The current 3rd-gen iPad Pro is slightly more than a year old now and it appears that Apple is preparing a new one for the first quarter of 2020. Prolific leakster Steve McFly (aka @onleaks) has dropped a couple of high-resolution renders for the upcoming iPad Pro series for 2020 which gives us a clear glimpse of what to expect.
Based on his information shared via iGeeksBlog, the next iPad Pro will still retain the same sizes of 11″ and 12.9″. However, the biggest change is its rear camera which is said to feature a triple-camera setup that looks identical to the iPhone 11 Pro series.
Because of this camera array, the new iPad Pro is said to be thicker but it isn’t clear if Apple will consider using different materials for the back panel. Apple traditionally uses aluminium throughout the iPad range but there’s a possibility that Apple could be considering to use glass for its bigger 12.9″ variant. The front and the sides look identical to the current model and you still get a symmetrical bezel with no notches or punch-holes.
The 4th gen iPad Pro is expected to run on a newer A13X chip that should offer more cores along with more RAM compared to the current iPhone 11 Pro models. The extra processing power is definitely needed since Apple is pushing iPadOS as a viable “computer-replacement” and there are more traditionally desktop-based applications like Adobe Photoshop jumping on board.
Steve didn’t provide any specs for the cameras but it is likely to be the same triple 12MP setup as the iPhone 11 Pro which offers wide, ultra-wide and telephoto capabilities. In addition, it should be able to support 4K 60fps video capture with HDR.
Although the bump looks weird to most people, the iPhone 11 Pro’s cameras are top-notch and it is still one of our favourite mobile devices to record videos on the go. If this is true, the new iPad Pro is probably the first tablet to come with a triple-camera setup.
But is it necessary to put three cameras on the back of the tablet? Most people would use their phones as their primary video capture device but perhaps Apple is expanding the iPad Pro’s potential as an all-in-one solution. This allows creators to shoot, edit and upload directly from the iPad Pro without additional hardware required. For editing, you can use iMovie or Adobe’s Premiere Rush CC.
At the moment, the current iPad Pro is priced from RM3,499 for the 11″ version with 64GB WiFi. A few months ago, they have dropped the price for the 1TB version in Malaysia by almost RM850. The top-of-the-line iPad Pro 12.9″ 1TB LTE version is now going for RM7,349 instead of RM8,199.
The iPad Pro is definitely more expensive than it used to be but Apple has made the iPad lineup more accessible than ever. If you need more power at a lower price, there’s the iPad Air and there’s also the revamped entry-level 10.2″ iPad which now supports both Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard.