New iPad Pros with USB-C and Face ID - Performance approaches current MacBook Pro
[17:14 Sun,4.November 2018 by Thomas Richter]
Apple has updated its iPad Pro Tablets - the new design reduces the size of the edge even further and thus enlarges the screen. Apple uses the narrower wheel on the 12.9-inch model with the same screen size to make the iPad a little more compact. The 10.5-inch iPad Pro is replaced by a new 11-inch model, which has a larger display (with a resolution of 2,388 x 1,668 pixels), but has the same case size as the previous model due to the thinner edge. The case has also become thinner - now it's only 5.9 mm thick.
iPad Pro with 12.9 inch
The two new 11" and 12.9" models feature the new A12X Bionic chip with 8 core CPU and 7 core GPU, a more powerful variant of the A12 Bionic processed in the iPhone Xs/Xr. The A12X Bionic is supposed to be 35% faster than the old iPad Pros when using a core and up to 90% faster for multicore tasks.
According to Apple, the A12X is even faster than most PC laptops, more precisely 92% of the laptops sold last year. In cross-platform Geekbench benchmarks, the new CPU clearly beats the old iPad Pro (4,000) with 5,000 points in the single-core results and comes very close to the MacBook Pro 15" with 5,030 points (5,419 points). The multi-core results are also really interesting - here the A12X Bionic of the new iPad Pro comes close to the current 15" MacBook Pros with 18,100 points, reaching values of 21,000 (Core i7 2.2 GHz) and 22,500 points (Core i9 2.9 GHz) respectively.
These results nourish old rumors that Apple could also use ARM CPUs in iMacs and Mac Pros in the future. However, it should be considered that such benchmarks are only synthetic comparisons - only when working in certain applications on a daily basis you have to show how fast the new iPad Pros really are.
Another innovation concerns the interface - Apple now fortunately uses a USB-C interface as the first iOS model instead of the proprietary Lightning port. Now a 5K monitor can be connected as well as an external storage medium. The fingerprint sensor for identification has now been replaced by the Face ID System with 3D face recognition via TrueDepth camera known from the iPhone X. Since the sensor sits in the edge, the screen area did not have to be reduced by Notch. Apple did without a headphone socket, but there should be an adapter soon so that headphones with a 3.5 mm jack can be connected to the USB-C output. The 12 megapixel camera is not optically image-stabilized, but has a SmartHDR function.
The two iPad Pro models (2018) are available with 11" or 12.9" display, the prices start at around 900 Euro or 1,100 Euro for the smallest configuration with Wifi and 64 GB - more expensive wird´s if LTE mobile reception is on board and/or a larger memory is selected - the variants are 256 GB, 512 GB and 1 TB - in the maximum configuration the price is then around 1,900 Euro or 2,100 Euro. Delivery will start on November 7th. Optionally available are the new Apple Pencil for drawing by hand and the Smart Keyboard Folio, a protective cover with keyboard.
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