New Apple iPad (2017) vs iPad Pro 9.7: What’s the difference?

Apple announced a new 9.7-inch iPad at its March 2017 event, replacing the iPad Air 2, but ditching the Air name. The Apple iPad (2017) is the cheapest way to get your hands on an Apple tablet, but how does it compare to the rest of the iPad family?

We’ve put it up against the iPad Air 2 in a separate feature, and you can also read our entire iPad round up if you want to see how it fits in on the whole. Here we are specifically comparing it to the iPad Pro 9.7.

• New Apple iPad (2017) review
• Apple iPad Pro 9.7 review

New Apple iPad 2017 vs iPad Pro 9.7: Design

• Similar designs, but iPad Pro is lighter and slimmer
• Smart Connector and raised rear camera lens on iPad Pro
• iPad Pro comes in additional rose gold colour option

The new Apple iPad 2017 and the iPad Pro 9.7 feature a very similar design with only a few slight differences on the surface. They are both distinctly iPad, offering slim, premium metal constructions with rounded edges and corners and the Touch ID home button on the front beneath the screen.

On the rear, the Apple logo is positioned in the middle, as usual, while the rear camera lens sits in the top left corner. The iPad Pro 9.7 has a raised rear camera lens and a flash module beneath it, while the new iPad has a flat rear camera lens and no flash. Both have a centralised Lightning port at the bottom in between grilles but the iPad Pro has Smart Connector ports on one of its sides, distinguishing it from the new model in terms of design.

These two slabs offer identical measurements in terms of width and height, at 240 x 169.5mm, but the iPad Pro 9.7 is slimmer at 6.1mm compared to 7.5mm. The Pro is also lighter at 437g or 444g compared to the new model’s 469g or 478g weight, depending on the whether you opt for Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi and Cellular.

The new Apple iPad 2017 and the iPad Pro 9.7 both come in silver, space grey and gold colour options, but the iPad Pro is also available in rose gold and it is the only iPad in the family that comes in this colour.

• New Apple iPad 9.7 vs iPad Air 2: What’s the difference?

New Apple iPad 2017 vs iPad Pro 9.7: Display

• Both 9.7-inch displays, 2048 x 1538 resolutions (264ppi)
• iPad Pro has fully laminated display with anti-reflective coating
• iPad Pro also has wider colour gamut and True Tone technology 

The new Apple iPad 2017 and the iPad Pro 9.7 both offer 9.7-inch Retina displays, which means LED-backlit LCD screens with 2048 x 1536 resolutions for pixel densities of 264ppi. They also both have a fingerprint resistance oleophobic coating, but this is where their similarities conclude.

The iPad Pro 9.7 has a fully laminated display with an anti-reflective coating, while the new iPad doesn’t, meaning there is a small gap between the surface glass and the display panel of the new iPad and the reason for the increased thickness. In reality, it doesn’t actually make a great deal of difference other than content isn’t as close to the surface, but the colours of the new iPad are still vibrant and natural so the experience is still a great one.

The iPad Pro 9.7 also offers a P3 wide colour gamut and Apple’s True Tone technology, the latter of which adjusts the white balance based on ambient lighting conditions and is the most obvious difference between the screens of these two devices. The new iPad does have iOS Night Shift however, which like the iPhones, reduces the blue light emitted from the screen to help relax your eyes when you’re off to bed.

• What is Apple’s True Tone display?

New Apple iPad 2017 vs iPad Pro 9.7: Camera

• iPad Pro has 12MP rear, 5MP front cameras
• New iPad has 8MP rear, 1.2MP front cameras
• iPad Pro has rear True Tone Flash, front Retina Flash, 4K video recording and Live Photo feature 

The new Apple iPad 2017 has an 8-megapixel rear camera with a f/2.4 aperture and 1080p video recording capabilities, while the front-facing camera resolution sits at 1.2-megapixels. There is no flash on either camera.

The iPad Pro 9.7 on the other hand, has a 12-megapixel rear camera with a f/2.2 aperture and 4K video recording, along with a 5-megapixel front-facing snapper. It also offers Live Photos, wide colour photo capture, a True Tone on its rear camera and a Retina Flash on its front snapper.

Other camera features are the same across both devices though, with both offering Auto HDR photos, exposure control, face detection, burst mode, timer mode and photo geotagging, all of which are also offered on the company’s iPhones.

• Which iPad is best for you?

New Apple iPad 2017 vs iPad Pro 9.7: Hardware

• iPad Pro has faster chip, but both have 10-hour battery life
• iPad Pro comes in 256GB storage option
• iPad Pro compatible with Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil

The new Apple iPad 2017 comes with the A9 chip and embedded M9 coprocessor, which is said offer 1.6x faster CPU and 1.8x faster GPU compared to the A8 chip, used in the Apple iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 4. The iPad Pro 9.7 has a slightly more advanced A9X chip with embedded M9 coprocessor though, said to have a 1.85x faster CPU and 2.7x faster GPU to the A8.

The iPad Pro 9.7 also offers Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard compatibility, which the new iPad doesn’t making it less of a working-on-the-go tablet compared to the Pro device. There is also four-speaker audio on the iPad Pro, compared to two-speaker audio on the new iPad, though pretty much everything else is the same in terms of hardware.

Both the iPad Pro 9.7 and the new iPad are said to offer up to 10 hours battery life, which in our experience is fairly accurate, and they both come in 32GB and 128GB storage options. The iPad Pro is also available in a 256GB option, which the new iPad is not. 

New Apple iPad 2017 vs iPad Pro 9.7: Software

• Both run on iOS 10

Both the new Apple iPad 2017 and the iPad Pro 9.7 run on iOS 10, meaning you’ll get an almost identical experience across both devices, aside from a few extra features on the iPad Pro.

You will however get functions such as split-screen multi-tasking, the new Home app for any HomeKit-enabled devices you might have, iMessages and of course the richness of the App Store ecosystem.

• Apple iOS 10 tips and tricks

New Apple iPad 2017 vs iPad Pro 9.7: Price

• iPad (2017) starting price is £210 cheaper

The new Apple iPad 2017 starts at £339 for the 32GB Wi-Fi only option, stretching up to £559 for the 128GB Wi-Fi and Cellular model. 

The Apple iPad Pro 9.7 starts at £549 for the 32GB Wi-Fi only option, while the 256GB Wi-Fi and Cellular option will cost you £849.

New Apple iPad 2017 vs iPad Pro 9.7: Which should you buy?

The decision between the new Apple iPad 2017 and the iPad Pro 9.7 will come down to what you want your new iPad for, as well as what you’re willing, or what you have, to spend on it. 

The iPad Pro 9.7 offers a better screen, more advanced chipset, the option of more storage, better cameras and it is also compatible with the Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil, both of which mean it is a great tablet for working-on-the-go, whether sketching or typing. The iPad Pro also offers better audio.

The new iPad 2017 is significantly cheaper though and although it doesn’t match the iPad Pro in terms of specs, it’s still a brilliant tablet that offers a solid, consistent performance. It will be more than enough for some, while others will want the extra functionality that comes with the iPad Pro. The question you really have to ask yourself is, are those extra functions worth £200 to you?