The new iPad Pro

by Volker Weber

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iPad Pro 9.7, AirPods, Logitech K780, Apple Pencil

Since I moved most of my workloads to the Surface Pro 4 I haven't used the iPad Pro as much as I used to. But the WWDC keynote got me fired up again. Apple is about to take a big leap with iOS 11 and that is going to benefit the iPad Pro.

This machine is so much more expensive than a regular iPad that it only makes sense if you are either well-heeled or determined to use this as your main computer. And the hardware certainly wasn't holding you up. Microsoft validated the incredible speed of the iPad Pro when announcing the new Surface Pro by comparing it to the Apple offering. IOS 11 will make this machine much more usable for general use, by adding better multitasking, drag&drop and file management. And Pencil is finally catching up with some of the features in Windows 10.

Beyond the software that will only refresh "in the fall" which I read as "shortly before the next iPhone", Apple is doing something they did with the iPods: killing an excellent product with an even better one. The iPad Pro 9.7 has such a gorgeous screen that it is hard to image how a 10.5 screen beats that. But there is an important difference: 120 Hz refresh rate. What does that mean? The new machine will be able to redraw the screen 120 times a second. How is that important? When you scroll in documents, they will appear paper-like, because they don't get blurred when you move them. Once you have seen that, you can't go back. Of everything that is new about the new iPad Pro - iPhone 7 camera with OIS, new CPU and GPU - that is what is going to make the most lasting impression. A little side effect: the Pencil, which is already the best on the market, gets even faster. And faster means again, more like paper.

There was no other tablet that could beat the iPad Pro 9.7 hardware. And Apple is taking it up another notch.

Comments

And I am really looking fwd to get mines in my hands. Apple claims delivery to 20-22nd of June right now.

Martin Cygan, 2017-06-12

The 10.5 should arrive tomorrow. Curious for the screen in quality and format. The 9.7 iPad Pro has an ease of use the Surface Pro 4 does not achieve (for me). I think for me it is the much better runtime (full day vs. half a day), less weight and generally a bit better touch operation. This may in part be also due to the SP4 having a fan and a keyboard which the iPad Pro does not have (thoug it can have a keyboard). I can't imagine SP4 without the TypeCover and at the same time the iPad Pro not with the Smart Keyboard.
I like working with the Surface Pro a lot, but see it rather as a very nice laptop than a tablet.
Maybe my MacBook Pro became a desktop. The Surface Pro my laptop and the iPad really is what travels around.

Tobias Hauser, 2017-06-12

Interessant wird der Vergleich zwischen dem neuen Surface Pro (5) und dem iPad Pro 10.5 mit den jeweiligen Pencils.
Dann erst zeigt sich, was näher am Papier ist.

Stefan Dorscht, 2017-06-12

Tobias, eigentlich braucht man ein Surface nur, damit man nicht noch ein Macbook und ein iPad braucht. Bei mir ist das anders, weil ich alles mögliche ausprobiere.

Stefan, ja, das ist sicher spannend. Aktuell ist Pencil besser als Surface Pen (4), aber nur für ganz wenige Sachen zu gebrauchen. Mit dem Surface Pen kann man unter Windows 10 einfach mehr machen. Das finde ich wichtiger als die Nähe zum Papier. Ich bin froh, dass iOS11 da nachlegt.

Volker Weber, 2017-06-12

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