I have now had the new iPad Pro (11”, 64GB, WiFi) for couple of hours. And I absolutely love this device. I moved up from 1st generation 9.7” iPad Pro. I could have used that device for a while longer, but my wife needed an iPad, so I decided to gift her my old iPad and buy the new one. So here we are. I’m a loving husband, after all.
The all-screen design (it’s not really ”all screen”, but we are getting there) is really great. It might seem like a small change, but using this device feels different, as you just have the screen in front of you. No buttons, minimal bezels. It feels like some sort of threshold has been crossed here. When iPad was released Apple talked about “magical piece of glass that transform to anything you need it to be”. And for the first time, this is it. When they announced this device, they said “this is the iPad we have always wanted to build”, and I believe them. And that “magical spiced of glass” extends to the next point: screen and interaction.
The 120Hz screen coupled with the ludicrous performance this thing has really pushes the UI away from the uncanny valley. It’s starting to feel that your are not using a piece of technology with a screen, but rather, we are getting to the are of perfectly natural interaction, like what we have when we interact with object in real world. There’s no latency anywhere that I can see. Traditional computers, Macs included, are starting to feel archaic when compared to the UI-interaction of this thing. This feels like a device from the future.
I got the keyboard-case as well, and while it looks very similar to the keyboard-case I had on my 9.7” iPad, it feels way better. I’m typing way faster on this keyboard than on the old keyboard. Don’t know what the difference is like when compared to the previous 10.5” iPads keyboard case as I never used that device (except playing with one in store for few minutes). The device also seems to be very stable and sturdy when typing with this keyboard. On my old device I had the issue where the keyboard did not sit flush with the table, but it was elevated by few millimeters, resulting in slight wobble when typing. This keyboard is flat and rock solid.
And, of course, I went with the whole trifecta and got the pencil as well. It feels solid in hand, but I haven’t used it much yet. Am not yet sure if I like the feel of it better than the previous pencil. I liked playing with the cap of the previous pencil, and this pencil has no cap. Objectively it’s way better, it attaches and chargers magnetically, and it works just as well as you expect. Magnets, how do they work?!
One real downside of the new iPad is pricing. This thing is way more expensive than previous generation. I was going to move up to 12.9”, but the eye-watering pricing meant I had to stay on the smaller device. 11” iPad costs the same as the previous 12.9” iPad. To add insult to injury, Apple did announce that they will keep on selling the older generation 10.5” device for a lower price. But the “lower price” is the same price they were originally selling it at. Come on!
So yeah, this thing is expensive. But it’s just so damn good. Hell, it’s faster than most of the Macs Apple currently sells. It’s crazy. Granted, iOS doesn’t take full advantage of that power. Maybe next year.
Miscellaneous things
There’s no headphone-jack. Wireless is the future. Accept that and move on. I know I did.
There’s USB-C! For shit and giggles I plugged in a Dell USB-C hub, with VGA, HDMI, Ethernet and some other stuff. And it works! Well, at least HDMI did, but I don’t see why the other ports wouldn’t work as well, as iPad does support them. Yes, that includes Ethernet.
This is my first device with FaceID. It works, and we need to have it everywhere.
Lumisade 