New 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.

When Will the 2021 iPad Pro Be Released?

The next-gen iPad Pro was announced on April 20, 2021. It'll be available in the second half of May.

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 new one starts a tad higher, at $1,099 for the base model, up to $2,399 for the highest storage option with cellular connectivity.

Pre-Order Information

Pre-orders for the 2021 iPad Pro began on April 30, 2021, on Apple's website. It's available in the US and 30 other countries and regions but won't ship out until sometime between May 21 and May 28.

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 the new iPad Pro:

2021 iPad Pro Features

The following is available with the new iPad Pro:

• Hardware boost: The 4th gen iPad Pro includes the A12Z chip, which, according to Apple, is 50 percent slower than what this new 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 new 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 new 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. This new iPad will eventually run iPadOS 15 when it comes out, but we don't expect the preview of that OS until this summer. 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.