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11-inch iPad Pro (2018)

by Apple

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Apple Showcased Its First USB Type-C Based iOS Product with the iPad Pro 2018

Apple has recently released its newest iPad Pro as the first iOS product that uses USB Type-C instead of the Lightning connector which includes the Apple 11-inch iPad Pro (2018). Along with the latest iPhone XSiPhone XR and iPhone XS Max, the 11-inch iPad Pro (2018) also supports eSIM technology for the first time as well as the current iOS 12 through Apple branded A12X Bionic chipset. With eSIM, the new iPad Pro provides an option to operate on a mobile network without needing a physical SIM card although it still allows using traditional Apple SIM cards from supported mobile carrier networks.

The 11-inch iPad Pro (2018) which also supports fast charging using USB Power Delivery 2.0 technology is going beyond the Apple platform with the new USB Type-C connector. Unlike previous models such as the 2017 10.5-inch iPad Pro that still uses the Lightning connector, the new iPad Pro now allows a wide variety of USB Power Delivery based chargers to be used over USB-C. By also being the first iOS product to support DisplayPort Alternate Mode over USB-C, the 11-inch iPad Pro (2018) enables connecting to external displays for video output. The 11-inch iPad Pro (2018) also offers more storage up to 1TB and supports 4K video @ 60 fps as compared to only 512GB and 4K video @ 30 fps by the 10.5-inch iPad Pro.

While the 11-inch iPad Pro (2018) can run faster with the latest A12X Bionic chipset, it still doesn't come with wireless charging despite being supported by the more recent iPhone's. Apple has also replaced the 3.5 mm headphone jack on the 10.5-inch iPad Pro with USB Type-C audio output on the 11-inch iPad Pro (2018).

Similar to the iPhone X and above, the 11-inch iPad Pro (2018) now implements facial recognition in place of the previous fingerprint sensor. It's also missing the home button on its updated user interface but has a better display screen than the 2017 version.

The 11-inch iPad Pro (2018) comes with a USB Type-C to Type-C cable, 18W USB Type-C power adapter and documentation instead of the typical USB to Lightning cable and 12W USB power adapter that shipped with the older iPad's.  

The USB-C power adapter supports 15 watts (5 volts @ 3 amps) and 18 watts (9 volts @ 2 amps) power profiles, allowing for quicker charging through USB Power Delivery than the 12W USB power adapter used by the 10.5-inch iPad Pro.

Click here to view more details on the power capabilities of the Apple 18W USB-C Power Adapter.

With USB Type-C, the 11-inch iPad Pro (2018) is a progressive move by Apple to promote iOS to a wider range of audience especially Android fans.

Using the USB Power Test App from Granite River Labs with the Granite River Labs USB Power Delivery Compliance C2 Tester, we generate the following test results to check the power profile of the 11-inch iPad Pro (2018).

The USB Power Test App first negotiates a power contract emulating the Source to determine the Power Delivery Sink capabilities of the 11-inch iPad Pro (2018). The USB Power Test App then reports out the voltage and current supported by the iPad for each of the Source PDO's advertised to the iPad.

Sink Cap.Voltage (V)Current (A)
5V5.12.92
6V6.052.87
7V7.122.76
8V8.072.93
9V9.072.52
10V10.072.68
11V11.082.43
12V12.082.21
13V13.072.06
14V14.091.9
15V15.081.82
16V5.082.91
17V5.072.91
18V5.122.9
19V5.12.91
20V5.072.91

The USB Power Test App from Granite River Labs also produces a voltage, current trace plot which graphically shows the voltage and current requested by the 11-inch iPad Pro (2018) for each advertised Source PDO throughout the power negotiation.

Port1 Plot

Using the USB Power Delivery Compliance C2 Tester from Granite River Labs to run just a subset of the full USB Power Delivery compliance test suite, we can see that the 11-inch iPad Pro (2018) supports fixed PDO's of 7.5 watts (5 volts @ 1.5 amps) and 15 watts (5 volts @ 3 amps) as well as variable power supply of 14.25-47.25 watts range (4.75-15.75 volts @ 3 amps) for charging. Note a compliance failure was observed.

Power Capabilities

Parameter

GetCapabilities

PD_POWER_AS_SOURCE

7000

NUM_SRC_PDOS

1

Supply Type #1

Fixed

Peak Current #1

0x0(A)

Voltage #1

0x64(5V)

Max Current #1

0x96(1.5A)

PD_POWER_AS_SINK

 

NUM_SNK_PDOS

2

Supply Type #1

Fixed

Voltage #1

0x64(5V)

OP Current #1

0x12C(3A)

Supply Type #2

Variable

Min Voltage #2

0x5F(4.75V)

Max Voltage #2

0x13B(15.75V)

Op Current #2

0x12C(3A)

USB-IF High Level Mapping Summary

Sl No

Test Category

Test Group Description

Test Result

1

PHY_PRIMARY_TX

BMC Physical Layer Transmitter

PASS

2

PHY_PRIMARY_RX

BMC Physical Layer Receiver

PASS

3

PHY_PRIMARY_MISC

BMC Physical Layer Miscellaneous

FAIL

4

PROT_PRIMARY

Protocol Specific Primary

PASS

5

POWER_PRIMARY

Power Source/Sink Primary

PASS

Result Summary

Sl No

Test ID

Test Name

Test Result

1

TDA.2.1.1.1

TDA.2.1.1.1 BMC PHY TX EYE

PASS

2

TDA.2.1.1.2

TDA.2.1.1.2 BMC PHY TX BIT

PASS

3

TDA.2.1.2.2

TDA.2.1.2.2 BMC PHY RX INT REJ

PASS

4

TDA.2.1.2.1

TDA.2.1.2.1 BMC PHY RX BUSIDL

PASS

5

TDA.2.1.3.1

TDA.2.1.3.1 BMC PHY TERM

PASS

6

TDA.2.1.3.2

TDA.2.1.3.2 BMC PHY MSG

FAIL

7

TDA.2.2.1

TDA.2.2.1 BMC PROT SEQ GETCAPS

PASS

12

TDA.2.2.7

TDA.2.2.7 BMC PROT BIST NOT 5V SRC

PASS

14

TDA.2.2.9

TDA.2.2.9 BMC PROT GSC REC

PASS

15

TDA.2.2.10

TDA.2.2.10 BMC PROT IGN PPS

PASS

16

TDA.2.3.1.1

TDA.2.3.1.1 POW SRC LOAD P PC

PASS

17

TDA.2.3.1.2

TDA.2.3.1.2 POW SRC LOAD CP ACC

PASS

20

TDA.2.3.3.1

TDA.2.3.3.1 POW SNK TRANS C CP

PASS

21

TDA.2.3.3.2

TDA.2.3.3.2 POW SNK TRANS PC

PASS

BMC Eye Diagram


Eye Diagram 

Here we used the GRL-USB-PD C2 Compliance Test Solution App to output a load trace diagram to also see that the 11-inch iPad Pro (2018) supports different voltage and current levels for charging.

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