Although Apple didn't "officially" acknowledge the monstrosity that was the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, but we'll take the launch of a 9.7-inch display variant as a nudge in that direction.
Quips aside, the 9.7-inch display form factor is still one of the most successful for Apple. Moreover, there are a few improvements on the display front as well.
The True Tone display on the 9.7-inch iPad Pro sets its color temperature based on ambient light that it measures through sensors embedded in the front panel. Apart from that the internals are actually identical to the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. You have the Apple A9X 64-bit chip running everything here alongwith a 12MP iSight camera borrowed from the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.
Moreover, you have 4K recording build in with the capability to edit multiple streams on the device itself. Alongwith the iPad Pro Apple also announced some accessories. You have a new Smart Keyboard precisely designed for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro priced at $169 and alongwith the $99 Apple Pencil.
Pricing and Availability
The 9.7-inch iPad Pro WiFi starts at $599 for the 32GB storage variant and $749 with 128GB storage. For the first time, there would be a 256GB storage variant of the iPad Pro as well priced at $899.
You can also opt for the WiFi + Cellular variants which start at $729 with 32GB storage. It will be available on pre-order starting March 24th, going on sale March 31st in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, UK and the US. It will be available later in April in India.
