What is it? – With a 12.9″ diagonal screen, at first glance this looks like earlier versions of the iPad on steroids. But the iPad Pro has abilities beyond those of earlier iPads. And it has aspirations of following in the keystrokes of Microsoft’s Surface Pro and the other skinny laptop clones from HP and Lenovo. Along the way, Apple may well have created the biggest challenge yet to its own MacBook Air. Let’s start off by looking at the iPad Pro by the numbers. The 12.9″ Retina display screen makes it bigger than any of the 11″ or 12″ challengers. In comparison, the iPad Air 2 has a 9.7″ display. And the MacBook Air comes in two versions, 11.6″ and 13.3″. But the MacBook Air does not have a touch screen, something I think is becoming a real point of preference for an audience that frequently needs to make things larger, and finds that pinch and zoom is an easy way to do it. The Microsoft Surface Pro, and its clones, all have touch screen capability. Another pro for the Pro is that the iOS ecosystem is now so robust that the most common programs for Windows and for OSX are also available in iOS versions. That makes it easy to move around with your Microsoft Office documents. And of course with cloud storage, you can move almost seamlessly among devices and still have important data and documents wherever you roam.
But, as the pitchmen say, “Wait, that’s not all.” The iPad Pro has an available stylus, which Apple names the Apple Pencil. It is Bluetooth enabled and charges from the Pro’s lightning port. It can function like a mouse, but only functions as a stylus with a growing list of specially enabled programs. They will let you take notes, draw pictures, and annotate videos, photos, or spreadsheets. Unfortunately, unlike the 12.2″ Samsung Galaxy Note Pro, which has a place to store its stylus, Apple didn’t see fit to do that, not even in its smart keyboard cover. So you’ll need to find another way to make sure it doesn’t go astray.
There are already more than a dozen apps that specifically take advantage of the Apple Pencil. You can get a pretty comprehensive view in this article from CIO Magazine.
In creating the iPad Pro, Apple took into account the notion that entertainment isn’t just a visual experience, it’s also sound. The iPad Pro has four high quality speakers built into the body, creating a wonderful experience for watching movies, even without headphones.
Is It 50+ Friendly? – Absolutely. With its big screen and the Apple Pencil, this is as friendly as it gets for a tablet. The only trade-off is that, because it’s so large, it may not fit into some of the spaces where you’ve carried your tablets before. A minor inconvenience at worst.
Frustration Factor? – My only frustration is with the Apple Pencil. It would have been nice if Apple had made the pen more applicable to more applications, somewhat akin to what Samsung does with its Note line. But I also wish Apple had created a place to put the Pencil within the body of the device, or failing that, on or in the cover.
Is It Worth The Money? – Here’s where the iPad Pro gets interesting. A big part of the answer as to whether it’s worth the money depends on how you intend to use it. So, for starters, if you just want to use it as a large tablet, with no accessories, you’ll be paying $799 for a wi-fi only version with 32GB of storage. You can crank that up to 128GB with cellular service for $1079. In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro at 12.2″ with 32GB is $650. If you want to add the Apple Pencil, that’s $99. Samsung’s stylus-equipped Galaxy Note Pro is $750, so basically the same $100 difference.
Now, let’s say you want to really use the iPad Pro as a notebook computer with a smart keyboard cover. The Apple Smart Keyboard is $169.00. Frankly, it doesn’t thrill me. The keys are very thin and the typing experience is not great. And setting it up is a little like doing advanced origami.
A better deal is the Logitech Create keyboard for the iPad Pro. It has backlit keys, is easy to set up, and costs $150.
If you’re looking for comparisons as a fully functional notebook, the Microsoft Surface Pro 4, with a 12.3″ screen, begins at $799 but depending on what you put into it, can be about $1500. And the keyboard is an extra $130.
So here’s my bottom line. Your decision should be driven by your use case. This is not a fully functioning Windows laptop. But, if you’re looking for a platform that will run the Office productivity programs you need, and you want something that’s great for entertainment, has the iOS ecosystem, and allows you the creativity of using the Pencil, this is a wonderful machine.
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