5 Things the iPad Pro Can Do That an iPad Air Can’t

Apple is constantly improving all of its products. The gap between the base models of the iPhone, MacBook and iPad and the Pro versions of these devices is much smaller than it has ever been. Today, with the M4 chip, the performance of an iPad Air is already more than sufficient for most people, making the iPad Pro more suitable for power users.

However, just like your iPad can do a lot of things that your iPhone can’t do, your iPad Pro can do a lot of things that your iPad and iPad Air can’t do. Of course, the iPad Pro has more powerful hardware and will therefore perform much better during heavy tasks and tests, but it also has many other advantages over other models, even if we put performance aside.

These include additional sensors that improve existing features and apps and allow newer ones to be installed, hardware implementations that let you transfer data faster, and just general and subtle quality of life additions that you can only really appreciate once you start using the iPad Pro.

Before getting into the specifications or features of a device, the first thing you notice is its visuals. While the base iPad, iPad Air, and iPad Pro all have stunning, high-quality displays, there are some major differences. The iPad Pro has something the other two don’t have, which can be very important for some users.

The latest iPad Pro comes with a 120Hz display with ProMotion that feels smoother in almost all tasks. If you’re used to higher refresh rates, the iPad Air’s 60Hz screen may seem slow or clunky, although it’s backed by a powerful processor.

ProMotion technology allows the iPad Pro to have a variable refresh rate. This means your iPad Pro can contextually adjust its refresh rate based on what you’re doing, whereas the iPad Air can’t. For example, when your iPad Pro is idle or displaying a static image, like your home screen or a text document, it reduces its refresh rate down to 10Hz. This leads to improved battery life and performance, without you even realizing it.

One of the main reasons power users opt for the iPad Pro over the base iPad or iPad Air is for content creation and videography. Part of the reason is that the Pro does a much better job of editing, rendering, and exporting high-resolution content than the iPad Air. But the camera is another area where the Pro outperforms other iPads.

The front and rear cameras on the iPad, iPad Air, and iPad Pro are all identical; they each feature a 12-megapixel rear camera with Apple’s Smart HDR for better color contrasts and a similar camera on the front that also supports Center Stage. However, only the iPad Pro supports Portrait Mode and Portrait Lighting. Additionally, the iPad Pro having a LiDAR sensor means it has faster autofocus than the iPad Air, which doesn’t.

For videos, each tablet can record 4K video at 60 FPS, but only the iPad Pro supports Apple ProRes. Having ProRes means your iPad Pro will produce much higher quality videos that are easier to edit. The iPad Pro is also the only Apple tablet that supports Audio Zoom, which focuses audio on whatever the camera is zooming in on, as well as Stereo Recording, which lets your videos have directional sound.

Apple unveiled Face ID in 2017 with the iPhone X models, giving you the ability to unlock your device without a password or fingerprint. The feature is also available on the iPad Pro – neither the base iPad nor the iPad Air comes with Face ID.

TrueDepth is another related feature that exists on the iPad Pro but is missing from other models. This uses the iPad Pro’s enhanced scanning capabilities to create a spatial rendering of your face and is why Face ID only exists on the iPad Pro. In addition to enabling Face ID, TrueDepth also offers many additional apps. For example, you can only create and share Animojis on the iPad Pro, but not on the iPad Air.

Additionally, TrueDepth lets your iPad detect if you’re looking at its screen and act accordingly. For example, if you’re reading an article, the TrueDepth sensor will know that you’re looking at your iPad and won’t turn off the screen, even if you don’t touch it. Likewise, if you accidentally leave your iPad Pro’s screen on and go somewhere, it will detect that you’re not actively using the device and dim its screen.

Although both the iPad Air and iPad Pro have a USB-C port, they are different in terms of capabilities. The USB-C port on the iPad Air supports USB 3 technology, which can have data transfer speeds of up to 10Gbps and supports 20W charging. The iPad Pro uses Thunderbolt 3 – a stricter standard of USB 4 – which can transfer data at a rate of 40Gbps and allows for faster charging. The faster data transfer doesn’t mean much to the average user, as the iPad Air’s 10Gbps is enough for most casual use. However, if you are a professional content creator who deals with large video files on a daily basis, this much faster speed becomes necessary. Faster charging is also a huge benefit for all types of users.

The iPad Pro’s Thunderbolt port has another big advantage over iPad Air users who use external displays. With your iPad Air, you can use its USB-C port to connect to an external 6K 60Hz resolution display. With an iPad Pro, you can do the same thing, but you can also use lower resolution displays up to 5K at 120Hz. This makes the iPad Pro much better in terms of productivity, especially if it’s your primary computer.

On the back of your iPad Pro, right next to the camera, is a black circle that’s missing from the base iPad and iPad Air. This is not an additional camera, but rather a LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) sensor. This sensor works by emitting light and then mapping the distance it travels before returning, essentially creating an accurate 3D spatial map of space up to 16 feet away.

The Measure app on the iPad Air and iPad already allows for camera-only measurements, but the LiDAR sensor on an iPad Pro greatly improves the accuracy of those measurements. It can tell you the height of a person, the distance between two walls or the length of a piece of furniture. This makes it very easy to determine how an item you’re considering purchasing, like a TV or a new table, might fit into your home.

Beyond just measuring distances, your iPad Pro’s LiDAR sensor can do much more using third-party apps. These include creating accurate floor plans of your entire home, creating 3D renderings of specific objects or even entire rooms, as well as enhanced AR (augmented reality) capabilities.