New iPad Pro Announced With A12Z Bionic Chip, Magic Keyboard With Trackpad, LiDAR Scanner, Ultra Wide Camera

[I7guy]

Amazing how long it took Apple to completely replicate the Surface ARM line...
Seems that way nobody is shouting ‘direct copy of’ too loud because of the years it took Apple to actually come out with that copy.
Now we have: an iPad that is a laptop-like with touchscreen, something many die hards warned us against for years because of the ‘severe fatigue’ involved in touching a screen while being propped up as a laptop.
...

It's true. It's very fatiguing, the diehards knew what they were talking about.

Not to worry, you can hook a bluetooth mouse to the ipad, mitigating the issue.

The cool thing is, remove the trackpad and it actually works like an ipad. Don't have to worry about tablet mode or not.

 

[triangletechie]

The new keyboard doesn't look like it's using the same material as the old ones based on that photo. I hope it's different. I don't really like the feel of the older smart keyboards.

 

[aknabi]

Ahahahahaha good one mate! ))))

I like how loyalty rimes with stupidity though.

Although I must admit that keyboard looks sexy. There's no denying it... but man... 300 usd .... in Europe it will break the 350 EUR and it's insane.
I mean if you sum up the ipad and the keyboard you end up better off at buying a Macbook Air if I am not mistaken.

Given the MBAir refresh it's looking like a far better choice... those have a really sweet price/spec ration

 

[GreekFeeling]

So the display stays exactly the same as the last generation?

 

[i'm the mac daddy]

I'm ok with the price of the new keyboard. If everyone was one paying $199, then $150 more for a trackpad, backlit keyboard, and adjustable angle isn't bad at all. And these things will be discounted in a couple months after launch. So pick it up for $249 or even $229 from BHPhoto, BestBuy, or elsewhere. If you have the 2018 iPadPro with the SmartKeyboard then this is expensive upgrade. If you don't have the 2018 and buying a new 2020 iPadPro the additional $150 is worth it, better upgrade than going from 512GB to 1TB IMO.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

I'm not jealous of the new iPad Pro's specs (though I'm sure the cameras are great... but what's up with that 10mp main shooter?)...

I'M JEALOUS THAT THE NEW IPADS GET SMART FOLIOS THAT COME IN COLORS.

 

[D.T.]

Not at all surprised by the Magic KB/TP, those two peripherals as stand-alone items - while not directly comparable - are ~$150/each, this is backlit, and a case/portfolio/protector.

Works with previous gen pro models, I'm all in. I've already got an extra KB/TP setup with our Pro 12.9, so looking forward to exploring 13.4's support prior to getting a fully portable solution

 

[DNichter]

I won't be upgrading from the previous model. I love that keyboard/trackpad combo, but the price is too high. Happy with my current set up.

 

[seadragon]

Awesome! Nice to see the iPad evolving with more options.

 

[Greenmeenie]

Totally fine with my 2018 11” iPad Pro. Was hoping Apple was going to announce an iPad Mini Pro. Guess not. Oh well.

 

[russell_314]

That's not an excuse to rip people off no matter how you defend it.

The last gen keyboards were already $179/199. These could have EASILY been priced fairly at 229/249 and given them a $50 premium still. The profit margin was already likely insane on these vs cost to make.

$120/150 premium is asinine sorry. They are very nearly doubling the cost. There is no defense to it.

It’s a whole new keyboard with a different mechanism so you can’t compare it to the other one. Again Apple products are expensive and some feel too expensive. I’m pretty sure everyone on these forms knows Apple products are not cheap but it makes you feel better carry on telling us about how Apple is overpriced. I’m pretty sure people that buy Apple products are okay with spending more for what they get. If not they wouldn’t buy them. If you’re trying to save money there are many alternatives.

 

[rp2011]

They'll drop the Lidar scanner in 3 years, like they dropped force-touch on iPhones.

No one is going to use it or develop for it in any app that matters.

I’m glad it’s there. Curious to see what/if developers do with it. Tools are good.

 

[russell_314]

I don’t think the keyboard is that badly priced. It would cost you at least 200 for the Magic Trackpad and Magic Keyboard 2. The iPad keyboard is also backlit And it has a sturdy hinge. If your iPad is essential to your workflow I think it would be worth it. On the plus side the standard Smart Keyboard is also available.

Yep significantly better than the old one. I’m so glad they went all out

 

[falainber]

I'm ok with the price of the new keyboard. If everyone was one paying $199, then $150 more for a trackpad, backlit keyboard, and adjustable angle isn't bad at all. And these things will be discounted in a couple months after launch. So pick it up for $249 or even $229 from BHPhoto, BestBuy, or elsewhere. If you have the 2018 iPadPro with the SmartKeyboard then this is expensive upgrade. If you don't have the 2018 and buying a new 2020 iPadPro the additional $150 is worth it, better upgrade than going from 512GB to 1TB IMO.

What's happened to $10 keyboards? A computer that needs a $300 keyboard (which is more than the cost of some computers) is a total failure.

 

[cardfan]

Sorry Apple. Can’t imagine buying this. No screen improvements?

 

[0-0]

wow so the iPad floats when attached to the keyboard... now that is cool

 

[linkgx1]

Close to buying.....but! You think they will release another one this year with mini led?

 

[KevinAPearson]

So I guess I'll be waiting for a 3rd party to make a keyboard with track pad. Even the ones out there at the moment are too expensive never mind $300. I could buy 3 wheels towards a mac pro for that!

 

[PostApple2016BrainWash]

The A12Z does not offer major improvement except include 1 extra GPU core and the rear array of camera placement is like Apple employees don't give a DAMN HOW IT LOOKS.

 

[The_Interloper]

The thing is, you don't HAVE to buy keyboard at all. Or you can buy previous gen keyboard and use that.

The previous gen keyoard folio won't work with the new iPad Pro as the camera bump is too large for the previous cutout.

I don’t think the keyboard is that badly priced. It would cost you at least 200 for the Magic Trackpad and Magic Keyboard 2. The iPad keyboard is also backlit And it has a sturdy hinge.

I own the 2018 iPad Pro 11" and think the price of this new keyboard is absolutely obscene. Nothing justifies that price. I also own a Surface Pro 7 and the Type Cover for that cost me £95 which also includes excellent backlit keys and a glass trackpad (the hinge is included in the Surface by design, in the form of the kickstand).

$349 for the 12.9"? It's sheer greed, pure and simple.

 

[reallynotnick]

The A12Z gives credence to another iPad Pro update late this year with an A14X chip, looks like the A13X will be skipped.

Right now the only obvious update from the A12X to the A12Z is going from 7 to 8 GPU cores. Possibly there has been some clock speed increases for the CPU and GPU, and maybe RAM got bumped, but I wouldn't expect much difference from this chip. Still better than sticking with the A12X for the next ~7 months.

Edit: Looks like I was right on RAM getting bumped as it is now 6GB for all models which is nice.

 

[RadioHedgeFund]

LiDAR is a game changer if a £700 tablet can now be used as a 3D scanner for throwing data into a CAD program for 3D printing.

 

[widestload]

So glad this hasn't been delayed! 512gb 12.9" ordered . Hope the keyboard doesn't take too long.

 

[xgman]

geeze $1,100 for the basic small, with keyboard. just what I need now that everyone is getting laid off of work, right?.... ugg

 

[The_Interloper]

wow so the iPad floats when attached to the keyboard... now that is cool

Surely the iPad will wobble about when you need to touch the screen though? The trackpad will mitigate that, but there are still going to be occasions when you need to use touch - or the Pencil, for that matter.

This accessory indicates Apple want you to make a choice - touch when detached, trackpad-only when using the keyboard. The screen wobble would indicate the two won't mix.