Apple 9.7-inch iPad Pro review: Superseded by the 10.5-inch iPad Pro

Camera

Writing about the camera on the iPad used to be easy: okay for the occasional shot, but not much more than that. This time around, Apple’s used the same 12-megapixel camera as on the iPhone 6S, including the True Tone LED flash. This means that the f/2.2 lens protrudes from the rear of the case by a few millimetres, but I didn’t find this too irritating, particularly as the trade-off is excellent photos.

Apple’s cameras are some of the best in the business, ably coping with any lighting conditions to give great, well-balanced photos with plenty of dynamic range. Getting this quality on an iPad is a novelty and one that I enjoyed: using the large screen as a viewfinder makes taking shots incredibly easy. Results are fantastic, too, as you can see from the outdoor shots below, with the building, sky and clouds all perfectly exposed.

Indoor shots are just as good, although noise becomes a slight issue once the lighting drops. However, this is a problem for most smartphones, too, so it’s not surprising the iPad struggles here as well. Fortunately, if things get too dark the True Tone LED flash is on hand to help. This monitors the ambient light and fires the flash at the same colour temperature, making shots look a lot more natural than with a pure white flash.

Round the front is a 5-megapixel FaceTime HD camera. This borrows the iPhone 6S’ Retina Flash: the screen flares up its brightness to make sure that you’re perfectly lit when you’re taking a selfie. It uses similar technology to the True Tone flash for more natural images.

As with the phones, you get all of the same video modes: 720p (30fps), 1080p (30fps and 60fps) and 4K (30fps), plus there are 720p (240fps) and 1080p (120fps) slow-motion modes. Given the quality of iMovie on the iPad, it’s now possible to shoot, edit and share video from the same device.