In a word...YES. It's hard to really put into words how wildly different the experience is. It just sounds like another BS testimonial from an Apple fanboy or something, but I'll try to give you my experience.
When I had my iPad Air 2 I was happy. It was fine. But I used it more...passively. I might lounge with it on the couch and Reddit for a bit and browse a couple sites, but I never really sat down and was engaged by the content I was looking at. I didn't realize it at the time, but the screen size was holding me back from taking it seriously as a full time usage device. Just like my experience with going from an iPhone 5 to a larger sized iPhone 6, I was VERY reluctant to get a pro. I mean...REALLY. I was making threads on Reddit asking about portability and talking to people about it and kept going back and forth on whether I thought I could deal with it because I kept reading so damn much about people saying it was "unwieldy" and that had me so worried I almost just called it off. Wasn't gonna buy one.
Then for some reason curiosity just got the best of me so I picked one up while I was at the mall and brought it home. Upon taking it out of the box there's that initial shock of "holy crap this thing is big". But that feeling went away after just a few minutes of playing with it because really, the only reason we think "holy crap this thing is big" is because we think in terms of comparisons. The last device I used was an air 2, so I compared it to that. Had my last device been my 15inch retina MacBook, it would feel extremely portable. Perspective changes. After I got used to it and then picked up my iPad Air 2, the air 2 felt like a toy in comparison. It sounds funny, but I felt like I couldn't even see anything on the air because the screen was so small. It's like getting used to big screen tv's and then going down to a crappy standard def 13 inch tv. You've gotten used to a nicer viewing experience and you don't want to settle for any less. Have you seen the screen on an iPhone 4 lately? Did you feel that shock of "oh wow. I can't remember I used something so small for all of my needs"? Me too. That's the feeling I get with the air 2 now. So I sold my air 2 and my pro is my go to device.
And to give perspective...why do we have iPads? Remember when they first came out and people referred to them as "just a big iPod touch"? The reason we have them is because the extra screen space allows us more freedom to do more. It's almost like being released from the confines of a cage or something. Reading is better, browsing is better and split screen was absolutely MADE for this iPad. I have never once since I've had it thought "man. This thing is too big to haul around". Ever. I read in bed. I take it to work with me and play with it when I get some down time. I've taken it to the dealership when my car was being worked on. I'm more likely to pick it up and be truly immersed in my content. I've never read so many books/magazines, written so much or watched so many movies on an iPad before. I'm getting more bang for my buck because I'm USING my device more. Whereas my air 2 was "nice" because it was a little more convenient to use than my MacBook Pro.
I've been remoting into my Mac through this and doing some programming. I never did that with my air. I've been editing videos for the first time on my iPad pro. Never did that with my air. My usage habits have changed so much for the better because of this thing. When I can finally get my hands on an Apple pencil, I'll be using this for all of my note.
And ya know the weirdest thing? I've shown my iPad to a lot of people. My coworkers, my daughter, etc. NOBODY has been disgusted with its size. My 11 year old daughter is in love with my pro and has had the same perspective change as I've had. Now she's all talking about "when you get the pro 2 next year I can have your hand me down iPad pro right? It's so nice!". Yeahhhh I don't know about that. This sucker will last me quite awhile if I want it to. My girlfriend never talked about iPad pro ANYTHING until I got one. The night I brought mine home, she kept taking it out of my hands and then after about an hour started ignoring me because she was so busy putting an ad up on Craigslist for her air 2 so she could get a pro also. Now she has a gold one.
I made this a bit long. Oops! Must be that full sized keyboard I like typing on so much!
