iPad Pro, iPad Air and Apple Pencil Pro tidbits: The small print and details to know

There’s more to Apple’s latest iPads than meets the eye. Check out these tidbits highlighting important differences between the new M2 iPad Air and M4 iPad Pro.

Apple unveiled the overhauled iPad Pro with OLED and the new M4 chip, an updated iPad Air lineup with M2 and a new 13-inch model, the new Apple Pencil Pro and a redesigned Magic Keyboard for the new iPad Pro at its May 7 “Let Loose” event.

We’ve rounded up the subtle differences between these tablets and their accessories that you should be aware of before hitting a Buy button.

M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air tidbits

No charger in EU boxes

The new iPad Pro and iPad Air ship without a charger in the European Union and the United Kingdom due to new EU rules. In those countries, product packaging includes an iPad and a 1-meter USB-C charge cable. Other iPads like the iPad mini and the base iPad still ship with a wall plug or charger in the box in the EU. In all other counties, the new iPads ships with a 20W USB-C power adapter thrown in the box.

The new Smart Folios let you change the viewing angle

The updated Smart Folios for the new iPad Pro and iPad Air lets you change the viewing angle, not possible with prior versions. Apple notes the new Smart Folio “a wider range of viewing angles” which gives you greater flexibility when reading, viewing, typing or making FaceTime calls. Older Folios have a fixed viewing angle.

The new iPads work with the USB-C Apple Pencil

The new iPad Pro and Air are compatible with the new Apple Pencil Pro, but also support the USB-C Apple Pencil. If you have a second-generation Pencil lying around somewhere, don’t bother dusting it off as it doesn’t work on the new iPads. Also, the new Apple Pencil Pro doesn’t work on other iPad models.

Creative packaging for Apple Pencil Pro

Apple Pencil Pro packaging features artistic Apple logos, along with the word “Pro” in some shape or form. There are five different design variations of the box, and you never know which one you’re gonna get when you order your Apple Pencil Pro.

Here’s your first look at the stunning packaging of Apple Pencil Pro. pic.twitter.com/z5daElbfRw

— Nikias Molina (@NikiasMolina) May 8, 2024

Apple Pencil Hover supported

The new iPad Air and iPad Pro support the Apple Pencil Hover feature. However, the features exclusive to the new Apple Pencil Pro don’t work on older Pencils, like the squeeze and barrel roll gestures, haptic feedback and the ability to locate a lost her misplaced Pencil Pro in the Find My app.

AppleCare+ for M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air

The optional AppleCare+ extended warranty for your iPad, Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard can be paid for upfront or as an ongoing subscription.

• iPad Pro 11-inch: $149 upfront or $7.49/month
• iPad Pro 13-inch: $169 upfront or $8.49/month
• iPad Air 11-inch: $79 upfront or $3.99/month
• iPad Air 13-inch: $99 upfront or $4.99/month

AppleCare+ includes unlimited incidents of accidental damage protection, each subject to a service fee. If you break the screen, you can get it replaced via AppleCare+ for a service fee of $29. Other accidental damage for the M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air is subject to a $99 fee. Fixing a broken iPad keyboard, a malfunctioning Apple Pencil or an included accessory is $29.

If you intend to get AppleCare+ after you already bought your iPad, you must do so within 60 days of your purchase. For more information, visit Apple’s website.

When paid upfront, AppleCare+ extends Apple’s limited 1-year coverage to two years. If you buy your AppleCare+ on a monthly plan, however, you’ll enjoy the benefits for as long as you keep paying. If you buy AppleCare+ coverage on a fixed-term plan, you cannot continue using it as a subscription once your two years are up (with some exceptions, laid out in this support document).

Nano-texture glass but only for 1TB and 2TB models

For the first time ever, you can get nano-texture glass ($100) which scatters ambient light for reduced glare, but this optional upgrade is restricted to the 1TB and 2TB versions of the new iPad Pro. You’ll also get a polishing cloth in the box.

More storage gets you more RAM

This isn’t the first time Apple’s done this. When it redesigned the iPad Pro in 2018, Apple offered 6GB of RAM on 1TB models while lower-capacity versions of the tablet shipped with 4GB of memory. The new iPad Pro’s M4 chip is equipped with 8GB of RAM but models with 1TB or 2TB storage have 16GB.
If you plan on holding onto your iPad Pro for years and using it for heavy-duty tasks, it’d be wise to pick a 1TB or 2TB model with twice the RAM. As for the iPad Air, its M2 chip also has 8GB of RAM but extra RAM is unavailable with the 1TB model.

More storage also gets you more CPU cores

A passage in the official M4 iPad Pro press release in which Apple writes that the new 10-core M4 chip offers “up to four performance cores and six efficiency cores” initially puzzled me a lot. I mean, why say “up to”?

Because it’s not just extra RAM and the nano-texture glass option that unlocks with the 1TB and 2TB models but also extra CPU cores. While the 256GB and 512GB models have an 9-core CPU with 3 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores, the 1TB and 2TB version give you that extra performance core.

Display resolutions

The new M2 iPad Air and M4 iPad Pro models have these resolutions:

• iPad Air 11-inch: 2360×1640 at 264 ppi
• iPad Air 13-inch: 2732×2048 at 264 ppi
• iPad Pro 11-inch: 2420×1668 at 264 ppi
• iPad Pro 13-inch: 2752×2064 at 264 ppi

The bigger iPad Air has a brighter screen

The iPad Air’s Liquid Retina display has a brightness of 500 nits on the 11-inch model. However, the 13-inch version features a one-fifth brighter screen at 600 nits.

True display sizes

Apple advertises the new iPad sizes as 11 and 13 inches. Technically, the panels are 10.86 and 12.9 inches, respectively, measured diagonally as a rectangle. But because screen corners are round, actual viewable area is less.
When measured diagonally as a rectangle, the 13‑inch iPad Pro is exactly 13 inches while the 11‑inch iPad Pro is 11.1 inches. As always, you get a fullscreen rectangle when you take a screenshot.

iPad Air doesn’t support ProMotion

The new iPad Air does not support ProMotion, Apple’s dynamic screen refresh technology. The new iPad Pro, however, users ProMotion that enables its Ultra Retina XDR display to take advantage of adaptive refresh rates from 10Hz to 120Hz.
If you scroll rapidly or play a game, the display refresh frequency may ramp up to maintain smooth movement. But when reading static content, the refresh frequency may drop all the way down to 10Hz to conserve power.

iPad Pro lacks an Always-On display

Even though the new iPad Pro supports ProMotion, it doesn’t have an Always-On feature to keep the Lock Screen dimmed but visible when the device is locked to glance widgets, notifications and the date and time.

No ProRes capture for iPad Air

Unlike the M4 iPad Pro, the M2 iPad Air isn’t powerful enough to capture video in Apple’s ProRes format. Playback of ProRes video is supported. The M4 has hardware accelerators for ProRes and ProRes RAW, along with an AV1 decoder, which are not found in the iPad Air’s M2. The AV1 decoder enables a more efficient playback on popular video-streaming services that use this codec, like Netflix.

Adaptive True Tone flash limited to iPad Pro

Adaptive True Tone flash debuted on the new iPad Pro, but the iPad Air has the regular version. This helps improve document scanning by removing shadows that might get in the way. The system rapidly takes multiple photos with adaptive True Tone flash, then stitchers them together for a much better scan.

No stereo recording and audio zoom on the new iPad Air. Even though the device packs four landscape speakers for rich stereo sound, it cannot record stereo sound because it uses standard dual microphones versus the new iPad Pro’s studio-quality array of four microphones.

The bigger iPad Air pumps out stronger bass

Due to its larger enclosure, the landscape stereo speakers on the 13-inch iPad Air are capable of producing 2x the bass of the 11-inch model.

eSIM only

Both the new iPad Pro and Air only accept electronic SIM, or eSIM, so be sure your carrier supports this technology if opting for a cellular iPad. You can have multiple eSIMs and switch between them easily when calling or messaging people. eSIMs can be easily transferee between devices and don’t suffer from issues like physical SIM cards, which can lose contact with the device and is easily damaged.

No Face ID and LiDAR scanner for iPad Air

The new iPad Air has a fullscreen design, but there’s no Face ID. Instead, a Touch ID sensor is embedded in the power button. Because there’s no Face ID, there’s also no TrueDepth camera system on the front for things like Animoji, Memoji and Portrait Lighting modes with advanced bokeh and depth control. There’s also no LiDAR scanner on the back, which can make photography and augmented reality apps more accurate and immersive.

External display support

The new iPad Pro and iPad Air support one external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz.

10-hour battery life

Both new iPads are rated with the same 10-hour battery life as all the prior models. Here’s what battery capacity each model is rated with:

• iPad Air 11‑inch: 28.93Wh
• iPad Air 13‑inch: 36.59Wh
• iPad Pro 11-inch: 31.29Wh
• iPad Pro 13-inch: 38.99Wh

Apple says all iPad Pro and Air models will do about 10 hours of web surfing or video streaming on Wi‐Fi, with cellular models getting an hour less.

Magic Keyboard for iPad Air lacks a function key row

The redesigned Magic Keyboard for the new iPad Pro sports an aluminum enclosure and a bigger trackpad that now has haptic feedback, creating a more laptop-like experience. It also sports a function row with 14 keys for changing the brightness, volume and other features, in addition to a USB‑C connector for passthrough charging (like before). It only works on the new iPad Pro.

In contrast, the previous Magic Keyboard works on the latest and older iPad models, but lacks a function key row and an aluminum palm rest, and has a smaller trackpad without haptic feedback. As for the Magic Keyboard Folio, it only works with the tenth-generation iPad.

Which new iPad is you?

Everything Appel announced at the “Let Loose” event is availed to order now. The new iPads will start shipping on Wednesday, May 15.

These tablets server very different demographics, so you’d be wise to think about how you plan on using them and learn about the differences between them, so you can make an informed purchasing decision.

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