New Apple iPad Pro with M2 Chip runs DaVinci Resolve and Records ProRes

Computer News

by Jakub HanOctober 18^th, 2022

The new Apple iPad Pro models come equipped with the M2 chip with up to 16GB RAM, new iPadOS 16 with the improved stage manager, two cameras with support for ProRes recording, and bright Liquid Retina displays. There will also be a DaVinci Resolve for iPad coming soon. The new iPad Pro models will be available from October 26 starting at $799.

Apple just announced new iPad and iPad Pro models. The Pro model is, of course, more interesting and more powerful, so that is the main focus of my article.

Apple iPad Pro with M2 processor

The newest iPad Pro models come equipped with Apple’s new M2 processor which features an 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, and 16-core neural engine. It comes in two sizes:

• Smaller version with the 11″ Liquid Retina display features 600 nits peak brightness, P3 color gamut, ProMotion for up to 120Hz refresh rate, and more.
• Larger version with the 12.9″ Liquid Retina XDR display features 1,000 nits full-screen brightness and 1,600 nits peak brightness, ProMotion for up to 120Hz refresh rate, mini-LED with over 2500 dimming zones, P3 color gamut, a contrast of 1,000,000:1 and more.

The base models will include 128GB of storage and they will feature 8GB RAM. The other options are 256GB (8GB RAM), 512GB (8GB RAM), 1TB (16GB RAM), and 2TB (16GB RAM). When it comes to physical ports, the iPad Pro features one USB 4 Type-C port with Thunderbolt 3 for up to 40Gb/s and DisplayPort for connecting external screen.

iPad Pro can be purchased either with Wi-Fi module only (supports Wi-Fi 6E) or with both Wi-Fi and Cellular modules (5G). It will be available in either space gray or silver color.

iPadOS 16 and DaVinci Resolve for iPad

The iPadOS 16 further improves the usability of the Stage Manager which allows multitasking and better utilizes a larger screen connected to the iPad Pro. The M2 chip is quite powerful even for video editing and I know some people were already using previous iPad Pro devices to edit for instance in LumaFusion. (Here’s a LumaFusion Workflow Guide video we made a few years ago.)

The good news for filmmakers is that Blackmagic Design will bring DaVinci Resolve for iPad which will be supported by the new iPad Pro. There are not many details about this yet, we basically only have one screenshot that shows only two pages at the bottom toolbar – cut and color, plus short clips of it in the official launch video below. It remains to be seen if the Resolve for iPad will in fact be as fully-equipped as the macOS version or if there will be some limitations, and if it will be possible to move between the iPad and MacOS version of the application.

Cameras – ProRes recording

The iPad Pro features one front-facing camera and two cameras at the back. The front-facing 12MP camera features an ultra-wide lens with a 122-degree field of view with Center Stage. It also works with the TrueDepth camera to enable Face ID.

At the back of the device, there is a 12MP f/1.8 wide camera, a 10MP ultra-wide camera (f/2.4 aperture and 125-degrees FOV), and a LiDAR scanner which also helps with AF in low-light conditions. The wide camera can record 4K video up to 60fps. On top of H.264 and HEVC (H.265), the wide camera can also capture ProRes videos in up to 4K 30 fps. The 128GB version, however, only records ProRes at up to 1080p 30fps.

Price and availability

The new Apple iPad Pro will be available from October 26, 2022. The smaller version with 11″ display will start at $799 and the larger 12.9″ version will start at $1,099 for the base version with 128GB of storage space. Models with larger storage are available too – 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB. The Apple Pencil retails for $129 and the Magic Keyboard will cost $299 (for 11″ iPad Pro) or $349 (for 12.9″ iPad Pro). Smart Keyboard Folio without the touchpad costs $199.

Do you use iPad Pro for editing videos on the go? What do you think about the new iPad Pro? Let us know in the comments section underneath the article.