The new 10.5-inch iPad Pro is the first iPad to support HDR video
Seven years of iPad evolution have led to this moment.
After months of speculation, Apple blew all doubters away with a brand new 10.5-inch iPad Pro at WWDC 2017.
The 10.5-inch iPad Pro slots in between the 9.7 iPad (just iPad) and the newly updated 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which itself finally sees its first refresh since launching in 2015.
The new 10.5-inch iPad Pro's got a 20% larger screen, but its dimensions aren't significantly bigger than the 9.7-inch iPad thanks to 40% slimmer bezels. The display's not quite edge-to-edge as rumored for the iPhone 8, but it's still nice to see the bezels get shrunken down. It weighs only 1 pound.
Speaking of the screen, it's got all the perks of the now discontinued 9.7-inch iPad Pro, including support for DCI-P3 Wide Color Gamut for a wider range of visible colors, and True Tone, which adjusts the white balance of the screen based on the ambient light in a room. The 10.5-inch iPad Pro's resolution is 2,224 x 1,688 at 264 pixels per inch.
Powering the new iPad Pro is a new, desktop-class A10X Fusion chip with six-cores and a 12-core GPU with 40 faster graphics than the A9X.
The new 10.5-inch iPad Pro's also got all of the "pro" features from previous models such as a quad speakers (firing from the top and bottom), a three-dot Smart Connector for attaching a keyboard, and improved Apple Pencil support.
And thankfully, Apple didn't feel courageous enough to remove the headphone jack. It lives another day on iPad!
Using an iPad for taking photos and videos is still iffy, but if you must, there's at least a new 12-megapixel iSight camera with optical image stabilization on the back and a 7-megapixel FaceTime camera on the front. These are the same cameras on the iPhone 7.
The 10.5-inch iPad Pro’s display is the first mobile screen capable of updating its refresh rate on the fly (Apple calls it "ProMotion"), shifting from 24Hz, 48Hz and 120Hz (a first on iPad), depending on the content displayed. Furthermore, ProMotion helps improve Apple Pencil latency down to 20 milliseconds.
You've probably guessed it, but we'll specify: the new iPad Pro is not cheap. $649 gets you 64GB of storage, $749 for 256GB, and $949 for 512GB. LTE models cost $779 for 64GB, $879 for 256GB, and $1,079 for 512GB.
It'll be available in the usual silver, gold, space gray, and rose gold. The new iPad Pro is available immediately and ship in a week.
Apple didn't give it much on-stage time, but the 12.9-inch iPad Pro's also been updated with the same specs as the 10.5-inch model, with the same A10X Fusion chip, 12-megapixel iSight camera and 7-megapixel FaceTime HD camera. The new 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at $799 for the 64GB Wi-Fi model.
Raymond Wong is Mashable's Senior Tech Correspondent. He reviews gadgets and tech toys and analyzes the tech industry. Raymond's also a bit of a camera geek, gamer, and fine chocolate lover. Before arriving at Mashable, he was the Deputy Editor of NBC Universal's tech publication DVICE. His writing has appeared on G4TV, BGR, Yahoo and Ubergizmo, to name a few. You can follow Raymond on Twitter @raywongy or Instagram @sourlemons.
