iPad Pro 2024 vs 2022: What’s changed

You may have heard that Apple is updating its top-of-the-line tablets at its Let Loose event on Tuesday. The 2024 model has some big upgrades, including the new M4 chip, a “noticeably thinner and lighter” build, a superior OLED display and improved accessories. We’ve broken down the key differences between the latest iPad Pro and its 2022 predecessor to help you figure out whether it’s worth the (huge) investment.

Display and dimensions

In Engadget’s hands-on talk at Apple’s “Let Loose” event, deputy editor Nathan Ingraham said the new iPad Pro’s thinner and lighter build and its Tandem OLED display are the first big changes you’ll notice when you pick up the most the new model.

“In Apple’s ultra-bright demo area, the iPad Pro’s screen showed its quality—everything was extremely clear, blacks were pitch-black, and colors really popped,” he said after using it at an Apple event. “After looking at the display on the iPad Air, it was obvious how much better these screens are.”

Another change you’ll notice when you compare the two iPad Pros side-by-side is the camera positioning. The 2024 model moves its front-facing camera to the top center when viewed in landscape orientation. The older model used Apple’s original iPad configuration, where the camera was centered above the screen when held upright in portrait mode.

The new iPad Pro is also noticeably lighter and thinner than its 2022 predecessor. The 13-inch model is just 5.11 mm (0.2 inches) thick and weighs just 579 g (1.28 lbs), which making it 20 percent thinner and 15 percent lighter than the 12.9-inch from 2022. Meanwhile, the new 11-inch variant is 5.3 mm (0.21 in) thick and weighs 444 g (0.98 lb ), making it 10 percent thinner and five percent lighter than the older one.

Given that the 2022 model was already a sleek machine, it’s no wonder we found the new iPad Pro to be surprisingly thin and light for its processing power. Speaking of which…

Processor

The iPhone maker introduced a new version of Apple Silicon for the first time on the iPad instead of the Mac. The all-new M4 chip has up to a 10-core CPU configuration (four performance cores and six efficiency cores), which the company says means one and a half times faster performance than the M2 silicon in the 2022 model.

I say “up to” because, like MacBooks and some older iPad Pro models, Apple ships different chip variants depending on your price point. The 1TB and 2TB versions of the 2024 model have this 10-core chip, while the 256GB and 512GB models step down to a nine-core M4 with three performance and six efficiency cores.

The lower-end and high-end M4 variants include a 10-core GPU with hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a 16-core neural engine, 120 GB/s memory bandwidth, and 16 GB of RAM. So the different models don’t sound drastically different—you just get an extra core of performance in the more expensive tiers. We’ll have to wait until we get some hands-on time with them to see how this translates into a real-life experience.

By comparison, the M2 in the iPad Pro 2022 has an octa-core processor with four performance cores and four efficiency cores. It also has a 16-core Neural Engine (admittedly an older version than the one in the M4), 100GB/s memory bandwidth and 8GB or 16GB of RAM.

Accessories

The new iPad Pro also has some new accessories that you can’t use with the 2022 model. These include a new Magic Keyboard, which Apple claims “makes the entire experience feel like using a MacBook.”

You can thank the larger trackpad with tactile feedback (as in modern MacBooks) and an aluminum palm rest. The older model used microfiber material and a trackpad with a physical click, so the new one should feel more solid in your hands and match the look and feel of the MacBook.

The new Magic Keyboard also adds a new 14-key function row (also similar to the MacBook) with shortcuts for things like brightness, Spotlight search, Siri/dictation, and media controls.

Meanwhile, the Apple Pencil Pro — exclusively compatible with the 2024 iPad Pro and iPad Air — looks a lot like its predecessor, but adds some extra goodies. They include a new sensor in its barrel that lets you squeeze it like the lovely little stylus that it is.

The new squeeze gesture can bring up tool palettes or activate shortcuts. Third-party developers can even customize actions for individual apps. For the first time, it also adds haptic feedback to let you know if your squeeze has been accepted or if something you’ve moved has hit the intended spot.

The new Apple Pencil also works with Find My (another first), so you can check its latest location in Apple’s Location app if you lose it.

Both models also work with the cheaper ($79) 2023 USB-C Apple Pencil.

Price

Well, it can’t all be good news. With all these improvements, Apple is once again asking you to consider paying more for a high-end tablet. The 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $999, and the 13-inch model starts at a whopping $1,299. Each is $200 more than the starting prices on the 2022 model (when available).

But wait, it gets worse. Those prices don’t take into account the $299 (11-inch) or $349 (13-inch) you’ll pay if you want to add the new Magic Keyboard, nor do they take into account the $129 for the Apple Pencil Pro. You’ll have to go to great lengths to make the new iPad Pro as MacBook-like as possible: it’ll cost you about what you’d pay for a base 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M3 chip.

On the slightly better side, you get more storage this time around. The 2024 iPad Pro starts at 256GB, double the 128GB in the 2022 model. Moving up from there, the other storage tiers are identical to its predecessor (ranging up to 2TB for those with Scrooge McDuck bank accounts).

Full specs comparison

Here’s a table showing the full specs comparison between the 2024 and 2022 iPad Pro models, including separate charts for the 13/12.9-inch and 11-inch variants.

13-inch iPad Pro (2024) vs. 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2022)

11-inch iPad Pro (2024) vs. 11-inch iPad Pro (2022)

Stay tuned for Engadget’s full review of the 2024 model. In the meantime, you can recap Nathan Ingraham’s initial impressions of the new iPad Pro and Apple Pencil Pro, Devindra Hardawar’s roundup of the new model’s features, and Sam Rutherford’s review of the new M4 chip.

Follow all the news live from Apple’s Let Loose event right here.