Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2021) vs iPad Pro 11 (2021) size, colors and display
Peak brightness, local dimming, baby!
Display measurements and quality
The new iPad Pro 11 is much smaller, of course, and more compact to use or carry around, yet the display diagonal, as always, isn’t very conducive to much else but media consumption, moreso that the keyboard accessories for the 11-incher are tiny as well.
Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2021) vs iPad Pro 11 (2021) performance and battery life
Killing them tablets without M1 softly
Thankfully, Apple didn’t separate the two iPad Pro models by horsepower as well, and equipped them both with the fastest mobile chipset out there, the laptop-grade M1, and by laptop we mean the new MacBook Air M1, and by grade we mean that the chip with 4x Icestorm 3.2 GHz + 4x Firestorm 2.0 GHz cores is killing it in performance benchmarks.
While the iPad Pro 2021 models have slightly underclocked M1 chips compared to the MacBook Air with the same processor, they are still able to score over 7000 Geekbench multicore points, turning Apple’s 50% performance boost claim compared to the previous models into a reality.
Needless to say, the smaller iPad Pro 11 often returns higher performance scores when the GPU is strictly involved, as its graphics subsystem has to push much less pixels on a smaller canvas, yet both Apple tablets are miles ahead what other slates and even computers offer in terms of raw processing power nonetheless.
Your battery life is defined by the capacity of your battery and the efficiency of your system right? So we’re always pushing really really hard on the system efficiency and obviously with M1, the team’s done a tremendous job with that. But the display as well. We designed a new mini LED for this display, focusing on efficiency and on package size, obviously, to really to be able to make sure that it could fit into the iPad experience with the iPad experience’s good battery life. We weren’t going to compromise on that.
As you can see from our battery benchmarks, the smaller iPad will also offer you better battery life while browsing, as the tried and true LCD tech and the smaller screen size return excellent endurance even at high 120Hz refresh rates.
When it comes to YouTube video streaming, however, it’s time for the miniLED panel’s frugality to shine, while for 3D gaming both tablets last on par. All in all, you get excellent battery life from the Pro models this year, with the caveat that the iPad Pro 12.9’s larger battery takes longer to charge.
Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2021) vs iPad Pro 11 (2021) camera
Pan&zoom on Zoom
At the front, however, a better 12-megapixels selfie camera has been equipped to handle the much touted Center Stage feature. The new option leverages machine learning and the fresh Ultra Wide camera at the front to follow the person into the frame automatically when they move, including expanding the view or zooming when people go in and out of the video call.
Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2021) vs iPad Pro 11 (2021) price, 5G, and storage options
| Apple iPad Pro model | 128GB | 256GB | 512GB | 1TB | 2TB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPad Pro 12.9-inch 2021 Wi-Fi | $1,099 | $1,199 | $1,399 | $1,799 | $2,199 |
| iPad Pro 12.9-inch 2021 5G | $1,299 | $1,399 | $1,599 | $1,999 | $2,399 |
| iPad Pro 11-inch 2021 Wi-Fi | $799 | $899 | $1,099 | $1,499 | $1,899 |
| iPad Pro 11-inch 2021 5G | $999 | $1,099 | $1,299 | $1,699 | $2,099 |
Which iPad Pro 2021 should you buy, 12.9 or 11 inches?
You are getting a lot more from the iPad 12.9 2021 for just three Benjamins more. The most important thing in an iPad, the display, is miles ahead of what the 11-incher offers. When you add the larger size that will actually allow you to do some creative work rather than lounge with a Pro on the beach to watch videos, the choice is a no-brainer this year.
Not that you can’t use the 13-incher at the beach as well, plus it will beat its smaller sibling even there, and for media consumption at that, as the display is much, much brighter, hence conducive for outdoor usage in the sunlight. We rest our case.
