The iPad Pro is finally here, so if you are interested in owning Apple’s latest product, now is the time to start shopping. You may have already read about the main features: a 12.9-inch display with 5.6 million pixels, the highest-resolution Retina display of any iOS device; the A9X processor, Apple’s third-generation chip with 64-bit desktop-class architecture; split-view and enhanced multitasking; etc. That’s what Apple wants you to know. How about some other interesting facts that Apple isn’t talking about? We’ve gathered a few, so have a look.
1. First-generation Touch ID
You can use Touch ID with an iPhone 5s or later, iPad Pro, iPad Air 2, or iPad mini 3 or later. The catch is, Apple uses the first-generation fingerprint sensor in all of these devices, except the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. The second-generation Touch ID is much faster and more accurate. But it’s not on the iPad Pro. As a first-generation device, Apple skipped it, so your Touch ID speed will be equal to that of the iPad Air 2 (via MacStories).
2. No 3D Touch display
That’s quite an interesting move from Apple, considering that the iPad Pro targets business users (alongside consumers): don’t try to access 3D Touch shortcuts on the Home screen, because there aren’t any.
3. Longer Lightning-to-USB cable
The standard Lightning-to-USB Cable that ships with iPads is one metre long. The iPad Pro comes with a two-metre Lightning-to-USB Cable.
4. The Smart Connector itself isn’t magnetic
As noted by MacStories’ Federico Vittici, the pins of the Smart Keyboard and third-party accessories won’t attach magnetically to the Smart Connector. Apple uses the magnets around both sides of the Smart Connector to align the cover.
5. The Apple Pencil is weighted
This was noted by The Verge’s Lauren Goode:
But the Pencil is just plain fun. It is indeed Apple white, and there are Apple-y things about it — for example, the fact that it is weighted, and won’t roll away on a table top, and always stops rolling with the word “Pencil” facing upward on its metal band.
