Apple Announces New iPad Pro with M2 chip and Wi-Fi 6E

Apple has just announced the new sixth-generation iPad Pro. The company's latest flagship tablet is powered by the M2 chip that first debuted in the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro earlier this year. From a report: It'll be available in the same two screen sizes as before: you can choose between 12.9-inch and 11-inch sizes. Preorders open today and it'll be in stores on October 26th starting at $799 for the 11-inch and $1,099 for the 12.9-inch model. As with the 2021 refresh, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro features Mini LED display technology for improved black levels, better contrast, and more impactful HDR performance, while the smaller model sticks with a more basic screen. Both support Apple's ProMotion feature for refresh rates up to 120Hz. The new iPad Pro has a new "hover" feature that detects the Apple Pencil when positioned slightly above the screen. Apple says this lets users "see a preview of their mark before they make it."

Mini-LED

[DamnOregonian]

Mini-LED has been the biggest disappointment in my newer Apple equipment.
I don't fucking get why they keep pushing it. It sucks. It's a $1000+ dollar device, give me a fucking nice OLED display. 1000 nits of brightness is a lot less important than your image not looking like you're watching it through a cloudy window any time there's a high-contrast detail on the screen.

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[AmiMoJo]

The other nice thing about OLED is you can have an always-on display at low brightness, with minimal effect on the battery.

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[bussdriver]

Does OLED last and have fewer flaws? when did it get fixed?
Does it burn in or fade? maybe I'm remembering something else on those 2 issues...

perhaps it's just supply chain issues at this point... but they did have their top man pushed out of his job (and not for incompetence. )

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[AmiMoJo]

OLED fixed all that stuff years ago.

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[alvinrod]

For Apple it's as much about the most available solution as it is the best available solution. If you're going to produce tens of millions of something then you need tens of millions of components.

Apple is already using OLED displays in their phones which are even higher volume. They aren't going to divert production capacity to iPads since the phone market is far more important and they face more competition there.

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[torkus]

OLED can still suffer from burn-in.

My Samsung S21U that I mainly used for playing one particular game...when I upgraded and wiped it the white screen had a very obvious ghost-image of the non-movable elements in the game. Lucky for me Samsung had a trade-in and screen burn-in wasn't mentioned so I got full credit anyhow.

Granted this was from pandemic time so many hours a day plus often fell asleep with it on the same screen...but 100% did burn-in. We'll see how the S22U does...but I don't play as much sin

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[DamnOregonian]

They definitely can burn in still. The fundamental nature of OLEDs hasn't changed. They're just much less prone to burn-in, and generally do not happen under normal use.

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[AmiMoJo]

Maybe Samsungs are crap, but some people have tested LG displays on YouTube over years. Games, news channels, static logos etc. No real issues, you have to leave it with the same image for literally 23 hours a day for a year to have problems.

One thing, you need to leave the TV on standby for a while. It recalibrates to remove burn in while in standby.

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[tlhIngan]

OLED fixed all that stuff years ago.

No, OLED still has burn in problems. I didn't realize it but my Pixel 3XL which I retired had a strange circle burned into the screen that always showed up if you displayed a solid color - any color, even dark ones.

It was centered around the screen.

Also, OLEDs do have supply issues - the manufacturer of small OLED screens is Samsung and they're fairly maxed capacity making screens for phones and such. An iPad with a 12" or 14" screen is about the limit of production capab

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[DamnOregonian]

No, OLED still has burn in problems. I didn't realize it but my Pixel 3XL which I retired had a strange circle burned into the screen that always showed up if you displayed a solid color - any color, even dark ones.

It can. OLED elements are still prone to burn in. Generally, this is handled pretty well in driving software.
I've got 2 12+" OLED Android Tablets, an OLED iPhone, an OLED Apple Watch, and 2 15" OLED laptops. No burn in on any of them.

Also, OLEDs do have supply issues - the manufacturer of small OLED screens is Samsung and they're fairly maxed capacity making screens for phones and such. An iPad with a 12" or 14" screen is about the limit of production capability of these small OLED screens.

Citation?

Making a large OLED screen is generally by LG, and the biggest difference is density - LG's screens are typically 4K or 8K displays at 50" or bigger so really low pixel density, while the Samsung displays are basically the same 4K or QHD screens in a 7" screen. Using the wrong technology has problems - LG introduced their phones using LG's OLED technology and it basically universally sucked for phone use. It was wrong in every way for an OLED screen to the point LCD was better, or Samsung's OLED.

LG makes the mini-LED panels on the M1 iPad Pro.
They also now (along with Samsung) make the panels on the iPhone.

Thus, LG's technology is great if you're making a TV with a relatively low pixel per inch, while Samsung is great if you're making a phone or phablet with a high resolution small display.

LG makes just fine high-PPI OLEDs.

The iPad Pro with its huge display is pushing the limits of OLED - there's a reason OLED laptops are really expensive and likely no one can supply Apple with the millions they need. OLED laptops probably only sell in the 5-figure range yearly, so an Apple order would be up to two orders of magnitude more screens than current output.

Pushing the limits of OLED? Again, citation needed.
OLEDs are made from the smallest size up to the biggest.
Would Apple

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[AmiMoJo]

That doesn't make much sense, why would the burn in create a circle around the centre of the screen?

Burn in happens with static images, so what image of a circle caused it?

I have an even older Pixel XL (the original one) with no burn in at all. It sounds like your screen has some other kind of fault, because if burn in happens it's usually with the status bar at the top or the navigation buttons at the bottom, those being the most static items.

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[DamnOregonian]

Ya. My Apple Watch does that, and I recall old AMOLED Samsung phones used to do it too. It's cool.

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[CommunityMember]

Mini-LED has been the biggest disappointment in my newer Apple equipment. I don't fucking get why they keep pushing it. It sucks. It's a $1000+ dollar device, give me a fucking nice OLED display.

Apple has reportedly encountered "distortion" issues (due to panel warping) producing a thin OLED display at larger screen sizes (the issues happen on smaller screen sizes too, but are not as visible on those smaller sizes). The rumors suggest a hybrid (including both flexible and rigid technologies) OLED solution is coming in ~2024 (as with all such Apple rumors, take them with a liter of salt).

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[Fly Swatter]

The only panel warping I have seen is when the battery inevitably starts expanding past it's allotted space.

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[DamnOregonian]

That's odd.
So, I was so disappointed with my M1 iPad Pro's screen, I bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+. 12-something inch, OLED. Gorgeous.
Problem there, is it didn't support Dolby Vision, just HDR10+.
So then I bought a Lenovo Tab something Pro 12 whatever- also 12-something inch, OLED, Gorgeous. And Dolby Vision support (yay!)

No warping on their screens. Just as thin as my iPad.
I'm definitely not buying another iPad until they get rid of those screens, though. My MacBookPro has one, and it's trash also.

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[greytree]

But ... but ... SHINEY ! ( And the boss is paying )

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[DamnOregonian]

So you're saying first-world problems aren't problems, or what? I don't get it.

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[muh_freeze_peach]

doesn't it get boring posting a bunch of incoherent babble that absolutely no-one takes into consideration?

Xcode?

[evil_aaronm]

It's got an M2 chip, so there should be little to no reason why it can't run Xcode natively. I don't want a Mac - desktop or laptop version - if I can do the same thing on an iPad. Or maybe that's why Apple won't release Xcode for iPad.

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[kamitchell]

Apple already makes an M2 iPad that runs Xcode. It's even got a built-in keyboard and trackpad, and is around the same weight as a iPad with a Magic Keyboard. It's got more memory, and more ports, too! https://www.apple.com/macbook-... [apple.com]

(Seriously, most of the innards are the same, so why cobble together a tablet and accessories to do the job of a really small, light, powerful notebook...?)

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[evil_aaronm]

Primarily, because an iPad is cheaper and a bit more rugged. Plus, I like the flexibility of bluetooth keyboard when I want to actually type, versus when I'm mostly not-typing but may need to reply to a text.

MacBook Air with 8/8 cores, 24 GB ram, 1 TB ssd: $1999.
11" iPad Pro with 512 GB, WiFi&Cellular: $1299

And, as you said, since the iPad has almost the same components in it as the MBP, why not just make the iPad Xcode compatible?

Overpowered. Overpriced

[Gavino]

I only have an iPad Pro (about 2019 model) because it was the biggest screen available - lot bigger than the standard iPad. I only use it to watch video content on YouTube and Plex. Mostly at night sitting in bed. I don't want to buy a fucking overpriced supercomputer (M2 chip) to do that. role

If apple don't release a wallet-friendly big-screen iPad by the time I'm ready for a hardware refresh then this will be the last iPad I ever buy. I have an android phone and the iPad is the only Apple thing I have,