New iPad Pro 2020 review : specs and price

Apple released the 2020 iPad Pro at a strange time. With the coronavirus pandemic in full swing around the world, the new tablet was announced with a simple press release rather than an extravagant event. Apple barely changed the design of the new iPad Pro from the 2018 generation that completely reinvented the look. This is a good thing. In either Space Grey or Silver, it’s a stunning piece of hardware with flat edges and rounded corners that recall the beloved iPhone 5 design. That means there still isn’t a headphone jack and you get USB-C charging and connectivity rather than Lightning. The 18W charger in the box is stingy of Apple, given the company’s 30W adapter charges it up much faster. Get all details on New iPad Pro 2020 review like iPad Pro 2020 specs and price.

New iPad Pro 2020 specs

New iPad Pro 2020 review

Design and display

The stunning Liquid Retina display covers almost the entire front of the device and its lightweight aluminium build means you get the a powerful machine that’s incredibly portable. In fact, at under 500g this makes most laptops feel like giant lumps of lead.

The screen also continues to offer a sublime experience with Apple including P3 wide support for true-to-life colours, True Tone to automatically adapt the warmth of the screen to match your environment and anti-reflective coating which helps you see what’s on the screen no matter what the conditions.

You’ll also find Apple’s clever ProMotion technology, which automatically adjusts the display refresh rate up to 120Hz for ultra-smooth scrolling, which has been a staple since the iPad Pro line debuted in 2015.

Although the design and screen are very similar to the previous model it’s really hard to fault as the iPad Pro continues to offer a truly first-class experience. One small nitpick, with the gorgeous inky blacks and bright colours available on the latest iPhone models thanks to the move to OLED panels – not to mention the battery life boost when using iOS’s clever Dark Mode feature – it would’ve been great to see Apple switch from LCD on the iPad Pro. Alas, maybe that will be an upgrade for the next generation.

Chip

The A12Z Bionic chip is a small upgrade from the A12X in the 2018 Pros. It is still an eight-core chip, but it adds an additional GPU core, meaning the 2020 Pro has faster graphics processing. The CPU performance is architecturally identical.

Benchmarks

• Geekbench 5 single core: 1118
• Geekbench 5 multi-core: 4712
• JetStream 2: 157.676

These pesky numbers aside, the 2020 iPad Pro is ridiculously fast. It hasn’t stuttered once even when I was switching between 10 or so different apps during a heavy work day. Whatever you throw at it, it seems the 6GB RAM helps no end in keeping things incredibly speedy, and Apple Arcade games look absolutely stunning on the large display as they process without a hint of lag.

Apple W1 vs H1 chip

AirPods, Powerbeats and other earbuds come with either Apple’s W1 or H1. It also packs in five microphones for recording audio and the very good quad-speaker array from the last Pro model.

Magic Keyboard

Apple announced a fancy Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro with a cantilever design that means the iPad is floating. It adds a backlit, scissor-switch keyboard and USB-C passthrough and is compatible with the 2018 models too, but I couldn’t review it as it doesn’t ship till May and Apple hasn’t got samples to give yet.

You don’t have to get a keyboard case for the iPad Pro, but you probably should unless you’re a designer or artist who plans to use the iPad Pro with the second-gen £119/$129 Apple Pencil. It remains an excellent input device for creatives and note-takers and charges magnetically on the side of the iPad.

New iPad Pro 2020 iPadOS review

Apple’s new iPadOS 13.4 makes it easier to use a Bluetooth or USB-C mouse or trackpad with iPad. This update brings a redesigned cursor which now appears as a small circle on the screen but adapts depending on which application you’re using so it’s always clear what you’re highlighting.

Given that iPadOS is an operating system designed entirely around a touchscreen, it’s pretty impressive how well the trackpad and mouse support works. And we can’t wait to see what the next software upgrade, presumably titled iPadOS 14, will bring to boost productivity even further.

Apple has also added a bunch of interactive swipes for those with a trackpad. This means you can navigate and close apps without ever touching the screen. Once you get the hang of it, this new version of iPadOS works well and makes the iPad feel even more like a laptop.

It is worth noting that iPadOS 13.4 is available for most Apple tablets available right now, so you can get all these features without buying a Pro model.

New iPad Pro 2020 Cameras review

Apple has been adding more cameras to the back of its flagship iPhone models for some time and now the iPad is joining the fun. On the rear case of the new model, you’ll find a dual-lens camera which brings wide-angle and ultra-wide shots to the tablet.

The new 10-megapixel Ultra Wide camera certainly makes the iPad Pro far more versatile and we like the fact that Apple has now introduced more image options for owners. In our tests, photos and videos from these cameras are excellent with images looking sharp, colourful and packed with detail but tablet photography is still something that slightly baffles us.

Although some will likely appreciate the bumper viewfinder afforded by the laptop-size screen, snapping images with a 12.9-inch slate in your hands isn’t the easiest of things and we’re simply much more likely to reach for our iPhone when wanting to snap a family photo.

We’re not knocking Apple for boosting the photo credentials of its iPad Pro – it’s great to see the iPad catching up with the latest iPhone models – we’re just not sure how many people will actually make the most of the dual lenses.

More useful in our eyes is the fact that iPad Pro continues to feature the clever Portrait mode when shooting selfies, which means you can add some stylish bokeh-style blur to photos of your face. You’re also able to animate AniMoji or MeMoji characters when snapping selfies or making FaceTime calls to relatives.

The LiDAR Scanner – New iPad Pro 2020 review

Along with dual cameras, Apple has also added something called a LiDAR scanner to the chunky camera bump at the back of its new tablet. This is integrated into the rear-camera module and should enable brand-new capabilities never before possible on any mobile device, Apple says.

In a nutshell, LiDAR measures the distance to surrounding objects up to five meters away. It’s the same technology used by Tesla to help its vehicles drive themselves and was also used by NASA for its Mars Rover. So, it’s pretty accurate. It works indoors and outdoors and operates at nano-second speeds. So, what the hell is NASA technology doing on an iPad?

Well, by depth-mapping what is directly facing the tablet, the new iPad Pro is able to perform Augmented Reality (AR) tasks much better and faster than any previous Apple device. AR is the ability to integrate digital elements into the real word – letting you peer through the tablet screen and see virtual game boards, items you’re looking to purchase from retailers, and much more placed in your living room.

Amongst other things, the new hardware improves functions such as the Measure app, making it faster and easier to automatically calculate anyone’s height. Apple has added helpful vertical and edge guides that automatically appear in the viewfinder to let users quickly and accurately measure objects.

This technology is very new to the iPad Pro so the measure app is about all you’ll be able to use for the time being. But expect plenty of talented developers to start using it to bring more features to their apps in the future. This is something that probably won’t impress on Day One with the new tablet, but should evolve over time as apps get creative with the feature.

Apple’s iPad Pro now features a LiDAR scanner (Image: APPLE)

iPad Pro 2020 Face ID and Extras review

Apple ditched the Touch ID fingerprint scanner from the iPad Pro back in 2018 and switched to using its clever Face ID sensor to unlock the screen.

This nifty technology returns on the 2020 model, which is both good and bad news. When it works, Face ID is awesome – with the display unlocking in the blink of an eye. Sadly, the position of the True Depth camera at the top of the tablet means when in landscape mode you’ll often find yourself inadvertently covering the sensor with your hands.

Other bonus extras on the iPad Pro include four ear-shattering stereo speakers, which have to be heard to be believed. If you’ve happened to buy a second-generation Apple Pencil, you’ll be able to stick it to the top of the tablet with this digital stylus getting an instant battery boost once attached.

New iPad Pro 2020 Battery Life And Charging review

Apple is confident you’ll get around 10-hours of playtime on a single charge and that seems pretty accurate. We’ve been running numerous test of our iPad Pro review unit and it seems this tablet will easily last a long haul flight.

As an example, watching an hour of YouTube with the brightness set to high uses around 10 percent of battery life. When things do run dry there’s a USB-C charger which will fill it full in around two hours.

It’s worth remembering that MacBook Pro and Air owners can also use their wall chargers with the iPad Pro which will refuel this machine at faster speeds. Although, AirPods and iPhones still use the older Lighting cable, so you’ll still have to carry a few chargers with you when you travel.

iPad Pro 2020 Review: Price

• The new iPad Pro is available to order starting today on apple.com and in the Apple Store app in 30 countries and regions, including the US. iPad Pro will be available in stores starting next week.

• The new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro will be available in silver and space gray finishes. A starting configuration of 128GB offers pro customers more room for their apps and content, along with 256GB, 512GB and 1TB configurations.

• The 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $799 (US) for the Wi-Fi model and $949 (US) for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model, and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at $999 (US) for the Wi-Fi model and $1,149 (US) for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model from apple.com.

• Education pricing is available to current and newly accepted college students and their parents, as well as faculty, staff and homeschool teachers of all grade levels. The new 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $749 (US) and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at $899 (US).

• The second-generation Apple Pencil is available for $119 (US) and the new Smart Keyboard Folio for the new iPad Pro is available for $159 (US) for the 11-inch iPad Pro and $179 (US) for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro for college students.

• The Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro will be available for college students at $279 (US) for the 11-inch iPad Pro and $329 (US) for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. For more information visit: apple.com/us-hed/shop.

Editor’s recommendations

• 10 best cheap iPad Pro UK deals in April 2020
• What is the iPad Pro price Canada in April 2020?
• What is the best cheap iPad for sale in April 2020?
• Where to get cheapest MacBook Pro deals in April 2020?
• How much is Apple 2018 13.3 in MacBook Air 13.3 price in USA?
• What is Verizon iPhone 8 plus deals 2020?