Everything you need to know about Apple’s new M2 iPad Pros

Apple announced new iPads today just in time to make it onto holiday shopping lists. At the top of the drop are the new 11- and 12.9-inch iPad Pros with M2 chip — this is the same second-generation custom silicon inside of the redesigned 13-inch MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.

Coming with the new M2 iPad Pros is the redesigned 10th-generation iPad, available in four colors, and — for the first time on an iPad — a webcam in landscape orientation.

So what’s new about the M2 iPad Pros? And should you upgrade if you own an M1 iPad Pro or older model?

First, some tech specs so you can compare the differences between the two M2 iPad Pros. As you can see, they’re identical in every way except display size and panel type (the 12.9-inch is still the only model with mini-LED), and battery capacity. Otherwise, the chip, storage, RAM, and connectivity (Wi-Fi6E is new!) are all the same.

The M2 iPad Pros are also compatible with previous M1 iPad Pro accessories including the Magic Keyboard and second-generation Apple Pencil.

M2 iPad Pro (11-inch) tech specs

• Display: 11 inches LED
• Chipset: M2 with 8core CPU and 10-core GPU
• Storage: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB
• RAM: 8GB RAM (128GB, 256GB, 512GB) and 16GB (1TB and 2TB)
• Cameras: 12-megapixel f/1.8 rear camera + 10-megapixel ultrawide + 12-megapixel f/2.4 ultrawide selfie
• Software: iPadOS 16
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, 6G (sub-6GHz and mmWave)
• SIM: Nano-SIM and eSIM
• Colors: Silver or Space Gray

M2 iPad Pro (12.9-inch) tech specs

• Display: 12.9 inches mini-LED
• Chipset: M2 with 8core CPU and 10-core GPU
• Storage: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB
• RAM: 8GB RAM (128GB, 256GB, 512GB) and 16GB (1TB and 2TB)
• Cameras: 12-megapixel f/1.8 rear camera + 10-megapixel ultrawide + 12-megapixel f/2.4 ultrawide selfie
• Software: iPadOS 16
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, 6G (sub-6GHz and mmWave)
• SIM: Nano-SIM and eSIM
• Colors: Silver or Space Gray

M2 performance — The big update on the M2 iPad Pros is the M2 chip’s faster performance enabled by its 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine. Apple is touting 15 percent faster CPU and up to 35 percent faster GPU performance compared to the M1 chip.

Other beefy specs include 50 percent more memory bandwidth: 100GB/s. Whether you’ll need all this performance will come down to what you use your iPad for. If it’s just watching videos and banging out emails, the M2 chip won’t necessarily make those tasks faster.

For content creation like video editing, graphic design, and photo editing, the performance might be worth the money.

Faster Wi-Fi and Apple Pencil hovering — Aside from the M2 chip, the new iPad Pros also have Wi-Fi 6E. Apple claims up to 2.5Gbs/s downloads — about “2x faster than the previous generation.” Of course, you will need a router with Wi-Fi 6E to pull down data faster. Your rusty old Linksys WRT54G isn’t going to cut it.

Lastly, Apple says it’s made the Apple Pencil more precise — it can be “detected up to 12mm above the display, allowing users to see a preview of their mark before they make it.”

Price, release date, and preorder — If you’re in the market for a new iPad, you can order the M2 iPad Pros starting today with delivery an in-store availability on October 26.

Here’s how the pricing breaks down for the 11-inch M2 iPad Pro with Wi-Fi and with cellular:

• 128GB: $799 / $999
• 256GB: $899 / $1,099
• 512GB: $1,099 / $1,299
• 1TB: $1,499 / $1,699
• 2TB: $1,899 / $2,099

Here’s how the pricing breaks down for the 12.9-inch M2 iPad Pro with Wi-Fi and with cellular:

• 128GB: $1,099 / $1,299
• 256GB: $1,199 / $1,399
• 512GB: $1,399 / $1,599
• 1TB: $1,799 / $1,999
• 2TB: $2,199 / $2,399