2020 iPad Pro Teardown Provides Closer Look at LiDAR Scanner and Confirms Incremental Update

[PickUrPoison]

Your platitudes are entertaining to say the least. Nothing Apple nor it's customers does upsets me, I'm a Capitalist, and believe in the individuals right too do anything they want that makes them happy, short of threatening, causing others harm or loss. We all express value in different ways, don't get me wrong because I have one foot in the Apple swamp myself. As stated; I currently have the iPhone 11, and the 2019 iPad Air. I would have the 2020 Pro 12.9 in my hairy sweaty palms right now if it were actually an upgrade. To be totally honest, if I could find a use for it I'd also have an entry level Mac Pro (that damn thing is a work of art). Fortunately my video edits and sound production do not rise beyond the need of what I'm able to do on my Laptop, or I'd be buying the Mac Pro and foregoing the 2020 Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn I ordered seven weeks ago (I think they cost about the same).

I’m not sure where you saw any platitudes, but ok. And if waiting for a next gen makes sense to you, of course wait. I might get a new battery for my first gen 12.9 and do the same. Maybe even wait until 2H2022 for the sixth gen, since my needs aren’t great. Except my need for longer battery life. But I might just get the 4th gen. I haven’t decided yet, though it seems maybe it’s not a good idea to be spending unnecessarily atm.

 

[Baymowe335]

You are a joke right?

What world are you living in?
Apple will always do the right thing?
Just like they did with the keyboard and countless other things?

No, I'm not a joke. Had it been a massive issue, they wouldn't have released another. The keyboards didn't bother people as much as the vocal minority wants you to believe, or they'd have been changed long ago.

 

[PickUrPoison]

I'm glad you read them all, but you might have missed that CoinX' message was from yesterday in the morning. Phazer and Oh were pretty much saying the same thing on Tuesday. You must have some Parrot in your DNA? We all have opinions and ass*oles, some are more used than others. My GUESSES are just that, taken with a bit of rumored salt, and peppered with speculation of financial trends. I've been wrong before, and will be wrong again, but on a rare occasion I've been correct as well.

Parroting others might work for you, but I took a look at the first time unemployment claims and other recent indicators. That led me to the conclusion that things could very well change based on economic conditions and uncertainties.

I don’t pay any attention to phazer and oh. Haven’t seen anything from coinx in a week 🤷‍♂️

 

[StoneJack]

It is an incremental upgrade, but it also introduces new hardware - Lidar lasers. Cameras are also improved and internal GPU got upgraded and RAM added. It might be not big upgrade for those who have 2018 models - for sure- but for people like me (I am still with Pro 9.7 inch first gen) - thats a big jump.

 

[iZac]

...regardless of what some think/say the iPad is just not as strong as the previous models and for that reason I hope Apple will do the right thing and puts 7000 series in. Thats literally all it takes

Yup, I'm using a Gen 2 12.9" and absolutely all I need is the confidence that the iPad I travel with every day can withstand normal life. I don't want to worry about leaning against my bag in a $1000+ momentary lapse of memory, or pushing too had with my pen, when I'm drawing with it.

I'll pass and see if they introduce an actually fixed device in September.

 

[arvinsim]

Always dangerous waiting for another update as this iPad was expected October 2019 but only Just landed...so you never know

If the current one is working fine and the only reason for getting a new one is for the "SHINY!" aspect, it is certainly better to wait.
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Why? Explain, IN EXACT TERMS, how 8 GB of RAM would allow for any performance gains over 6 with the apps in the App Store

The same reason for bumping from 4GB to 6GB?

 

[PickUrPoison]

I was hoping that the laugh and wink would have conveyed satire, but this is an Apple board. I agree with you in theory on the keyboard; sexy, and it does not add a lot of thickness while providing protection front and rear. Again, in theory, because it does not exist for ANYONE to get hands on.

Gratuitous insults aside, meboy wasn’t replying to your post, rather Baymowe335’s.

 

[Metrosey]

Bit off topic but I cannot find a single MacBook refurbished tear down, does anyone have a picture of the inside of a recently bought refurbished MacBook?

 

[Freida]

We will disagree. You are Apple fan (which I am too) and defend Apple. I try to be a little bit more objective (as much as I can) and feel that 2018-> 2020 = lazy nothing. Literally just camera + wifi (who cares - you won't find the benefits now).
Apple has never done "re-binning" in the past so in this case it shows where they stand. So yeah, its lazy job. You can even see it in the marketing of the new iPad. No benchmarks nothing - (and apple always boast about benchmarks on their website).
They know its a step-gap upgrade. Nothing more, nothing less so I really have no clue why you feel or even have the desire to defend this miniscule update.

Your “fixes” aren’t fixes, you fixed nothing lol.

Your “celebrating as big” comment is a straw man. I never said any one feature upgrade was “big”. I said that with all those features upgrades (and the price reductions were nice too) that this 4th gen is the big release—compared to a 5th gen.

Like I said, A14X will be faster than the beastly A12Z, and mini-LED will be better than the current incredible display.

But realize you’re taking two features that (arguably) are least in need of upgrading, and assigning them more weight than the combined feature upgrades from 3rd gen to 4th gen.

I challenge that calculus, and disagree. For those who want to hold out for those features, that’s fine. But an even faster SoC and an even better display aren’t going to make a ton of difference imo. As always, if you don’t need it now, there’s always going to be a more featureful model coming sometime in the future.

PS Saying the eighth core was “unlocked” is a mischaracterization, as it was never locked. It’s a better binning of the A12X. Intel has done the same thing for years.

 

[44267547]

It is an incremental upgrade, but it also introduces new hardware - Lidar lasers. Cameras are also improved and internal GPU got upgraded and RAM added. It might be not big upgrade for those who have 2018 models - for sure- but for people like me (I am still with Pro 9.7 inch first gen) - thats a big jump.

Stellar post. And you’re right, this iPad is not targeted for 2018 Pro owners, it’s for those below the 2018 model that would see more of the performance upgrades, along with the camera/trackpad feature. and, for those who are ’non-Pro owners’, this would probably be an iPad that might sway them given the trackpad feature.

 

[meboy]

Thanks wannabe engineer. This isn’t lazy. There are exactly 0 apps that can approach taking the full power of the previous processor, let alone with an extra GPU core enabled. The new thermal design allows for the extra core to be enabled. Perhaps they were working with limited resources because of the pandemic’s effects on the supply line? No matter how you spin it, this is an impressive piece of hardware and calling it lazy from the sidelines is ridiculous
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Why? Explain, IN EXACT TERMS, how 8 GB of RAM would allow for any performance gains over 6 with the apps in the App Store

Are you aware that many people use art/design apps with many layers, etc? It's a pretty big market.
Many layers and other 3d apps will definitely chew through the 4gb on the last model, but 6gb should be plenty enough now for most. Into the future a few years is not so clear.

 

[Ghost31]

The bending remarks are humorous and really unwarranted. I have had the 12.9 Gen 1 since launch day. It gets hours a day and travels every day in my backpack. Never an issue or a bend. Such a useful tool. Honestly, any tablet can be bent (other than those carried by Moses perhaps)

I think as far as bending goes, they’re talking about the redesign that happened in 2018. Not your model

 

[mannyvel]

I wonder if there's a way to boost the LIDAR range somehow.

 

[Darth Tulhu]

Why? Explain, IN EXACT TERMS, how 8 GB of RAM would allow for any performance gains over 6 with the apps in the App Store

I personally will wait until the RAM goes up to at least 8 GB on these things. The concern is longevity.

If I'm paying laptop money for this device (which it IS worth it, no argument there), I want the investment to last just as long.

Perhaps it is a psychological barrier for me (it most likely is), but I wish these things had upgradeable RAM (at the time of purchase).

All that said, I think we either are approaching, or have already reached a point where the hardware will keep up with anything we can throw at it for quite a long time.

I admit that it is hard for me to break free from the old way of thinking about computing devices, especially since Apple has a history of giving us just enough for it to work well initially. Perhaps that time has passed, but recent events speak otherwise.

 

[kittycat40]

interesting thread

 

[kittycat40]

Fixes in bold

If you are really celebrating these things as "big" then it doesn't surprise me that we get such updates. Sorry but this was "stop-gap" job. Nothing more.

Here’s my list, I’ve probably missed something:

• A12Z: GPU upgrade (meh but sure why not) same as previous with some core unlocked (see benchmarks)
• 64—>128GB base storage was there before (meaning we had storage option before)
• 4GB—>6GB RAM (128/256/512GB) was there before (meaning 1TB had it)
• single—>dual camera mentioned
• LiDAR scanner mentioned
• Five “studio quality” microphones are we celebrating this as "big"?
• “Enhanced thermal architecture” are we celebrating this as "big"?
• WiFi 6 sure, nice forgot that one
• U1 chip—ultra wideband use?

A12Z is a great, but obviously the A14X will be even better, so that’ll be nice for the 5th gen. mini-LED and HDR support will be nice too but the display is already amazing.

With an already beastly A12Z and a truly excellent display, maybe the question isn’t really whether this 4th generation is worth buying, but whether the 5th gen will be worth buying.

Regarding the storage options on the iPad Pro Line up:
iPad Pro 1st generation had a storage options of 32gb, 128gb, and 256gb
iPad Pro 2nd generation had storage options of 64gb, 256gb, and 512gb
iPad Pro 3rd generation had storage options of 64gb, 256gb,512gb, and 1tb
iPad pro 4th generation has storage options of 128gb, 256gb,512gb, and 1tb

I know that 128gb storage isn't revolutionary. What is great about it though is Apple is now giving those who buy the base model 128gb storage. Whereas, on previous generations base storage was 32gb or 64gb for base model. Also the 4th generation base model didn't increase in price going from 3rd gen to 4th gen yet apple still gave double the storage for the base model so that's pretty cool. Although the 2nd gen iPad Pro did increase in price going from 2nd to 3rd generation.

What you missed was that 6gb was on the iPad Pro 3rd generation, but only on 1TB iPad Pro 3rd gen. The 64,256,and 512gb iPad Pro 3rd generation got only 4gb.

Now on the iPad Pro 4th generation every single model 128gb,256gb,512gb, and of course 1tb get 6gb of Ram. That's pretty neat for those NOT buying the 1tb model.

As mentioned you're going from a single to a dual camera. Also the rear camera is now for the first time in an iPad wide lens and ultra wide lens.


I know the LiDAR scanner was mentioned but it does a lot of cool things especially for those interested in augmented reality.

LiDAR Scanner measures the distance to surrounding objects up to 5 meters away, works both indoors and outdoors, and operates at the photo level. New depth frameworks measured by the LiDAR Scanner, data from both cameras and motion sensors, and is enhanced by computer vision algorithms on the A12Z Bionic for a more detailed understanding of a scene. The tight integration of these elements enables a whole new class of AR experiences on iPad Pro.

As mentioned Five “studio quality” microphones: offers improvements in sound in some scenarios and offers no improvements in other scenarios. Overall, the studio microphones aren't a major improvement, but they are an improvement albeit a very very very small one.

Wifi 6 as mentioned is new to this 4th generation iPad.

wifi6 is awesome here is more info on it: https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/21/18232026/wi-fi-6-speed-explained-router-wifi-how-does-work

U1 chip -ultra wideband was first introduced in the iPhone 11 and is now being introduced in the 4th gen iPad pro


Apple U1 ultra wideband chip will give AirDrop “spatial awareness” capabilities, so it can recongnize an iPhone you are pointing at. UWB can track proximity up to 20cm by measuring the time it takes for a radio signal to pass between two connected devices. While it is slower than WiFi, UWB is much faster than Bluetooth. It is also less vulnerable to interference, as its signals can pass more easily through the walls of a room. It's like a radar. Which is why UWB is useful for finding lost keys or wallets using tags such as the Bluetooth-based Tile.


A12Z: GPU upgrade (meh but sure why not) same as previous with some core unlocked?

Not sure if the GPU upgrade is because a core is unlocked. Although I am not ruling that out. Regardless the 12x chip utilizes 7 cores and the 12z utilizes 8 cores. Thus, the small GPU improvement. The CPU is most likely exactly the same between both chips.

2020 iPad Pro Benchmark Shows A12Z Bionic Offering Similar Performance as A12X Bionic

The first benchmark scores of the A12Z Bionic chip inside the 2020 iPad Pro have made their way to the internet. It looks like the chip does not bring that big of an improvement in performance compared to the A12Xaaa

www.iphonehacks.com

In the AnTuTu benchmark, the 2020 iPad Pro scored 712,218 points — slightly higher than the 705,585 points scored by the 2018 iPad Pro and its A12X Bionic chip. A breakdown of the benchmark scores indicates the CPU performance of the A12Z and the A12X Bionic chips are nearly the same — 186,186 for the A12Z vs 187,572 for the A12X Bionic. The GPU performance has seen a slight uplift for the A12Z Bionic as it scored 373,781 compared to 345,016 for the A12X Bionic. Apple itself had made it clear that the A12Z Bionic chip uses an 8-core GPU versus 7-core GPU on A12X which explains the improvement in performance.

Overall, the upgraded features in the 4th gen iPad Pro aren't groundbreaking especially for those coming from an iPad Pro 3rd gen. However, there are several really cool improvements like U1 Ultrawideband chip, WifI 6 etc. that some here dont seem to realize, understand, or acknowledge.

 

[ilikewhey]

Maybe, but I still call bull of a lot of that stuff. A phone or an iPad is a precision piece of eqiipment. Its not a screewdriver, you don't treat it like one where you just toss it around or shove it in a bag with 20 other things. You see these videos of people bending it, using both hands at full strength. Yeah, I could bend or break a Macbook too if I tried hard enough.

20 other things aside what about 3 brief files and a laptop, it’s pretty well established Apple did not use 7000 series Aluminium that they used to solve the bend gate for 6 to 6s.

 

[Bryan Bowler]

I might have considered buying one, but the fact that it’s a 3-month wait for the keyboard to come out makes it a no go for me. That’s about 20-30% of the lifecycle right there before the next model release. So for me, I’ll hold off until the next one comes out.

 

[Jury]

I might have considered buying one, but the fact that it’s a 3-month wait for the keyboard to come out makes it a no go for me. That’s about 20-30% of the lifecycle right there before the next model release. So for me, I’ll hold off until the next one comes out.

No doubt, the extra delay and overpriced for an accessory is a NO GO for the vast majority of the buyer.

 

[PickUrPoison]

We will disagree. You are Apple fan (which I am too) and defend Apple. I try to be a little bit more objective (as much as I can) and feel that 2018-> 2020 = lazy nothing. Literally just camera + wifi (who cares - you won't find the benefits now).
Apple has never done "re-binning" in the past so in this case it shows where they stand. So yeah, its lazy job. You can even see it in the marketing of the new iPad. No benchmarks nothing - (and apple always boast about benchmarks on their website).
They know its a step-gap upgrade. Nothing more, nothing less so I really have no clue why you feel or even have the desire to defend this miniscule update.

Why do you again repeat “Literally just camera + wifi”? I’ve already corrected you and you’re well aware there are four or five other differences. You know very well it’s not “just camera + wifi”, so stop saying it.

This 4th gen is a better, cheaper device than gen 3. How is that anything but a win? Would it have been better for Apple to keep selling gen 3 until (this fall or whenever) the A14X/mini-LED/5G model comes out? That would have been a lot “lazier” than putting out this 4th gen release.

The only thing to bitch about for this release is the SoC, since mini-LED and 5G aren’t ready yet. The release schedule for iPad Pro is upwards of a year and a half. That means they periodically have to skip a generation to keep in sync. Remember the A11X? Right, you don’t. Because there wasn’t one. Unless Apple releases an iPP every year, occasionally they’ll have to skip an SoC generation. It’s just the math. Deal with it.

So this isn’t a great release for those with the third gen. So what? Very few iPad Pro buyers upgrade to each and every new model. Skipping at least one generation is by far the more typical buying behavior, don’t you think?

So this isn’t for gen 3 buyers—big deal! For everyone else—gen 1 owners, gen 2 owners, first time buyers—this release is better and cheaper than what was available two weeks ago. How is that such a disaster?

Gen 3 buyers can wait for gen 5. They’ll get a better SoC (A14X), new mini-LED display technology and 5G (if they want it)—none of which are available yet. Isn’t that the device gen 3 owners really want anyway?

Even if it had an A13X, wouldn’t gen 3 owners still skip this 4th gen and wait for the gen 5 upgrades? I know I would. I really don’t see the problem.

 

[0924487]

That’s up to you but the major update will basically be mini led and a14x chip the rest will be the same most likely...the chips on the iPads are lighting fast so going from this chip to a14x I’m not sure in real world usage it will be that massive.

A14 and A14X will be the first 5nm chips on the planet. That's going to be a massive performance-per-watt jump. I think it's going to be around 2.2X the speed of their respective predecessors.

 

[macduke]

Two reasons:

• LIDAR sessions for WWDC since iPhone always launches late in the year. Developers can use this to prepare better AR apps for iPhone.
• When Apple launches the ARM Mac, rumored for late this year or early next year, they can upgrade the iPad alongside that to show the big leap forward they’ve been cooking up. Beefy 5nm goodness for the iPad Pro showing its faster than 95% of PCs or whatever. Then bring out the 14” MacBook Pro which blows the new iPad Pro out of the water, along with lots of comparisons and a general timeline for transitions, etc and show off optimizations done for macOS to fully utilize the tons of cores you get on ARM.

 

[chucker23n1]

A14 and A14X will be the first 5nm chips on the planet. That's going to be a massive performance-per-watt jump. I think it's going to be around 2.2X the speed of their respective predecessors.

I highly doubt we'll see such a leap.
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Even if it had an A13X, wouldn’t gen 3 owners still skip this 4th gen and wait for the gen 5 upgrades?

Yup. Everyone but bored tech pundits knows this. People with a late-2018 iPad Pro by and large aren't dying to upgrade to a faster one.
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No doubt, the extra delay and overpriced for an accessory is a NO GO for the vast majority of the buyer.

Yeah man.

I did buy an iPad Pro in October of 2018, but now that I know that the not-promised-before keyboard+trackpad combo is going to take me two more months of waiting and cost more than I expected a hypothetical product to, Imma go back in time and undo that purchase.

 

[otternonsense]

Hah! You knew it was incremental before you even laid fingers and screwdrivers on it.

And somehow all of us who criticised this update as purely incremental were branded "imaginationless cynical haters" by some folks here.

Hilarious.

 

[PickUrPoison]

Hah! You knew it was incremental before you even laid fingers and screwdrivers on it.

And somehow all of us who criticised this update as purely incremental were branded "imaginationless cynical haters" by some folks here.

Hilarious.

Nearly all generation to generation updates are incremental. Sometimes there’s a pretty major difference (e.g. iPhone X or 2018 Mac Pro) but usually it’s a relatively minor, incremental change. Just like this 4th gen iPad Pro—whether with the A12X, A12Z or A13X: a relatively minor, incremental improvement. (If you develop AR apps, however, you probably consider it more than just incremental.)

Anyone who called you an “imaginationless cynical hater” for calling this iPP update incremental is more than likely just confused about technology and how it progresses as it moves along the maturation curve.