After the reviews of the new iMac were published yesterday, it is now the turn of the first reviews of Apple's latest M1 iPad Pro.
In the reviews, we take a closer look at how the M1 chip takes advantage of iPadOS, the new mini-LED display in the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and more. Federico Viticci writes for MacStories that the new Liquid Retina XDR display offers “fantastic black levels.” This is what he says in his Contribution:
So while, technically, the Liquid Retina XDR's black color reproduction isn't "true black," it comes dramatically close to that goal. In fact, I'd say that since you typically hold an iPad farther away from your eyes, this difference ultimately doesn't matter: To my eyes, it feels like the Liquid Retina XDR supports true black, which has an incredible effect when using apps with true black dark modes on the new iPad Pro. The contrast between black UI elements and white text is higher than before, and there's also better separation between black sidebars and other dark gray or dark blue UI elements like lists and popovers. I never used dark mode extensively on the iPad because I preferred the way it looked on the iPhone's OLED display; thanks to the Liquid Retina XDR's fantastic black levels, I'm now reconsidering that. If you compare the black levels between the old and the new iPad Pro, you can see that the 2020 model has no idea what the color “black” actually is or what it should look like.
M1 iPad Pro: Center Stage camera feature is praised
However, Viticci concludes his review by saying that the focus should be on the future of iPadOS and how Apple can improve the operating system to take advantage of the new M1 chip:
Aside from superior image quality and color reproduction, the new iPad Pro hasn't improved anything significant in my daily workflow at this point. It feels like there's a missing second half to this product's story. I'm optimistic, though: I suspect Apple is aware of this, and I'd be very surprised if iPadOS goes another year without major, fundamental updates. The new iPad Pro feels ready to power the next generations of iPadOS; compared to such advanced hardware, however, the current version of iPadOS feels like it was made for three iPads three years ago.
The Verge explainedthat the new Center Stage camera feature is better than competing features on devices like Facebook Portal:
One new invention I love is the Center Stage feature. It zooms and follows human faces to keep them centered in the frame of the iPad's wide-angle front camera. It works in any video conferencing app without having to set it up and it works very well, better than similar features on smart displays like the Echo Show or Facebook Portal.
Battery life deteriorates
The tests However, Gizmodo's reports show that the battery life of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is worse this year:
I was curious about the new iPad Pro's battery life, since mini-LEDs are efficient and the M1 has been a boon to the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro's battery life. But this year's 12.9-inch iPad Pro lasted just 9 hours and 2 minutes, a full hour less than last year's iPad Pro, on our video rundown test over Wi-Fi—and that's without taking into account the notorious battery drain of 5G.
As has been the case with iPad Pro reviews over the years, the consensus among reviewers is that the new M1 iPad Pro is an incredible iPad that is once again hampered by the limitations of iPadOS. Now that the new iPad Pro is out in the wild, attention can turn to WWDC, which begins on June 7. Early rumors suggest that Apple has a lot in store for iPadOS 15 this year. (Image: Apple)
