New iPad Pro officially unveiled: Lidar replaces three lenses!

Available now

March 18, 2020, 4:03 pm Reading time: 3 minutes

Apple has released the new iPad Pro 11 and the new iPad Pro 12.9 vintage 2020 in a press release. One of the highlights is the lidar mounted on the back. Here you can find everything you need to know about the technology, price, and performance of your new iPad.

On the back of the new iPad Pro, you'll find a new dual camera with a LIDAR sensor. [Source: Apple]

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We may not know if Apple plans to hold a press conference on Wednesday or a keynote speech. As expected, the manufacturer showed reporters its latest tablet in a press release while updating its store page and homepage. You can now order a new iPad Pro. Sales will start in a week.

1. Surprise: No triple camera on the back

Anyone following the tablet rumor stage is actually counting on the triple camera on the back. There are rumors of a triple camera with a ToF sensor because it should also be installed in the upcoming iPhone 12. Now the surprise is: In addition to the wide-angle camera with a 12-megapixel resolution, both new iPad Pro variants are equipped with ultra-wide-angle optics with a resolution of 10 megapixels. But what is missing is the expected telephoto camera. Instead, there is a flat gray surface between the LED flash and the microphone. Lidar is behind it.

You may know the terms related to autonomous driving from the automotive industry. LIDAR is also used in some vacuum cleaner robots. LIDAR is an abbreviation for "Light Detection and Ranging." The sensor measures the time it takes for the emitted light beam to be reflected by the object. From this, the distance can be determined very accurately, which Apple calls a five-meter radius. You may have guessed: Yes, Apple's own tape measure app will provide better results in the future, and Apple has announced an update. But this sensor is mainly used in AR applications.

2. Surprise: not A13X Bionix, but A12Z Bionic

What will happen after A12X? A12Z Bionic at Apple. The graphics processor contains eight cores designed to enable demanding 4K video editing. However, this has become possible without any problems with the predecessor products launched in 2018. Initial benchmarking and actual testing must determine how powerful the new system-on-chip [SoC] is.

The fact that Apple is not currently performing other typical performance comparisons, coupled with the unusual name A12Z, indicates that the performance update is much smaller than a completely new SoC. Among other things, thermal management is said to have improved. Apple claims battery life is ten hours. This also applies to the previous generation and indeed to all current iPad models.

Display remains the same, new microphone is replaced

The display has not changed. In both versions, it still provides full support for the P3 color space and dynamic refresh rates up to 120 Hz [ProMotion technology].

There is also no word on speakers [four] and Apple Pencil support [Apple Pencil 2], but the built-in microphone does. The new iPad Pro now offers five microphones for "studio-quality recording."

iPad Pro 2020: price and availability

The new iPad Pro is now available in the Apple Store and can be ordered in the following versions.

IPad Pro with 11-inch display and 128 GB storage: 879 Euros [LTE version: 1,049 Euros]
IPad Pro with 11-inch display and 256 GB of memory: € 989 [LTE version: € 1,159]
IPad Pro with 11-inch display and 512 GB storage: € 1,209 [LTE version: € 1,379]
IPad Pro with 11-inch display and 1 TB storage: € 1,429 [LTE version: € 1,599]
IPad Pro with 12.9-inch display and 128 GB storage: € 1,099 [LTE version: € 1,269]
IPad Pro with 12.9-inch display and 256 GB storage: € 1,209 [LTE version: € 1,379]
IPad Pro with 12.9-inch display and 512 GB of memory: € 1,429 [LTE version: € 1,599]
IPad Pro with 12.9-inch display and 1 TB storage: € 1,649 [LTE version: € 1,819]
[Excluding Apple Pencil 2]