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The Apple iPad Pro Review

95 points by davidiach 11y ago

johnchristopher 11y ago
They should sell it as some kind of portable bathroom mirror with apps. Or bundle the thing with some Gillette razors or something. When in front of a mate and a glare screen I know of no one that prefers the glare one.
- LeonM 11y ago
  Try spending 2.5k on two of their not-even-4k thunderbolt mirrors, suddenly you really start to admire those sunlight blocking ikea curtains in your office...
  - pc86 11y ago
    I'm not trying to start a flame way, but can anyone give me a good reason why you'd buy one of their cinema displays? They seem like they're too expensive at even half the price compared to what else is available.
    - culturestate 11y ago
      They were a far better value proposition 4-5 years ago than they are today; back then, they were only marginally more expensive than e.g. a comparable Dell IPS display. The build quality, docking functionality, and built-in charging facilities -- no more lugging your power adapter to the office! -- more than made up for the price difference. The only legitimate reason to buy one today is aesthetics: they're still far and away the best looking desktop monitor on the market, but that's not enough to warrant the price tag.
- ghaff 11y ago
  Glossy screens aren't really limited to Apple. They're sort of a thing these days and I do have mixed feelings about them--although I'm also sort of resigned to them at this point. They can be really crisp and bright under the right lighting conditions but, at the moment, I'm sitting in a room with a lot of windows on a bright day admiring every fingerprint and smudge on my screen.
- hollerith 11y ago
  matte screens are harder to clean, which is a big deal on a touchscreen.
  - pilsetnieks 11y ago
    Also, you cannot have a matte glass screen, so you'd have to use plastic which is nigh unusable as a touchscreen.
centizen 11y ago
After trying to make use of my iPad Pro as my daily carry tablet, I've kept finding myself coming back to an Air 2 for most tasks. Save for the pencil, I feel like neither Apple nor 3rd party devs are taking proper advantage of the extra size or power. At least not yet.
- Aleman360 11y ago
  Yea, the multi-tasking UI is especially half baked. You should be able to have two instances of the same app side-by-side (at least Safari).
  - amazon_not 11y ago
    Not that it's a real solution, but you can run Safari and Chrome side by side.
  - rb808 11y ago
    There is an app Split Web Browser that does this. (Maybe others)
  - e28eta 11y ago
    I think the real solution is for Safari, and apps like it, to allow side-by-side viewing of tabs on devices that have a "large enough" display. There's no reason this needs to be an OS feature, and at least one good reason why it shouldn't be: data integrity. Threading is hard enough for most programmers to get right, and now you want to require IPC and/or coordinated access to every apps' data files? I love that this is already being provided by an enterprising app developer, but I hope they get Sherlocked.
- blktiger 11y ago
  I really like my iPad Pro. If Apple had updated the Air this year I might have gotten a new Air instead because I was worried the Pro would be too large. However, after having used the Pro for a couple of months the iPad Air looks really tiny to me now. I don't think I'll go back to using an Air in the future. The Pro is definitely not being used to it's full capabilities by many apps yet, but I really like the size of the screen. It may be a bit large for some, but it feels right for what I use the device for. Also, unlike some I didn't get a keyboard case. If I want to type on a real keyboard I'll get my laptop out. Otherwise the on-screen keyboard is perfectly serviceable.
revelation 11y ago
That's interesting, endless waffle about CPU engineering changes here and there, then they basically gloss over the fact that this Pro is forever limited to running a neutered iOS system (but you know, 2 apps simultaneously now!).
- TillE 11y ago
  I think the Pro in particular is interesting if you stop trying to see it as a complete replacement for a desktop PC (which it never ever will be), and instead look at it as a specialized tool that's better than a laptop at certain things. Personally, I'm probably going to buy a second gen iPad Pro just for reading textbook-sized books. But there are many other potential uses.
  - revelation 11y ago
    What am I missing? The review explicitly mentions that they think this is a contender to the Surface Pro. And frankly, that's a joke.
    - melted 11y ago
      Surface Pro is a joke. It's just plain unstable, and high maintenance. iPad is zero maintenance, which is about the right amount a regular user should be required to do in year 2016.
  - ZanyProgrammer 11y ago
    "I think the Pro in particular is interesting if you stop trying to see it as a complete replacement for a desktop PC (which it never ever will be)" But isn't that what every pundit, tech writer and commenter has said over the past several years? That for non power users, locked down ARM tablets will easily suffice instead of a bulky, shitty Windows machine?
monkmartinez 11y ago
Shame, I can't install one-quarter of the software I use on a daily basis on a "pro" ipad. I will stick with the $100 dollar Android tablet that allows me to read books and look at websites... When it kicks the bucket, I am sure I can find one even cheaper.
- lectrick 11y ago
  What's the software you're referring to, Android fanboy?
  - monkmartinez 11y ago
    Homebrew, Spacemacs, Pycharm, Anaconda Python distribution, Java, MS Office, Adobe stuff... and more. Edit: Not a Android fanboy... I like to think of myself as practical, maybe I'm not. However, tablets are great for consumption. Consuming websites, epub's and pdf's works well on everything from the Kindle to the iPad pro. The main difference is the price. I would rather keep the difference in my bank account.
    - lectrick 11y ago
      Homebrew... The only Homebrew I know about is http://brew.sh/ http://brew.sh/ 1) There is almost definitely an emacs equivalent for iOS 2) Pycharm- Maybe Textastic (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/textastic-code-editor-for/id383577124?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/textastic-code-editor-for/id...) or Codemate (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/codemate-syntax-highlighter/id680609457?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/codemate-syntax-highlighter/...). I'm not an IDE guy (I use Sublime Text), so YMMV. 3) OK so I get it, you're a Python dev. Admittedly, iOS is lacking in doing native app dev (in fact, I just posted something of that nature to this very thread). 4) Java, etc... I wonder if https://c9.io/ https://c9.io/ would work... 5) MS Office- Haven't used in years, anyway. I use Google Docs for all that. 6) Adobe stuff- Well, iPad Pro has some version of photoshop, I believe... PDF's are rendered natively in iOS (and quite nicely, actually... just like on OS X)... Illustrator?
  - collyw 11y ago
ssharp 11y ago
I've had two iPads now, both given to me, and both have mostly sat around collecting dust. Except for a few rare use-cases, I'd rather be on a laptop. My parents, on the other hand, are the polar opposite. Since getting an iPad, my mom has completely abandoned her laptop and will use their shared iMac on rare occasions. For me, having a phone + laptop is more than enough. For them, phone + tablet seems to be the right mix. But I don't see the additional features of the Pro shaking up the mix for me at all.
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m52go 11y ago
For all the hate this device gets, it has its fans. Particularly (in my experience) middle-age "tech enthusiasts" (commonly, folks who don't work in the industry but consider themselves trendy because they know about the newest devices) who already have work devices and use laptops and tablets a lot already for mostly mundane personal tasks. For them, a larger iPad with a keyboard is all they need for their personal work (email, Googling, etc), and the huge screen & 4 speakers are icing on the cake for watching Netflix or HBO Go with their spouse in bed. It was hard for me to understand this appeal because it's often made out to be an office productivity device a la Surface Pro. I doubt it'll succeed that way. From what I've seen, people seem to see it as a quick, slick, light, no-frills laptop replacement for personal work & play for people in an older, more affluent demographic...and it fulfills that use case very well.
- pc86 11y ago
  The first thing I thought when I saw this was that it'd be an excellent gift for my wife, who constantly has Netflix or Hulu on in the background on our ancient iPad (a 2 I think).
  - mixmastamyk 11y ago
    Streaming HD video in the background? ...not watching it? Oy vey. These kids today.
- monkmartinez 11y ago
  Anecdote: My parents use their iPads as you mention. The thing is, they have iPad 2's and are very happy. If they ask me about upgrading to a larger screen, I will tell them to buy a refurbished 13.3" Macbook Air for approx $1000 +- $100. That is a "no brainer" recommendation compared to the iPad pro.
  - m52go 11y ago
    Agreed. For a more affluent demographic that can afford it, however, the iPad Pro wins because it's an iPad and "not a laptop." Same reason people spend more money to buy SUVs and crossovers...it's "not a minivan."
Aleman360 11y ago
The biggest downside to me is games. I returned an iPad Pro for the 12" MacBook. Just as portable and Civ V and Steam/Xbox streaming is a much better use of my limited gaming time than anything on the app store.
- thenomad 11y ago
  That's the same reason I got a Surface Pro. (Well, one of them.) I can play almost any modern game on the darn thing, which is quite impressive. Even The Witcher 3 will run on it, I understand (haven't tried it myself). At low settings and low res, granted.
  - wklauss 11y ago
    I could not get around the noise the fan made, though. It's not really a good gaming machine, IMHO. And yes, I know it doesn't intend to be one, it's just that even for casual gaming it becomes a really uncomfortable device. Gets hot, noisy and screen is rather small.
    - UnoriginalGuy 11y ago
      > Gets hot, noisy and screen is rather small. Definitely true, and burns through battery like crazy. But it is still impressive something that tiny can run modern games at all. And frankly it does a really good job. There are better laptops for mobile gaming, but not in that weight and size class or even close.
  - dhimes 11y ago
    Have you tried running virtual box on that? I'm looking into something a bit more portable than my Toshiba.
    - thenomad 11y ago
      I haven't, I'm afraid.
    - 11y ago
dlsx 11y ago
3 words. The New MacBook. iPads and tablets are for children, thank me later.
13of40 11y ago
I bought an iPad about two years ago, after hearing years of hype about the quality of Apple products. I use it mostly for web browsing, and the thing that shocks me the most about it is how many mainstream sites simply don't work right in the browser. (By "browser" I mean Safari or Chrome - they seem to have the same issues.) Sites like EBay, Google News, Google Books, and SlashDot all have glitches that either make them unusable or seriously frustrating to use. News sites take forever to load and tend to crash the browser after a few minutes of use. If you're a first-time buyer and you're considering getting an iPad, slap yourself, take a minute to breathe, and go look at some Android tablets instead.
- lectrick 11y ago
  EDIT: I was wrong. I assumed Chrome iOS and Chrome Android used the same rendering engine. I'm rather shocked that they don't, actually.
  - monkmartinez 11y ago
    Are you grepping for Android and casting "fanboy"?
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
  - vezycash 11y ago
    He said the same thing you're saying. >>(By "browser" I mean Safari or Chrome - they seem to have the same issues.) Calm down
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
      - lorenzhs 11y ago
        I can only offer one data point, but I've managed to crash Chrome for iOS a lot (good example: it doesn't seem to like websockets much, see https://github.com/glowing-bear/glowing-bear/issues/597 https://github.com/glowing-bear/glowing-bear/issues/597). I don't recall ever crashing Chrome for Android even though it's the default browser on my phone.
tacos 11y ago
The third time the reviewer mentioned Apple's method for reducing the torque needed for a user to manipulate such a large device I started to question what I was doing with my life.
lectrick 11y ago
I am ONLY interested in this if it will be possible to code on it. I am fairly certain most of the HN community would agree that a device that "completes the circle" (allows you to create native apps on the device, for the device) is better than a device (almost) purely designed for consumption and communication over creation.
- criddell 11y ago
  The best device is one that works for you. For most people, that just means it runs the software that they want. It's silly to say that a device that completes the circle is objectively better than one that doesn't.
- zimpenfish 11y ago
  Conflating "create native apps" with "creation" is a bit daft - I have an Air 2 which is used for creation (graphics, audio) and very little consumption or communication.
- e28eta 11y ago
  Check out: Dringend - The development environment for your iPhone & iPad by SquaredTiki https://appsto.re/us/E77aX.i https://appsto.re/us/E77aX.i I haven't bought it (yet?) because this isn't something I need. But I've had my eye on it ever since it seeing it on HN a couple years ago. I think it's an awesome idea, and I've come close to buying it several times simply to support the creator.
Tloewald 11y ago
I've been holding off on buying an iPad Pro until I can walk into an Apple Store and buy one _with a stylus_ (last I checked the wait on the stylus was down to 2 weeks). It seems to me that if you want the stylus, you're in the core market for this device. If you do not care about the stylus, you probably aren't. The iPad Pro with a stylus replaces a similarly expensive Wacom Cintiq, while also being usable on its own. Everything beyond that is pure gravy. The keyboard seems like a miss (frankly, I prefer the Surface Book's design, and I want a freaking trackpad — note that the glass keyboard acts like a trackpad for text selection on the latest iPhones, so it's hardly unreasonable).
- UnoriginalGuy 11y ago
  Anyone who would seriously consider a Wacom Cintiq isn't in the same market as the iPad Pro. The Pro's lack of software and features within the software it does have makes it a children's toy by comparison. I see people often bringing up the Wacom Cintiq in comparison to the Pro to point out how good of a value a Pro is by comparison... The truth is that a Wacom Cintiq is a professional tool to be used with other professional tools (software); the iPad Pro can be compared to the Cintiq but then what? What are you going to do with it? Draw a pretty picture?
blisterpeanuts 11y ago
This will be an awesome tablet for artists, designers and sales/marketing presenters. I'm not sure how well it will do in the home market -- there might be a ceiling to how much tablet someone can fit in their lap or on the tray table in coach class. It's bigger than the average purse, too.
ksec 11y ago
A few thing on the Intel x86 Vs Apple ARM. 1.Intel is on their 2nd generation FinFET, while TSMC is still on 1st Gen. Intel also provides higher node density and slightly lower power consumption. 2.LLVM is good, but not anywhere as good at optimising as Intel Compiler. 3.A9X is without L3 Cache which has always shown to add quite a bit of performance for CPU task. Even if Apple somehow don't have the above three disadvantage, my guess is that Intel Core M will still wins. But it just show how close Apple is getting into Intel performance territory. Considering We don't get any update from Intel, ( Unless Intel surprise us with Kaby Bridge performance improvement ) This year Apple A10 will be interesting compared to Intel and see how close the gap is.
- oldmanjay 11y ago
  Is Intel really ahead in power consumption? I haven't been keeping up but when I was, it wasn't really close unless you ignored all the pieces you need to make a system with x86.
rayiner 11y ago
The 6s and iPad Pro are a good demonstration of the importance of designing systems tastefully. In the rest of ARM-land, manufacturers are enthralled by octa-core designs that take up lots of die space but sit idle in most consumer workloads. Apple, in comparison, has stuck to two relatively low-clocked cores to deliver balanced performance. When my iPhone got stolen, I briefly had a Droid Maxx 2 (Verizon's version of the Moto X Play), which was the laggiest phone I've ever owned (and that includes a $130 Lumia 620). Its Snapdragon 615 has a GPU so anemic it can't handle even basic Google Play Store animations without stuttering. But it's got eight cores, which apparently checks the boxes of Android ODMs because the 615 is used in nearly every upper mid-range Android phone. That's what happens when spec-heavy marketing drives your system architecture. And the focus on specs (cores, clockspeed), ironically results in worse performance. Under sustained load, the Nexus 6p spends most of its time under a gigahertz because of thermal throttling: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9820/the-google-nexus-6p-review/4 http://www.anandtech.com/show/9820/the-google-nexus-6p-revie.... The 6s and 6s plus, in comparison, can run a graphics-intensive benchmark until the battery dies while maintaining a consistent framerate: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9686/the-apple-iphone-6s-and-iphone-6s-plus-review/8 http://www.anandtech.com/show/9686/the-apple-iphone-6s-and-i....
- Symmetry 11y ago
  As a rough rule of thumb a core's performance tends to up as the square root of the silicon it has once you start going superscaler. The four little cores on a typical octocore Android device are about as bit as one of the big cores. And the A57 you'd find a new octocore phone using are about half the size of one of the Twisters in an A9. Apple and an octocore Android phones are spending more or less the same amount of silicon on application cores.
  - rayiner 11y ago
    On a 20 nm process, the A8 CPU block (2x Twister cores) measures 12.2 mm^2.[1] The Exynos 5433 big block (4x A57) measures 15.1 mm^2, while the little block (4x A53) measures 4.6 mm^2.[2] The A8's quad-core PowerVR GPU measures 19.1 mm^2. So the extra space used in the Exynos configuration is almost enough to upgrade from a 4-core to a 6-core GPU. [1] http://www.anandtech.com/show/8562/chipworks-a8 http://www.anandtech.com/show/8562/chipworks-a8 [2] http://techreport.com/review/27539/samsung-galaxy-note-4-with-the-exynos-5433-processor/2 http://techreport.com/review/27539/samsung-galaxy-note-4-wit...
drakenot 11y ago
I have been considering the iPad Pro for reading journal articles and math/computer science textbooks. I've owned the original iPad and now own an iPad Mini, but for the 2 above tasks I find it annoying to have to constantly pan/zoom on fixed size content. Has anyone used the iPad Pro for these tasks? How did it work for you?
- macintux 11y ago
  I tried it in the store for exactly this purpose, using a computer science paper in PDF form. It's just as great as you'd imagine.
- amazon_not 11y ago
  This is exactly what I use my Pro for. It's perfect for reading full size articles without zooming.
- mercer 11y ago
  I think the one concern might be weight/size. I barely used my older-model, larger iPad, and once I got the iPad mini I used it all the time, just because it was comfortable enough for me to use. It's probably a good idea to go to an Apple Store and try out how it feels, or perhaps even buy one and return it if it's not working out (the return policy depends on your country, I guess). People are very different in what they find comfortable, so anecdotal evidence on this issue probably doesn't cut it.
peter303 11y ago
My 2012 iPad still works pretty well. You really dont need to upgrade every two years like with a smartphone. I am thinking a new model finally becasue they are about 20 times faster, sharper, and lighter.
mandeepj 11y ago
Do you see apple merging iPad Pro and macbook pro into one device like Surface book? They have got large screen iPhone 6 after getting stiff competition from Samsung.
- macintux 11y ago
  Apple continues to insist, and most long-time observers agree, that a merge is not forthcoming. The future is always in flux, so never say never, but it's not going to happen soon. Apple prefers to make devices with more focus, more hard decisions about what to support and what not to support.
- mercer 11y ago
  I think Apple will do what they usually do: wait until they come up with a solution, or until the industry proves that a particular solution works. Microsoft is making interesting progress, but 'unified' devices that are good enough still seem to be far enough in the future that Apple won't bother.
tetraodonpuffer 11y ago
as much as it seemed the review was positive it was a bit depressing to read how hard it was for the reviewer to get the notes they worked on off the tablet (having to save each individual page separately to the gallery, upload to dropbox and then use an actual laptop to generate a pdf) I can see how the ethos of Apple is to keep you in their ecosystem, but for things like notes and so on they really should focus more on easy export to standard formats. (unless of course the reviewer missed how to do that more directly)
- hollerith 11y ago
  I edit notes on my iPad with a $2 third-party app (PlainText) and the edits sync with Dropbox automatically (and reliably).
galfarragem 11y ago
What I really dislike in Ipad Pro is that IOS doesn't adapt to it as e.g. showing more icons [1]. Then I could see it as being professional oriented. Right now is just an Ipad Large. [1] http://images.anandtech.com/doci/9766/DSC_4098b_678x452.jpg http://images.anandtech.com/doci/9766/DSC_4098b_678x452.jpg
- samwiseg 11y ago
  Is that really true? That seems like such an oversight.
- soylentcola 11y ago
  Honestly this is an issue for other tablets and larger-display devices as well. I've used both Android and iOS on tablets and 5-6" phones and both default launchers make poor use of the display size and pixel density. The main difference is that I got tired of having to jailbreak my iPad to fix these simple issues while I can just run a different launcher on Android which behaves normally but lets me choose how many rows/columns of icons are shown. It's doubly annoying on iOS (to me at least) since the launcher is also the "app drawer". You've got no choice but to have rows/columns of icons across the home screen so poor use of space is extra puzzling.
Cshelton 11y ago
I use my Ipad Pro mostly at home as the "computer away from my computer". Article summed it up perfectly. I understand though that this is not for everyone, but for my uses, I love my Pro. Also, the pencil is freaking awesome! I'm not an 'artist' per say, but I love just messing around with it and doodling. Even just sketching out some business ideas as a rough mind map or some ui designs, it basically replaced pen and paper for me. Only now, I can have all my 'papers' organized and in one place.
makecheck 11y ago
I have seen some really cool applications of iPads in businesses and other public places, such as fast and intuitive payment systems at walk-up lunch counters. These will always be better than laptops or phones for the task. (Even Apple Pay seems oddly clumsy to me; after taking out my phone and trying to interface with a device properly, it just seems less straightforward than tapping some buttons and scribbling my signature with my finger like I can on the iPad interfaces.) I wish that web browsing were better on the iPad; that should have been the killer feature. On day one, before web sites knew about the iPad, it was incredible. Sadly (and ironically, for a "walled garden" device that is supposed to be so restrictive itself), the most out-of-control feature of an iPad seems to be the web sites you visit. They have way too much damned control over the browser, and they keep trying to deliver a special iPad experience when all I want is a web site. If Apple really wants a good feature in iOS 10, they should make Safari stubbornly refuse to do 90% of what web sites "request".
- amazon_not 11y ago
  Chrome has a feature to request the desktop version of the web site and lots of other browsers will let you spoof the user agent to avoid being served "mobile" versions of the web sites.
  - makecheck 11y ago
    It doesn't really address the whole problem, as sites try to be too "smart" (e.g. examining the apparent size of the screen, possibly because there are so many possible devices/browsers out there). My hope is that web sites simply stop trying to be special and just admit that maybe large mobile screens are quite good at handling normal web sites.
  - e28eta 11y ago
    Press and hold the refresh button in Safari to get a popover with "Request Desktop Site" as an option. It's also in the action menu
dankohn1 11y ago
My father-in-law is thrilled with the iPad Pro I got him over Christmas. He uses the Logitech keyboard when sitting at the kitchen table and then folds it over behind when reading the newspaper on the couch. The keyboard case is a little clunkier than it should be, but the whole package is fantastic. Plus, the simpler iOS UI is perfect for him, plus no malware, iCloud backups, iCloud Photo sync from his iPhone, etc.
jasonsync 11y ago
It's the pencil .. stupid. The iPad Pro with Apple Pencil is almost $1000 LESS than a comparable Wacom Cintiq 2. And the Apple Pencil is a game changer compared to the older Wacom tech. It's the most natural "feeling" stylus out there. Apps that support the tilt feature of the pencil make drawing and painting incredibly fun. And the increased scan rate of the iPad Pro screen (240 times per second) make the pencil super accurate (compared to using third-party pencils on older iPads). And while the iPad Pro doesn't run full OSX, the Adobe Apps designed for iOS and Apple Pencil feel refreshing, like new again. They're simplistic by design, and hopefully Adobe will keep improving them (Creative Suite on the desktop has stagnated for 10 years). Microsoft OneNote is free as well. I'm getting the full Surface Pro experience as well, and feel kind of guilty for doing it for some reason :-) Point being, there's no shortage of apps these days. Finally, AstroPad (another third-party app) lets you use the "full versions" of any app you've got on your OS X desktop, on the iPad. You can screen share and control OS X with touchscreen and Apple Pencil support. So painting in Photoshop on the iPad Pro is possible too. I purchased the iPad Air a couple years ago and promptly returned it. Maybe the app support wasn't there, or the cheap feeling third-party keyboard case turned me off. The iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil is a keeper.
- gelasio 11y ago
  There's a shortage of all kinds of apps. You can't even get Chrome with actual extensions on iOS. That's why I like my Windows tablets...I get to decide what runs on my device, not Apple.
- xiaoma 11y ago
  The iPad Pro is in no way comparable to a Wacom Cintiq 2. That would be like comparing a butter knife to a laser scalpel. It's more comparable to a Surface.
xiaoma 11y ago
As someone who loves Apple products and a happy buyer of an iMac, Macbook Air, iPad mini and iPhone, I don't think the iPad Pro is a winner. The problem is the OS. A Surface Pro is not only a great machine for not only web browsing and using mobile apps, but also a usable machine for playing desktop games, programming, design work and more. The iPad Pro just can't do these things because the OS won't let you. If I could run all MacOS on it and use all of my software from my home computer, it would be very compelling. As it is, you don't even get access to the filesystem (and thus files are siloed into app-specific containers). If I could only keep two devices, they would be the iMac and the iPhone. If I could only keep one device, it would be my Macbook air. Given the choice, I just might swap it for a surface.
walterbell 11y ago
iPad Pro + Logitech Create Pro keyboard + iOS 9.1 was a dream convergence device and portable terminal (ssh, vnc, rdp) with 2732x2048 (274 dpi) resolution in 3:2 format. The vertical space was amazing for text editing, after years of 16:9 height-challenged laptop screens. It can also be an external monitor for Windows/Mac via http://www.duetdisplay.com http://www.duetdisplay.com. Until Lenovo Retro or another vendor offers a 4:3 screen, the iPad Pro was a rare and positive outlier with portable editing and long battery life. Then Apple iOS 9.2 arrived, which dropped and delayed keystrokes from the Logitech keyboard, https://discussions.apple.com/message/29656057 https://discussions.apple.com/message/29656057. The amazing, out-of-box experience lasted about 2 weeks, a new record for technology obsolescence. It has not been addressed in iOS 9.2.1 or iOS 9.3 public beta 1.
- amazon_not 11y ago
  Text book example why regular people have learnt not to update software.
- bergie 11y ago
  Apart from dropped keys, the other problems with iPad Pro as an SSH terminal are: * iOS doesn't let SSH apps to keep the connection open if not on foreground, and there are no mosh apps * None of the SSH apps are yet built to support the iPad Pro resolution, so you get a scaled-up "normal iPad" screen
mark_l_watson 11y ago
Interesting review even if it is not very relevant to me. I bought an iPad Pro a few weeks ago and my workload is: I write a lot (I publish a new book every 8 or 9 months), I program a lot (mostly Haskell, Ruby, and Java), I read a lot, I listen to audio books and watch video on demand. All of this work flow (and fun flow :-) is better done on my iPad Pro rather than one of my laptops (Macbook Air, Linux, Windows), EXCEPT: Programming on the iPad Pro is not good. I use the Prompt SSH/terminal application to SSH to one of my servers that I have set up for remote development. Anyway, I now spend abut 1/2 of my time on the iPad Pro and the other 1/2 of my time on one of my laptops.
robbies 11y ago
What's most interesting to me about the iPad Pro is that it (likely) will be the most popular consumer device pushing beyond 1440p (2048p = ~5.6 megapixels vs ~3.7 megapixels). Considering the dearth of 4K content out there, I wonder if this will start to push devs into making considerations for 4K, considering that this is over halfway to that resolution.
robbies 11y ago
What's most interesting to me about the iPad Pro is that it (likely) will be the most popular consumer device pushing beyond 1440p (2048p = ~5.6 megapixels vs ~3.7 megapixels). Considering the dearth of 4K content out there, I wonder if this will start to push devs into making considerations for 4K, considering that this is over halfway to that resolution.

95 points by davidiach 11y ago

They should sell it as some kind of portable bathroom mirror with apps. Or bundle the thing with some Gillette razors or something. When in front of a mate and a glare screen I know of no one that prefers the glare one.

LeonM 11y ago
Try spending 2.5k on two of their not-even-4k thunderbolt mirrors, suddenly you really start to admire those sunlight blocking ikea curtains in your office...
- pc86 11y ago
  I'm not trying to start a flame way, but can anyone give me a good reason why you'd buy one of their cinema displays? They seem like they're too expensive at even half the price compared to what else is available.
  - culturestate 11y ago
    They were a far better value proposition 4-5 years ago than they are today; back then, they were only marginally more expensive than e.g. a comparable Dell IPS display. The build quality, docking functionality, and built-in charging facilities -- no more lugging your power adapter to the office! -- more than made up for the price difference. The only legitimate reason to buy one today is aesthetics: they're still far and away the best looking desktop monitor on the market, but that's not enough to warrant the price tag.
ghaff 11y ago
Glossy screens aren't really limited to Apple. They're sort of a thing these days and I do have mixed feelings about them--although I'm also sort of resigned to them at this point. They can be really crisp and bright under the right lighting conditions but, at the moment, I'm sitting in a room with a lot of windows on a bright day admiring every fingerprint and smudge on my screen.
hollerith 11y ago
matte screens are harder to clean, which is a big deal on a touchscreen.
- pilsetnieks 11y ago
  Also, you cannot have a matte glass screen, so you'd have to use plastic which is nigh unusable as a touchscreen.

centizen 11y ago

After trying to make use of my iPad Pro as my daily carry tablet, I've kept finding myself coming back to an Air 2 for most tasks. Save for the pencil, I feel like neither Apple nor 3rd party devs are taking proper advantage of the extra size or power. At least not yet.

Aleman360 11y ago
Yea, the multi-tasking UI is especially half baked. You should be able to have two instances of the same app side-by-side (at least Safari).
- amazon_not 11y ago
  Not that it's a real solution, but you can run Safari and Chrome side by side.
- rb808 11y ago
  There is an app Split Web Browser that does this. (Maybe others)
- e28eta 11y ago
  I think the real solution is for Safari, and apps like it, to allow side-by-side viewing of tabs on devices that have a "large enough" display. There's no reason this needs to be an OS feature, and at least one good reason why it shouldn't be: data integrity. Threading is hard enough for most programmers to get right, and now you want to require IPC and/or coordinated access to every apps' data files? I love that this is already being provided by an enterprising app developer, but I hope they get Sherlocked.
blktiger 11y ago
I really like my iPad Pro. If Apple had updated the Air this year I might have gotten a new Air instead because I was worried the Pro would be too large. However, after having used the Pro for a couple of months the iPad Air looks really tiny to me now. I don't think I'll go back to using an Air in the future. The Pro is definitely not being used to it's full capabilities by many apps yet, but I really like the size of the screen. It may be a bit large for some, but it feels right for what I use the device for. Also, unlike some I didn't get a keyboard case. If I want to type on a real keyboard I'll get my laptop out. Otherwise the on-screen keyboard is perfectly serviceable.

revelation 11y ago

That's interesting, endless waffle about CPU engineering changes here and there, then they basically gloss over the fact that this Pro is forever limited to running a neutered iOS system (but you know, 2 apps simultaneously now!).

TillE 11y ago
I think the Pro in particular is interesting if you stop trying to see it as a complete replacement for a desktop PC (which it never ever will be), and instead look at it as a specialized tool that's better than a laptop at certain things. Personally, I'm probably going to buy a second gen iPad Pro just for reading textbook-sized books. But there are many other potential uses.
- revelation 11y ago
  What am I missing? The review explicitly mentions that they think this is a contender to the Surface Pro. And frankly, that's a joke.
  - melted 11y ago
    Surface Pro is a joke. It's just plain unstable, and high maintenance. iPad is zero maintenance, which is about the right amount a regular user should be required to do in year 2016.
- ZanyProgrammer 11y ago
  "I think the Pro in particular is interesting if you stop trying to see it as a complete replacement for a desktop PC (which it never ever will be)" But isn't that what every pundit, tech writer and commenter has said over the past several years? That for non power users, locked down ARM tablets will easily suffice instead of a bulky, shitty Windows machine?

monkmartinez 11y ago

Shame, I can't install one-quarter of the software I use on a daily basis on a "pro" ipad. I will stick with the $100 dollar Android tablet that allows me to read books and look at websites... When it kicks the bucket, I am sure I can find one even cheaper.

lectrick 11y ago
What's the software you're referring to, Android fanboy?
- monkmartinez 11y ago
  Homebrew, Spacemacs, Pycharm, Anaconda Python distribution, Java, MS Office, Adobe stuff... and more. Edit: Not a Android fanboy... I like to think of myself as practical, maybe I'm not. However, tablets are great for consumption. Consuming websites, epub's and pdf's works well on everything from the Kindle to the iPad pro. The main difference is the price. I would rather keep the difference in my bank account.
  - lectrick 11y ago
    Homebrew... The only Homebrew I know about is http://brew.sh/ http://brew.sh/ 1) There is almost definitely an emacs equivalent for iOS 2) Pycharm- Maybe Textastic (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/textastic-code-editor-for/id383577124?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/textastic-code-editor-for/id...) or Codemate (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/codemate-syntax-highlighter/id680609457?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/codemate-syntax-highlighter/...). I'm not an IDE guy (I use Sublime Text), so YMMV. 3) OK so I get it, you're a Python dev. Admittedly, iOS is lacking in doing native app dev (in fact, I just posted something of that nature to this very thread). 4) Java, etc... I wonder if https://c9.io/ https://c9.io/ would work... 5) MS Office- Haven't used in years, anyway. I use Google Docs for all that. 6) Adobe stuff- Well, iPad Pro has some version of photoshop, I believe... PDF's are rendered natively in iOS (and quite nicely, actually... just like on OS X)... Illustrator?
- collyw 11y ago

ssharp 11y ago

I've had two iPads now, both given to me, and both have mostly sat around collecting dust. Except for a few rare use-cases, I'd rather be on a laptop. My parents, on the other hand, are the polar opposite. Since getting an iPad, my mom has completely abandoned her laptop and will use their shared iMac on rare occasions. For me, having a phone + laptop is more than enough. For them, phone + tablet seems to be the right mix. But I don't see the additional features of the Pro shaking up the mix for me at all.

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m52go 11y ago

For all the hate this device gets, it has its fans. Particularly (in my experience) middle-age "tech enthusiasts" (commonly, folks who don't work in the industry but consider themselves trendy because they know about the newest devices) who already have work devices and use laptops and tablets a lot already for mostly mundane personal tasks. For them, a larger iPad with a keyboard is all they need for their personal work (email, Googling, etc), and the huge screen & 4 speakers are icing on the cake for watching Netflix or HBO Go with their spouse in bed. It was hard for me to understand this appeal because it's often made out to be an office productivity device a la Surface Pro. I doubt it'll succeed that way. From what I've seen, people seem to see it as a quick, slick, light, no-frills laptop replacement for personal work & play for people in an older, more affluent demographic...and it fulfills that use case very well.

pc86 11y ago
The first thing I thought when I saw this was that it'd be an excellent gift for my wife, who constantly has Netflix or Hulu on in the background on our ancient iPad (a 2 I think).
- mixmastamyk 11y ago
  Streaming HD video in the background? ...not watching it? Oy vey. These kids today.
monkmartinez 11y ago
Anecdote: My parents use their iPads as you mention. The thing is, they have iPad 2's and are very happy. If they ask me about upgrading to a larger screen, I will tell them to buy a refurbished 13.3" Macbook Air for approx $1000 +- $100. That is a "no brainer" recommendation compared to the iPad pro.
- m52go 11y ago
  Agreed. For a more affluent demographic that can afford it, however, the iPad Pro wins because it's an iPad and "not a laptop." Same reason people spend more money to buy SUVs and crossovers...it's "not a minivan."

Aleman360 11y ago

The biggest downside to me is games. I returned an iPad Pro for the 12" MacBook. Just as portable and Civ V and Steam/Xbox streaming is a much better use of my limited gaming time than anything on the app store.

thenomad 11y ago
That's the same reason I got a Surface Pro. (Well, one of them.) I can play almost any modern game on the darn thing, which is quite impressive. Even The Witcher 3 will run on it, I understand (haven't tried it myself). At low settings and low res, granted.
- wklauss 11y ago
  I could not get around the noise the fan made, though. It's not really a good gaming machine, IMHO. And yes, I know it doesn't intend to be one, it's just that even for casual gaming it becomes a really uncomfortable device. Gets hot, noisy and screen is rather small.
  - UnoriginalGuy 11y ago
    > Gets hot, noisy and screen is rather small. Definitely true, and burns through battery like crazy. But it is still impressive something that tiny can run modern games at all. And frankly it does a really good job. There are better laptops for mobile gaming, but not in that weight and size class or even close.
- dhimes 11y ago
  Have you tried running virtual box on that? I'm looking into something a bit more portable than my Toshiba.
  - thenomad 11y ago
    I haven't, I'm afraid.
  - 11y ago

dlsx 11y ago

3 words. The New MacBook. iPads and tablets are for children, thank me later.

13of40 11y ago

I bought an iPad about two years ago, after hearing years of hype about the quality of Apple products. I use it mostly for web browsing, and the thing that shocks me the most about it is how many mainstream sites simply don't work right in the browser. (By "browser" I mean Safari or Chrome - they seem to have the same issues.) Sites like EBay, Google News, Google Books, and SlashDot all have glitches that either make them unusable or seriously frustrating to use. News sites take forever to load and tend to crash the browser after a few minutes of use. If you're a first-time buyer and you're considering getting an iPad, slap yourself, take a minute to breathe, and go look at some Android tablets instead.

lectrick 11y ago
EDIT: I was wrong. I assumed Chrome iOS and Chrome Android used the same rendering engine. I'm rather shocked that they don't, actually.
- monkmartinez 11y ago
  Are you grepping for Android and casting "fanboy"?
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
- vezycash 11y ago
  He said the same thing you're saying. >>(By "browser" I mean Safari or Chrome - they seem to have the same issues.) Calm down
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
    - lorenzhs 11y ago
      I can only offer one data point, but I've managed to crash Chrome for iOS a lot (good example: it doesn't seem to like websockets much, see https://github.com/glowing-bear/glowing-bear/issues/597 https://github.com/glowing-bear/glowing-bear/issues/597). I don't recall ever crashing Chrome for Android even though it's the default browser on my phone.

tacos 11y ago

The third time the reviewer mentioned Apple's method for reducing the torque needed for a user to manipulate such a large device I started to question what I was doing with my life.

lectrick 11y ago

I am ONLY interested in this if it will be possible to code on it. I am fairly certain most of the HN community would agree that a device that "completes the circle" (allows you to create native apps on the device, for the device) is better than a device (almost) purely designed for consumption and communication over creation.

criddell 11y ago
The best device is one that works for you. For most people, that just means it runs the software that they want. It's silly to say that a device that completes the circle is objectively better than one that doesn't.
zimpenfish 11y ago
Conflating "create native apps" with "creation" is a bit daft - I have an Air 2 which is used for creation (graphics, audio) and very little consumption or communication.
e28eta 11y ago
Check out: Dringend - The development environment for your iPhone & iPad by SquaredTiki https://appsto.re/us/E77aX.i https://appsto.re/us/E77aX.i I haven't bought it (yet?) because this isn't something I need. But I've had my eye on it ever since it seeing it on HN a couple years ago. I think it's an awesome idea, and I've come close to buying it several times simply to support the creator.

Tloewald 11y ago

I've been holding off on buying an iPad Pro until I can walk into an Apple Store and buy one _with a stylus_ (last I checked the wait on the stylus was down to 2 weeks). It seems to me that if you want the stylus, you're in the core market for this device. If you do not care about the stylus, you probably aren't. The iPad Pro with a stylus replaces a similarly expensive Wacom Cintiq, while also being usable on its own. Everything beyond that is pure gravy. The keyboard seems like a miss (frankly, I prefer the Surface Book's design, and I want a freaking trackpad — note that the glass keyboard acts like a trackpad for text selection on the latest iPhones, so it's hardly unreasonable).

UnoriginalGuy 11y ago
Anyone who would seriously consider a Wacom Cintiq isn't in the same market as the iPad Pro. The Pro's lack of software and features within the software it does have makes it a children's toy by comparison. I see people often bringing up the Wacom Cintiq in comparison to the Pro to point out how good of a value a Pro is by comparison... The truth is that a Wacom Cintiq is a professional tool to be used with other professional tools (software); the iPad Pro can be compared to the Cintiq but then what? What are you going to do with it? Draw a pretty picture?

blisterpeanuts 11y ago

This will be an awesome tablet for artists, designers and sales/marketing presenters. I'm not sure how well it will do in the home market -- there might be a ceiling to how much tablet someone can fit in their lap or on the tray table in coach class. It's bigger than the average purse, too.

ksec 11y ago

A few thing on the Intel x86 Vs Apple ARM. 1.Intel is on their 2nd generation FinFET, while TSMC is still on 1st Gen. Intel also provides higher node density and slightly lower power consumption. 2.LLVM is good, but not anywhere as good at optimising as Intel Compiler. 3.A9X is without L3 Cache which has always shown to add quite a bit of performance for CPU task. Even if Apple somehow don't have the above three disadvantage, my guess is that Intel Core M will still wins. But it just show how close Apple is getting into Intel performance territory. Considering We don't get any update from Intel, ( Unless Intel surprise us with Kaby Bridge performance improvement ) This year Apple A10 will be interesting compared to Intel and see how close the gap is.

oldmanjay 11y ago
Is Intel really ahead in power consumption? I haven't been keeping up but when I was, it wasn't really close unless you ignored all the pieces you need to make a system with x86.

rayiner 11y ago

The 6s and iPad Pro are a good demonstration of the importance of designing systems tastefully. In the rest of ARM-land, manufacturers are enthralled by octa-core designs that take up lots of die space but sit idle in most consumer workloads. Apple, in comparison, has stuck to two relatively low-clocked cores to deliver balanced performance. When my iPhone got stolen, I briefly had a Droid Maxx 2 (Verizon's version of the Moto X Play), which was the laggiest phone I've ever owned (and that includes a $130 Lumia 620). Its Snapdragon 615 has a GPU so anemic it can't handle even basic Google Play Store animations without stuttering. But it's got eight cores, which apparently checks the boxes of Android ODMs because the 615 is used in nearly every upper mid-range Android phone. That's what happens when spec-heavy marketing drives your system architecture. And the focus on specs (cores, clockspeed), ironically results in worse performance. Under sustained load, the Nexus 6p spends most of its time under a gigahertz because of thermal throttling: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9820/the-google-nexus-6p-review/4 http://www.anandtech.com/show/9820/the-google-nexus-6p-revie.... The 6s and 6s plus, in comparison, can run a graphics-intensive benchmark until the battery dies while maintaining a consistent framerate: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9686/the-apple-iphone-6s-and-iphone-6s-plus-review/8 http://www.anandtech.com/show/9686/the-apple-iphone-6s-and-i....

Symmetry 11y ago
As a rough rule of thumb a core's performance tends to up as the square root of the silicon it has once you start going superscaler. The four little cores on a typical octocore Android device are about as bit as one of the big cores. And the A57 you'd find a new octocore phone using are about half the size of one of the Twisters in an A9. Apple and an octocore Android phones are spending more or less the same amount of silicon on application cores.
- rayiner 11y ago
  On a 20 nm process, the A8 CPU block (2x Twister cores) measures 12.2 mm^2.[1] The Exynos 5433 big block (4x A57) measures 15.1 mm^2, while the little block (4x A53) measures 4.6 mm^2.[2] The A8's quad-core PowerVR GPU measures 19.1 mm^2. So the extra space used in the Exynos configuration is almost enough to upgrade from a 4-core to a 6-core GPU. [1] http://www.anandtech.com/show/8562/chipworks-a8 http://www.anandtech.com/show/8562/chipworks-a8 [2] http://techreport.com/review/27539/samsung-galaxy-note-4-with-the-exynos-5433-processor/2 http://techreport.com/review/27539/samsung-galaxy-note-4-wit...

drakenot 11y ago

I have been considering the iPad Pro for reading journal articles and math/computer science textbooks. I've owned the original iPad and now own an iPad Mini, but for the 2 above tasks I find it annoying to have to constantly pan/zoom on fixed size content. Has anyone used the iPad Pro for these tasks? How did it work for you?

macintux 11y ago
I tried it in the store for exactly this purpose, using a computer science paper in PDF form. It's just as great as you'd imagine.
amazon_not 11y ago
This is exactly what I use my Pro for. It's perfect for reading full size articles without zooming.
mercer 11y ago
I think the one concern might be weight/size. I barely used my older-model, larger iPad, and once I got the iPad mini I used it all the time, just because it was comfortable enough for me to use. It's probably a good idea to go to an Apple Store and try out how it feels, or perhaps even buy one and return it if it's not working out (the return policy depends on your country, I guess). People are very different in what they find comfortable, so anecdotal evidence on this issue probably doesn't cut it.

peter303 11y ago

My 2012 iPad still works pretty well. You really dont need to upgrade every two years like with a smartphone. I am thinking a new model finally becasue they are about 20 times faster, sharper, and lighter.

mandeepj 11y ago

Do you see apple merging iPad Pro and macbook pro into one device like Surface book? They have got large screen iPhone 6 after getting stiff competition from Samsung.

macintux 11y ago
Apple continues to insist, and most long-time observers agree, that a merge is not forthcoming. The future is always in flux, so never say never, but it's not going to happen soon. Apple prefers to make devices with more focus, more hard decisions about what to support and what not to support.
mercer 11y ago
I think Apple will do what they usually do: wait until they come up with a solution, or until the industry proves that a particular solution works. Microsoft is making interesting progress, but 'unified' devices that are good enough still seem to be far enough in the future that Apple won't bother.

tetraodonpuffer 11y ago

as much as it seemed the review was positive it was a bit depressing to read how hard it was for the reviewer to get the notes they worked on off the tablet (having to save each individual page separately to the gallery, upload to dropbox and then use an actual laptop to generate a pdf) I can see how the ethos of Apple is to keep you in their ecosystem, but for things like notes and so on they really should focus more on easy export to standard formats. (unless of course the reviewer missed how to do that more directly)

hollerith 11y ago
I edit notes on my iPad with a $2 third-party app (PlainText) and the edits sync with Dropbox automatically (and reliably).

galfarragem 11y ago

What I really dislike in Ipad Pro is that IOS doesn't adapt to it as e.g. showing more icons [1]. Then I could see it as being professional oriented. Right now is just an Ipad Large. [1] http://images.anandtech.com/doci/9766/DSC_4098b_678x452.jpg http://images.anandtech.com/doci/9766/DSC_4098b_678x452.jpg

samwiseg 11y ago
Is that really true? That seems like such an oversight.
soylentcola 11y ago
Honestly this is an issue for other tablets and larger-display devices as well. I've used both Android and iOS on tablets and 5-6" phones and both default launchers make poor use of the display size and pixel density. The main difference is that I got tired of having to jailbreak my iPad to fix these simple issues while I can just run a different launcher on Android which behaves normally but lets me choose how many rows/columns of icons are shown. It's doubly annoying on iOS (to me at least) since the launcher is also the "app drawer". You've got no choice but to have rows/columns of icons across the home screen so poor use of space is extra puzzling.

Cshelton 11y ago

I use my Ipad Pro mostly at home as the "computer away from my computer". Article summed it up perfectly. I understand though that this is not for everyone, but for my uses, I love my Pro. Also, the pencil is freaking awesome! I'm not an 'artist' per say, but I love just messing around with it and doodling. Even just sketching out some business ideas as a rough mind map or some ui designs, it basically replaced pen and paper for me. Only now, I can have all my 'papers' organized and in one place.

makecheck 11y ago

I have seen some really cool applications of iPads in businesses and other public places, such as fast and intuitive payment systems at walk-up lunch counters. These will always be better than laptops or phones for the task. (Even Apple Pay seems oddly clumsy to me; after taking out my phone and trying to interface with a device properly, it just seems less straightforward than tapping some buttons and scribbling my signature with my finger like I can on the iPad interfaces.) I wish that web browsing were better on the iPad; that should have been the killer feature. On day one, before web sites knew about the iPad, it was incredible. Sadly (and ironically, for a "walled garden" device that is supposed to be so restrictive itself), the most out-of-control feature of an iPad seems to be the web sites you visit. They have way too much damned control over the browser, and they keep trying to deliver a special iPad experience when all I want is a web site. If Apple really wants a good feature in iOS 10, they should make Safari stubbornly refuse to do 90% of what web sites "request".

amazon_not 11y ago
Chrome has a feature to request the desktop version of the web site and lots of other browsers will let you spoof the user agent to avoid being served "mobile" versions of the web sites.
- makecheck 11y ago
  It doesn't really address the whole problem, as sites try to be too "smart" (e.g. examining the apparent size of the screen, possibly because there are so many possible devices/browsers out there). My hope is that web sites simply stop trying to be special and just admit that maybe large mobile screens are quite good at handling normal web sites.
- e28eta 11y ago
  Press and hold the refresh button in Safari to get a popover with "Request Desktop Site" as an option. It's also in the action menu

dankohn1 11y ago

My father-in-law is thrilled with the iPad Pro I got him over Christmas. He uses the Logitech keyboard when sitting at the kitchen table and then folds it over behind when reading the newspaper on the couch. The keyboard case is a little clunkier than it should be, but the whole package is fantastic. Plus, the simpler iOS UI is perfect for him, plus no malware, iCloud backups, iCloud Photo sync from his iPhone, etc.

jasonsync 11y ago

It's the pencil .. stupid. The iPad Pro with Apple Pencil is almost $1000 LESS than a comparable Wacom Cintiq 2. And the Apple Pencil is a game changer compared to the older Wacom tech. It's the most natural "feeling" stylus out there. Apps that support the tilt feature of the pencil make drawing and painting incredibly fun. And the increased scan rate of the iPad Pro screen (240 times per second) make the pencil super accurate (compared to using third-party pencils on older iPads). And while the iPad Pro doesn't run full OSX, the Adobe Apps designed for iOS and Apple Pencil feel refreshing, like new again. They're simplistic by design, and hopefully Adobe will keep improving them (Creative Suite on the desktop has stagnated for 10 years). Microsoft OneNote is free as well. I'm getting the full Surface Pro experience as well, and feel kind of guilty for doing it for some reason :-) Point being, there's no shortage of apps these days. Finally, AstroPad (another third-party app) lets you use the "full versions" of any app you've got on your OS X desktop, on the iPad. You can screen share and control OS X with touchscreen and Apple Pencil support. So painting in Photoshop on the iPad Pro is possible too. I purchased the iPad Air a couple years ago and promptly returned it. Maybe the app support wasn't there, or the cheap feeling third-party keyboard case turned me off. The iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil is a keeper.

gelasio 11y ago
There's a shortage of all kinds of apps. You can't even get Chrome with actual extensions on iOS. That's why I like my Windows tablets...I get to decide what runs on my device, not Apple.
xiaoma 11y ago
The iPad Pro is in no way comparable to a Wacom Cintiq 2. That would be like comparing a butter knife to a laser scalpel. It's more comparable to a Surface.

xiaoma 11y ago

As someone who loves Apple products and a happy buyer of an iMac, Macbook Air, iPad mini and iPhone, I don't think the iPad Pro is a winner. The problem is the OS. A Surface Pro is not only a great machine for not only web browsing and using mobile apps, but also a usable machine for playing desktop games, programming, design work and more. The iPad Pro just can't do these things because the OS won't let you. If I could run all MacOS on it and use all of my software from my home computer, it would be very compelling. As it is, you don't even get access to the filesystem (and thus files are siloed into app-specific containers). If I could only keep two devices, they would be the iMac and the iPhone. If I could only keep one device, it would be my Macbook air. Given the choice, I just might swap it for a surface.

walterbell 11y ago

iPad Pro + Logitech Create Pro keyboard + iOS 9.1 was a dream convergence device and portable terminal (ssh, vnc, rdp) with 2732x2048 (274 dpi) resolution in 3:2 format. The vertical space was amazing for text editing, after years of 16:9 height-challenged laptop screens. It can also be an external monitor for Windows/Mac via http://www.duetdisplay.com http://www.duetdisplay.com. Until Lenovo Retro or another vendor offers a 4:3 screen, the iPad Pro was a rare and positive outlier with portable editing and long battery life. Then Apple iOS 9.2 arrived, which dropped and delayed keystrokes from the Logitech keyboard, https://discussions.apple.com/message/29656057 https://discussions.apple.com/message/29656057. The amazing, out-of-box experience lasted about 2 weeks, a new record for technology obsolescence. It has not been addressed in iOS 9.2.1 or iOS 9.3 public beta 1.

amazon_not 11y ago
Text book example why regular people have learnt not to update software.
bergie 11y ago
Apart from dropped keys, the other problems with iPad Pro as an SSH terminal are: * iOS doesn't let SSH apps to keep the connection open if not on foreground, and there are no mosh apps * None of the SSH apps are yet built to support the iPad Pro resolution, so you get a scaled-up "normal iPad" screen

mark_l_watson 11y ago

Interesting review even if it is not very relevant to me. I bought an iPad Pro a few weeks ago and my workload is: I write a lot (I publish a new book every 8 or 9 months), I program a lot (mostly Haskell, Ruby, and Java), I read a lot, I listen to audio books and watch video on demand. All of this work flow (and fun flow :-) is better done on my iPad Pro rather than one of my laptops (Macbook Air, Linux, Windows), EXCEPT: Programming on the iPad Pro is not good. I use the Prompt SSH/terminal application to SSH to one of my servers that I have set up for remote development. Anyway, I now spend abut 1/2 of my time on the iPad Pro and the other 1/2 of my time on one of my laptops.

robbies 11y ago

What's most interesting to me about the iPad Pro is that it (likely) will be the most popular consumer device pushing beyond 1440p (2048p = ~5.6 megapixels vs ~3.7 megapixels). Considering the dearth of 4K content out there, I wonder if this will start to push devs into making considerations for 4K, considering that this is over halfway to that resolution.

robbies 11y ago