Apple announces iPad Pro with M2 chip and hover support for Apple Pencil

Today, Apple announced the next generation of its iPad Pro series which now comes with the M2 chip. The external design is unchanged from the previous generation, and it still comes in 11-inch and 12-inch displays.

Thanks to the M2 chip, the new iPad Pro now boasts an 8-core CPU and a 10-core GPU. Apple claims that the new chip gives the iPad Pro a 15 percent bump in terms of performance, and up to 35 percent faster graphics than its predecessor. The M2 chip also brings 100GB/s of unified memory bandwidth. It is also the first of its generation to support WiFi 6E.

The 2022 iPad Pro has a new feature where it will be able to detect the 2nd gen Apple Pencil up to 12mm above the display. This will allow apps like Scribble to automatically expand text fields when the pencil gets near the screen. Apple says that third party apps can also take advantage of this feature.

Included with iPadOS 16, Stage Manager automatically organizes apps and windows to make it easy to multitask on the new iPad Pro. Stage Manager will also support external displays with up to 6K resolution and with up to four apps on the iPad and four apps on the external display.

The new iPad Pro is available to order starting today, and will be in stores beginning Wednesday, October 26.