Two weeks ago, Apple released the new iPad Pro. On the outside, they (there is an 11-inch one and a 12.9-inch one) look the same as the previous generation. But it is a different story inside. They are powered by Apple’s brilliant M1 chips that debuted on MacBooks and Mac Mini last year. That means desktop-class computing power on a tablet. The catch, though, is iPads still run iPadOS, which has been getting better in multitasking but still has a long way to go to match the functionality of macOS or Windows.
The new 12.9-inch iPad Pro has a new display technology. Apple calls it Liquid Retina XDR. It has mini LED backlighting to achieve higher brightness and greater contrast than the older Liquid Retina displays. The new 11-inch iPad Pro, however, uses the old technology. Both have USB-C connectors with support for Thunderbolt/USB 4 and offer 5G connectivity.
The 11-incher starts at Rs71,900 (128 GB storage) and the 12.9-incher at Rs99,900 (128 GB). If you think that is a lot of money for a tablet, you can consider the iPad Air (fourth generation) released a few months ago. It has the same design as the iPad Pro and a USB-C connector. The A14 Bionic chip is excellent. It starts at Rs54,900 (64 GB). Another option is the iPad (eighth generation). The design is dated, the display is inferior, the A12 Bionic chip is old and there is only Lightning connector. But it starts at just Rs29,900 (32 GB). The iPad Mini shares the configuration with the iPad in a smaller package (7.9 inches) and starts at Rs34,900 (64 GB).