The one and only iPad I’ve had before, was the original iPad Mini and I loved it. But quickly phones started to get bigger, laptops thinner and I’ve always used Kindle for reading. So more and more it felt like there was no need for another device in my life and I’ve given that iPad away.
When Apple presented the new iPad Pro’s I didn’t think much of them. But after seeing those in person and reading all the stories of photographers editing on this thing, I’ve started to look more closely, as I’m getting more and more into photography. One day I’ve decided to get one myself, but I couldn’t decide on the size. I’ve re-listened to all the podcasts that were discussing new iPads, I’ve watched a lot of YouTube videos (and I mean A LOT), but still couldn’t decide which one was right for me. Whenever I went to the store and played with both – I appreciated the screen real-estate of the 12.9”, but also I loved how light the 11” was – you could hold it with one hand.
Multitasking was also a consideration, as it’s so much better on the 12.9” and for photo editing – the bigger the screen the better. While I was trying to decide between the two sizes, I’ve ordered both of them at one of the local retailers, as they are not that common in Latvia and the wait for them could have reached 3 weeks. I thought the faith would decide – I would buy whichever came first. So one day I got two messages saying that both my orders were ready – so much for the faith. I’ve went again to the store to play with both sizes to decide, with no luck, until I though about what Casey said in a reply to me – “I wanted as portable as a Pro could get”. So I chose the 11”, and decided to cancel the order for the 12.9”.
Few minutes later I found out there was a mistake and 11” wasn’t ready yet, so here it is – the faith did decide for me. And boy the faith was right.
First things first, I thought the 11” would be better using in one hand, but until now I didn’t have a chance to use it this way as it’s still too big and not intended for that type of use.
Second, the screen is gorgeous. I mean, it’s probably the best screen I own, even though it’s not OLED. I know this is not bezel-less screen, but it feels pretty close.
It’s surprising how thin and light the device is. The screen is almost as big as the one on my MacBook Pro and there are all internals inside it, considering this – it weights almost nothing.
Magnets – there are a lot of them and it shows. Popping the iPad into the Smart Keyboard Folio is effortless and surprisingly taking it off is easy too.
Pencil
Fortunately, there was one new Apple Pencil at the store, so I had it from day one and I’m sure this is an essential accessory for the iPad Pro. It’s so much better with the Pencil – one could argue it should come with the iPad. Even going through the interface, it gives the feeling of replacing the mouse or trackpad. I like it for editing photos as it gives a bit more of a precision.
The way it charges and connects to the iPad is great. I can’t even imagine that it wasn’t like that before. This is so intuitive and simple, how could Apple ship a worse product before?
I’m not much of an artist, even in my childhood I didn’t like drawing, so I can’t say how good it is at that, but writing something in Apple Notes or Notability is amazing. It feels so close to the pen and paper (of course not texture wise, but just the feeling of it).
Smart Keyboard Folio
As we live in the 3rd world country, Apple products get to us a bit later than to the rest of the world (9 months later in case of AirPods). So I’ve tried to find Smart Keyboard Folio with no luck. Everyone just smiled and said – try again in a month or two. Luck had it, we were traveling to the Bangkok which coincidentally has the Apple Store. Fortunately for me there was one with US layout and so I’ve got myself the official Apple keyboard.
Having this keyboard is totally an improvement. I can now prop the device to watch videos. Typing on this thing is fast. I love the travel and the sound this keyboard makes. The “lapability” is good too. In fact, I’ve written this review on my iPad Pro sitting on the sofa with the tablet on my knees. Just two available angles don’t bother me too much. Sure it would be better to have more choices, but these two angles work for me.
The one disappointment I‘ve had – the keys are not backlit. It’s not a huge issue, as I don’t look at the keyboard while typing, but it sure would be nice to have.
Also, as a lot of people mentioned – it is dull. There is even no Apple logo on the back. It’s just grey peace of plastic. Now I need to find some stickers to cover it.
USB-C
Surprisingly it’s 2019 and this is my first device with USB-C, so now I need to buy a lot of new accessories, like upgrading the charger to more powerful one. Right now, while traveling, I have to bring different cables for iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch, photo camera and power banks. Will have to do some thinking and consolidation of cables and power bricks. The other problem – as we were traveling, we wanted to watch some TV shows on the plane, so I had to buy USB-C to headphone jack dongle. I’ve found a cheap one online from third party and it didn’t work. So I had to buy the official one.
Also, although my camera can transfer photos via Wi-Fi, it can’t do it for the RAW images, so I’ve had to buy USB-C card reader. This all adds up and iPad Pro becomes more and more expensive over time.
Camera and FaceID
Actually, I don’t have anything to tell about the back camera of the iPad, as I have never even launched it, but I wanted to mention the FaceID. It’s much better then on the iPhone. It works in every orientation, it’s very fast. The animation when you cover it is such a nice touch. Also using iPad with FaceID is so nice, I wish MacBook had one. You don’t think about authentication, you just look at the screen and everything happens like it was intended.
As was discussed a lot, right now the one thing holding iPad Pro back is iOS, that’s why I decided to write the review of just a hardware. I love this device. It’s powerful, it’s beautiful, it’s comfortable, it’s all I wanted and even some more, but I wish I could say the same about the software, we are not there yet. There a lot of hype for iOS 13 and I do hope Apple will deliver.