That’s right: Apple has just announced the iPad Pro, and it’s definitely the biggest iPad yet. It has everything the iPad Air 2 offers, and a little extra on top. Rather than talking about their similarities, though, let’s look at the differences.
The iPad Pro has a giant 12.9-inch display with 2,732 x 2,048 pixels. To put that size into perspective, that means the screen is almost exactly the same width as the regular iPad’s is tall. It’s also, in case you didn’t run the math, got the same familiar 4:3 iPad aspect ratio and a functionally identical pixel density to the iPad Air. Apple says it’s so big the on-screen keyboard is “full-sized,” like on its laptops.
The larger panel, Apple hopes, will be ideal for the new multitasking additions to iOS 9, which let you run apps side by side, or in a split view and “pop-over” video. Of course, you can do that on an iPad Air 2, but thanks to the larger screen, the apps will look more like they do on a regular iPad in full-screen mode. It also frees up some extra space around the display, which Apple has decided use to include four speakers up front. Hopefully they sound good, and this’ll be a great high-def movie machine.
Elsewhere, this is very much an iPad. It’s super thin (6.9mm) and super light (1.59 pounds). You’ll find a 1.2-megapixel FaceTime camera up front and an 8-megapixel iSight camera at the back. It has Touch ID built into the home button, 10 hours of battery life and multiple color options (silver, gold and space gray). Essentially everything else you’d expect of an Apple tablet.
So. What’s the price for all of these additions? Brace your wallet: The iPad Pro will start at $799. That’s for a 32GB WiFi model. The 128GB WiFi model will cost $949, while the LTE 128GB model costs $1,079.