The new iPad Pro with the M2 chip will be available to customers and in stores on Wednesday, October 26. The first reviews of the new iPad Pro have already been shared by select media outlets and YouTube channels.
Key new features for the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro include the M2 chip, Wi-Fi 6E support, new hover functionality for the Apple Pencil, and ProRes video recording support. The device also has Smart HDR 4 and supports Bluetooth 5.3.
We’ve gathered both written and video reviews of the new iPad Pro below.
Written Reviews
The new iPad Pro can detect the second-generation Apple Pencil as it hovers up to 12mm above the screen, allowing users to preview it before drawing. Works at Federico Viticci MacStories He called the feature “a very pleasant surprise” as he found it useful for interacting with iPadOS as a whole:
That said, I’m here to say that the Apple Pencil Hover goes beyond enhancing the typical iPad drawing experience: It’s also an elegant way to control the iPadOS UI, adding a new dimension to touch interactions. Since I’m not an artist, I never expected to use the Apple Pencil Hover; Its native integration with system-wide interface elements has been one of my favorite additions to iPadOS this year – definitely more than Stage Manager.
For example, Viticci said that Apple Pencil highlighting can be used to preview and browse videos on the YouTube website in Safari.
by Jason Snell Six Colors He expressed disappointment that the iPad Pro still has the 2018 design, and said the device will benefit from some of the features the new 10th-gen iPad gets, such as the horizontal FaceTime camera and Magic Keyboard with function keys:
This makes it the fourth revision for this design without any major external changes. It’s a good design, yes, but it’s a little frustrating that it’s been stationary for four years. The 10th-gen iPad’s repositioned FaceTime camera would be welcome on a new iPad Pro. A revised version of the Magic Keyboard introduced in April 2020 with an array of extra function keys like the Magic Keyboard Folio would also be nice.
But while the low-end iPad drives the future, the M2 iPad Pro remains stagnant. The display is no different from the M1 generation, meaning only the 12.9-inch model has the excellent Liquid Retina XDR display, leaving the 11-inch model out. There are quite a few 11-inch iPads out there, so it would be nice if the iPad Pro (for example) was a little more distinguishable from the iPad Air. Not.
Apple says the new iPad Pro has up to 15% faster CPU performance and up to 35% faster GPU performance than the previous model with the M1 chip. EngadgetNathan Ingraham said in his first test of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with the M2 chip, it was “much more responsive” than the 11-inch iPad Pro with the A12Z chip from 2020:
In the short time I’ve tested the latest 12.9-inch iPad Pro, I can say it’s much more responsive than my personal 11-inch iPad Pro from 2020, as well as the new iPad I’ve tested. These other devices won’t take your fancy, but the M2-powered iPad Pro responds to anything almost instantly. Of course, the same can be said for the M1 iPad Pro, especially given my modest workflow.
Mac Otakara shared Geekbench 5 results for the new iPad Pro, which confirms an increase in multi-core performance of about 15-16% over the previous model (8,516 points for the 12.9-inch model with the M2 chip, 7,326 points for the 12.9-inch model with the M1 chip) ):
crushableStan Schroeder said that iPadOS 16’s new Stage Manager feature remains “faulty” on the new iPad Pro and is “far from perfect”:
Stage Manager was also buggy. For example, calling it with the Keyboard trackpad, which you do by moving the cursor to the left of the screen, sometimes doesn’t work. Some apps, including Facebook and Apple’s own Weather (new to iPad), can sometimes look messy when resized within Stage Manager. It’s annoying that application windows stubbornly stick to a certain size when they need to be slightly larger or smaller. As a multitasking tool, I think it’s better than both Slide Over and Split View, but it’s still far from perfect.
Video Reviews and Unboxing
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