Apple Launching A9X-Based 12.9" iPad Pro in November for $799+

[sracer]

@Traverse , thanks for taking one for the team.

Sounds like good news so far as I expect the final version to be bit improved. I think that I'll be able to continue to use my iPad 2 (for the very limited use case that I currently use it for) for another year.

Now that a few days have passed since the introduction of the iPad RT, I am more eager to pick up an Air 2 (some time between now and Thanksgiving should any deal pop up).

The Air 2 will be able to fully utilize the capabilities of iOS 9. I plan on staying on iOS 9.x for the life of the device. This will assure silky smooth performance for the duration. I considered the possibility of an Air 3 being announced in Feb/Mar 2016 that would include support for the Pencil and keyboard. I have no interest in those overpriced peripherals.

 

[Traverse]

I plan on staying on iOS 9.x for the life of the device.

That is probably the smartest advice you can give anyone who uses Apple products, particularly iOS devices. Sadly, Apple will withhold security updates to force updates. :/

The waiting game is maddening. If I purchased an iPad Air 2 now, and the Air 3 came out in March, I'd just punch myself because I got the iPad 3 in June and the 4 came out in October. But if I wait until March and no Air 3 occurs, then I'm stuck with buying an Air 2 in March or waiting again until October 2016.

I have no interest in the "magic keyboard" since there are very worthy competitors at half the price, but the Apple Pencil looks really looks incredible for precision writing, which I need when I mark up my documents and sketches. $99 is more reasonable to me than $149 for the keyboard. I think $79 would be a more appropriate "Apple Price" and I think it should absolutely come with an $800 iPad "Pro" (or RT as you call it ), but that's not Apple's style.

 

[ParanoidDroid]

Does anyone know the name of the solar system app which was shown on the iPad Pro during the keynote?

 

[sfwalter]

SP3 completely outclasses the iPP in all aspects if you do an equal comparison. I'm really surprised Apple put out a iPP of this poor quality. And this is just against the year old SP3. The SP4 is out next month, which will demolish all aspects of this iPPro. Sad day indeed for Apple iPad enthusiasts.

I'm sort of glad Apple is not releasing this til November. Waiting to see what the Surface Pro 4 has. Been looking for a nice tablet to use with Photoshop. I know that you can't run Photoshop on the iPad Pro. However AstroPad has already announced support.

 

[sfwalter]

can the iPad Pro be connected to a MBP and used as a graphic tablet like a Wacom?

Yes via an app called AstroPad. You can do this today with existing iPads as well.

 

[toke lahti]

Yes via an app called AstroPad. You can do this today with existing iPads as well.

Anybody found any comparisons between Astropad, airDisplay and others?

 

[AirunJae]

The lack of mouse support was what finally killed it for me. A close second would be the cost of the peripherals. $170 for the keyboard is obscene. I thought that the $140 for the Surface TypeCover was too high. $170 for a "cloth covered" keyboard with no backlighting... ugh.

I'm also waiting to hear about the iPad Pro's "lapability". I predict that it will magically be better than the Surface. /s

I agree, $170 for a keyboard is absurd. That being said, I think comparing the Pro's to each other isn't a good comparison. The Surface Pro (to my mind) is attempting to straddle 2 genre's (Tablet & Laptop) and uses a full OS and full computer processing power (a la the i-Series). The iPad is still very much a, albeit huge, tablet. It runs iOS and has an Apple/mobile processor. The Surface Pro was advertised at being so great at productivity and is always shown with the keyboard to do so, but keyboard sold separately. The iPad Pro, I'm guessing, will be advertised as a souped-up iPad that will allow you to do more creatively, has a better consumption (movies, etc), and is better at productivity if you want it to be. I'm skeptical anyone will be saying "oh the lapability on this thing is great" because to have a true laptop experience in the lap, it's going to take a "real" keyboard for either device to snap into.

 

[Wiesenlooser]

i can live with the 99 Dollar pencil, but 170 for a keyboard? that is just INSANE. the Price of the overall package (ipad pro + pencil + keyboard is just way too high for my taste.

 

[iF34R]

i can live with the 99 Dollar pencil, but 170 for a keyboard? that is just INSANE. the Price of the overall package (ipad pro + pencil + keyboard is just way too high for my taste.

That's pretty much what's keeping me from day one.

 

[gradoo]

anyone tried install the OS X into it?

 

[BreezyR]

It's overpriced by 100-200. If it was way cheaper I'd actually consider picking one up and a stylus for college, even with the lack of "pro" features.

Honestly it's kind of disappointing, Apple had a real chance to innovate and it spent so much time on (admittedly useful) gimmicks. A real Surface Pro killer would have been great.

 

[toke lahti]

anyone tried install the OS X into it?

LoL, Apple had secret intel version years in the works and no leaks. Now where's the wikileak for arm-version of osX...