Why 9.7 iPad Pro cases won't fit the 10.5 iPad Pro

Apple gave us a new iPad Pro this year at WWDC, but along with upgraded insides, the outside got a little beefier. Unfortunately, that means some of your favorite accessories may not fit the new 10.5-inch iPad Pro. If you're looking to get the new 10.5-inch iPad Pro as an upgrade to last year's 9.7-inch model, you're going to need to buy a new case. I'll give you a quick breakdown of why you'll need to shell out the extra moolah.

Size Comparison

Obviously, the 10.5-inch iPad Pro has a bigger screen than the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, but what does that mean for the size of the body?

9.7-inch iPad Pro - 9.45-inches long x 6.67-inches wide x 0.24-inches thick

10.5-inch iPad Pro - 9.8-inches long x 6.8-inches wide x 0.24-inches thick

Looking just at the numbers it may not seem like a giant difference, but cases are almost always designed to fit nice and snug around your iPad Pro. But when you place the 9.7-inch model on top of the 10.5-inch model, you can clearly see that the tablet size and shape is different enough that your old 9.7-inch iPad Pro case won't be able to hold the new 10.5-inch model.

New Camera

On top of the slight difference in size, the new 10.5-inch iPad Pro is sporting a new camera! The 9.7-inch iPad Pro had the 12MP camera with ƒ/2.2 aperture and five-element lens that was found on the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. Meanwhile, the new 10.5-inch iPad Pro has the 12MP camera with ƒ/1.8 aperture and six-element lens that is found on the iPhone 7. This makes the camera on the back of the 10.5-inch iPad Pro slight bigger than the camera found on last year's 9.7-inch model.

Bottom line: some 9.7-inch iPad Pro cases have a very narrow cutout for the camera on the back, meaning even if you somehow magically fit your new 10.5-inch iPad Pro into an old case (which you definitely wouldn't be able to), there's a chance that case won't be able to accommodate the bigger camera.

Wait it out

The 10.5-inch iPad Pro has nearly a one-inch larger screen, but is only about 13 % bigger than the 9.7-inch model. It's incredible that Apple could give so much more while keeping the size practically the same. But, the dimensions of the 10.5-inch model are significant enough that there is no way most 9.7-inch cases will fit. Sleeves, bags, soft covers, heck - even skins, will fit just fine, but hard and silicone cases are just not shaped the same as the 10.5-inch iPad Pro.

Although the selection of cases for the new 10.5-inch iPad Pro is slim right now, if the past releases of new products have taught us anything it's that will be a bunch more to hit the market in the coming weeks that will fit your new iPad Pro perfectly!

Do you plan on upgrading your 9.7-inch iPad Pro to the new 10.5-inch model?

Let us know in the comments below!