New iPad Pro and iPad Air Will Have Day-One Software Update With These Release Notes

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The new iPad Pro and iPad Air will begin arriving to customers over the next 24 hours. It appears that the initial batch of the devices will have a special build of iPadOS 17.4 preinstalled, but an iPadOS 17.5 software update will be available in the Settings app right away, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris.

M4 iPad Pro and Air Feature
iPadOS 17.5 has a special build number of 21F84 on the new iPads, and modified release notes that mention improved document scanning:

Apple News+
• Offline mode in Apple News+ gives you access to the Today feed and News+ tab, even when you don't have an internet connection
• Quartiles is a new and original daily word game that is now available in Apple News+
• Scoreboard in News+ Puzzles gives you access to new player data for Crossword, Mini Crossword and Quartiles, including stats and streaks

Tracking Notifications
• Cross-Platform Tracking Detection delivers notifications to users if a compatible Bluetooth tracker they do not own is moving with them, regardless of what operating system the device is paired with

Document Scanning
• Document scanning is improved on the new iPad Air and iPad Pro

The new iPad Pro models with the M4 chip are equipped with "adaptive True Tone flash" for improved document scanning. It is unclear if the feature requires iPadOS 17.5, or if the update simply further optimizes the functionality.

iPad Pro Improved Document Scanning
With adaptive True Tone flash and AI, the new iPad Pro can eliminate shadows on scanned documents, as Apple explained in a press release:

It also now features a new adaptive True Tone flash that makes document scanning on the new iPad Pro better than ever. Using AI, the new iPad Pro automatically identifies documents right in the Camera app, and if a shadow is in the way, it instantly takes multiple photos with the new adaptive flash, stitching the scan together for a dramatically better scan.

Improved document scanning will be available in the Camera, Files, and Notes apps, and third-party apps will be able to offer the feature too.

The new iPad Air does not have adaptive True Tone flash, so it is unclear how document scanning is improved on those models, as Apple indicates.

iPadOS 17.5 was already released on Monday for all other iPads, with a build number of 21F79 and no mention of improved document scanning.

Related Roundups: iOS 17, iPadOS 17
Related Forums: iOS 17, iPadOS 17

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Top Rated Comments

julesme Avatar
julesme
13 weeks ago
Document scanning in Notes is one of the best & most under-appreciated iOS features. I still come across people who don’t use it and /or have never heard of it. Happy to see Apple continue to improve it.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Cirillo Gherardo Avatar
Cirillo Gherardo
13 weeks ago

Document scanning in Notes is one of the best & most under-appreciated iOS features.
Eh. Document Scanning itself is great. Document Scanning in Notes is the clunkiest most confusing thing on the entire OS. Most people are just trying to get a JPG or a PDF to send somewhere. But its part of a note, and really unclear how to share just the document, and then scanning itself is really unclear when it comes to multi page document vs multiple documents. It's a real mess that needs to be simplified. I wish the camera app had scanning built in and AI document detection, because no one ever opens Notes to do this. I always see people just open the camera and start taking a picture of a document ...perfect moment for AI to step in handle it like a scan instead of a photo.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TechnoMonk Avatar
TechnoMonk
13 weeks ago
Hope the true tone flash comes to future iPhones, i find it uncomfortable to scan with my m1 iPad Pro.May be the lighter M4 iPad Pro is better.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ps3zocker Avatar
ps3zocker
13 weeks ago

Hope the true tone flash comes to future iPhones, i find it uncomfortable to scan with my m1 iPad Pro.May be the lighter M4 iPad Pro is better.
True Tone flash has been on the iPhone for years. Is it adaptive though, I don't know? What's the "AIs" job in this?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TechnoMonk Avatar
TechnoMonk
13 weeks ago

True Tone flash has been on the iPhone for years. Is it adaptive though, I don't know? What's the "AIs" job in this?
It takes multiple scans and stitches together to remove the shadows. I have problems occasionally with scans from my 13 PM, needs some maneuvering to eliminate shadows.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
reubs Avatar
reubs
13 weeks ago

The Files app does the same thing but the functionality is kind of hidden. But using the Files app you can select where to save the document directly which makes sharing easier, and it defaults to multi document mode.

I agree that it’s clunky to scan a pdf into a note. Maybe it makes sense for Apple executives who only ever talk to people who also extensively use Apple Notes.
I had no idea you could scan in the Files app!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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