The long-awaited 12.9-inch iPad Pro is now available to buy, despite well-documented shortages of the 128GB models and accessories. And you know what that means – the tablet is already in huge demand that is outstripping supply. If you are among the many people eager for the productivity slate but still waiting to get your hands on one, here’s the next best thing in the meantime: a thorough run-down of how various tech journalists have reacted to the Pro upon using it this week.
Unboxing and early impressions
Buying a whole new Apple product is always exciting, and the unboxing is a major part of that. Therefore, it makes sense for us to clarify what your own experience of unboxing and initially playing around with the device could be like – and you’ll struggle to find a more insightful video preview than Dom Esposito’s. Dom is impressed with the screen, likening it to that of the Retina display MacBook Pro, and the relatively light weight for the device’s size – check out his further early impressions for yourself.
Moving onto the in-depth review…
But, of course, the iPad Pro’s price, size and power makes it a tablet that you definitely shouldn’t buy just for casual use. This calls for a more in-depth look at the device – and, for that, we can turn to The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern. She puts the iPad Pro though its paces with downloading video, multi-tasking – including the glorious iOS 9 addition of Split View – and typing on the Smart Keyboard. That little add-on is nice to the touch and, as she further demonstrates, conveniently spill-proof.
Stern also shows that the new Apple Pencil certainly meets the standards required by artists – just check out the beautifully intricate image that an illustrator was able to craft using it. And, as has already become clear, the responsiveness compares well to that of the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 stylus.
So, the iPad Pro: your long term productivity partner?
An iPad Pro is very much a tablet for the long haul, so how might your impressions of it change with experience? It’s obviously questionable to what extent we can reliably answer that question about a brand new product – but, after two days of regularly using it, 9to5Mac‘s Ben Lovejoy has expressed several favorable opinions about the iPad Pro.
Especially encouragingly, he now has “more of a sense of why Tim Cook thinks it could be a laptop replacement”, adding that it is “a hassle-free, flexible device with the option of built-in LTE” and, as a result, many people will find it more worthwhile than a MacBook. That’s going to serve Apple well in its chase of the enterprise market, a mission we investigate further in the new issue of AppleMagazine. The verdict’s in, then; even despite the availability delays, you should Pro for it!
