iPad Pro has finally hit our shores (and in stock at our warehouse) so we've ventured into the dark heart of the internet - well, our favourite tech sites - to take the temperature and see how people are reacting to their new über-tablet.
What's with all the accessories?
Let's start with a look at some standout features. Mashable are particularly ebullient about the Apple Pencil, the magically weighted stylus that you can purchase as an add-on for your iPad Pro. The iPad Pro scans for the tip of the pencil 240 times a second, meaning that it has an incredibly fast response time.
"My minor misgivings about losing it [aside], the Pencil is a marvel of engineering and once again highlights the iPad Pro’s excellent screen resolution and design," gushes Lance Ulanoff.
"The responsiveness is exquisite and the Pencil tip material offers just the right balance between friction and smoothness on the iPad Pro’s touch screen. Pressure sensitivity is about as close as you’re going to get to actually drawing on real paper. It even supports shading, letting me hold the Pencil at an extreme angle to access a the virtual long-edge of a graphite pencil or wide magic marker. What’s more, there is almost no perceptible visual space between the Pencil tip and the digital line that appears on screen. All that combined with the iPad Pro's impressively large canvas (I have room for a full drawing and reference material) make this a fantastic drawing experience."
Ulanoff even filmed himself drawing on the iPad Pro versus the Surface Pro 4 - you can see the results here but as a spoiler, it's game, set and match to iPad Pro.
While there has been some griping about the lack of a top row on the Apple Smart Keyboard, robbing you of the volume, brightness and function keys, but ARS Technica's Andrew Cunningham notes that: "The keyboard and folded stand sections combine to form one continuous, flat surface that’s surprisingly stable on your lap, a complaint we still have about the Surface tablets despite improvements in recent generations", and that missing top row is compensated for by "the best software keyboard ever" according to Macworld's Susie Ochs:
"Like a good digital citizen, I use complex passwords full of letters, numbers, and symbols, even though that kind of password is harder to enter on my iPhone, requiring me to jump between the keyboards for letters, numbers, and symbols in a way I just don’t have to on my Mac. The iPad Pro’s software keyboard has a row of numbers and common symbols along the top of the letter layout, just like the Mac. Shortcuts even pop up per application—in Mail, the options to insert a photo or attach a file are handy to have right onscreen without any tap-and-hold tricks required to find them."
The on-screen experience
Wired enthusiastically claim that iPad Pro is "the best tablet, and the best case for tablets, anyone’s ever made," and are keen to emphasise the desktop-like experience you'll be able to enjoy when using your apps on iOS 9:
"The extra space shows up in subtle but important ways. In iMovie, you can see your library, timeline, and a full-res 1080p view of your final product, all on a single screen. When you play FIFA, you can use the on-screen controls without obscuring any of the actual gameplay. You can comfortably see the entire week in the calendar, from 8am to 9pm. Slack has a new Jumbo Mode that shows you your messages, menus, and files all at once. Many of the first apps to be optimized are analytics tools—you can see so much stuff now! On the iPad Pro you spend less time moving—scrolling lists and thumbing through menus—and more time doing whatever you’re doing. Apps aren’t forced to feel like dumbed-down tablet versions."
The iPad Pro is the size of two iPad Air 2 side by side, and it's this that reviewers are finding makes sense of iOS 9's multitasking mode, with picture-in-picture and side-by-side both making more sense once you have enough space to slide someone's face into the corner of your Mail window, and now that Slide Over's third-of-a-screen view is of a usable size. Mashable explain:
"Changing which app is running in the right-hand pane is easy; you just swipe down from the top edge of the screen (over the right-hand pane) and it converts it back into the list of available apps. To change which app is running on the left side, you can use a four-finger gesture which reveals the traditional app tab interface. Select one and it fills the left side of the screen, while maintaining the app running on the right.
"I did have to get used to the two different ways the two panes could interact. If I just dragged over my task pane and selected an app, the left pane would remain in what’s known as “slideover mode,” which means the left app will take over again if I tap to use it. To put the apps in multi-task mode, I have to grab the pane adjustment bar and drag it a bit left and then right to have both panes snap to multi-tasking attention. Apple explained that this is by design, since sometimes you just want to peek at some other bit of content or app information and then return to your main task."
Power and speed
This is the first time we've ever known exactly how much RAM an iPad has had (4GB), and coupled with this A9X chip that is getting iPad Pro rave reviews for its dexterity, graphics performance and gaming and creative potential. Macworld note that:
"Gaming devs love to push the fastest available processors to the edge, and games that harness the Pro's graphical power should be along before long. And creative users historically tend to favour more powerful machines - the Mac Pro's main audience is among video editors and other creative-industry workers. But we can't help feel that business users, who in other parts of the launch presentation appeared to be one of the main target markets, may feel that the Pro is overqualified - and consequently overpriced - for the primarily simple tasks they need it for."
However, we're yet to find a creative test that taxes the iPad Pro, so if you're like our design team and want something that will help you stay genuinely productive away from your desk, it's a safe bet. The Verge also want you to know that "the Pro's build quality justifies the price" and that "The tablet’s processing power is even more notable than the display. Apple has rigged the iPad Pro with its latest chip, the A9X, which it claims has twice the CPU and twice the graphics performance of the previous processor. And it has four strategically placed, self-adjusting speakers that wowed me with their sound when I watched videos on it."
If you want to check a few key benchmarks, ARS Technica have a helpful list here.
The verdict
While the general consensus seems to be that there's room for refinement when it comes to multitasking and that the Smart Keyboard is likely to be threatened by third party rivals with function keys, general awe for the sound and picture quality, responsiveness and Apple Pencil are all making the iPad Pro a worthy investment, scoring eights and nines across the board.
We're going to give the final word to the ever-delightful Macalope, though, who points out:
"No one, even Tim Cook, is saying an iPad can do everything a laptop or desktop can do right now. What people are saying is that, depending on your needs, the iPad might be able to do everything you need to do and, when you can pay less for it than a Mac or PC, why not ask yourself if it can?"
If you're tempted, you can check out the full range here.
iPad Pro is in stock now. Want to know more? Give us a call on 03332 409 306 or email business@Jigsaw24.com. For all the latest news and reviews, follow @WeAreJigsaw24 on Twitter or 'Like' us on Facebook.