iPad Pro Reviews Roundup: Blazingly Fast With a More Balanced Design, But Some Face ID and USB-C Quirks

[aevan]

Until Apple embraces that continuity can exist with deep, meaningful differences between the iOS experiences for the iPhone and iPad, the capabilities will always be hobbled by arbitrary limitations.

Multitasking, Apple Pencil, way D&D works, App selection, UI - these are all deep, meaningful differences between the iOS experiences.

Do I want more? Yes, of course. But there already are deep and meaningful differences.
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I think the fact that it’s a “big iPhone” is what makes it appealing. My GF is in graduate school. Not a single person uses an iPad for their work. It’s not possible.

I use iPad Pro for my work daily. I must be impossible!

 

[AngerDanger]

Apple says this is the iPad it's wanted to build all along, and I'm not surprised. All the horsepower tucked away inside (and there's a lot of it) is more accessible because of this streamlined design, and I don't think I could go back to an iPad that wasn't this trim.

Yep, as was reported last week, it's comparable to a MacBook Pro but is only $799. Glue a Smart Keyboard to that thing, and you've got Apple's best… notebook for the value?

 

[Glockworkorange]

Remember when the latest and greatest iPad started at $499?

Is the new 9.7 less than $499.00?

Not a fair apples to apples comparison either, but your point is well taken. Prices are increasing.

How much did last years 12.9 cost, base? Was it $999.00? I recall it being less.

 

[Jakeycov]

If Apple released a Surface clone (which all these reviewers seem to want) there would be an almighty *********.

 

[Rafterman]

iOS has limitations, for sure, and I want Apple to address them - but saying an iPad Pro is predominantly a "big iPhone" experience is wrong. Just wrong.

iPads do allow a few extras, but people are referring to the more basic things. The overall experience is still very iPhone-like. For example, the lack of desktop flexibility, with all the icons are arranged in the same inflexible grid pattern. Or the still restricted file system. You phone may not need those things, but a "computer" does.

 

[cocky jeremy]

Remember when the latest and greatest iPad started at $499?

You mean when it was basically nothing but a YouTube viewer? Yeah. There's a reason it was so cheap then.

 

[BvizioN]

I just haven't used USB drives in years. I use cloud services/NAS or have gotten used to just using AirDrop or sending a file any other way wirelessly.

Some people do get attached to old stuff and struggle to adapt to the new stuff. Just the way people are.

 

[bellang]

New tagline: "Incredible hardware incredibly limited by its software"

 

[Rogifan]

iPads do allow a few extras, but people are referring to the more basic things. The overall experience is still very iPhone-like. For example, the lack of desktop flexibility, with all the icons are arranged in the same inflexible grid pattern. Or the still restricted file system. You phone may not need those things, but a "computer" does.

A computer does....for some people.

 

[Jakeycov]

Is being a laptop replacement such a huge deal to everyone here?

Look, I believe you all know my story. I use my iPad Pro 9.7" to teach in the classroom, though I still do the bulk of my lesson prep on my iMac, including converting word documents to pdf format (which then gets synced to the documents app via dropbox) so they can be opened in Notability for annotating.

I don't pretend the iPad can replace my Mac, and honestly, that doesn't bother me. I have two devices, each of which excels in what I need it to do, and they complement each marvellously. I don't need my iPad to run macOS because my iMac already does, and truth be told, I have genuinely come to prefer iOS for its ease of use and intuitiveness. Not saying the iPad is perfect (google docs still sucks on it, for one), but having worked with integrating an iPad into my workflow since 2012, I do find that the iPad has come a very long way since then.

Not too long ago, the phrase “you can’t do real work on an iPad” was thrown around a lot, but as more people have shown that they totally can do their work on iPads, the PC defenders have had to become more specific in their criticisms. Arguments for the continued dominance of the PC have been reduced to “you need it for sharing documents” or “you can’t do development on iOS.” or some other niche use case.

The trend towards eliminating things that iOS devices can’t do is marching on and there’s no reason to think it will stop. With each passing day, people are changing their workflows in ways that make PCs less relevant, while iOS (and Android) are making changes to fill the gaps that are still there.

PCs will exist for a long time, and I have no doubt that they will remain relevant for many people, but it continues to become more and more clear that the future is not macOS or Windows, but iOS and Android. As such, I am neither surprised nor dismayed that Apple continues to favour development of iOS over the Mac.

We really should be beyond debating whether the iPad can be used for content creation. That discussion is over and those still arguing that it cannot are saying more about themselves than about the iPad with every passing day.

Absolutely this. It clearly can replace a laptop for some (my wife runs her whole business on an iPad), but not for others (me..). But, that's okay.

 

[tkermit]

Some people do get attached to old stuff and struggle to adapt to the new stuff. Just the way people are.

USB storage devices aren't somehow "old stuff" just because the iPad doesn't support them.

 

[macduke]

tvOS is separate. watchOS is separate. They both have a similar iOS core foundation.

iOS on the iPad should be separate. It should have a blend of iOS and macOS functionality. It’s time to grow up, even if it’s only on the pro iPads. I’m hoping iOS 13 is an even bigger overhaul than iOS 11 was for iPad.

 

[Abazigal]

For me too many of these reviews are laptop minus instead of tablet plus. For some people iPad absolutely could replace their laptop. For others no. Thankfully for those people laptops and desktops still exist. I agree that iOS on iPad still has room for improvement but Apple’s hardware is so good these Pros will handle any software improvements thrown at them in iOS 13/14/15.

I think that these reviews tend to be biased towards laptop users because they are written by people who mainly use laptops.

If you have been using a laptop to get your work done all this while, the iPad might make a poor replacement. However, there are also people who have been using a laptop not because it was the best tool for the job, but because until the iPad came about, the laptop was really the only tool available, and so they had to make do.

To use an analogy, these are the people who were trying to drive in screws using a hammer because the screwdriver hadn't been invented yet. The iPad is that screwdriver which allows them to do their work better than a laptop ever could. Not saying the laptop was bad; it just wasn't suited for their type of work.

 

[sdiori]

Multitasking, Apple Pencil, way D&D works, App selection, UI - these are all deep, meaningful differences between the iOS experiences.

Do I want more? Yes, of course. But there already are deep and meaningful differences.
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I use iPad Pro for my work daily. I must be impossible!

Quite simply, it's not enough.

If Apple is going to market the iPad as a desktop replacement, it needs to go further and build the software to match the trumpeting.

The core of any desktop, Windows or MacOS, is being untethered from an operating system's arbitrary limitations.

They're capable, talented, and have the experience to get it done.

I want more than gesture features that distinguishes the devices.

 

[tkermit]

Great video from The Verge

 

[iapplelove]

Damn lots of nit picky folk round here.

 

[canyonblue737]

Honestly? It’s sounds like the fall 2017 decision to back off of the major evolution of iOS and make iOS 12 in 2018 a cleaned up, bug fix release has resulted in the new 2018 iPad Pro being released without the software it was meant to come with.

I truly, truly believe that iOS 13 will be the biggest leap forward for iOS since version 7 and that the absolute number 1 beneficiary of it will be the iPad Pro. Apple has to know that iOS itself is the kryptonite to this device and how unacceptable that is. Right now there is *nothing* this incredible, incredible piece of hardware can do that a 2018 iPad can’t and that *has* to change.

That said? I bought one. #iampartoftheproblem
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Great video from The Verge

I’m not a huge Nilay fan but he is dead on right in this review. What he doesn’t say (not saying he should) but what I believe is that iOS 13 next year is going to bring HUGE changes and will be the software this device had been meant to launch with before it all got pushed back a year so that iOS 12 could address stability and speed and 13 could have more time for polish.

 

[Ghost31]

Amazing hardware, but for that amount of money I would like to have multiple logins, so I can share it with the family.

Pretty sure you can do that. I can do that with faceid on my iPhone with me and my wife

 

[639051]

USB storage devices aren't somehow "old stuff" just because the iPad doesn't support them.

This is the typical fanboy mentality though. They will call it old and dusty until mother Apple deems it worthy. Moving stuff around via cloud services is nothing but a lesson in irritation unless you're on a blazing fast connection (and I have one!), even at that point its loads slower than simply being able to connect to my USB SSD and access my media I intend to work with.

Air drop is nice, but it's still slow and, honestly, a terrible way to move large files around. Just wait, Apple will open the USB-C interface to doing things like storage devices and then people will turn to loving it. It's sadly the norm.
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Pretty sure you can do that. I can do that with faceid on my iPhone with me and my wife

This is not multiple user accounts, not even remotely close.

 

[DNichter]

I don't often agree, but the iPad lineup is one that Apple seems to be on the ball with. The highest end stuff can be expensive, But the fact that the regular iPad sits at a decent price point for the tablet market is a great option. this is how most of the lineups should be built around.

your flagship can be somewhat pricey. especially if it's got bleeding edge tech in it.

But, your bulk of device sales are always going to be the "lower" price points. And good on Apple in the iPad sector for having both. Not all of us need the power and features of the Pro.

So while the old "top of the line" iPad was 499, and the new one is 899, theres still an option that's now even cheaper than the 499 we would have had to pay.

as I said in my last post, once the design language filters down to the iPad, It'll be a hot seller for those like myself who are on an Air (or prior) who haven't really seen sufficient reason to update/replace.

Correct. Some people seem to forget that this iPad Pro is not aimed at the every day consumer like the original $499 iPad was, it is aimed at people who want their iPad Pro to be their main computer. THAT iPad is now only $329, with significantly more capabilities. $799 for a computer that's just as fast as some of the higher end laptops and desktops, is a steal.

 

[alwaysbeincontact]

It’s nice but I’ll wait on upgrading.

 

[theLedger]

This new iPad Pro is the first one that has really excited me since the original introduction. Just as in the business that I'm in, it takes time for new applications and workflows to develop. In the old PC days, the hardware was a big limitation until we achieved certain processing thresholds. Now, the big changes aren't so much with PC's but with the software. The same thing is now happening with the iPad Pro. We have reached a very important milestone and Apple highlighting that the new Pros are more powerful than 97% of the PC's sold in the past year was designed to catch the imaginations of developers.

It's not perfect but Apple is working towards a wireless future so our wired workflows with desktops won't translate well. But iOS 13 will be here next year and as more high end developers work with Apple, we will see new OS capabilities.

 

[canyonblue737]

I think that these reviews tend to be biased towards laptop users because they are written by people who mainly use laptops.

If you have been using a laptop to get your work done all this while, the iPad might make a poor replacement. However, there are also people who have been using a laptop not because it was the best tool for the job, but because until the iPad came about, the laptop was really the only tool available, and so they had to make do.

To use an analogy, these are the people who were trying to drive in screws using a hammer because the screwdriver hadn't been invented yet. The iPad is that screwdriver which allows them to do their work better than a laptop ever could. Not saying the laptop was bad; it just wasn't suited for their type of work.

As someone who has used an iPad exclusively as a laptop replacement for 8 years now since the first version I can say you are missing one big point... these new iPad Pros are 2-4x’s the cost of a regular iPad and now cost the same or more as Apple laptops so it is reasonable to expect they should do more (like a laptop) yet they are so hampered by iOS 12 that they really can’t do much beyond the $399 2018 iPad (which also can have a pencil) other than run smoother with a nicer to look at screen. For many who like you said don’t have need of a laptop an iPad is ideal and at the $399 version is great but what about this $800-1900 version, surely Apple should deliver more but are they? I think the answer on the software side is absolutely NO and that everything is going to come down to if iOS 13 in 2019 delivers the “ah, that’s what the Pro was meant to be!” moment we all hope.

 

[csurfr]

Pretty sure you can do that. I can do that with faceid on my iPhone with me and my wife

I would assume that this person is talking about different home screen layouts and such. The ability to have true multiple users. While I wouldn't really benefit from that, families certainly would.

 

[PastaPrimav]

I see Nilay Patel continues to be a useless human being.