The fourth-generation iPad Pro is a line of

tablet computer A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being comput ...

s designed, developed and marketed by

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

Two models, with a 12.9 inch or 11 inch screen, were both announced on March 18, 2020, and released on March 25. The iPad Pro features a similar design, and the same screen sizes, as the previous generation, but has an upgraded camera module with

Lidar Lidar (, also LIDAR, or LiDAR; sometimes LADAR) is a method for determining ranges (variable distance) by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. It can also be ...

capabilities and an upgraded A12Z processor.

Features

Hardware

LiDAR_Scanner_and_Back_Camera_of_iPad_Pro_2020_-_4

The 2020 model features an

Apple A12Z The Apple A12X Bionic is a 64-bit system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc. It first appeared in the iPad Pro (3rd generation), announced on October 30, 2018. The A12X is an 8-core variant of the A12 (four big cores, four small cores) an ...

processor, with an octa-core

CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, an ...

and

GPU A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mob ...

, support for

Wi-Fi 6 IEEE 802.11ax, officially marketed by the Wi-Fi Alliance as (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) and (6 GHz), is an IEEE standard for wireless local-area networks (WLANs) and the successor of 802.11ac. It is also known as ''High Efficiency'' , for ...

, and an upgraded camera setup with a 12MP wide camera, a 10MP ultra-wide camera, and a

LiDAR Lidar (, also LIDAR, or LiDAR; sometimes LADAR) is a method for determining ranges (variable distance) by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. It can also be ...

scanner for

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory Modality (human–computer interaction), modalities, including visual, Hearing, auditory, hap ...

. From the 2018 to 2020 models, the

RAM Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch ...

was increased from 4 to 6 GB (4-6 GiB) on the 128 GB, 256 GB and 512 GB models. The 4th Generation 1 TB models have the same 6 GB of RAM as the 2018 models. The base storage option was doubled from 64 GB to 128 GB.

Accessories

A new Magic Keyboard was released on April 22, 2020, which includes a trackpad, backlit keys, USB-C port for pass-through charging, and a cantilever design, allowing the iPad Pro to "float" above the keys. The Magic Keyboard is compatible with the 3rd and 4th generation iPad Pro. Support for trackpads, mice, and pointing devices was announced as a feature of version 13.4 of

iPadOS iPadOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for its iPad line of tablet computers. It is a rebranded variant of iOS, the operating system used by Apple's iPhones, renamed to reflect the diverging features of the two product ...

, which was released on March 24, 2020. Like its predecessor, this version of iPad Pro supports the

Apple Pencil Apple Pencil is a line of wireless stylus pen accessories designed and developed by Apple Inc. for use with supported iPad tablets. The first-generation Apple Pencil was announced alongside the first iPad Pro on September 9, 2015. It communi ...

, a variety of cases, and

USB-C USB-C (properly known as USB Type-C) is a 24-pin USB connector system with a rotationally symmetrical connector. The designation C refers only to the connector's physical configuration or form factor and should not be confused with the conne ...

accessories.

Reception

The 2020 model of the iPad Pro was seen as a minor spec bump amongst tech reviewers. Although the addition in RAM and change in storage options were welcomed, the LiDAR sensor that Apple added for increased AR capability was touted as a feature only a few customers would use. Dieter Bohn from ''

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts. The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media' ...

'' welcomed the new camera setup. However, he considered the device lacking as a tool for video conferencing. Bohn noted that even though most iPad users now use the device primarily in landscape mode in a keyboard case, Apple continues to place the front-facing camera on the device's short edge, a positioning more compatible with use in portrait mode. He added, "in iPadOS, Apple doesn't allow apps to use the camera unless they're active in the foreground. That's nice from a peace-of-mind perspective but absolutely terrible for video conferencing." Despite receiving an update to iPadOS, the 2020 model was planned to not receive one of the leading features, Stage Manager. This caused controversy as Apple provided inconclusive reasons as to why Stage Manager could not be supported. Due to criticism, a single-screen version of Stage Manager was added on 2018 and 2020 iPad Pros in iPadOS 16.1 Beta.

Timeline

Notes

References

External links

* {{Apple Pro

iPad Pro The iPad Pro is a premium model of Apple's iPad tablet computer. It runs iPadOS, a tablet-optimized version of the iOS operating system. The original iPad Pro was introduced in September 2015, and ran iOS 9. The second-generation iPad ...

Tablet computers Touchscreen portable media players Tablet computers introduced in 2020 Foxconn