12.9-inch iPad Pro (2021)

Apple’s largest tablet is better than ever – if you can afford it

- Rob Mead-Green

FEATURES 12.9-inch Liquid Retina XDR display (2732x2048 pixels), Apple M1 chip (8-core CPU, 8-core GPU), 8GB of memory (128GB, 256GB and 512GB)/16GB of memory (1TB and 2TB), up to 2TB of storage, Pro camera system with 12MP Wide and 10MP Ultra Wide lenses, 12MP TrueDepth camera, Wi-Fi 6 (aka 802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.0, Face ID, Thunderbolt/USB 4 port, 40.88w/hr battery with up to 10 hours battery life

The Pro camera system combines a Wide 12MP lens and Ultra Wide 10MP lens with 125° field of view.

Big things are happening to Apple’s biggest tablet. The 12.9-inch model on test here now sports the M1 – the same Apple silicon System on Chip (SoC) found on the Mac mini, MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro and 24-inch iMac.

The 2021 iPad Pro also includes a much-improved display. Dubbed the Liquid Retina XDR display, it features 10,000 mini LEDs with 2,596 local dimming zones for improved colour fidelity and brightness – up to 1,600cd/ m2 in fact – and a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio.

Like its Mac siblings, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro also now comes with a Thunderbolt/ USB 4 port connection, enabling you to connect a huge range of peripherals – from Thunderbolt docks and displays to external drives, making it much more flexible.

And the iPad Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular also includes support for 5G, so you can now get even faster connectivity on the go (conspiracy theorists need not apply). Also onboard are Wi-Fi 6 (aka 802.11ax Wi-Fi) and Bluetooth 5.0, plus a Pro camera system with Wide and Ultra-Wide lenses on the back and a 12MP TrueDepth camera on the front.