may vary.

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Avatar for Zac Hall Zac Hall

Zac covers Apple news, hosts the 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcast, and created SpaceExplored.com.