Rumours were rife, and today Apple has finally revealed the all-new iPad Pro. Now sleeker with slim bezels and heart-thumping internals, the new iPad Pro comes in two screen sizes: 11 inches and 12.9 inches. You’ll notice a couple of key features missing, but that’s probably for the better.

The iPad is by far the best-selling tablet in the world. And Tim Cook on stage went as far as to say, “we sold more iPads in the last year than the entire notebook lineup of all of the biggest notebook vendors. In total, Apple has sold more than 400 million iPads.

The original iPad was envisioned as a content consumption device – great for watching videos, playing games and browsing the web. Who would have thought the professionals would need a tablet for serious work, right?

Well, the iPad Pro proved that there was indeed a market for a professional, productive tablet and together with the Apple Pencil, it became an outstanding creative tool, too.

But of course, as with any products, there were some limitations and flaws. Let’s take the Apple Pencil for starters. Odd name but a fantastic input device that offered an unmatched writing and drawing experience. One of its flaws though was its awkward WTF way of charging. It literally stood up like a sore thumb, usually in the bottom crevice of the iPad Pro.

Number two, Apple’s proprietary Lightning Port always had its days numbered. As the industry moves towards USB-C and Thunderbolt 3, it makes sense for Apple to adopt a standard demanded by the pros. For something that Apple also markets as a “notebook replacement,” the migration to USB-C is a logical move. The new port by the way can be used to power up external displays of up to 5K resolution. Not only that, it can even reverse charge another device.

Next, with the introduction of the iPhone X, Apple took the bold step to completely remove Touch ID, offering Face ID as the sole authentication method. Now that the entire smartphone family has gone all-screen sans physical home buttons, it’s timely for Apple tablet range to follow suit.

Also, with today’s trend for full screen devices and minimal bezels, it was time for Apple to bring its tablet line up to speed.

The great news is that the new iPad Pro answers all these calls. And it’s good, really good.

Firstly, the display. The iPad Pro still uses LCD-based technology, but similar to the iPhone XR, the new tablet has a spanking new Liquid Retina display that pushes 2388×1668 resolution @ 264PPI. As mentioned, there are two display sizes offered: a new 11-inch and 12.9-inch. Both displays are housed in more compact bodies, thanks to the smaller bezels.

At the top of the display is the array of cameras and sensors that make up the TrueDepth camera, similarly found on the iPhone X, iPhone XS, XS Max and XR. This enables Face ID as well as Apple’s Animoji and Memoji. Thankfully, there is no notch.

Speaking about bodies, the iPad Pro has been completely redesigned featuring a more iPhone 5-like sharper-edged frame. And it’s thin, measuring just 5.9mm, about 15 percent thinner than its predecessor. Overall, the new iPad Pro is 25 percent less volume than the previous generation.

Under the hood, the 2018 iPad Pro is powered by the new Apple A12X Bionic chip that has an 8-core CPU and 7-core GPU. Apple claims its 35 percent faster in single core performance, and a scorching 90 percent faster for multi-core tasks. There’s no denying that the A12X Bionic is a scorcher of a chip, and Apple says its faster than 92 percent of all portable PCs. For the first time, the iPad Pro also gets an integrated Neural Engine.

Apple also says the iPad Pro offers Xbox One S-class graphics performance in a compact form factor.

The new iPad Pro gets quad speakers that deliver wider stereo sound.

A notable big improvement is with the Apple Pencil. Gone is the awkward way of charging the stylus. It now attaches to the tablet magnetically. That’s not all, it also charges wirelessly once attached to the side of the tablet. I hear a sigh of relief. The Apple Pencil also gains a neat new trick. Double tap on it and it will immediately wake the iPad Pro and launch Notes. The touch gesture can be customised. For apps like Photoshop of iPad, double-tapping punches in and out of an image.

Apple has also updated the Smart Keyboard, now able to sit at two different typing angles.

The tablet has 10-hour battery life that charges up via a supplied 18W power brick.

Pricing and availability

The iPad Pro is offered in 64GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB configurations. The iPad Pro 11-inch starts from USD799 (MYR3,499) while the 12.9-inch retails from USD999 (MYR4,349). Apple is retaining the second-generation iPad Pro 10.5-inch in the line-up, retailing for USD649.

The Apple Pencil costs USD129 (MYR549) while the new Smart Keyboard Folio retails from USD179 (MYR769).

Pre-order sales start today and general sales will start from 7 November 2018. To purchase, visit apple.com/my/mac.