9.7-inch iPad Pro vs. iPad Air 2 spec shootout – Worth the upgrade?

Apple announced its new iPad today.

It’s anyone’s guess if the 9.7-inch iPad Pro will now be the company’s “flagship” iPad. After all, we see a whole new batch of iPhones/iPads typically announced in the Fall. For now, at least, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro will be the darling of Apple’s tablet line.

Apple stated that its 9.7-inch iPad is the number one seller, and with good reason. Many call the form factor the Goldilocks of tablet sizes: not too big, not too small, just right.

So, is the 9.7-inch iPad Pro the eventual successor to the iPad Air 2, or will they coexist? Only time will tell. Here’s a quick rundown of how the two devices compare:

		Apple 9.7-Inch iPad Pro		Apple iPad Air 2
Display Size		9.7-inch, 2048 x 1536 pixel display (264 ppi)		9.7-inch, 2048 x 1536 pixel display (264 ppi)
Display Type		Retina HD		LED-backlit widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology
Operating System		iOS 9.3 (at launch)		iOS 8.1 (at launch)
Processor		A9X chip with 64‑bit architecture, M9 coprocessor		A8X chip with 64‑bit architecture and M8 motion coprocessor
RAM		N/A		2GB
Storage		32GB 128GB 256GB		16GB 64GB 128GB
External Storage		No		No
Main Camera (Back)		12MP		8MP
Secondary Camera (Front)		5MP		1.2MP
Networks		CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B LTE UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA		CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1900) GSM/EDGE LTE: Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 38, 39, 40, 41 UMTS/​HSPA/​HSPA+/​DC‑HSDPA: 850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900
Wi-Fi		802.11 a/b/g/n/ac dual channel (2.4GHz and 5GHz); HT80 with MIMO		802.11a/​b/​g/​n/ac; dual channel (2.4GHz and 5GHz) and MIMO
Bluetooth		Bluetooth 4.2		Bluetooth 4.0
Battery		N/A		Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi‑Fi, watching video, or listening to music: Up to 9 hours of surfing the web using cellular data network
NFC		N/A		No
Connectivity		N/A		3.5mm Headphone jack Lightning Touch ID
Sensors		Accelerometer Ambient light Barometer Gyroscope Touch ID		Accelerometer Ambient light Barometer Three-axis gyro
GPS		Digital compass Assisted GPS (Cellular models) GLONASS (Cellular models)		A-GPS (cellular model only) Digital compass GLONASS (cellular model only) iBeacon microlocation
Height		9.4 inches (23.88 cm)		9.4 inches (23.88 cm)
Width		6.6 inches (16.76 cm)		6.6 inches (16.76 cm)
Depth		0.24 inches (6.1 mm)		0.24 inches (6.1 mm)
Weight		437 g (15.41 oz)		434 g (15.31 oz)
Colors		Gold, Rose Gold, Silver, Space Gray		Gold, Gray, White
Supported Audio Formats		AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV		AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
Supported Video Formats		H.264 video up to 1080p, 60 frames per second, High Profile level 5.0 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format		H.264 video up to 1080p, 60 frames per second, High Profile level 5.0 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format