Review | Apple 2021 iPad Pro review: a game-changing tablet with the unbelievable Apple M1 chip that beats Intel’s processors
- This tablet is a world beater, with a brighter screen offering more contrast, and an Apple chip that outperforms Intel processors
- The M1 chip can handle any task and its efficiency makes for a longer lasting battery
Apple’s iPads have dominated the tablet market for years – in 2020, Apple sold 161.1 million iPads compared to second- placed Samsung’s 31.3 million – and the 2021 edition of the iPad Pro, especially the larger 12.9-inch model, is looking to stretch that lead thanks to two huge hardware improvements.
Design and hardware
From the outside, the 2021 iPad Pros look identical to the 2018 and 2020 models. There are still two sizes (11 and 12.9 inches), and they feature the same slim, bezelled edges that are becoming the norm for Apple products. I tested the larger model, which is relatively sleek at 6.4mm thick and weighing 682g or 685g (depending on the connectivity options you choose).
The first big hardware improvement: the 12.9-inch iPad Pro uses a new display technology named Mini LED (Apple dubs it “Liquid Retina XDR”), and it is a noticeable step up from any previous screen used in an Apple tablet or computer.
Mini LED, as the name implies, uses much smaller light-emitting diodes (LED) than traditional LCD display panels. Apple says the 2020 iPad Pro display used 72 LEDs, while this year’s Mini LED panel uses more than 10,000.
What does this mean in the real world? This new iPad Pro screen gets significantly brighter and has greater contrast than any previous iPad or MacBook screen.
The second big improvement is Apple’s M1 silicon chip, the same one that garnered critical acclaim when it debuted with a new line of MacBook Air laptops a few months ago.
