Apple iPad Pro 12.9 2021 tablet review - A Mini LED trump card?

[Redaktion]

Apple packs everything technically possible into its large 5th generation iPad Pro: A state-of-the-art Mini LED display, an Apple M1 SoC, which has already made Intel fearful in the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro 13, and at least 8 GB of RAM. The whole thing is combined with a tablet operating system that Apple actually optimised for children - wait a minute. More about this in our review.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple-iPad-Pro-12-9-2021-tablet-review-A-Mini-LED-trump-card.548142.0.html

[vek]

Was hoping for a 10 bit display this time, for a full 10 bit workflow. Maybe next time. They already mentioned that next time they might go OLED, and the caste majority of Oleds is 10bit.

[Jakob with a K.]

Hmm a mixed bag.vs 2020.
massive performance benefit +25% (though 2020 were already unreal for an IpadOS)
2021 Ipad 12.9 got way better black.
Brightness seems about the same, though a tad lower nits and worse color reproduction vs 2020.
Worse PWM for PWM sensitive people, it's now down around 19k where 2020 were up around 59k.. that's a con for people that get a headache of that flickering that is less intrusive the faster it is.
Worse black to white pixel rise times, now around 35ms where 2020 were around 8ms in rise time. (not ideal for gaming)
Grey to grey around the same.
Its a tad cooler under load 2021 at 35 vs 37 on 2020..
The standby time is concerning.2021 at 0.44w where 2020 were at 0.11w
and off-time seems weird with the 2021 having massive 0.9w vs 2020 at normal 0.01w (nothing worse then a tablet that is draining when not being used)
The light use is also not ideal 2021 with only 11 hours vs 2020 with 15 hours.
Under heavy load the 2021 runtime is better, and that impressive when you have in mind that its a lot more powerfull +25% and still being less warm and longer rumtimes.
The Iperf also a mixed bag, versus 2020.
and its a con that its now thicker and heavier with 6.4mm and 682g while the older was only 5.9mm and 641g .

[PPTX]

Big disappointment because of PWM screen :-(
I was hoping for "flicker-free" screens with mini-LED technology.

For me:  PWM = no buy.

[S.Yu]

Ok, I don't buy the "flawless stiffness" claim, earlier reports(more credible since they did manage to brake it) indicated a similar lack of stiffness to earlier iPPs post-2017.
And something has to be wrong with a lot of the benchmarks in which the 12.9" has nearly half the performance of the 11".

[Klaus Hinum]

Ok, I don't buy the "flawless stiffness" claim, earlier reports(more credible since they did manage to brake it) indicated a similar lack of stiffness to earlier iPPs post-2017.
And something has to be wrong with a lot of the benchmarks in which the 12.9" has nearly half the performance of the 11".

Which benchmark do you mean? The on-screen ones e.g. "suffer" from the higher resolution. Stiffness is no issue with normal pressure, of course you could destroy it with force, but that is no valid usage scenario.

[GFiore]

Honestly, how can a tablet with an OS optimised for children, a battery life that is shorter than many similarly-priced laptops, no physical keyboard (obviously) and a short warranty get an award and 91% score?

I've never commented here and always trusted your reviews but this one had to be called out.

[vertigo]

"The company claims that the Mini LED panel peaks at 1,600 nits, or 1,600 cd/m²...In our display tests with Calman (MobileForge) and DisplayCal/Argyll 2.2.0, we measured a maximum brightness of 620 cd/m², which is 20 cd/m² higher than Apple's stated 600 cd/m² peak."

Typo?

Honestly, how can a tablet with an OS optimised for children, a battery life that is shorter than many similarly-priced laptops, no physical keyboard (obviously) and a short warranty get an award and 91% score?

I've never commented here and always trusted your reviews but this one had to be called out.

Because it's Apple. I've been reading NBC for a while and you have to take the ratings with a grain of salt. Just focus on the review content, and even then some caution is necessary. I like them because they're the only one I'm aware of that tests PWM and has a standardized method for testing battery life, and the general depth of the reviews is nice. But I always look at reviews in several other places before actually buying anything.

[GFiore]

Because it's Apple. I've been reading NBC for a while and you have to take the ratings with a grain of salt. Just focus on the review content, and even then some caution is necessary. I like them because they're the only one I'm aware of that tests PWM and has a standardized method for testing battery life, and the general depth of the reviews is nice. But I always look at reviews in several other places before actually buying anything.

I do the same and never took any site's reviews with complete trust. Notebookcheck was the one that came the closest, until I read this review. I guess it is just impossible to read an honest and fair review of any Apple product anywhere, for reasons that should be apparent to anybody...

[Klaus Hinum]

"The company claims that the Mini LED panel peaks at 1,600 nits, or 1,600 cd/m²...In our display tests with Calman (MobileForge) and DisplayCal/Argyll 2.2.0, we measured a maximum brightness of 620 cd/m², which is 20 cd/m² higher than Apple's stated 600 cd/m² peak."

Typo?

No, the SDR brightness is rated at 600 nits, testing HDR peak brightness is hard and only relevant in photos and movies.

Regarding our rating - it is based on our tests to help us get a ranking of devices. It wont cover your personal needs, that's why there are the single categories listed and of course all the measurements and information. The OS is not included in our review score as it is quite hard to judge. Some prefer TabletOS over Windows in a tablet. Less flexibility, more ease of use and elegance.

[Jody Michael Toellner]

Big disappointment because of PWM screen :-(
I was hoping for "flicker-free" screens with mini-LED technology.

For me:  PWM = no buy.

Oh how wise you are PPTX. My real name is Jody Michael Toellner. You can find me on Facebook if you like.

Today, I will be returning the 1TB 16GB M1 12.9 Pro because I'm tired of the eye strain. It's nowhere near as bad as an iPhone, but it's enough to be distracting. Further, overall quality of the screen suffers when compared to the 11. It's my opinion @ the moment that the 11 is the better buy.

I'm going to the Apple Michigan store in Chicago today or tomorrow to explain the problems there and hopefully someone will be able to listen with ears that can hear.

If anyone needs help explaining this, show them LG's TÜV Rheinland flicker free certifications. Sony doesn't bother with this. Apple doesn't bother with this. Samsung doesn't bother with this. My daily driver is an HTC One M9. To this day, I have not heard a better headphone out. Because of the open nature in Google's ecosystem, it's a powerful tool for an IT professional.

It's a sad state of affairs right now for Apple and I truly hope they wake up and realize our eyes need to be cared for. Let's keep the world from going blind person by person, day by day, website by website.

Keep up the good fight Notebookcheck. You guys are MY hero's. Without you, my vision would surely degrade. I enjoy my life so much more because of your effort here. Thank you from the top of my GERMAN heart!!!

If you ever need a writer for free, let me know. I'd be thrilled to contribute. :D

Have a great day everybody!!!!

[Will]

The other reason (besides being thinner) a tablet throttles more then the air is that the mini led adds heat as well. Obviously the air has the soc under the keyboard while a tablet has it right behind a hot screen.

[bc917]

Hello, I have an daily drive iPad mini 5 with get LCD screen with 5557hz. I am gonna switching to iPad Pro as my daily drive for better UI coding and daily photography edit use. However, I was too sensitive to PWM iPhone at the past, and I tried hard to get adapt to it little bit better at regular eye rest. I am now using OLED iPhone and I feel it is fine to stick to.

May I know, if anybody can share about if the PWM issue for this iPad Pro is as serious as Iphone, since it is not OLED but mini-LED screen just that it get ~19000hz PWM instead of no PWM or ~250hz PWM.  :'(

[Rasoul]

Hi, I am going to Buy a new ipad pro, 2021 or 2022 models, I Use my ipad for reading and note taking for several hours. 🤓
So for me it's important to have device without PWM and Temporal Dithering.😵�💫
You Test PWM for all devices but you just test TD for new Devices and Specific There is no test for 2021 ipads.😔
Can you Update your 2021 ipad pro with testing temporal dithering?🥺
The ipad pro 11 2022 model have TD so definitely i will not Buy it☠️
The 12.9 2022 doesn't have TD but have 6khz PWM it should not be problem for me.🙃
The 11 2021 Doesn't have PWM But there is no Information about TD🧐
The 12.9 2021 Have 20KHz PWM and it's ok because 20khz is enough high for me, But There is no Information about TD.🧐
Please do me a favor🥺, Test 2021 Ipad pro to see do they have TD or not, If it's Possible also test them before and after update Ipad OS Because I Read users that they get headache after update their ipad os, Looks like apple enable TD in new versions of ipad os for old ipad🤔