Apple announces iPad Pro with cool sensor and keyboard cover with trackpad
Apple has announced new versions of its 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro. The tablets include a time-of-flight sensor for depth measurements. In addition, there is a new keyboard cover, with backlight, trackpad and more screen positions.
The presence of the trackpad on what Apple calls the Magic Keyboard is striking for the touchscreen device. Apple has adapted iPadOS 13.4 to it, and the OS, for example, displays the cursor in a circle on the screen, with automatic selection of user interface elements and text fields.
The cover is magnetically attached and allows the tablet to be placed in a ‘floating’ position for better viewing angles. The screen is adjustable up to 130 degrees and this seems to improve use on your lap in particular. The keyboard also has a backlight and there is a USB-C connection at the cover for charging.
The new iPad Pro itself has a time-of-flight sensor, Apple speaks of a lidar, to measure depth and distances up to 5 meters. The tablet combines the data with data from the cameras and the motion sensor and developers can use the result for augmented reality applications through the Scene Geometry API.
The new tablet line is also equipped with a wide-angle camera of 12-megapixel and an ultra-wide-angle camera of 10 megapixel. It is the first time that Apple provides an iPad with two cameras.
The processor of the tablet is the A12Z Bionic, with a GPU with eight cores and Neural Engine for machine learning calculations. Apple speaks of “faster Wi-Fi” compared to the previous model, which probably means 802.11ac support, and of optional LTE of the gigabit class.
The starting price of the 11″ iPad Pro is 899 euros for the Wi-Fi model and 1009 euros for the LTE variant. The price of the 12.9″ version starts at 1119 euros and for the version with Wi-Fi plus LTE you need 1229 be paid in euros. The Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro will have to wait a bit, but when it becomes available in May, it will cost €339 for the 11″ version and €399 for the 12.9″ iPad Pro. The new Smart Keyboard Folio costs $199 for the 11-inch device and $219 for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro.