As expected, Apple held a launch event today in NewYork city where it took the veil of the 2018 edition of the Apple iPad Pro, MacBook Air and a few other products. Prior to today, it was reported that the 2018 iPad pro will be coming with virtually no bezels, and true to that, not only has the iPad pro 2018 lost the screen bezels, it has also lost the home button, and a port for Apple’s proprietary Lightning cables in favour of as much display as physically possible, Face ID to unlock, and a USB-C port respectively.
The new iPad Pro 2018 is available in two variants: an 11-inch and 12.9-inch models, both of which sport virtually no bezels. These iPad pros are also significantly much smaller, thinner than their predecessors. To set the record straight, Apple said it’s latest 12.9″ iPad pro is almost the same size as an 8.5 x 11 inch piece of paper. The new iPad Pros are just 5.9 mm thin, too, making them about 15 per cent slimmer than before.
Much like the 2018 iPhone, the two new iPad Pro get more processing power, all thanks to Apple’s new eight-core A12X Bionic processor that supports its Neural Engine technology, with storage capacity that tops out at 1TB.
In place of the fingerprint scanner, the iPad pro uses the Face ID and the TrueDepth camera setup first seen in the iPhone X, but without the screen notch; instead utilising the Face ID components fitted into the tiny top bezel. This Face ID like we are told can work even when horizontally positioned, like when it’s connected to a keyboard, for example. Adding Face ID means that Animoji and Memoji will be coming to the iPad for the first time.
Apple has also given the Apple Pencil a little bit of touch. No longer will you have to plug the Pencil directly into the iPad to be charged, instead, the pen now attaches to the tablet magnetically and charges wirelessly. Finally, the old Smart Keyboard has also been updated a different name. Now called the Smart Keyboard Folio, the new keyboard is priced at $179 and now allow the iPad to sit at two different typing angles.
Apple iPad 11-inch / 12.9-inch (2018) specifications
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- 11-inch (2388 x 1668 pixels) Liquid Retina display with P3 Color Gamut, 600 nits brightness, 264 PPI
- 12.9-inch (2732 x 2048pixels) Liquid Retina display with P3 Color Gamut, 600 nits brightness, 264 PPI
- Octa-Core A12X Bionic 7nm chip with 64-bit architecture, 7-core GPU and M12 motion coprocessor
- 64GB/256GB/512GB/1TB variants
- iOS 12
- 12MP 1080p camera, f/1.8 aperture, 5P lens, Hybrid IR filter,
Quad-LED True Tone flash - 7MP HD front-facing FaceTime HD camera, f/2.2 aperture, Portrait mode
Portrait Lighting, Retina Flash - Five microphones for calls, video recording, and audio recording, Four speaker audio
- 4G LTE (optional), Wi‑Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz and 5GHz); HT80 with MIMO, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C
- Dimensions (11-inch): 247.6x 178.5x 5.9mm; Weight: 468g
- Dimensions (12.9-inch): 280.6x 214.9 x 5.9mm; Weight: 631g
- 11-inch – 29.37-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery with Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music,
- 12.9-inch – 36.71-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery with Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music
You should be able to buy the iPad Pro 2018 from November 7 in Silver and Space Gray colors from apple.com and Apple Stores in the US and more than 40 additional countries, before it will be rolled out to 18 other countries including India later this year.
Pricing and availability
- iPad Pro 11″ 64GB WiFi – $799 (Rs. 58,725 approx.)
- iPad Pro 11″ 256GB WiFi – $949 (Rs. 69,760 approx.)
- iPad Pro 11″ 512GB WiFi – $1149 (Rs. 84,475 approx.)
- iPad Pro 11″ 1TB WiFi – $1549 (Rs. 1,13,890 approx.)
- iPad Pro 11″ 64GB WiFi + Cellular – $949 (Rs. 69,760 approx.)
- iPad Pro 11″ 256GB WiFi + Cellular – $1099 (Rs. 80,800 approx.)
- iPad Pro 11″ 512GB WiFi + Cellular – $1299 (Rs. 95,500 approx.)
- iPad Pro 11″ 1TB WiFi + Cellular – $1699 (Rs. 1,24,920 approx.)
- iPad Pro 12.9″ 64GB WiFi – $999 (Rs. 73,450 approx.)
- iPad Pro 12.9″ 256GB WiFi – $1149 (Rs. 84,475 approx.)
- iPad Pro 12.9″ 512GB WiFi – $1349 (Rs. 99,185 approx.)
- iPad Pro 12.9″ 1TB WiFi – $1749 (Rs. 1,28,595 approx.)
- iPad Pro 12.9″ 64GB WiFi + Cellular – $1149 (Rs. 84,475 approx.)
- iPad Pro 12.9″ 256GB WiFi + Cellular – $1299 (Rs. 95,500 approx.)
- iPad Pro 12.9″ 512GB WiFi + Cellular – $1499 (Rs. 1,10,230 approx.)
- iPad Pro 12.9″ 1TB WiFi + Cellular – $1899 (Rs. 1,39,630 approx.)
- Second generation Apple Penci – $129 (Rs. 9,480 approx.)
- Smart Keyboard Folio – $179 (Rs. 9,480 approx.) (for 11″ iPad Pro) / $199 (Rs. 13,160 approx.) (for 12.9″ iPad Pro)
