Apple iPad Pro (12.9 inch) Review

The iPad Pro is a weird beast; neither fish nor fowl, as the cliche goes. It's as big in terms of footprint as a 13" Ultrabook (say Apple's own MacBook Air), and the price with accessories exceeds that of the 13" Air. It's Microsoft's Surface Pro 4, minus the pro OS. 

This is an iPad, so it runs iOS rather than Mac OS X, which can be severely limiting or liberating, depending on your preferences. The upside is that this 12.9", $799 to $1,079 tablet is instant-on and pretty hard to fatally screw up by your own hand or via malware (iOS viruses and malware are very rare). For IT folks, it's heavenly because it's user-proof. On the other hand, a device this size and at this price should do more than run mobile apps, at least if you're looking for a true laptop replacement.

Apple touted the optional $99 Pencil and $169 keyboard case as the must-haves to turn this into a productivity powerhouse. The world's most expensive pencil will be wonderful for artists and those who take notes long hand. For the rest, the very finger-friendly OS doesn't need help from a skinny pointing device, unlike Windows with its still sometimes small touch targets. Apple says the iPad Pro really shines when you connect the optional keyboard. It is ironic that Steve Jobs once said that laptops shouldn't have touch screens since you have to reach across the keyboard to touch the screen, and that (according to Jobs) induced muscle strains and pains. You will need to touch the screen since neither Apple's nor Logitech's keyboard cases have a trackpad (I assume it's not supported by the magnetic data connector that the iPad Pro uses to talk to keyboard accessories). Now that Tim Cook is at the helm and products like Microsoft Surface and Lenovo Yoga style 2-in-1s have proved popular, Apple has changed their tune.

Battery Life

Apple tablets and laptops have very good battery life and their runtime claims are generally accurate. Apple claims the WiFi-only iPad Pro is good for 10 hours of use and the WiFi + LTE 4G model can run 9 hours on a charge. In our tests with the WiFi model, this has proven accurate with brightness set to 50% and WiFi turned on. We use a mix of productivity and streaming video when we test battery life. Gaming will greatly reduce runtimes (and the iPad Pro handles games like a champ). Apple ships the tablet with a 12 watt iPad charger and a Lightning cable. You can use the charger or a computer via USB to charge the tablet (the charger will be much quicker). Charging times aren't lightning fast as with Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 phones and tablets, but we topped the battery up from 56% to full in a decent 1.7 hours. The iPad Pro has a 38.5 Whr battery that's sealed inside.

Conclusion

I like Apple products and own several-- the 13" Retina MacBook Pro, iPad mini 4 and the Apple Watch to name a few. Try though I might, you can tell that I haven't managed to fall in love with the iPad Pro. It's as expensive as a high end 13" laptop, but it's hobbled by its mobile operating system that won't let me be as productive as I am on a MacBook or Surface Pro 4. I do need pro apps support, file system access and other amenities of a desktop OS. You, of course, may have very different needs. If you've been happily using an iPad Air and have wished only for a bigger screen or a roomier keyboard, than this could be the device for you. The price is still a consideration in a world where the $500 iPad Air 2 had set the high watermark for mobile OS (Android, iOS and the retired Windows RT) tablet prices.

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