New iPad Pro

Now equipped with the same Apple silicon M1 chip as the iMac – and it gets Thunderbolt too

Where does the MacBook end and Apple’s tablet begin? A question that’s likely to be increasingly asked with the arrival of the latest iPad Pros. That could be because the 2021 versions of the 11in and 12.9in tablets now sport M1 chips instead of the A-series processors that iPads have used until now. Or it could be because both models now support Thunderbolt as well as USB-C, giving the iPad Pro the same access to compatible peripherals that Macs have now.

The iPad Pro’s design language is increasingly being shared across the Apple family. Its narrow bezels and squared-off sides aren’t just being echoed on the iPad Air and iPhone, but on the iMac too. What’s the betting the 2021 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro will have similar design cues when they arrive later this year? The direction of travel is increasingly clear.

As for the iPad Pro, the M1 update provides Apple’s tablet with incredible power, making both the 11in and 12.9in versions up to 50% faster than their A12Z-powered predecessors. The iPad Pros also now have 5G support for superfast connectivity when not connected to Wi-Fi. Plus they get to leverage other M1 goodies like the 16-core Neural Engine for machine learning, and can be equipped with up to 16GB of memory/2TB of storage.

Magic Keyboard

> Further blurring the increasingly fuzzy line between the MacBook and iPad, the Magic Keyboard boasts a full QWERTY keyboard, trackpad, and a USB-C port for easy connection to compatible accessories.