Apologies if this is a bit long, but I thought it may be useful for people who are going through the same thought processes as me about the IPP
When the iPad Pro was released, I viewed it as invaluable for creative professionals (artists, etc), but of little use to the wider user base.
I'm firmly in the latter category and couldn't draw to save my life so discounted the iPad Pro as a bit of a novelty.
Recently, my MBP was coming to the end of its life and I was pretty much ready to order a new one. However, I realised that the vast majority of my "computer time" is actually in Windows (I develop enterprise applications for a living) and I was pretty much running VMs with Windows on my MBP almost all the time.
Because of this, I re-assessed and instead of dropping £2K on a replacement MBP, I got a Lenovo windows laptop and replaced the hard disk with a 1TB SSD (total price was around £900). It's most definitely a workhorse machine and nowhere near as "beautiful" as my MBP was, but did leave me with some spare cash so I took another look at the IPP
After playing with one in store, I realised it wasn't as unwieldy as I thought it would be so decided to treat myself to a 128GB cellular IPP complete with pencil and smart keyboard. My total outlay for the windows laptop and the IPP is about the same as the replacement MBP would have been and I got a solid machine to earn my money on and an amazing tablet for my down time.
As a tablet, it absolutely excels: The screen is incredible and the speakers are brilliant with the extra size making everything far more immersive. Yes, it's big but it only takes a couple of days to get used to the larger size and it's not ridiculously huge (slightly bigger than an A4 sheet of paper)
What really surprised me though was that after some time with the IPP, I found I was using it for far more than just my down time: The extra space makes a massive difference to the productivity side of the iPad and I find myself using it more and more for writing documents, doing spreadsheets, presentations, taking notes, etc etc which is something I tried loads of times on my Air 2 but it never really felt right (too little space and keyboards were too cramped).
Even RDP sessions are great now with a decent resolution (1358x1024) onto the remote machine and the pencil does a decent job of replacing the missing mouse
It's similar to the iPhone vs iPhone + - the extra size brings the device to life and it really does start to fulfill it's potential as a tablet that can replace your laptop. It's not there yet (and never will be able to completely replace a full computer for me due to needing windows for Visual Studio), but it does go far, far further into the productivity arena than any previous iPad I've had.
TL;DR;
I thought the iPad Pro was just for artists. I was absolutely wrong and it is an incredible productivity device and IMO it's possibly the best thing Apple have released in years
When the iPad Pro was released, I viewed it as invaluable for creative professionals (artists, etc), but of little use to the wider user base.
I'm firmly in the latter category and couldn't draw to save my life so discounted the iPad Pro as a bit of a novelty.
Recently, my MBP was coming to the end of its life and I was pretty much ready to order a new one. However, I realised that the vast majority of my "computer time" is actually in Windows (I develop enterprise applications for a living) and I was pretty much running VMs with Windows on my MBP almost all the time.
Because of this, I re-assessed and instead of dropping £2K on a replacement MBP, I got a Lenovo windows laptop and replaced the hard disk with a 1TB SSD (total price was around £900). It's most definitely a workhorse machine and nowhere near as "beautiful" as my MBP was, but did leave me with some spare cash so I took another look at the IPP
After playing with one in store, I realised it wasn't as unwieldy as I thought it would be so decided to treat myself to a 128GB cellular IPP complete with pencil and smart keyboard. My total outlay for the windows laptop and the IPP is about the same as the replacement MBP would have been and I got a solid machine to earn my money on and an amazing tablet for my down time.
As a tablet, it absolutely excels: The screen is incredible and the speakers are brilliant with the extra size making everything far more immersive. Yes, it's big but it only takes a couple of days to get used to the larger size and it's not ridiculously huge (slightly bigger than an A4 sheet of paper)
What really surprised me though was that after some time with the IPP, I found I was using it for far more than just my down time: The extra space makes a massive difference to the productivity side of the iPad and I find myself using it more and more for writing documents, doing spreadsheets, presentations, taking notes, etc etc which is something I tried loads of times on my Air 2 but it never really felt right (too little space and keyboards were too cramped).
Even RDP sessions are great now with a decent resolution (1358x1024) onto the remote machine and the pencil does a decent job of replacing the missing mouse
It's similar to the iPhone vs iPhone + - the extra size brings the device to life and it really does start to fulfill it's potential as a tablet that can replace your laptop. It's not there yet (and never will be able to completely replace a full computer for me due to needing windows for Visual Studio), but it does go far, far further into the productivity arena than any previous iPad I've had.
TL;DR;
I thought the iPad Pro was just for artists. I was absolutely wrong and it is an incredible productivity device and IMO it's possibly the best thing Apple have released in years
