2021 iPad Pro: News, Price, Release Date, and Specs

Apple announced upgraded 12.9-inch and 11-inch iPad Pros in 2021. Several changes came with these 5th gen models, like a mini-LED display, 5G, the M1 chip, and beefier internals.

2021 iPad Pro Release Date

This iPad Pro was announced on April 20, 2021, and became available for purchase the following month in the US and 30 other countries and regions.

2021 iPad Pro Price

The 11-inch model ranges from $799 for the smallest storage option to $2,099 for the cellular option and 2 TB of storage.

The previous 12.9-inch iPad Pro started at $999. This one starts a tad higher, at $1,099 for the base model, up to $2,399 for the highest storage option with cellular connectivity.

2021 iPad Pro Features

The following is available with this iPad Pro:

• Hardware boost: The 4th gen iPad Pro includes the A12Z chip, which, according to Apple, is 50 percent slower than what this iPad is packing: Apple's homemade M1 chip. The new chip improves battery life and brings better performance for things like gaming and multitasking.
• 5G support: All previous models have had both Wi-Fi and cellular options. It's also true for this year’s release, but it goes a bit further by including support for next-gen 5G wireless. With the fifth-gen mobile network spreading worldwide, it makes sense for Apple to let this tablet reap some of those speed benefits.
• More RAM and storage: The smallest amount of hard drive space you can get in the 2021 iPad Pro is 128 GB, and the most is 2 TB—plenty of storage for all your games and movies.
• Mini-LED display: The iPad’s screen uses the less expensive and more energy-efficient mini-LED technology. Like the early rumors purported, the screen has over 10,000 LED chips as its backlight source, which means better contrast, darker blacks, and brighter brights.
• Thunderbolt support: Thunderbolt and USB 4 support make the tablet's USB-C port, according to Apple, "the fastest, most versatile port ever on an iPad," with four times the bandwidth (up to 40 Gbps) for wired connections than the previous iPad Pro.
• Center Stage: The iPad's Ultra-Wide camera has a feature called Center Stage that keeps you perfectly framed during video calls.
• iPadOS 14: v14 isn’t new (it came out in September 2020), so you’re probably already familiar with it and won’t have to learn much of anything new. Following that update, this iPad can run iPadOS 15. You can learn more about iPadOS 14 to see all of its features.

2021 iPad Pro Specs and Hardware

Below is a look at the iPad Pro 2021 specs.

iPad Pro 2021 Specs
Finish:	Silver, Space Gray
Capacity:	128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB
Display:	12.9" and 11"; Liquid Retina XDR display; mini-LED backlit
Chip:	M1 chip with next-gen Neural Engine
Camera:	12MP Wide and 10MP Ultra Wide cameras; Wide: ƒ/1.8 aperture; Ultra Wide: ƒ/2.4 aperture; 2x optical zoom out; digital zoom up to 5x; Smart HDR 3 for photos
Apple Pencil:	Apple Pencil 2nd gen compatibility
iPad Keyboard:	Magic Keyboard and Smart Keyboard Folio compatibility
Video Recording:	4K recording at 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps; 1080p HD recording at 25, 30, or 60 fps; extended dynamic range for video up to 30 fps, 2x optical zoom out; digital zoom up to 3x; audio zoom; slo-mo video for 1080p at 120 or 240 fps
Speakers:	Four speaker audio
Microphones:	Five mics for calls and video/audio recording
Cellular and Wireless:	5G (sub‑6 GHz and mmWave); Gigabit LTE (up to 32 bands); Wi‑Fi + Cellular
SIM Card:	Nano-SIM; eSIM
Sensors:	Face ID; LiDAR Scanner; Three-axis gyro; Accelerometer; Barometer; Ambient light sensor
Charging and Expansion:	USB-C connector with support for Thunderbolt / USB 4
Power and Battery:	Up to 10 hrs of surfing the web on Wi-Fi or watching video; up to 9 hrs on cellular network

The Latest News About the 2021 iPad Pro

You can get more Apple-related content from Lifewire; below are some news stories and earlier rumors regarding this particular iPad Pro: