iPad Pro 2021 vs iPad Pro 2022: Which One Should You Buy

What’s the difference between between 2021 iPad Pro and 2022 iPad Pro? This iPad Pro 2021 vs iPad Pro 2022 guide will give you the answer.

Lena

By Lena / Updated on December 28, 2023

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The brand new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro 2022 are finally available, bringing a lot of improvements over their predecessors. With the M2 processor, they are the most powerful Apple tablet to date. Despite the many upgrades, there are some similarities between iPad Pro 2021 and iPad Pro 2022, they have the same design, display, camera.

iPad Pro 2021 vs 2022

Here in this guide, we will show you the difference between 2021 iPad Pro and 2022 iPad Pro in detail, comparing them in terms of design, performance, camera, and battery. So you can know which one to buy or if it is worth upgrading if you already have iPad Pro 2021.

iPad Pro 2021 vs iPad Pro 2022: what's the difference

Here are the main specs of iPad Pro 2021 and iPad Pro 2022.

 

iPad Pro 2021 (11-inch)

iPad Pro 2022 (11-inch)

iPad Pro 2021 (12.9-inch)

iPad Pro 2022 (12.9-inch)

Price            

$799 for Wi-Fi,

$999 for Wi-Fi + Cellular 

$799 for Wi-Fi,

$999 for Wi-Fi + Cellular 

$1,099 for Wi-Fi,

$1,299 for Wi-Fi + Cellular

$1,099 for Wi-Fi,

$1,299 for Wi-Fi + Cellular

CPU

Apple M1

Apple M2

Apple M1

Apple M2

OS

iPadOS 16

iPadOS 16

iPadOS 16

iPadOS 16

RAM

8GB RAM (128GB-512GB),

16GB RAM (1TB-2TB)

8GB RAM (128GB-512GB ),

16GB RAM (1TB-2TB)

8GB RAM (128GB-512GB),

16GB RAM (1TB-2TB)

8GB RAM (128GB-512GB),

16GB RAM (1TB-2TB)

Storage

128GB-2TB

128GB-2TB

128GB-2TB

128GB-2TB

Display

11 inches

(2388 x 1668 pixels)

11 inches

(2388 x1668 pixels)

12.9 inches

(2732 x 2048 pixels)

12.9 inches

(2732 x 2048 pixels)

Ports

Thunderbolt 4/USB-C

Thunderbolt 4/USB-C

Thunderbolt 4/USB-C

Thunderbolt 4/USB-C

Rear

12MP wide,

10MP ultra-wide

12MP wide,

10MP ultra-wide

12MP wide,

10MP ultra-wide

12MP wide,

10MP ultra-wide

Front

12MP TrueDepth

12MP TrueDepth

12MP TrueDepth

12MP TrueDepth

Battery

10 hours on Wi-Fi,

9 hours on cellular

10 hours on Wi-Fi,

9 hours on cellular

10 hours on Wi-Fi,

9 hours on cellular

10 hours on Wi-Fi,

9 hours on cellular

Size

9.74 X 7.02 X 0.23 inches

9.74 X 7.02 X 0.23 inches

11.04 x 8.46 x 0.25 inches

11.04 x 8.46 x 0.25 inches

Weight

1.04 pounds

1.03 pounds (Wi-Fi) | 1.04 pounds (Wi-Fi + Cellular)

1.51 pounds

1.5 pounds (Wi-Fi) | 1.51 pounds (Wi-Fi Cellular)

iPad Pro 2021 vs iPad Pro 2022 - Design

iPad Pro 2022 is almost identical to its predecessor, featuring the same edge-to-edge display and narrow bezels. What has to be said is that the design remains sleek and modern. iPad 2022 is also only available in silver or space gray. The new iPad 2022 comes in silver, blue, yellow and pink, while iPad Pro may lock drab in comparison. Since the design remains the same, the accessories for the iPad Pro 2021 will also work with the new model.

iPad Pro 2021 vs iPad Pro 2022 - Performance

The M1 chip makes it possible for iPad Pro 2021 to handle any kind of task, app, or video game. Now, with the more powerful M2 chip, iPad Pro 2022 can handle intensive multitasking more comfortably than the older model. Since the M1 chip is already powerful enough, it's hard to see the real difference.

iPad Pro 2021 vs 2022 Performance

Apple says that the 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU are up to 15% and 35% faster than iPad Pro 2021. In addition, the iPad Pro 2022 also benefits from enhanced Apple Pencil 2 connectivity. If you are a professional artist or video editor, iPad Pro 2022 is a better choice that can help with heavy workloads.

iPad Pro 2021 vs iPad Pro 2022 - Camera

The new iPad Pro has the same camera as last year’s model. A 12-megapixel main lens and a 10MP ultrawide lens, with a LiDAR sensor for depth perception and a 12MP ultrawide selfie camera on its front. Both iPad Pro 2021 and iPad Pro 2022 can take solid pictures and both support Center Stage auto-tracking feature.

iPad Pro 2021 vs 2022 Camera

The only difference is that iPad Pro 2022 has some advanced video capture capabilities thanks to the M2 chip. The M2 gives the new iPad Pro an improved “Media Engine” and superior image processing chop, which allows it to record ProRes video. The last year’s model can only transcode ProRes video.

iPad Pro 2021 vs iPad Pro 2022 - Battery

iPad Pro 2022 uses the same battery as before. A 10,758mAh cell for the 12.9-inch models, and a 7,538mAh cell for the 11-inch models. As with last year, Apple is making the same claim about the battery life of the iPad Pro 2022 as it did for the iPad Pro 2021, both 10 hours. But processor changes could potentially mean that the iPad Pro 2020 makes its battery last longer.

Which One's for you?

If you want to buy a new iPad, then you can choose the latest iPad Pro, after all, it costs the same as last year's model. The new M2 chip makes it fairly future-proof.
If you already own last year’s iPad Pro, then there is no need to upgrade to the new model unless you do heavy-duty design or video editing and care about connectivity or performance, especially ProRes video work.
● If you have an older version of iPad Pro, you can choose the iPad Pro 2022 if you need maximum performance and use the ‌Apple Pencil‌ for note-taking and illustration heavily. If not, you can find a discounted 2021 model to save money.

Bonus tip: How to transfer data to new iPad easily

Have you decided yet? Are you going to order new iPad Pro 2022 or spend less money on iPad Pro 2021? Whatever the final decision is, you can first learn the method to transfer old iPad to new iPad so that you can enjoy your new device as soon as possible after you take it out of the box.

Usually, you can use Quick Start to help you transfer data from iPad to iPad Pro wirelessly. However, it may take a long time to complete if there is a large amount of data that needs to be transferred. If you have a computer at hand, you can choose to transfer data via cable. FoneTool, one professional iPhone & iPad data management tool for Windows PC users can help you easily transfer everything from old iPad to new iPad Pro in one click.

With a stable cable connection, you can quickly complete the transfer.

1. Run FoneTool > Connect old iPad and new iPad to computer.

2. Click Phone Transfer > Go to iPhone to iPhone and click Start Transfer.

3. Enable backup encryption > Click Start Transfer and that’s it.

Start Transfer

★Tips:
FoneTool also supports data transfer between iPad and computer, which means you can easily transfer files from PC to iPad Pro.
If you want to clear iPad to sell, you can use the Data Erase function of FoneTool to deeply erase your iPad to ensure data 100% unrecoverably.

For more features, you can download the tool and explorer it by yourself.

Download FreewareWin 11/10/8.1/8/7
Secure Download

Final words

Hope this iPad Pro 2022 vs iPad Pro 2021 guide can help you make a decision. After you get the difference between 2021 iPad Pro and 2022 iPad Pro, you will find that they are almost the very same device. Having said that, the new iPad Pro 2020 is a truly great tablet that outperforms every other similar device on the market.