Home > Tablet comparison > Apple iPad Pro 12.9" (6th Gen, 2022) vs Pro 12.9" (5th Gen, 2021) – which one to choose?

iPad Pro 12.9" (6th Gen, 2022) vs iPad Pro 12.9" (5th Gen, 2021)

80 out of 100
Apple iPad Pro 12.9
VS
77 out of 100
Apple iPad Pro 12.9
iPad Pro 12.9" (6th Gen, 2022)
iPad Pro 12.9" (5th Gen, 2021)

Here we compared two flagship tablets: the 12.9-inch Apple iPad Pro 12.9" (6th Gen, 2022) (with Apple M2 (iPad)) that was released on October 18, 2022, against the Apple iPad Pro 12.9" (5th Gen, 2021), which is powered by Apple M1 (iPad) and came out 1 year and 6 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory
  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each tablet
Reasons to consider the Apple iPad Pro 12.9" (6th Gen, 2022)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 6400 MHz
  • 22% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (2536K versus 2074K)
  • 13% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 2617 and 2324 points
Reasons to consider the Apple iPad Pro 12.9" (5th Gen, 2021)
  • Shows 7% longer battery life (25:46 vs 24:10 hours)

Review

Evaluation of Apple iPad Pro 12.9" (6th Gen, 2022) and Pro 12.9" (5th Gen, 2021) crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
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Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
8 / 128 GB
VS
8 / 128 GB
33.3
(Mediocre)
Value Index
26.0
(Mediocre)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Tablet:
iPad Pro 12.9" (6th Gen, 2022)
vs
iPad Pro 12.9" (5th Gen, 2021)

Display

Type Mini LED Mini LED
Size 12.9 inches 12.9 inches
Resolution 2048 x 2732 pixels 2048 x 2732 pixels
Aspect ratio 4:3 4:3
PPI 265 ppi 265 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (24-120 Hz) Yes (24-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 1000 nits 600 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1600 nits -
HDR support Yes, HDR10 Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Tempered glass Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 85.5% 85.5%
Display features - DCI-P3 -
Display tests
RGB color space 100% 99.9%
PWM 6401 Hz 19190 Hz
Response time 36 ms 23 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 280.6 mm (11.05 inches) 280.6 mm (11.05 inches)
Width 214.9 mm (8.46 inches) 214.9 mm (8.46 inches)
Thickness 6.4 mm (0.25 inches) 6.4 mm (0.25 inches)
Weight 682 g (24.06 oz) 682 g (24.06 oz)
Waterproof No No
Rear material Metal Metal
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Silver, Gray Silver, Gray
Fingerprint scanner No No
Area 603 cm2 (93.5 inches2) 603 cm2 (93.5 inches2)
Screen-to-body ratio
Tablet Ranking (33rd and 43rd place)
iPad Ranking (9th and 14th place)

Performance

Chipset specifications of Apple iPad Pro 12.9" (6th Gen, 2022) and Apple iPad Pro 12.9" (5th Gen, 2021)
SoC
Chipset Apple M2 (iPad) Apple M1 (iPad)
Max clock 3490 MHz 3200 MHz
CPU cores 8 (4 + 4) 8 (4 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 2.42 GHz: Blizzard
- 4 cores at 3.49 GHz: Avalanche		 - 4 cores at 2.1 GHz: Icestorm
- 4 cores at 3.2 GHz: Firestorm
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 5 nanometers 5 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Apple Neural Engine Apple Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics Apple GPU 10-core Apple GPU 8-core
GPU shading units 1024 -
GPU clock 1398 MHz 1278 MHz
FLOPS ~2863.1 GFLOPS ~2617 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Apple iPad Pro 12.9" (6th Gen, 2022) and Apple iPad Pro 12.9" (5th Gen, 2021)
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Single-core score 2617 2324
Multi-core score 10085 8559
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
CPU 841074 653954
GPU 801119 677034
Memory 371059 212665
UX 523068 531187
Total score 2536320 2074840
Samples Less than 3 [2 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability 76% 77%
Graphics test 19 FPS 15 FPS
Graphics score 2632 1986
3DMark Solar Bay
Stability 77% 79%
Graphics test 33 FPS 24 FPS
Section 1 41 FPS 30 FPS
Section 2 33 FPS 24 FPS
Section 3 25 FPS 19 FPS
Graphics score 8757 6408
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability 71% 74%
Graphics test 40 FPS 30 FPS
Graphics score 6808 5105
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
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Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple iPad Pro 12.9" (6th Gen, 2022)
No benchmark results yet
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Apple iPad Pro 12.9" (5th Gen, 2021)
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-07-04 (クラ絶)AnTuTu2074840
📘 2026-03-29 (Blizz)AnTuTu2011970
Add View all (2)

Memory

Configuration
RAM
RAM size 8 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory clock 6400 MHz 4266 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128 GB
Storage type NVMe NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system iPadOS 16.1 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 26.5) iPadOS 14.5.1 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 26.5)

Battery

Capacity 10758 mAh 10758 mAh
Max charge power 30 W 30 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging No No
Fast charging Yes (50% in 40 min) Yes (50% in 65 min)
Full charging time 2:00 hr 2:15 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 07:13 hr 07:12 hr
Watching video 11:20 hr 11:18 hr
Gaming 06:08 hr 06:23 hr
Standby 153 hr 171 hr
General battery life
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 4032 x 3024
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash Quad LED Quad LED
Stabilization Digital Digital
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 125° 125°
Lenses 1) Standard: 12 MP
2) Ultrawide: 10 MP
3) Depth
1) Standard: 12 MP
2) Ultrawide: 10 MP
3) Depth
Camera features - Bokeh mode - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 12 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.8
Sensor size 1/3.0" (≈ 0.33 inch) 1/3.0" (≈ 0.33 inch)
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Digital Digital
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 10 MP 10 MP
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.4
Stabilization Digital Digital

Selfie camera

Megapixels 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.4
Sensor CMOS -
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display		 - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.3 5
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 4.0 4.0
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes Yes
GPS GPS, GLONASS GPS, GLONASS
NFC* No No
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 18 18
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers 4.0 4.0
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced October 2022 April 2021
Release date October 2022 May 2021
Launch price (MSRP) $1099 $1099
Successor - Apple iPad Pro 13" (7th Gen, 2024) - Apple iPad Pro 13" (7th Gen, 2024)
Sensors - Barometer
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor		 - Barometer
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
Keyboard weight 709 g 710 g
Bundled charger Yes, 20 W Yes, 20 W
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

These tablets have a lot in common, but we would recommend the Apple iPad Pro 12.9" (6th Gen, 2022). It has a better performance and gaming.

Cast your vote

So, which tablet would you choose?
24 (49%)
25 (51%)
Total votes: 49

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