Here’s What It’s Like To Use the New iPad Pro’s Nano-Texture Anti-Reflection Display

— Photograph by Raymond Wong

I know, new iPads. But hear me out: The

I was able to try out the iPad Pro with nano-texture display. This is the matte display option that costs an extra $100 and is only available for the 1TB and 2TB storage models. Similar to the nano-texture display on Apple’s Studio Display and Pro Display XDR, the display option dramatically reduces reflections and cuts down on glare, but the downside is that colors don’t look as vibrant. Some people on X and Threads also seem to really hate that the nano-texture doesn’t extend to the bezels.

New Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro

Both of these accessories are a solid upgrade, too. The new Magic Keyboard is sturdier with an aluminum base, and more functional thanks to the row of function keys for adjusting settings such as screen brightness, volume, and media. The whole accessory is more compact and slightly slimmer than the previous one. Apple says the trackpad is larger and more responsive; it felt the same to me, which is not a knock, but a testament to how good the trackpad already is on the previous Magic Keyboards.

As for the Apple Pencil Pro — it’s really nice. The squeeze gesture is really convenient for bringing up toolbars and menus in apps; the barrel roll feature, as I mentioned, can make certain tasks simpler (the iPads even cast a digital shadow of the Pencil Pro that’s tracked in real-time as you move and rotate it); the haptics are nice confirmations that you’ve done something like a squeeze or double-tap. It pairs and charges to the iPad Pros magnetically on top of the webcam bezel; because of the webcam’s new location, Apple Pencil (2nd-generation) isn’t compatible with the new iPad Pros. The tablets only work with the Pencil Pro and the Pencil (USB-C).

Like the iPad Pros, the accessories are on the pricey side, but these are from Apple and the integration is spot on.

The 13-inch iPad Air

I’ll keep this short because the new 13-inch iPad Air is the only one worth talking about. It’s got the same size screen as the 13-inch iPad Pro, the only difference is that it’s a regular LCD and not OLED and not mini-LED. That means it doesn’t support HDR content.

Performance is “only” M2, but that’s no slouch. Sure, it’s not as fast as the M4 chip, but for basic iPad things, you’re not going to miss out on much.

From a size and weight perspective, the 13-inch iPad Air is lighter than the 13-inch M1 and

As for the iPad Air; it’s really for anyone who wants the display sizes of the iPad Pro, but doesn’t need all the bells and whistles like a thinner and lighter design, M4 chip performance, and more base storage (256GB on the Pros versus 128GB on the Airs). Get the iPad Air if you want to save a few hundred dollars and don’t need the bleeding edge.