iPad Pro (L) and iPad Air 2. (Credit: Brooke Crothers)
The iPad Pro is a rethink of the tablet — which happened just in time because the tablet has been on a fast track to irrelevance. But how different is it from the iPad Air 2?
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After almost two weeks of full-time use with the iPad Pro (from $799), the tl;dr summary is: it’s not just a big iPad Air — the experience is different. But iOS is also full of gotchas if you try to make it your main work platform. (Note: this review does not cover the Apple Pencil.)
Beyond the iPad Air 2: the bigness (as I’ve said before) turns it into a different beast. All of that screen real estate, speed, and the Smart Keyboard option (and a tweaked virtual keyboard) combine to advance the tablet paradigm. The problem, it’s not clear if it’s far enough forward.
For me, sitting on the couch and leaning back with Pro and it's in-your-face giant screen is different enough from my iPad Air 2 that I don’t use the Air anymore. And the size, speed, bigger/better virtual keyboard, and full-screen multitasking make it easy to transition from leisure mode to work mode. When I catch myself watching too many entertaining-but-brain-rotting compilations on YouTube, the iPad Pro is ready for work. In this (albeit limited) sense, it is a laptop replacement. I never felt the Air 2 was a stand-in for a laptop.
Limitations: But a laptop-sized display and a powerful A9X processor needs a platform that doesn’t stumble on things that are second nature to OS X (or Windows 10). Here’s a very short list of salient instances where applications don’t work well on iOS, from the seemingly trivial to deal breakers. Trivial (mildly annoying): cut-and-paste can’t be executed reliably on many iOS apps using the virtual keyboard: highlight-and-copy often doesn’t work the first time around. Nuisance: WordPress becomes unpredictable. Working in WordPress can be fine then suddenly a lot of weirdness can creep in (cursor placement for starters). Workflow killer: I use Office 365/Onedrive. You can do a lot on the iPad and it’s even better on the Pro. But not everything. That not-everything part can disrupt your workflow seriously in some cases. Dealbreaker (potential): let me put it this way: the iPad Pro ain’t Microsoft’s Surface Book. Granted, it wasn’t designed to be a full-blown laptop replacement like the Surface Book. But, on the other hand, it’s disappointing to get that close but still be so far away.
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On that last point. I now believe that a well designed laptop-tablet hybrid can subsume both paradigms. The Surface Book — as wildly expensive as it is — proves that. And it appears that sheer momentum (global PC suppliers are relentless in the pursuit of a better 2-in-1) are going to get there, if they haven’t already.
Two-week Verdict: After you shake off the first impression of the iPad Pro (“This is huge. Do I really need this?), it gets better. Maybe a lot better for some. As iOS matures and Apple AAPL +0.85% tweaks the design, the iPad Pro should become a more satisfying experience and maybe more of a full-time device.
Forbes' Contributor
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