Every 2020 iPad Pro reportedly includes 50% more RAM than most versions of its predecessor. This goes along with an enhanced processor.
In addition, Apple’s latest tablet also supposedly includes the U1 chip for directionally-aware AirDrop.
Update: Tests with Apple’s latest tablet confirm that it has 6GB of RAM. However, it does not have the U1 chip.
2020 iPad Pro specs slowly come to light
Although the wraps officially came off the 2020 iPad Pro today, some of its specs remain a mystery. Apple never reveals how much RAM is in any of its tablets, for example. But buried in the code for iPadOS 13.4 is proof that all versions of this latest tablet have 6GB of RAM, according to 9to5Mac.
That’s not true for its predecessor. Most versions of the 2018 iPad Pro have 4GB of RAM. But not all. Units configured with 1TB of internal storage have 6GB of RAM.
More RAM is part of Apple’s promise that its latest tablet makes “working with multiple apps at once and moving between spaces quick and effortless.”
Update: Confirmed.
And the U1 processor too
The 2020 also has the new U1 Ultra Wideband chip, according to 9to5Mac. This chip debuted in the iPhone 11 series, and currently is only used allow this handset to precisely locate another iPhone with its own U1 chip to make wirelessly transferring files with AirDrop just slightly easier.
But this technology is eventually expected to enable AirTags — tiny accessories that promise to help users to locate bags, keys, and assorted other valuables. These are supposedly launching in the autumn.
Apple’s description of its latest tablet makes no mention of the U1.
Update: The U1 chip isn’t in the 2020 iPad Pro.
Latest iPad Pro processor specs are a mystery
The 2020 iPad Pro is built around a 64-bit A12Z Bionic chip, the replacement for the A12X Bionic in the last Apple high-end tablet. The processor speed for this new chip hasn’t been announced because Apple never reveals this detail about its tablets. All it said this time is that the new iPad Pro is “faster than most PC laptops.”
But this isn’t a version of the A13 processor from last year’s iPhone 11 series. Instead, it’s an upgraded edition of a chip released in 2018. Apple said the A12Z Bionic has an 8-core graphics processor, up from the 7-core one in the A12X Bionic. That may be the only change.
The exact processor speed for the 2020 iPad Pro might not be known until this tablet reaches customers, who can then run benchmarking applications. This will happen March 25.
Update: Tests show that the A12Z Bionic is barely faster than the A12X Bionic.
