On May 12th, Apple unveiled the 2024 models of iPad Pro and iPad Air tablets at the recent "Spring Forward" special event.
The starting price for the Chinese version of iPad Pro is 8999 yuan, and for the Chinese version of iPad Air, it is 4799 yuan. Both tablets are currently available for pre-order and will officially go on sale on May 15th.
However, users planning to purchase the cellular version of the new iPad need to take note: the new iPad cellular version only supports China Unicom's eSIM service, no longer supporting physical SIM card slots, as well as the network services of China Telecom and China Mobile.
In terms of cellular network support, Apple has made some adjustments to the 2024 iPad Pro: adding support for the n75 and n76 frequency bands of Sub-6GHz 5G signals, while discontinuing support for the 46 frequency band of the 4G signal TD-LTE standard. These changes have also been synchronized to the 2024 iPad Air.
Furthermore, Apple has also removed support for mmWave 5G frequency bands on the 2024 iPad Pro and iPad Air.
MmWave 5G networks are mainly deployed commercially in the United States, but due to their weak signal penetration and limited coverage range, they are mainly suitable for densely populated areas such as stadiums, rather than residential environments.
Considering that the primary usage scenarios for iPad Pro are typically indoors, the decision to remove support for mmWave frequency bands seems reasonable and appropriate.
