IPAD PRO 12.9'' INCH

The iPad Pro follows the general design principles of the iPad Air 2, but on a significantly larger scale. Its general layout, material, edging and so on all match, while the positioning of the buttons, the Lightning and headphone ports and the Touch ID-equipped Home button are the same as on the smaller iPad Air 2

"The iPad Pro is so much bigger [than the Air 2] but doesn't feel unbalanced or awkward. I could hold it easily, but - and I realise you'll make fun of me for this, and that's OK - I sort of wished it had a kickstand like the Surface Pro."

Aside from the increase in screen area, there are some key design differences, each corresponding to a functional difference.

One is that there are four speakers, as opposed to the twin speakers on the iPad Air 2 (and those positioned too close together to have any real beneficial effect). This results in far more volume output, of course, and Apple says the device is also smart enough to adjust audio balance between the four units to maintain a consistent performance as you hold the iPad in different ways.

We didn't get a chance to test this properly in the noisy demo room, so our verdict on whether this is a neat gimmick that can compensate for a hand over a speaker grill, or a more significant change to the way we experience media and games, will have to wait.

There is a new type of connector on the lefthand side of the iPad Pro. Apple calls it the Smart Connector, and it's designed to fit the new Smart Keyboard accessory. We don't yet know if third parties will produce their own accessories to fit the Smart Connector, but we'd have thought it's distinctly

iPad Pro review: Screen

The iPad Pro comes with a 12.9-inch display, compared to the 9.7-inch display on the iPad Air and the 7.9-inch display on the iPad mini. That's 78 percent more screen space than the next-largest iPad.

A diagonal measurement of 12.9 inches makes for a device that is both sharply differentiated from the smaller iPads and a convenient size in terms of productivity and ease of use. The iPad Pro's screen is also pleasingly sharp, with a massive screen resolution of 2732 x 2048, the largest resolution ever seen on an iOS device. That's the same pixel density - 264.68 pixels per inch (ppi) - as the iPad Air 2, stretched across a much bigger screen.

With a total of 5.6 million pixels on show, Apple boasted that the iPad Pro has more pixels than the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro. And it's supposed to be power-efficient too, with the ability to adjust refresh rate as and when the movement on the screen warrants it. "For the first time in any of our devices," says Apple, "iPad Pro knows when the content on your screen is static and cuts the refresh rate in half, to 30 times per second instead of 60. This means that the screen isn’t just big, beautiful and bright. It's also incredibly energy efficient."

It sounds like the screen is pleasingly responsive, too: Susie Ochs comments: "I was impressed with the responsiveness of iOS 9 on this tablet, as I easily pulled out the sidebar and entered Split Screen view."

iPad Pro new features: Speakers

As mentioned in the design section, the iPad Pro features four speakers rather than the twin speakers in the iPad Air 2. We're really pleased to hear this - a quad-speaker design is a long-time wish for iPad owners, given their devices' traditional weakness in terms of audio - but we'll obviously have to test it out. Watch this space.

The iPad Air 2's twin speakers, at the bottom of the device. They're so close together that you gain little benefit from there being two

The speakers on the iPad Pro aren't just more numerous; the overall design has been enhanced too. A new casing design gives the Pro's speakers a wider frequency range and up to 3x more acoustic output than previous iPad models.

iPad Pro new features: Power efficiency

While it can't boast a superior battery life to previous iPad models (as we'll discuss in the specs section), the fact that the iPad Pro is at least able to match the figures of smaller-screen predecessors appears to be down to some small improvements to the way it powers the screen. Apple says the Pro's screen adjusts the refresh rate automatically so that it isn't using unnecessary power when the movement on screen doesn't warrant it.

Combined with the Low Power Mode in iOS 9, it appears that Apple is taking battery efficiencies seriously. Watch this space for battery tests once we've got longer-term hands-on time with the iPad Pro, and we'll see what real-world gains this produces.

iPad Pro review: Specs

What sort of tech specs are we talking about for the iPad Pro? State of the art, naturally. It's Apple's fastest ever iOS device, with a dazzling array of components.

iPad Pro specs: Processor

The iPad Pro gets a super-powered A9X processor chip, one that Apple claims is close to twice the speed of the iPad Air 2's A8X.

"The iPad Pro is far and away the fastest iOS device we have ever made - its A9X chip beats most portable PCs in both CPU and graphics tasks," said Apple marketing boss Phil Schiller.

We'll address this more later in this article when we ponder who the iPad Pro is for, but it's worth mentioning briefly that this kind of power is going to be overkill for most users, at least in the near future. Very few apps are available that can push the iPad Pro anywhere near to its limit. 

Gaming devs love to push the fastest available processors to the edge, and games that harness the Pro's graphical power should be along before long. And creative users historically tend to favour more powerful machines - the Mac Pro's main audience is among video editors and other creative-industry workers. But we can't help feel that business users, who in other parts of the launch presentation appeared to be one of the main target markets, may feel that the Pro is overqualified - and consequently overpriced - for the primarily simple tasks they need it for.

All of this will become clearer in coming months, however. Powerful applications of iOS 9's split-screen capabilities, for example, may demonstrate the value of the A9X in a business setting.

iPad Pro specs: RAM

Apple never officially discloses the RAM allocation in its mobile products, but it's already emerged that the iPad Pro has a chunky 4GB of RAM. "iPad Pro is great for creative workflows with a high res 12.9-inch touch screen display at 2,732 x 2,048 pixels, A9X chip, and 4GB RAM." We hope no one at Adobe got in trouble for this slip.)

4GB is a giant set of RAM to be able to play with (the most any other iPad has included is 2GB, in the iPad Air 2; all other iPads have come with 1GB or less), making multitasking a breeze and performance red-hot. We can't wait to put the iPad Pro through Macworld's battery of lab tests, but for the time being we'll simply have to say that it sounds fast, and we're very excited to try it.

iPad Pro specs: Storage

The iPad Pro has a slightly unusual set of storage flavours. Whereas most recent iOS devices have offered three configurations (16GB, 64GB and 128GB, with the 32GB inbetweener much mourned), the Wi-Fi-only version of the Pro comes with just two: 32GB or 128GB. And if you want the cellular model then you've only got one option: the full monty 128GB.

Nice to see the 32GB make a comeback, but it's a strangely restrictive offering.

iPad Pro specs: Cameras

The iPad Pro comes with an 8Mp (megapixel) rear-facing iSight camera. Specs-wise it's identical to the rear camera on the iPad Air 2, which means:

8Mp iSight camera

Autofocus

ƒ/2.4 aperture

Five-element lens

Hybrid IR filter

Backside illumination

Improved face detection

Exposure control

Panorama (up to 43Mp)

Burst mode

Tap to focus

Photo geotagging

Timer mode 

Video recording specs are also the same as for the Air 2.

1080p HD video recording (30 fps)

Slo-mo (120 fps)

Time-lapse video

Video image stabilisation

Improved face detection

3x video zoom

Video geotagging

Finally, specs for the front-facing camera are the same too.

1.2Mp photos

ƒ/2.2 aperture

720p HD video recording

Backside illumination

Auto HDR photos and videos

Improved face detection

Burst mode

Exposure control

Timer mode

To those who are disappointed not to see advances here to match the processor, RAM and screen, we can only say: use the iPad Pro as a camera in public and then talk to us.

iPad Pro specs: Battery life

Apple claims the iPad Pro will last for 10 hours (of video play or web use) between charges; that's pretty much standard for Apple tablets, and exactly the same as is promised for the iPad Air 2. The company is generally scrupulously honest when stating battery life for its devices - if anything they tend to be an underestimate - but we'll naturally put this to the test once we've got a review sample to test in the Macworld labs.

This performance is based on a 38.5-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery, a far larger unit that the 27.3-watt-hour battery in the Air 2.

Apple says, by the way, that the iPad Pro saves power by automatically adjusting the screen refresh rate depending on the amount of movement on screen - something that no other iOS device is able to do.