6 takeaways from using the iPad Pro: review
NEW YORK—I'm riding a bus typing on the physical keyboard on my lap as I write this column in Microsoft Word. I'm not using a laptop, however, but rather the brand new iPad Pro that goes on sale today.
It's a beautiful picture, and if I were to rewind to fourth grade and write this column in cursive, I'd be as happy as a clam.
iPad Pro is Apple's first tablet with a relatively huge screen. It is also the first iPad for which Apple designed a special stylus accessory called Pencil, along with an optional cover with a physical keyboard.
This new iPad is certainly a big deal for Apple, which hopes to turn around slumping sales for its prized tablets.
Like a lot of you, I've mostly used standard-sized iPads and smaller iPad minis to consume stuff: watching movies and TV, reading books, browsing the Web. Despite an abundance of productivity and business apps, I've used iPads for work far less often.
By its very nature, though, iPad Pro, which costs $799 for a 32-gigabyte Wi-Fi only model, and $949 for 128GB (or $1079 with the cellular option), would seem to lend itself more than other iPads to business or creative purposes, especially if you're willing to spring for the pricey accessories. The Pencil goes for $99 and the Smart Keyboard, $169.
While I like iPad Pro, and think it's a terrific solution especially for those who draw or sketch, I'm not one of those people. So I'm not ready to enlist iPad Pro as my full-time laptop replacement.
In fact, if I were in the market for a hybrid machine, I'd be more inclined to go for Microsoft's Surface Book, a Windows 10 computer that comes with a stylus and is more a full-fledged laptop, even though you can detach the screen and carry it around like a slate.
Of course, Surface Book, at $1,499 on up, costs a lot more than iPad Pro. If your preference is mainly to use such a machine as a tablet, then I'd stick with iPad. (Meantime, Microsoft's new Surface Pro 4 tablet computer is also a reasonable option for some).
Microsoft Surface Book gives Apple a run for its money
Here are six things I've learned after testing the Pro for a week:
*Big is really big: The thing that immediately strikes you about Apple's brand new tablet is just how big, big really is. The screen measures 12.9-inches diagonally, and there's a reason why it somehow feels larger than a laptop screen with similar dimensions. The screen area on iPad Pro is actually a little bigger than the 13.3-inch display on Apple's own MacBook Pro laptop. It's not fuzzy math. The iPad uses a different "aspect ratio" to better accommodate the fact that you sometimes use it in portrait mode and sometimes in landscape.
If you're comparing the iPad Pro screen against iPad Air 2, the screen area is 78% larger.
The Retina display on iPad Pro is dazzling too—in tech-speak , it has a resolution of 2732 x 208 and 5.6 million pixels. Somehow I did notice the smudges on the glass more.
You can exploit the roomy iPad Pro when using the slide over (opening a second app without closing the first one) and split-view features (two active apps are open) that come with iOS 9. These features also work on the smaller iPad Air 2, but I did appreciate the extra screen real estate on the Pro.
*Bigger doesn't mean heavier: iPad Pro weighs just under 1.6 pounds, which to put things in perspective, is just a tad heavier than the original iPad that came out in 2010 despite the fact that that first iPad, and the standard-sized models that have arrived since, have smaller 9.7-inch displays. That's also about the weight of Microsoft's Surface Book when the screen is detached. (When the keyboard is attached, the Surface Book weight roughly doubles.)
The takeaway: iPad Pro won't weigh you down stashed in a backpack. And it's also appealingly thin, about as thin as my iPhone 6 Plus.
*App makers have to size up: Most apps that you use on your current iPad should work fine on iPad Pro out of the gate. But not necessarily every app. One app that didn't work during my testing period was Spotify, which kept crashing after I downloaded it. Apparently, the app wasn't optimized yet for the Pro model.
*Typing on the accessory keyboard: A good but not perfect experience. Apple's fold-away "Smart Keyboard" accessory, which is made of a custom woven fabric and also serves as a cover for iPad Pro, magnetically attaches to the tablet via what Apple calls a "smart connector." The beauty is there are no plugs or switches and unlike a wireless Bluetooth keyboard there's no need to pair it. Folding it properly proved to be a challenge though.
The keys had the proper amount of give or "travel," and the iPad itself stayed in place inside the cover when I typed on my lap. By pressing a dedicated button on the physical keyboard, you can summon an emoji onscreen touch keyboard. You cannot otherwise use the onscreen keyboard for letters and numbers while using the physical keyboard at the same time. And sometimes when I first connected the Smart Keyboard to the iPad Pro, its physical keys were not immediately recognized.
As a heavy-duty laptop user, the absence of a trackpad on the Smart Keyboard particularly bothered me. Even though you can position the cursor by touching the iPad screen directly (or by turning the onscreen emoji keyboard into a virtual touchpad) I instinctively reached at times for a trackpad that wasn't there. I guess I have to retrain my muscle memory.
One other drawback: you cannot adjust the angle of the screen inside the Smart Keyboard.
Logitech is bringing out its own iPad Pro keyboard that can exploit the smart connector, and unlike Apple's keyboard, the keys are back-lit. There are two viewing angles. This Create Backlit Keyboard Case with Smart Connector, as it is being called, will cost $149.99.
*Sketching with Apple Pencil: There's a multitude of apps and instances in which you might take advantage of Apple Pencil, whether you're drawing, sketching, signing your name or marking up an attachment in email.
There's virtually no lag or latency from when the tip of Pencil makes contact with the screen and when whatever you're drawing or writing appears. Press harder to draw a darker line; more gently for a lighter line. And iPad Pro is smart enough to detect whether you're drawing with your finger or Pencil; Apple says Pencil is scanning for a signal on the screen 240 times a second.
You can cleverly charge Pencil by lifting off its cap, which reveals a Lightning connector. Apple claims that plugging the connector in for just 15 seconds buys you a half hour of juice. A fully charged Pencil can last about 12 hours.
I only wish Apple had come up with a place to stow it.
*It's still an iPad: In the end, iPad Pro is still an iPad, a very good one at that. The machine is snappy—it has a robust Apple-designed A9X processor. It has fast wireless, similar cameras to the smaller models and promises the same 10 hours or so of battery life. I didn't conduct a formal battery test but it did get me through more than a day of normal use.
I enjoyed putting the big screen to use while immersing myself in a movie. And the sound, with four speakers, one in each corner, is excellent.
While I like the iPad Pro and can see it reinvigorating iPad sales to a degree, its overall impact remains to be seen. After all, the biggest of the iPads also carries the biggest cost, and that's before you might want to spring for pricey accessories. It's not for everyone.
Email: ebaig@usatoday.com; Follow USA TODAY Personal Tech columnist @edbaig on Twitter
The bottom line
Apple iPad Pro
www.apple.com
$799 on up.
Pro. Big, beautiful screen. Relatively light given screen size. Supports Apple Pencil and keyboard accessory. Excellent speakers. iPad apps. iOS 9
Con. Accessories are expensive. No trackpad on accessory keyboard. Not every app may work out of the gate.