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The iPad Pro 2023 is the latest and most powerful tablet from Apple, featuring the M2 chip, a 12.9-inch Liquid Retina XDR display, ProRes video capture, and more. But is it worth the upgrade from the previous generation, and how does it compare to other tablets on the market? Here’s our review of the iPad Pro 2023.
Design and Display
The iPad Pro 2023 has a sleek and minimalist design, with a thin and light aluminum body, flat edges, rounded corners, and a magnetic connector for the Apple Pencil. It comes in two colors: silver and space gray. The tablet measures 280.6 x 214.9 x 6.4 mm and weighs 682 grams for the Wi-Fi model and 684 grams for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model.
The main attraction of the iPad Pro 2023 is the stunning 12.9-inch Liquid Retina XDR display, which delivers true-to-life detail with a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, great for viewing and editing HDR photos and videos or enjoying your favorite movies and TV shows. It also features a breathtaking 1000 nits of full‑screen brightness and 1600 nits of peak brightness along with advanced display technologies like P3 wide color, True Tone, and ProMotion. And you can use Reference Mode for a more color-accurate workflow.
The display uses an array of over 10,000 mini-LEDs across the entire back of the display, which are grouped into more than 2500 local dimming zones. Depending on the content, the brightness in each zone can be precisely adjusted to achieve an astonishing 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. Even the most detailed HDR content with the finest specular highlights — like galaxies and action movie explosions — are more true to life than ever.
The iPad Pro 2023 also has a smaller 11-inch model, which has a Liquid Retina display with similar features but without the mini-LED technology. The 11-inch model measures 247.6 x 178.5 x 5.9 mm and weighs 466 grams for the Wi-Fi model and 468 grams for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model.
Performance and Battery
The iPad Pro 2023 is powered by the M2 chip, which is the next generation of Apple silicon, with an 8‑core CPU that delivers up to 15 percent faster performance and a 10‑core GPU that provides up to 35 percent faster graphics performance than the previous M1 chip. With a 40 percent faster Neural Engine to accelerate machine learning tasks and 50 percent more memory bandwidth, M2 brings astonishing performance and new capabilities to iPad Pro.
The M2 chip enables you to create photorealistic 3D designs, build intricate AR models, play games with console‑quality graphics at high frame rates, edit multiple streams of ProRes video, and more. The iPad Pro 2023 also supports Thunderbolt / USB4 ports, which allow you to connect to high-performance accessories like external displays, storage devices, docks, and more.
The iPad Pro 2023 has a built-in 40.88-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery that provides up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi or watching video, or up to 9 hours of surfing the web using a cellular data network. The battery can be charged via the Thunderbolt / USB4 port or wirelessly with compatible Qi-certified chargers.
Camera and Audio
The iPad Pro 2023 has a dual-camera system on the back, consisting of a 12-megapixel wide-angle camera with an f/1.8 aperture and a 10-megapixel ultra-wide camera with an f/2.4 aperture and a 125-degree field of view. The cameras support features like optical image stabilization, autofocus with Focus Pixels, Smart HDR 3, panorama mode, burst mode, timer mode, night mode, Live Photos with stabilization, wide color capture for photos and Live Photos, lens correction for the ultra-wide camera, and more.
The iPad Pro 2023 also supports ProRes video capture using the image signal processor in M2 and advanced cameras on iPad Pro. You can capture up to 4K video at 30 fps in ProRes format, which offers the highest video quality with amazing real-time performance for tasks like multistream editing.
The front-facing camera on the iPad Pro 2023 is a 12-megapixel TrueDepth camera with an f/2.4 aperture and a 122-degree field of view. It supports features like Portrait mode, Portrait Lighting, Animoji and Memoji, Smart HDR, night mode, and more. It also supports Center Stage, which automatically adjusts the camera to keep you in the frame as you move around during video calls.
The iPad Pro 2023 has five studio‑quality microphones and four-speaker audio with support for Dolby Atmos, which let you record and deliver theater‑like sound. The microphones have beamforming technology that filters out background noise and focuses on your voice. The speakers have a balanced and immersive sound that adapts to any orientation.
Accessories and Software
The iPad Pro 2023 is compatible with a range of accessories that enhance its functionality and productivity. The most essential ones are the Apple Pencil (2nd generation), which attaches magnetically to the side of the iPad Pro and lets you draw, write, and annotate with precision and responsiveness; the Magic Keyboard, which has a full-size backlit keyboard, a trackpad, and a floating cantilever design that allows you to adjust the viewing angle; and the Smart Keyboard Folio, which has a full-size keyboard and a lightweight cover that protects both the front and back of the iPad Pro.
The iPad Pro 2023 runs on iPadOS 16, which is designed specifically for the large display and powerful capabilities of the iPad. iPadOS 16 brings new features and improvements, such as widgets on the Home Screen, App Library, multitasking enhancements, Quick Note, Translate app, FaceTime improvements, Focus mode, Live Text, Visual Lookup, Safari redesign, Maps improvements, Privacy features, and more.
Pros and Cons
The iPad Pro 2023 is undoubtedly the ultimate tablet for creatives, offering unparalleled performance, display quality, camera capabilities, audio quality, and accessory support. It can handle any task you throw at it, from professional workflows to casual entertainment. It also has a sleek and durable design, a long-lasting battery life, and a secure and intuitive software experience.
However, the iPad Pro 2023 is not without its drawbacks. The main one is the high price tag, which starts at $1,099 / £1,249 / AU$1,899 for the 12.9-inch model and $799 / £899 / AU$1,399 for the 11-inch model. The accessories are also quite expensive, with the Apple Pencil costing $129 / £119 / AU$199, the Magic Keyboard costing $349 / £329 / AU$549 for the 12.9-inch model and $299 / £279 / AU$499 for the 11-inch model, and the Smart Keyboard Folio costs $199 / £199 / AU$299 for the 12.9-inch model and $179 / £179 / AU$269 for the 11-inch model.
Another drawback is the lack of some features that are available on other tablets or laptops, such as a headphone jack, a microSD card slot, a fingerprint scanner, or a webcam cover. The iPad Pro 2023 also has limited compatibility with some third-party apps or peripherals that may not be optimized for its display or performance.
Conclusion
The iPad Pro 2023 is an impressive device that sets a new standard for tablets. It offers everything you need for creative work and plays in a portable and versatile form factor. However, it is also very expensive and may not be suitable for everyone’s needs or budget. If you are looking for a tablet that can replace your laptop or desktop computer without compromising on quality or functionality, then the iPad Pro 2023 is worth considering. But if you are looking for a more affordable or simpler option that can still handle your basic tasks or entertainment needs, then you may want to look elsewhere.
