At an event that was held in March, Apple had announced its next-generation of 9.7-inch iPad, along with a new 4-inch iPhone and a few new straps for the Apple Watch.
We were expecting the Air range to be upgraded, however, it looks like the upgrade is not going to happen anytime soon, as the 9.7-inch iPad fall to the Pro category.
So, how does the 9.7-inch iPad fair against the bigger 12.7 inch iPad Pro? Here we have put the specs of the two devices for better comparison between the two devices.
Design
The Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch measures 305.7 x 220.6 x 6.9mm and weighs 713g for the Wi-Fi only model or 723g for the Wi-Fi and Cellular model. It offers the same aluminium design as the iPad Air 2 with the Lightning connector centralised at the bottom and Touch ID built into the home button on the front.
On the other side of the ring, the 9.7-inch model measures 240 x 169.5 x 6.1mm and weighs 437g. This is of course significantly smaller than the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, as well as slightly slimmer, but the design is the same, just the overall form factor is a bit smaller.
Moreover, the device will also be available in rose gold, as well as the same gold, silver and space grey colours of the larger iPad Pro.
Display
The Apple iPad Pro is, without a doubt, the largest iPad that is available on the market at the moment. It features a 12.9-inch display which is an LED-backlit Retina display has a 2732 x 2048 resolution for a pixel density of 264ppi.
As for the smaller iPad Pro, it comes with a 9.7 inches wide display which features a 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution, which results in the same pixel density as the 12.9-inch model at 264ppi.
However, in the new model, Apple has added a new technology which they are calling the True Tone Display. This could mean that the overall experience may be slightly better than the larger model.
Specs
The Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch comes with the A9X processor and M9 motion co-processor. It also sports 4GB of RAM. Talking of the internal memory, the Wi-Fi only model comes in 32GB and 128GB options, while the Wi-Fi and Cellular model are only available with 128GB of internal storage.
As for the smaller iPad, it runs on the same processor and co-processor as the larger version, however, the RAM is lesser here at 2GB. The internal memory options have been increased with three versions having 32, 128 and 356 GB of storage.
Camera
The Apple iPad Pro has an 8-megapixel iSight camera with a f/2.4 aperture, coupled with a 1.2-megapixel front camera featuring a f/2.2 aperture. The rear camera can shoot 1080p videos, while the front-facing can manage 720p recording.
The camera on the 9.7-inch iPad Pro is much different from the larger device. The Apple iPad Pro 9.7-inch not only adds a True Tone flash to the mix, making it the first iPad to offer this feature, but it also increases the resolution of both the front and rear camera sensors.
More precisely, the rear camera is a 12-megapixel snapper with a f/2.2 aperture and 4K video recording capabilities, and the front facing shooter is a 5-megapixel one, packing Retina Flash.All in all, the device is definitely a 6S in a tablet form factor.
All in all, the device is definitely a 6S in a tablet form factor.
Battery
The iPad Pro features a Non-removable Li-Ion 10,307 mAh battery (38.8 Wh) while the smaller device is backed by a 7,306 mAh battery (27.9 Wh).
Pricing and Availability
The iPad Pro starts from $799, whereas the 9.7-inch iPad pricing starts from $599. The 12.9-inch instalment is already available in the U.S., Europe and Asia, while the smaller sibling is expected to hit U.S. shelves in the next few weeks – Europe and Asia to follow suit in mid-May to early-June.
The Verdict
So, in a nutshell, this device is definitely for those who want all the goodness of the bigger iPad in a smaller form factor, which is cheaper as well. The camera improvement is also a motivational factor to buy the 9.7-inch device. Hence, the final decision comes down to personal preference.