Engineering:iPad Pro (4th generation)

Short description: Tablet computer made by Apple (2020–2021)

iPad Pro (4th generation)

A 12.9" iPad Pro (4th generation), with the Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard for iPad add-ons, on a desk
Developer	Apple Inc.
Manufacturer	Foxconn (on contract)
Product family	iPad Pro
Type	Tablet computer
Generation	4th
Release date	March 25, 2020 (2020-03-25)
Introductory price	11": $799 (£769) 12.9": $999 (£969)
Discontinued	April 20, 2021
Operating system	Original: iPadOS 13.4 Current: iPadOS 14.7.1, released July 26, 2021
System on a chip	Apple A12Z Bionic with 64-bit architecture and Apple M12 motion co-processor
Memory	6 GB RAM
Storage	128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB
Display	11 inch: (28 cm) (2,388 x 1,668) px (264 ppi), 600-nits Max Brightness, Wide-Color Display (P3), True Tone Display, and Fully Laminated Display 12.9 inch: (33 cm) (2,732 x 2,048) px (264 ppi), 600-nits Max Brightness, Wide-Color Display (P3), True Tone Display, and Fully Laminated Display
Sound	Four speakers, adjusting sound to device orientation
Camera	Rear: 12 MP + 10 MP + lidar; 4K@60 video recording; slow-mo 1080p@240 Front: 7 MP
Dimensions	11-inch: 247.6 mm (9.75 in) (h) 178.5 mm (7.03 in) (w) 5.9 mm (0.23 in) (d)
Predecessor	iPad Pro (3rd generation)
Successor	iPad Pro (5th generation)
Website	https://www.apple.com/ipad-pro/

The fourth-generation iPad Pro is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. Two models, with a 12.9 inch or 11 inch screen, were both announced on March 18, 2020, and released on March 25.

The iPad Pro features a similar design, and the same screen sizes, as the previous generation, but has an upgraded camera module with LiDAR capabilities and an upgraded A12Z processor. The 11 inch model is the second generation of that size, and describes itself as such.

Features

Hardware

Lidar scanner on iPad Pro

The 2020 model features an Apple A12Z processor, with an octa-core CPU and GPU, support for Wi-Fi 6, and an upgraded camera setup with a 12MP wide camera, a 10MP ultra-wide camera, and a lidar scanner for augmented reality. From the 2018 to 2020 models, the RAM was increased from 4 to 6 GB (4-6 GiB) on the 128 GB, 256 GB and 512 GB models. The 4th Generation 1 TB models have the same 6 GB of RAM as the 2018 models. The base storage option was doubled from 64 GB to 128 GB.

Accessories

A new Magic Keyboard was released on April 22, 2020, which includes a trackpad, backlit keys, USB-C port for pass-through charging, and a cantilever design, allowing the iPad Pro to "float" above the keys. The Magic Keyboard is compatible with the 3rd and 4th generation iPad Pro. Support for trackpads, mice, and pointing devices was announced as a feature of version 13.4 of iPadOS, which was released on March 24, 2020.

Like its predecessor, this version of iPad Pro supports the Apple Pencil, a variety of cases, and USB-C accessories.

Reception

The 2020 model of the iPad Pro was seen as a minor spec bump amongst tech reviewers. Although the addition in RAM and change in storage options were welcomed, the lidar sensor that Apple added for increased AR capability was touted as a feature only a few customers would use. Dieter Bohn from The Verge welcomed the new camera setup. However, he considered the device lacking as a tool for video conferencing. Bohn noted that even though most iPad users now use the device primarily in landscape mode in a keyboard case, Apple continues to place the front-facing camera on the device's short edge, a positioning more compatible with use in portrait mode. He added, "in iPadOS, Apple doesn't allow apps to use the camera unless they're active in the foreground. That's nice from a peace-of-mind perspective but absolutely terrible for video conferencing." Despite receiving an update to iPadOS, the 2020 model was planned to not receive one of the leading features, Stage Manager. This caused controversy as Apple provided inconclusive reasons as to why Stage Manager could not be supported. Due to criticism, a single-screen version of Stage Manager was added on 2018 and 2020 iPad Pros in iPadOS 16.1 Beta.

Timeline

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Colors =

    id:bg            value:white
    id:lightline     value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.9)
    id:lighttext     value:rgb(0.5,0.5,0.5)
    id:server        value:rgb(0.8,0.8,0.9)
    id:pad1          value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.9)   Legend:iPad_(1st)
    id:pad2          value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.8)   Legend:iPad_(2nd)
    id:pad3          value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.7)   Legend:iPad_(3rd)
    id:pad4          value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.6)      Legend:iPad_(4th)
    id:pad5          value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.5)   Legend:iPad_(2017)
    id:pad6          value:rgb(0.9,0.6,0.5)   Legend:iPad_(2018)
    id:pad7          value:rgb(0.9,0.5,0.5)   Legend:iPad_(2019)
    id:pada          value:rgb(0.6,0.7,1  )      Legend:iPad_Air
    id:pada2         value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.9)       Legend:iPad_Air_2
    id:pada3         value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8)       Legend:iPad_Air_(2019)
    id:padm          value:rgb(1  ,0.6,0.8)    Legend:iPad_Mini_(1st)
    id:padm2         value:rgb(0.9,0.6,0.8)    Legend:iPad_Mini_2
    id:padm3         value:rgb(0.8,0.6,0.8)    Legend:iPad_Mini_3
    id:padm4         value:rgb(0.7,0.6,0.8)    Legend:iPad_Mini_4
    id:padm5         value:rgb(0.6,0.6,0.8)    Legend:iPad_Mini_(2019)
    id:padpro        value:rgb(0.5,0.7,0.5)    Legend:iPad_Pro
    id:padpro2       value:rgb(0.5,0.7,0.6)     Legend:iPad_Pro_(2nd)
    id:padpro3       value:rgb(0.5,0.7,0.7)     Legend:iPad_Pro_(3rd)
    id:padpro4       value:rgb(0.5,0.7,0.8)     Legend:iPad_Pro_(4th)
    id:current       value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.9)     Legend:Still_produced

BackgroundColors = canvas:bg ScaleMajor = gridcolor:lighttext unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/2011 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightline unit:month increment:1 start:04/01/2010

BarData =

 barset:pad12
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 barset:padpro

PlotData =

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 barset:pad12
   color:pad1 from:04/03/2010 till:03/02/2011 text:"iPad (1st)"
 barset:break
   color:pad2    from:03/11/2011 till:03/18/2014 text:"iPad 2"
 barset:pad3+
   color:pad3    from:03/16/2012 till:10/23/2012 text:"iPad (3rd)"
 barset:break
   color:pad4    from:11/02/2012 till:10/22/2013 text:"iPad (4th)"
 barset:break
   color:pad4    from:03/18/2014 till:10/16/2014 text:"iPad (4th)"
 barset:break
 barset:break
   color:pad5     from:03/24/2017 till:03/27/2018 text:"iPad (2017)"
 barset:break
   color:pad6     from:03/27/2018 till:09/24/2019 text:"iPad (2018)"
 barset:break
   color:pad7     from:09/24/2019 till:$now text:"iPad (2019)"
 barset:break
   color:current from:$now till:end
 barset:pada
   color:pada    from:11/01/2013 till:03/21/2016 text:"iPad Air"
 barset:break
 barset:pada2+
   color:pada2    from:10/24/2014 till:03/21/2017 text:"iPad Air 2"
 barset:break
 barset:break
   color:pada3    from:03/18/2019 till:$now text:"iPad Air (2019)"
 barset:break
   color:current from:$now till:end
 barset:padm12
   color:padm    from:11/02/2012 till:06/19/2015 text:"iPad Mini (1st)"
 barset:break
   $skip
   color:padm2    from:11/12/2013 till:03/21/2017 text:"iPad Mini 2"
 barset:padm3+
   color:padm3    from:10/24/2014 till:09/09/2015 text:"iPad Mini 3"
 barset:break
   color:padm4    from:09/09/2015 till:03/17/2019 text:"iPad Mini 4"
 barset:break
   color:padm5    from:03/18/2019 till:$now text:"iPad Mini (2019)"
 barset:break
   color:current from:$now till:end
 barset:padpro
   color:padpro    from:11/11/2015 till:06/05/2017 text:"iPad Pro 12.9"""
   color:padpro    from:03/31/2016 till:06/05/2017 text:"iPad Pro 9.7"""
 barset:break
   color:padpro2   from:06/05/2017 till:10/30/2018 text:"iPad Pro (2nd) 12.9"""
   color:padpro2   from:06/05/2017 till:10/30/2018 text:"iPad Pro (2nd) 10.5"""
 barset:break
   color:padpro3   from:10/30/2018 till:03/25/2020 text:"iPad Pro (3rd) 12.9"""
   color:padpro3   from:10/30/2018 till:03/25/2020 text:"iPad Pro (3rd) 11"""
 barset:break
   color:padpro4   from:03/25/2020 till:$now text:"iPad Pro (4th) 12.9"""
   color:padpro4   from:03/25/2020 till:$now text:"iPad Pro (4th) 11"""
 barset:break
   color:current from:$now till:end
   color:current from:$now till:end

</timeline>

Source: Apple Newsroom Archive.

See also

• Pen computing
• Graphics tablet