SpecEagle review · Apple

Apple iPad Pro 12.9" (5th gen, 2021) review: The first iPad with M1 silicon and a mini-LED XDR display.

Item: Apple iPad Pro 12.9" (5th gen, 2021)
Rating: 86
Author: SpecEagle Editorial

SpecEagle Editorial·May 2021·$1,099

Overall

86/100

Class rank

#2 of 15

Tier

Flagship

Buy?

Yes

The verdict, up front

The M1 iPad Pro.

iPad Pro 12.9 (2021) was the first iPad with Mac-class M1 silicon and a mini-LED XDR display — a step-change in tablet capability.

01Display

94/100

At 94/100 this is one of the strongest display showings among flagship phones of 2021 — 8 points above the cohort average.

TypeLiquid Retina XDR mini-LED, ProMotion 120 Hz, 1,000-nit sustained / 1,600-nit peak

Size12.9 inches

Resolution2,732 × 2,048 px (264 ppi)

02Camera

70/100

70/100 is one of the weaker camera results among flagship phones of 2021 — 7 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

Main12 MP wide + 10 MP ultrawide + LiDAR

Selfie12 MP ultrawide (Center Stage)

03Performance

92/100

At 92/100 this is one of the strongest performance showings among flagship phones of 2021 — 7 points above the cohort average.

ChipsetApple M1 (8-core CPU / 8-core GPU)

RAM8 / 16 GB

Storage128 GB – 2 TB

04Battery

82/100

82/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2021.

Capacity10,758 mAh

WiredUSB-C with Thunderbolt

05Build

86/100

86/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2021.

06Value

76/100

76/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2021.

What works

First iPad with M1 silicon.
Mini-LED XDR HDR display.
Thunderbolt USB-C.
Center Stage selfie cam.

What doesn't

Heavier than the 4th gen.
$1,099 starting price.
Software didn't fully use the M1 power.
No new design.

Cross-shop it against

iQOO 11

$650 · score 90/100

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 15-phone cohort of flagship devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .