Apple announces new iPad Pro (2022) with M2 chip and Dolby Atmos support

iPad Pro (2022)
(Image credit: Apple)

Much speculation has surrounded whether Apple would run another full-scale event this year to announce new iPads, and finally, this question has been answered: Apple has dropped a new press release announcing an all-new iPad Pro (2022), following up the iPad Pro (2021)

You can pre-order the new iPad Pro (2022) today, with the tablet shipping from the 26th October. The 11-inch iPad Pro starts at £899 / $799 / AU$1399, while the 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at £1249 / $999 / AU$1899. This is a fairly large price increase in the U.K. and Australia over the iPad Pro (2021) pricing, while folks in the U.S. aren't seeing any increase.

Once again coming in 11-inch and 12.9-inch flavors, the headline of the new iPad Pro is that it's packed with Apple's in-house M2 chip, which Apple promises is 15% faster than the M1 in terms of CPU power, alongside ProRes video capture, Wi-Fi 6E, and a suite of Apple Pencil-related upgrades, too.

The M2 chip has an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU that works in tandem with Apple's 16-core Neural Engine to process 15.8 trillion operations per second, which Apple notes is a 40% increase over the M1, while Apple also promises 50% more memory bandwidth on the M2 chip over the M1. 

ProRes video capture is another new feature on iPad Pro (2022) enabled by the M2 chip. Though the new Pro is sticking with the old iPad Pro's camera setup with a 12MP wide camera and a 10MP ultrawide camera, now you'll be able to capture and edit video on the go using Apple's ProRes video codec. The iPad Pro contains four studio-quality mics and four-speaker audio with Dolby Atmos support.

Outside of cameras and the M2, the new Pro is also coming with a big upgrade for Apple Pencil users. Now, Apple Pencil is able to be detected up to 12mm above the display and will allow users to see a preview of a mark before they actually make it on top of providing greater precision during sketching and illustration in general, according to Apple.

Then, Apple is also now supporting Wi-Fi 6E on the new iPad Pro. Apple is promising download speeds of up to 2.4Gb/s a second and twice the speed of the previous generation of iPad Pro. Plus, Wi-Fi + Cellular iPad Pro (2022)s will also support more 5G networks across the globe, too.

Lastly, the new iPad Pro (2022) will ship with iPadOS 16 that promises a new suite of features, including a new multi-tasking system in Stage Manager; desktop-class apps; and 'Reference Mode' you can use to match color requirements for more professional work, among other changes.

MORE:

Everything you need to know about the new iPad Pro 2022

And the new iPad 2022

Check out our iPad Pro (2021) review

As well as our list of the best iPads

And the best tablet deals

Ruben Circelli

Ruben is a long-time freelance consumer technology and gaming journalist, and was previously a Staff Writer at What Hi-Fi?. Since 2014, Ruben has written news, reviews, features, guides, and everything in-between at a huge variety of outlets that include Lifewire, PCGamesN, GamesRadar+, TheGamer, Twinfinite, and many more. Ruben's a dedicated gamer, tech nerd, and the kind of person who misses physical media. In his spare time, you can find Ruben cooking something delicious or, more likely, lying in bed consuming content.