Should have named in iPad XL or something, this device will barely suit the need of any professional. Performance is good, but without supporting professional software, the hardware is useless.
And why would anyone bother to make professional software if the hardware wasn't capable? They needed a starting off point to say "Hey we can produce the hardware to run pro apps on a iPad. It's only going to get better. Start developing!"
If anyone could stimulate software companies to do that, I guess that would be apple with its mountains of money and strong sales. They do have enough resources to do the software themselves.
Mobile device hardware has been capable of professional workloads for at least 2-3 years. Nobody bothered to do it. Big software companies did not port their applications to ARM, instead they made cheap, crippled lesser versions. This is IMO a stupid move, they probably did this to promote their professional software to common folk, but it would have been more lucrative to bring professional software to mobile platforms.
There are 2 main issues with mobile platforms - memory and CPU performance. Modern software is very bloated memory consumption wise, especially software relying on managed languages, the latter are also significantly slower in terms of performance than languages like C or C++.
There is one big issue with legacy professional software - it originates back from the days developers were locked in platform specific application development APIs, so it represents a significant effort to port them to mobile platforms - essentially, most of the stuff needs to be rewritten.
But a rewrite in faster and more efficient language, taking advantage of contemporary technology such as OpenCL can easily bring professional software to mobile platforms at an experience as good as that of desktop workstations. Naturally, more efficiently written software will also run that much better on powerful desktop machines as well.
Not all pro are in the multimedia industry, you know :-).
For most office workers, for instance, the only things they might need are notetaking (onenote), email (outlook), wordprocessor (word), and calendar (onenote). Most all tablet are capable to all of that, but it is a bit awkard to work with (due to the missing stylus, and not-so-comfy keyboard).
With iPad Pro which, well, address this issue in the same way as the Surface Pro by adding keyboard and stylus to the tablet. It's much easier to use the table extensively (rather than just browsing web and watching video, which is hardly described as a profession job). So I personally think that adding these two options could takes the iPad into the 'professional' realm.
I think that Apple would love to have iPad to complement MacBook (and Mac Pro), rather than to compete. If you need more power than just by Mac Pro :-).
There's actually quite a lot of professional software available on iOS, and has been for some time. I suppose if you do t use iOS, and so do t know what's a bailable, you can say that little is available, but it's simply not true. Microsoft itself had about two dozen professional apps on iOS. You really need to look through the App Store.
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OWA for iPad, Sunrise Calendar, OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, OneNote, SmartGlass, Skype, Bing for iPad, Remote Desktop, Lync, Office 365 Admin, Intune, Azure Authenticator, Sway, SharePoint Newsfeed, Dynamics CRM, Dynamics Business Analyzer, Dynamics Time Management, PowerApps, Global Startup Directory. There's more, but you asked for 24.
LOL At most 2 or 3 of those could qualify for "professional" if one is inclined to be generous with the labels.
Professional applications - photoshop, 3d max, maya, solidworks, coreldraw, indesign, visual studio, cubase, pro tools, after effects, fusion, z-brush, and so on.
Yeah, I am sure making good analogies is not your strong point.
A more appropriate analogy would be those screwdriver kits with a single handle and interchangeable tips, saving you the effort to carry around 20 different screwdrivers, and those kits are GREAT ;)
But we aren't talking just any hardware here, we are talking computers, and general purpose at that, this is not the case of some special purpose hardware. This is a general purpose computer, and what it does is defined entirely by its software. Absent any software, it is just a paper weight, or a serving tray, absent professional software it is just a toy, intended to milk people out of their money.
Possibly because there isn't a hybrid that is as good as a dedicated laptop and a dedicated tablet. You are essentially trading one set of compromises for another, and people's mileage will vary.
So a "hybrid" being 10% heavier and 10% thicker than a tablet, and 10% slower than a laptop justifies buying and carrying a tablet and a laptop instead of a hybrid?
Obviously, a hybrid will be a little slower than a laptop and a little heavier than a tablet, but in many cases that is not detrimental. People should have the option to use their devices to the full extent of their capabilities, and whoever needs the extra horsepower will buy a laptop or even a desktop system instead.
I really don't understand how come people have such a big problem with maximizing a device capability and productivity? IN what way will the availability of professional software for iOS hurt you?
I just don't see a "hybrid" being defined primarily by size, weight, or speed. If we look at a hybrid such as the "Surface Pro", it is defined mostly by its Windows 10 operating system. This is an insecure loaded-with-spyware-at-the-factory desktop OS that pretends to be a tablet OS, laptop OS, server OS, phone OS, etc. There are really no great Windows apps made specifically for a tablet (although a few work nicely with a pen/stylus). So at the end of the day what is a Surface Pro "hybrid" really? It is a desktop OS and a keyboardless laptop. It's marketed as "best of both" but really it is a Frankenstein computer made of parts that Microsoft sawed off other products.
Contrast Microsoft's Frankenstein with the iPad Pro -- a tablet built to be a tablet that runs what is widely regarded as the most stable, secure, and highest quality mobile OS. And delivers the closest thing yet to "paper and pencil" functionality to the market. Your point about the professional software is right on. As the apps evolve for the iPad Pro and more professional apps become available, it will only expand what an iPad Pro can be used for, opening the tablet up to being useful for more customers.
I am sure iOS is spying on users as much as Windows 10, after all, M$ was largely inspired by Apple in this regard. And unlike W10, you can't really disable it in iOS.
Unfortunately, the lack of professional applications, whose UI is usable on a tablet is true, be those windows, android or ios tablets. I do acknowledge that the only reason windows tablets have the upper hand is they can run the good old legacy professional software, which is a pain in the ass to use without a mouse and keyboard.
It would seem that the industry is rather unimaginative, they keep releasing new versions of their professional products, but don't adopt a better paradigm for user interaction, one that would work equally well on a traditional desktop PC and a tablet. Software giants are just as lazy and unimaginative as hardware giants.
And it is not like it is impossible, it is well within the realm of possibility to adapt the UI for wider device usage without impairing productivity, if anything, a more clever design will make application interaction easier, a lot of the professional app UIs are a pain to work with, even with a mouse, and practically impossible to use with a touch device.
One of the projects I am currently working on is a graphical programming language / IDE, capable of producing commercial grade software, and it is equally useful on a desktop with mouse and keyboard and on a tablet or even on a phone with touch. It is 2-3 months away from public release, unfortunately due to apple's policies, I will not be publishing to their store, since they don't really allow the degree of freedom an application development tool requires. It will still be available for jail broken apple hardware.
I am sure iOS is spying on users as much as Windows 10, after all, M$ was largely inspired by Apple in this regard. And unlike W10, you can't really disable it in iOS.
That is just nonsense. Apple is very careful about looking at user data, and in fact they credibly follow the tenet "the less of your information we look at, the better!".
That is not how Microsoft is proceeding with Windows 10 – there they seem to go more the Google route.
In what way did Microsoft saw Surface Pro parts off of other products? You know what's better than that "most stable, secure, and highest quality mobile OS?" For most people, that would be Microsoft Windows--even if they love to complain about it, you can't deny Microsoft's ubiquity in the Professional space (and home userspace, too, but we're trying to keep this in the professional sector, right?)
I've heard a few people at work say that the sysadmins love Macs (it was a Director obsessed with his Macbook telling me this), but I can't seem to find any of these supposed Mac-lovers. It could have something to do that they're a nightmare to administer for most sysadmins running a domain (which covers the vast majority of sysadmins), or the fact that Mac users tend to be just as inept and incapable as Windows users, so you get to have another pain-in-the-ass group of users to deal with on a system that just isn't very nice to administer.
If you take off your hipster glasses for a moment and actually use computers in the world we live in, there's no way around the reality that Microsoft wins in the Professional space--including their beautifully made, super-powerful Surface Pro.
And no, I'm not a Microsoft shill, I just can't stand Apple fanboys with more money than sense.
Xerandin, you have no idea what you are talking about. 90% of the professional software development studios I work with are almost solely Mac based, for the simple reason that they barely need an IT department at all, in that case.
Windows is technical debt, plain and simple. It's legacy cruft stuck to the face of the world. The only IT guys that hate Macs are the idiot ones who don't know bash from tsch and couldn't sudo themselves out of a wet paper box. Then there are the smart ones who know that a shift to such a low maintenance platform would mean their department would get downsized.
But so many companies are stuck on crap like SAP, NovellNetware, etc., that Microsoft could literally do nothing right for 10 years and still be a powerhouse. Oh wait.
Apple hardware is worth every extra cent it costs, and then some; if you make such little money that $500 more on a tool that you'll professionally use 8-12 hours a day for three years is a deal-breaker, then I feel very sorry for you.
But personally I think it's more than worth it to have the (by far) best screen, trackpad, keyboard, case, input drivers, and selection of operating systems. I have five different OS's installed right now including three different versions of windows (the good one, and then the most recent one, and the one that my last job still uses, which does not receive security patches and gets infected with viruses after being on a website for 10 seconds).
As for the iPad Pro, all of you fools just don't understand what it is, or why the pencil is always sold out everywhere, or what the difference is. As a software developer I can tell you that there is the most extreme difference; and that more development for iOS is being done now than ever before, and is being done at an accelerating pace. This is just version 1.0 of the large-size, pro type model for Apple, and those of us who did not buy it yet and who are still waiting for that killer app, are basically saying that well, once that app comes out, then heck yes we'll buy it. Do you seriously believe that no company will rise up to capitalize on that obviously large market? Someone will, and frankly lets hope it's not Adobe.
I regularly see iPad pros now in the hands of the professional musicians and producers I work with, and they are most certainly using them for professional applications. That's a niche to be sure, but everyone who thinks that the surface pro 4 (a mildly crappy laptop with a touchscreen that makes a bad, thick tablet and an underpowered, overheated laptop) is even remotely in the same category of device, is utterly smoking crack.
I think it might be you smoking the crack there mate. Cor, what a rant. Microsoft are pretty safe in enterprise and it has everything to do with managing large networks(1000s not 10s of computers.. Please, direct me to Apple's answer to sccm, please show me Apple's answer to exchange. Please show me an Apple only environment running 1000 different apps outside ofGoogle and Apple HQ. Just aint haopening.
IBM (yes, the IBM!) has just announced that they will switch over to Macs a while ago. And they're neither the first nor the last. Springer (a major german media company) had done that a while ago already for similar reasons (removing unproductive friction and cutting the actual cost of ownership due to less needed user support).
I know that many people had imagined that Windows would be the only platform anyone would ever need to know, but that has always just been an illusion.
Nope. They're massively ramping up Mac purchases as well, with a target of 50-75% Macs at IBM. They are already full steam ahead with it: http://www.i4u.com/2015/08/93776/ibm-purchase-2000... (Okay: The official announcements don't have that aspect, but an internal video interview with IBM's CIO leaked to YouTube makes it rather explicit even so.)
One of the motivators is apparently that despite higher sticker prices the total cost of ownership is lower for Macs (which is not news any more, but having IBM arriving at that conclusion still says something).
doggface, you speak with confidence where that confidence isn't deserved. I've managed deployments of OS X way over 10k, there are plenty of places with deployments this high. JAMF Casper Suite is the "SCCM of Apple", I don't need an "Apple" replacement for Exchange, 0365 and Google are just fine for email. There are plenty of non-Apple/Google Apps for OS X and iOS. You are seriously misinformed about the reality of the OS X marketplace. Shame that.
mcrispin...sure you can find individual shops that have done big MAC deployments. but its anecdotal evidence. Its like looking at one neigborhood in my city and from that conclude that trailer parks are the norm in my city of 15,000.
While touting how Mac is gaining market share they show a chart where in Q32015 they were at 7.6%. The chart is by company and even smaller Windows PC vendors Asus and Acer are at 7.1 and 7.4 respectively. Throw in Lenovo, HP and Dell at 20.3%, 18.5%, 13.8% and the 25.3% "others" (and others are not MAC's because Apple is the only company with those).
So IBM is doing 50 - 75% Mac's? OK Ill take your word for that but so what? In the larger scheme of things Apple still has only 7.6% and selling some computers to IBM isn't going to siginificantly change that number. Also, don't forgot that some companies (that compete with Microsoft in various areas) will not use a Microsoft product no mater how good it was.
No matter how you look at it, Windows is the main stream OS for busineses world wide. Touting the exceptions to that doesn't cange the truth of it.
Of course most workplace computers now are PCs. The thing is just that Macs are making major inroads there as well.
$25 billion in Apple's corporate sales are already very far removed from your theory (and that's even without all the smaller shops who are buing retail!).
"90% of the professional software development studios I work with are almost solely Mac based"
That has got to do with the urban legend, begot during the time of apple's pathetic "mac is cool, pc is for dorks" ad campaigns. Ignorant people with no tech knowledge genuinely believe the macs are a good deal. And while the hardware is OK, it offers too little value for the cost, software is... meh... more professional grade products run on windows than on macos. There aren't any notable macos exclusives, there are some professional products which do not support macos.
The ipad "pro" software wise doesn't offer anything on top of the regular ipad, the same cheap, crippled, rudimentary applications. It is a little bigger and has a pen with the world's lamest charging implementation, that's about it.
There is no software for the ipad a professional musician or produced could use, the apps which exist for that platform and light years behind the professional software you can run on a windows tablet. None of the professional DAWs, editors, synthesizers, effects or samplers are available for the ipad. Usually the companies which make such professional products have offer very basic and very scaled down versions of their flagship products, far below the requirements of professionals, really only suited for amateur beginners.
That pretty much sums the ipad "pro" - it is a product for "professional" amateurs :)
iOS is a walled garden, apparently, because apple deems its "smart user base" too dumm to deserve freedom and flexibility. And professional apps need that much as professional users do. Even if there are professional apps, they sure as hell won't be available on the apple store, and would require to root your device and void its warranty so it can be used.
"but everyone who thinks that the surface pro 4 is even remotely in the same category of device, is utterly smoking crack"
DO'H, of course they are not, the surface pro is a real professional computer inside a tablet, the ipad is a hipster/child toy inside a tablet.
This is exactly the same type of argumentation that tried to "prove" that personal computers had to be "useless toys" – no, that graphical user interfaces were only for "useless toys" – no, that those silly laptop computers could only be "useless toys" – no, that touchscreen smartphones without hardware keyboards could only be "useless toys"...
And now, after all these prior predictions have already crashed and burned, tablets are your last and only remaining hope that your oversimplified conclusions from your own preconceived notions might maybe not share the same fate.
iOS and OS X are low latency end to end, with built in audio hardware. Windows is not. iPhone 5s, iPad Air1, iPad mini 2, onwards, can record from 32 simultaneous inputs onto separate tracks with ease till their disk is full. And it's 100% solid. There is much capable and professionally usable iOS music software. And robust plugin and Interapp audio communication logins.
"the surface pro 4 (a mildly crappy laptop with a touchscreen that makes a bad, thick tablet and an underpowered, overheated laptop)"
Strange way of seeing things when the surface Pro 4 is pretty much : 1/ the thinner laptop existing 2/ the higher end version is like several order of magnitude more powerful than the MacBook and 3/ it has the same Intel processor as most over high end laptop and overheat the same way and it has an option of having a fanless / staying cold core M if this is your thing
Music applications iOS is the only game in town. Windows doesn't have low latency except if you use external audio hardware. Many PC notebooks even then cannot achieve low latency due to design flaws. A client recently bought an AUD$3500 Alienware purely for running Tracktor. Spent 6 months trying everything including reverting to Win7. It just crackles and jumps. I worked in the music industry building audio PCs for 8 years and I had a look over the system and tried everything. No dice. I told him it won't work. He bought an AUD$2500 MacBook Pro, installed Tracktor, works faultlessly. Of course.
The issue here is more the Alienware craptop where audio is no priority at all, than Windows. Windows has the horrible burden of trying to support every combination of everything. I know this. But for some professional allocations there is no way I'd ever run a Windows system anymore.
Look at anyone performing live with music. It's all Mac / iOS. The sound engineer guys will use a PC laptop because of the old editor utilities for audio equipment needing RS232 etc, but the music you hear is coming off Apple gear.
you took the words right out of my mouth! throughout reading this article i cannot fail to see the thinly veiled adoration for Apple held by the author and it is telling in the way he wields the pseudo negatives statements against the product. i was expecting an unbiased fair appraisal of this product but what i got was the Apple store salesman dressed up as an annnandtech reviewer. This product is simply two things the original iPad is not, 1) bigger and 2) has a pencil....not revolutionary and also not that impressive a feat....apple have lost the wow factor that won them so many new customers and they only have these fanboys left to applaud fanatically like a north Korean Army officer listening to KJU..
Your own post positively reeks of a fanaticism which is simply absent in the article outside of what you're projecting into it from yourself.
Major and remarkable features are: • A highly advanced CPU which has effectively closed the gap to Intel's Core i architecture at comparable TDP. • The Pencil which is at the very least among the best on the market. • A crazy-good speaker system for its size class which actually makes listening to music or watching movies enjoyable.
Beyond that, yes, it is "just" a bigger, faster, better iPad, but as long as you're not looking for an awkward hybrid device, that's actually a plus.
It is utterly non sense. W10 is not more or less "insecure loaded-with-spyware-at-the-factory desktop OS" as OS X. If you want to have the same "secure" experience as an iOS tablet, just install only applications from the Windows Store and it will be the same. If you want to use more powerful program or software that do not exist in the Store, you must like OS X take care of installing them from a reputable source. Nothing complicated. Also, this is also utterly ridicule to claim that there are no good Windows Store app. There was examples given on the previous pages. There are plenty and you know that. You have ven some which are still quite unique like Polarr or DrawboardPDF. I know Apple users have a hard time (and the reviewer as well) understanding that having an Apple tablet and an Apple laptop OS is even more a Frankenstein experience than having only ONE OS with ONE UI, able to run ALL type of applications and able to support ALL type of inputs so you can choose what is best for the task at end. People consider that EVERY tasks that you have to do with a tablet is best without keyboard or mouse or pen. This is simply not true. Typing a long text with the on-screen keyboard is an exercise in frustration. Also people consider that EVERY task on a laptop is best without touchscreen or pen. This is also wrong. Annoting a PDF, surfing the web, manipulation by hand an object of a webpage is much easier with touch or pen. Having to go back and forth between 2 different devices that have silos input method IS what is a Frankenstein experience in my view. And last point, the Surface has provided a "paper and pencil" experience since 3 years, much prior Apple and is still providing a top notch experience, with a pen autonomy of more than 1 year, interchangeable tip and great performance.
Wrong because you said so ? Surface are just half baked solutions to a non existent problem. There are tasks where I require a tablet and tasks where I require a notebook. I don't want an half baked solution not good as a tablet nor good as a notebook....
Obviously you don't actually work in a real office where they require lots of specialized software. What's the point of having one device to complement another? That's a waste of resources.
Totally agree. For a device to really be useful on a professional level then it needs to be something that is useful all the time, not just when it suits it. If you already wanted a tablet for professional stuff to begin with (a pretty shaky assumption since pro users tend to be working in one place where proper keyboard and mouse are usable) then you need a tablet that can be the only device you need to work on. You need something that you can put in your bag and know that whenever you arrive somewhere you are going to have every single tool you need. And that is not the iPad Pro. It's not even close to replacing an existing laptop. It's certainly very sexy and shiny and the big screen makes it great for reading comics and watching videos on the train but it's not a work device. It's simply not. Even in the only field where it might have claim to being 'pro' (drawing) it's not. It's FAR worse than a proper Wacom tablet because the software is so hugely lacking.
It's an iPad dressed up like a grown up device laying in the shadow of actual professional grade devices like the Surface Pro. You get a Surface then you can use it 24/7 for work. You can buy a dock for it and use it as your primary computer. You can get every single piece of software on your desktop plus anything your employer needs and it's easy for your work sysadmins to include it in their network because it's just another Windows PC. Just dumb stuff like iPads refusing to print on networked printers (which happens ALL the time by the way) exclude it from consideration in a professional space. It's a great device for traditional tablet fare but it's not a pro device.
Your straw man scenarios are just that. In reality most users don't need every last exotic niche feature of any given dinosaur desktop software as a praeconditio sine qua non.
Which you also might be able to deduce from the fact that most of those features had not been present on these desktop applications either when "everybody" nevertheless used them professionally even so.
In real life the physical flexibility and mobility of an iPad will often trump exotic software features (most bread-and-butter stuff is very much supported on iOS anyway) where the circumstances simply call for it.
Actual professionals have always made the difference notably by finding pragmatic ways to make the best use of the actual tools at hand instead of just whining about theoretical scenarios from their parents' basements for sheer lack of competence and imagination.
Software companies only create crippled, lesser versions of their software because of the mobile interface. Products like the iPad are primarily touch-based devices so apps must be simplified for touch. Although the iPad supports keyboard input (and have for years) you cannot navigate around the OS using the keys, keyboard shortcuts are few and far between and and it still has touch features like autocorrect (and of course the iPad does not support a trackpad or mouse so you must necessarily touch the screen). The iPad Pro does not change this at all so there's no reason why software companies should bring their full productivity suite to this device. By comparison, PC software developers can rely on users having a keyboard and mouse (and now touchscreens as well for laptops and hybrids) so they can create complex, full-featured software. This is the primary difference between mobile and desktop apps. Just like FPS games must be watered down and simplified to make them playable with a touchscreen, productivity apps must also be watered down to be usable. No amount of processing power will change this, and unless the iPad Pro supports additional input devices (at the very least a mouse or trackpad) it will remain largely a consumption device.
This is just wrong. There are many fully-fledged applications available on iPad. It comes with a decent office suite, plus Google's is free for it as well. I haven't touched MS Word in a couple of years, and when I do it seems like a step backwards in time to a former, crappier era of bloatware.
Sure, I still use Photoshop and Maya and Pro Tools on my Mac, but guess what? iPad has been part of my professional workflow for four years now, and I would not go back.
Ask yourself: is a secondary monitor a "professional tool"? Heck yes. What about a third or fourth? What if it fits in your hand, runs on batteries, and has its own OS? Now you cannot find a professional use?
Give me a break. People who are not closed-minded, negative dolts already bought millions of iPads and will keep buying them because of how freaking useful they are, professionally and non-professionally. They will only keep getting more useful as time goes on.
The main legit critique I've heard is a lack of availability for accessories but that's a production issue, not a product issue. iOS 9 has been out for only a few months and the iPad Pro much less than that... companies have to actually have the device in-hand before they can test and develop on it. Check back in another year or two if it's not up to speed for you yet though.
That's what I did, waited for iPad 3, iPhone 3gs before I felt they were ready enough. 3gs for its day was by far the best thing out, so was the 4s. I don't think the iPad Pro is nearly as far back as the iPad 1 or iPhone 1 were when they launched but give it time...
If you consider features to be bloat, I guess you could say that the iPad has full-fledged applications. It's not true, but you could say it. Actually trying to do even reasonably basic tasks in google sheets is horrifying next to desktop Excel. Things like straightforward conditional formatting, pivot tables, the ability to dynamically order the contents of a table and so on might strike you as bloat but they're the foundation of the workflows of people who make the program the cornerstone of their job. An extra monitor is a much better professional tool if it doesn't have its own special snowflake OS with different limitations and way of moving data.
The fffice suits available aren't fully fledged applications, they are still just mobile apps. I can't open 80% of my Excel sheets on the iPad Pro simply because it doesn't support Macros. Visual Basic and Databases. Stop trying to convince everyone that the iPad Pro is a laptop replacement, it's not. It's just a bigger iPad, that's all. Which is fine and has it's uses, but the only people who would use the iPad Pro as an actual computer are the same ones who could get by using a ChromeBook. A professional person could use the iPad Pro, yes but they would have a focused purpose, which means only a few specific apps, the rest of time would be spent on a desktop or laptop computer. It's a secondary device.
Their not crippled, just mobile versions and they have their uses. The problem I have with these comments is when someone says that the iPad Pro is immensely better than the Surface Pro 4. These are completely different devices intended for completely different tasks. These comparisons honestly need to stop, one doesn't buy a Surface Pro 4 to use as a tablet and vice versa. The iPad Pro is a content consumption device first and foremost. Yes there are some productivity apps and certain professions like a musician or an artist could take advantage of the iPad Pro's capabilities however it is not and I cannot stress this enough, is not a laptop replacement . Those that can use the iPad Pro as a laptop are the same types of people who can just as easily get by using a ChromeBook. The iPad Pro is a secondary device where as the Surface Pro is a primary device.
IOS is just to limited in it's capabilities to be even considered as a standalone professional device. No, an Architect would not use the iPad Pro to design an house with, the Architect might use one to show off the plans to a client, mark down corrections with the Pencil. No, a programmer would not use the iPad Pro to develope on, he however might use one to create an outline of what needs to be done or even as a second monitor for his laptop. No, a musician would not use one to create his album with, he might use one as the brain for one of his synthesizer, a recording device, instrument, etc. it's a companion device, it's an iPad, nothing wrong with that but stop trying to convince everyone that it's some super computer with fantasy powers. Just the file system issue alone should be enough to tell you that the iPad Pro isn't really meant for connect creation.
-- Modern software is very bloated memory consumption wise, especially software relying on managed languages, the latter are also significantly slower in terms of performance than languages like C or C++.
well, that was true back in the days of DOS. since windoze, 80% (or thereabouts) of programs just call windoze syscalls, which is largely C++.
exactly the same: your not writing active code, but calling out to somebody else's code to do the work. in neither case does it matter what you're source language is, from a performance point of view. there's a reason that java mostly beats C++ these days.
Why are we talking about Java and C++ here? Just curious.
I recently worked on Google's j2objc project and it's pretty freaking slick. You can translate Java code into Objective C that compiles and runs pretty flawlesly on an iOS device, and it's fast. It's not emulated, it's actually a port of Android's core libs right into Objective C. Amazing work.
I started working with Swift recently and it's pretty cool itself. Apple's answer to C# and Java, basically. I like that they released it free and open source for Linux. It's weird to program in until you get used to the weird memory management stuff but, hey, code runs so much faster without garbage collection.
Objective C is an atrocity. Moving away from it in favor of swift is one of the few moves apple can be commended for.
Apple have taken advantage of native code, which has resulted in better user experience than android, even when their hardware was mediocre. Because native code is way better than java.
Developing apps that take advantage of the iPad Pro's hardware is just the tip of the iceberg. iOS needs a complete overhaul as in it's current state it's lacking just to many features to be considered anything approaching a Pro OS.
The iPad Pro is my first iOS device, I've played with them over them years but I never really liked iOS, it just always felt extremely restrictive to me. When the Pro came out with iOS 9.2 I was intrigued and started to read up on it, the reviews were solid and everyone I talked to who owned one, really liked them. So I made the plunge and bought one for myself. Now I already have a tablet, the new Pixel C in which I really like, even though the reviews on that haven't been so super. The biggest complaint was that Android isn't really a productivity OS. I found it to be quite the opposite, it's an extremely capable machine. So when I read that the iPad Pro is pretty decent on productivity tasks, I thought well if they thought the Pixel C wasn't up for the task and it is, than the iPad Pro must be something special.
It's not, every reason why I avoided iOS all of these years is still present in the latest version, every single one. As I use CodeEnvy, a cloud based IDE to do most of my programming, I assumed the iPad Pro would be able to handle to handle my work flow. It's nothing outrageous what I'm doing or expect, simply using the CodeEnvy app, Prompt 2 (a terminal app) and Chrome. I also needed Excel to calculate trade PNL's. Within the first hour of using the iPad Pro it was more than apparent that it just wasn't meant for productivity work or at least nothing on the level that I required and didn't come lose to the Pixel C's abilities.
First, I needed to run the terminal app in the background, compiling apps can take a while, plus I run scripts and monitoring applications. However after 3 minutes iOS would terminate it's connections. After some research it seems only about 1% of the apps in the App Store can actually run in the background for extended periods of time, mostly GPS and music apps. Than their was the problem with app resolutions, more than 80% of them I had installed didn't support the iPad Pro's resolution. So again after some research it seems only about 10% of the apps available actually support it's resolution, these unsupported apps also use another keyboard, one that is extremely basic and missing many of the features of the systems default. Now, app developers are working on this problem but the real problem, which is that apps in iOS are resolution independent in the first place just isn't a good idea. However it seems that their is no other way to do it because of this so called Walled Garden Paradigm.
Apps in iOS are basically islands and in some weird way are even like OS's themselves, they basically have to fend for themselves With little contact to actual system except through hacks, okay, API's but it sure sounds like a hack to me. So every time a new feature is added to iOS app developers have to manually update their code to support it. Which brings me to the next issue, dual app view, only about 120 apps or so support it, again, we have to wait for the app developers. Now I'm not saying Android is the better option for any of you, it's all about preferences but when I enabled the dual app view feature in Android 6.0, every app from that moment on supported it. Further, every app I have installed into my Pixel C supported it's resolutions. When I connect a monitor to it, everything is supported, resolution, aspect ratio, I can even change the DPI to make it look more like a proper desktop UI and it supports extending the desktop, not just mirroring. Since the Pixel C has a USB C, I'm using the same port-replicator I bought for my MacBook 12" which has, HDMI, SD Card reader, 2 USB 3, mini USB and Ethernet, connecting a display to the Pixel C couldn't be easier. When I connected my monitor to the iPad Pro it looked like complete crap, black bars, the DPI was so large it looked like a child's toy and it just supported mirroring which absolutely sucks because you can't have two monitors.
File system or should I say lack of because except for iCloud, iOS doesn't have one, it depends on it's apps to manage them. This is absolutely ridiculous and frankly Apple should be ashamed of themselves for leaving it this way for the last 8 years. Dealing with files in iOS is a complete nightmare. Every time I grab a file from the cloud I end up creating at least 4 copies of the same files because when you send a file to an app, it sends a copy, leaving the original in the app your sharing from. So keeping track of which file is the latest version is impossible. Why am I sharing in the first place, on every single mobile device I've ever used, the sharing feature was used to send content to an online source, never was it used as a method to manage files, especially not as the primary method. Also I have yet to have seen an app that can Share to every compatible app installed, their always missing apps in the share list, why because unlike Android which creates it's Share lists dynamically on a system level, the app developers for iOS apps have to manually create a Share profile, which means apps can pick and choose which apps they want to support. When you install the DropBox client, every app that can create a file from that time on should be able to Share to it, period. Instead we have to wait for the app developers for everything in iOS. People say that Android is fragmented, fine but so is iOS, except in it's case, it's the apps that are fragmented. Anytime a new feature is added, every app should automatically be able to do it because the system manages it, not the apps.
The keyboard, I first bought the Apple keyboard, however I really didn't like the way it felt to type on, I missed having the function keys and the biggest issue, no backlite, something I simply cannot live with out as I type at night in bed a lot. It also doesn't provide any protection so I had to buy the hard case, 200 bucks + for a mediocre keyboard. So I bought the Logitech, a much, much better typing experience however there is one problem that became hugely apparent while using it. I wanted a mouse, not every time, just when the keyboard was connected. Why, well like Tim Cook said about notebooks with touchscreen's being a failed idea mostly do to poor ergonomics, the user has to constantly reach up to navigate the UI (get's old real quick), the iPad Pro, ironically, falls under the same category. Foot in mouth next time Tim, I'm sure you didn't realize at the moment that you were also talking about the iPad Pro but it's the same exact thing.
The Pencil, I'm not an artist so I can't really say if it's good or not. The one thing I do know is that I can't use it throughout the system. Something I desperately wanted to do, so in the drawer it went, instead I use a Wacom, has pressure sensitivity, palm rejection and writes great, no lag. In fact I can't tell the difference between the two when using apps like EverNote, Bamboo Paper, OneNote, etc. the iPad Pro is a finger print magnet, I just wanted a stylus to navigate the UI with, also without a mouse the Wacom is the closest thing I can get, works a lot better with it than without when using the keyboard, that's for sure. Is there an actual Apple device available without compromises, there is absolute zero excuse for not allowing the Pencil to function throughout the system. This idea that the iPad Pro is a touch device only completely fell apart the second Apple made the Pencil and keyboard, two accessories that break this touch only paradigm. The only reason why Apple is doing this is to save a little face from all these years of saying the stylus is garbage. This is also why I'm pissed that Pro doesn't have mouse support. The OS certainly supports it by the way, my brother has an iPad Air 2 which is JailBroken and he installed mouse drivers just fine, works great.
There is potential here, however even with great apps the blatant problems in iOS prohibit it from ever becoming a proper productivity tool. Now I fully realize that there are plenty of people that get by just fine with using the iPad Pro, I'm just not one of them. The Pixel C is a much more capable machine for what I do, I have every app that I need which by the way are the same exact apps I had installed on the iPad Pro so I don't get this, no apps for Android tablets thing, I have over 60 apps, all of them look and perform great. In fact, they actually look better on the Pixel C because they all support it's resolution. I have a stylus, the same Wacom. I use for the iPad Pro. I have an actual file-manager with all of my files in a single area, organized by folders. I can access my firms secure NAS drive using Open ID, I have all of my cloud storage, other computers, external HD's and FTP servers mounted as local assets, so when I click on save, the file is saved directly on whichever remote storage I choose. None of that, click on Share BS. When I'm editing a file and need to use more than one app, each app uses the same exact file, no creation of multiple files from Sharing, just open, edit, save, go to other app, open, edit, save. I can find any file in less than a minute, I can find every file that contains a persons name inside of the files In less than a minute. I tried to do this in iOS, I just gave up, finding files in iOS is like trying to find Noah's Ark in Turkey. Zipping and sending files in iOS, well, just also sucks, hopefully the files your sending aren't located in more than 2 apps. I use the Pixel C as a desktop computer as it has mouse support and looks great when connect to a monitor with extending desktop capabilities. Since I can run Linux desktop applications and quickly mind you, it actually makes for a decent desktop machine, however I just purchased an Nvidia Shield TV, installed Arch Linux on it and am now using that as my desktop computer. The performance of the Pixel C was so good when running Linux apps that the Shield TV was a no brainier. Yes, there are GPU drivers for it, in fact my CUDA applications work great on it. I can encode a video file using the GPU to compute faster than most laptops using their CPU's.
Write now I am compiling an app in the background, while downloading a 20GB .rar file to a connected HD, while streaming a movie directly from OneDrive without having to download it first, to my sons TV in his room, I have Gimp running on my monitor as I was editing a picture, (I'm running Arch Linux in a Chroot under Android, to use applications I just start them up through an X-Terminal, works great), while I'm typing this up in Chrome on the Pixel C itself. The iPad Pro doesn't come close to that level of multitasking, running two apps in a split screen view is a nice feature however I would give it up in heart beat to be able to run any and all apps in the background.
I'll end it here, the iPad Pro is still just an iPad, it's not a laptop replacement, it's not a productivity machine, it's an iPad. A content consumption device, just with a larger display. Those wanting one, wait, at least until version 2 comes out. There are just tom any issues that need to be worked out and most importantly, no apps that really take advantage of it.
You win this comments section. Not really worth much, but it's better than the guys in here defending a product that has left most of everyone everywhere completely nonplussed.
Reality check: the "nonplussed" product sold more than the well established surface pro in the last quarter.... So maybe you are just expressing YOUR opinion, and not "everyone's "....
Performance is better than a high end workstation from 10 years ago, a system which was capable of running professional tasks which are still nowhere to be found on mobile platforms. And it has nothing to do with performance. It has to do with forcing a shift in the market, from devices used by their owners to devices, being used by their makers to exploit their owners commercially. And professional productivity just ain't it. Not content creation but content consumption. People flew in space using kilohertz computers with kilobytes of memory, today we have gigahertz and gigabytes in our pockets, and the best we can do with it is duck face photos. That's what apple did to computing, and other companies are getting on that train as well, seeing how profitable it is to exploit society, it is in nobody's interest to empower it.
I was trying really hard to understand what you were trying to say. Computers didn't get us to the moon. They sure helped, a LOT, but it was good ole rockets that did.
Anyway, point is (and I exaggerate), even if you shrink the latest 8 core Xeon E3 coupled with the fastest Nvidia Quattro into a 3-5W envelope and stick in an iPad, it won't make it anything close to a "Pro" product. It's about overall FUNCTION.
An iPad "Pro" with a revamped version of iOS, more standard ports, and a SLOWER SoC would be a much better "Pro" product than what we have here.
Even Android sucks for Pro tablets. Only Microsoft has a thing here.
What I am trying to say is mobile hardware IS INDEED capable of running professional workloads. Of course it won't be the bloated contemporary workstation software, but people have ran workstation software on slower machines than that, and it was useful. So yes, this device has enough performance for professional tasks. There is no hardware lacking, only the software is.
I can assure you, no matter how many rockets you have, you will never reach the moon absent computer guidance. The rocket is merely power, but without control, power never constructive and always destructive.
"There is no hardware lacking" "The rocket is merely power, but without control, power never constructive and always destructive"
You seem convinced that you can be productive on a screen with only a fast SoC attached. I don't know where to start.
With all due respect, your analogies are ridiculously irrelevant (hence why I was having trouble understanding them). Workstations in the past had much more FUNCTION that any iPad today. IT'S NOT ONLY ABOUT THE COMPUTING POWER. These workstations, despite lacking power by today's standards, were built with certain function in mind, and were used for their intended tasks.
iPads are consumption devices, first and foremost. Apple did nothing for "computing", but they did a lot for consumerism. iDevices got popular because they addressed consumption needs by lots of consumers that they didn't even know they needed/wanted, I'll give them that. But Apple's *speed* of forcing "new technology" on people's throats, and turning perfectly functional products unusable is unprecedented, and bad. Your "Pro" device is NO exception, and isn't going to last, nor function, as long as the _workstations from 10 years ago_...
The Pro moniker is being abused. What does it even mean now? Relative speed? Function? Value? Multiple products in one? I don't know anymore. But I'd like to believe that Microsoft's definition of a Pro products sounds easier on my ears.
You seem to be extremely sold on marketed idea that disposable technology with a timed bomb to obsolescence is a good thing. Technology that does nothing but harm the industry and its consumers. To each their own I guess.
You are ridiculously ignorant. Both a workstation from 10 years ago and this product are in terms of hardware general purpose computers. What specifies one as a workstation and another as a content consumption device is the software that runs on that general purpose computer. A 10000$ contemporary workstation would only be good for content consumption without the workstation grade software. Much the same way that this device can be good enough for workstation use with the proper software. Once again, clean up your ears - there is no limitation on a hardware level. It is all about the software.
Your problem with understanding my analogies stems from the fact you are a narrow minded person, and this is not an insult but a sad fact, most propel are, it is not your fault, it is something done to you, something you are yet to overcome. You are not capable of outside the box thinking, you are conceptually limited to only what is in the box. Why is why you perceive outside the box opinions as alien and hard to understand.
You should just sit down and carefully reevaluate your whole life, I mean if "apple religion" is what you were able to take out of all the apple bashing I went through :D Since you obviously missed that obvious thing, let me put it out directly - I am criticizing apple for crippling good hardware to useless toys.
Well, I have to disagree with you on one thing here. I don't think Apple has any blame here when it comes to software. iOS9 is faaaaaaaar more powerful and capable than Mac OS 8 and 9 that I used to run on my power PC's back in the late 90's. Those computers were certainly productive. There's nothing on a software level that's really stopping developers from making productive software for the iPad Pro or even the Air. There is an interface challenge, much as there was an interface challenge when GUI's first came out. As I recall, people lambasted GUI's and mouses as being toys and not for serious work back then. The endless whining over the iPad Pro is just a reverberation of that. People don't like change and they don't like things that rub against their doctrine. But, consider this... While many adults actually have some difficulty adapting to this new computing paradigm, youngsters adapt to it like a fish to water.
I think it is a wild boast to call an iPad Pro a 'useless toy'. I certainly have made a ton of use of mine. Of course, I'm an artist so there's that. Not to mention that my iPads have been my primary communication hub for the last five years.
iOS blows as an actual productivity system. It is made for smartphones first(Apple's cash cow) and everything else second. Put a version of Mac OSX on this and you have something. Right now this is an expensive artists toy.
> While many adults actually have some difficulty adapting to this new computing paradigm, youngsters adapt to it like a fish to water.
That's why I, as someone of the Commodore Vic 20 era, has to show relatives and clients 25 years younger than me how to use their phones, tablets and computers every week. Regardless of age, some people get it, some don't.
Similarly, I've never seen the value of an iPad Pro when, as an artist), I need to finish in Photoshop or After Effects. The creative tools available on the iPad Pro are limiting for those of us used to more, and considering its price, better to buy something that will get the job done.
Yea but at least Mac OS had a proper file-system, allowed it's users to select their own default apps, appsdidn't require API's in order to talk to the system, all applications used the same resolution, when a new feature was added to the system every app was able to utilize it immediately and didn't require it's developer to update their apps, the user was ablue to customize their desktop and even the UI, supported widgets, applications were windowed and ran desktop software. Actually, I take it back, Mac OS's UI was a lot more powerful, the system not so much, which is reversed in iOS, the UI isn't very powerful, it's actually pretty vanilla, though it's BSD underpinnings are extremely powerful. If I was able to access the BSD system, I would dump iOS's UI in a heart beat and install a X desktop environment like Gnome 3, which actually works fairly well as a tablet OS. Than maybe the iPad Pro would actually be a Pro device. I'm running Arch Linux on a Xiaomi MiPad 2, love it.
If you were in the 80's, you'll be advocating text user interfaces instead of graphical user interfaces.
If you were in the 70's, you'll be advocating separate terminals connected to computers, as opposed to "all-in-ones" or "intelligent terminals" like the Apple II, Commodore PET, TRS-80.
Opinions like yours, with due respect, don't matter, because people like you, already have their rigs in place, and aren't in the market.
Apple's market position is for people that want the next thing, not the same ol' thing…
Apparently the next thing is a larger iPad. I'm going to be bold and predict the next next thing. It's going to be a slightly thinner version of the larger iPad. Awesome.
You can spend millions developing software for a superpowerful tablet.
You will still never be able to fit Photoshop's whole interface and abundance of options and menus into the tablet in a way that the user is easily able to reach them, without scrolling through pages of big buttons.
At the end of the day, you'll get a crippled version of photoshop and the user will have to get on a traditional computer (a WORKstation, not because it's more powerful, not because software houses invest more in it, but because it has human interaction devices and a big screen that enable humans to get work done faster) to get stuff done.
Tablets are mostly content consumption products exactly because of the limited interfaces. They have the advantage of portability and ease of use, you just open apps while on the couch, and that's why they master content consumptions better than say laptops.
It's by now become a quasi-religious belief system for some that "mobile devices cannot ever be used for any professional purposes whatsoever!".
At the same time more and more people (and businesses!) don't care about such beliefs in the slightest and simple use those devices very much professionally and in many cases with more success and higher productivity than they'd had with conventional computers.
Part of the reason is that agility and flexibility often beats feature count, all the more so since professional workflows very often just can't afford to even consider most of the myriad theoretical options some desktop programs offer. Heck, most professional uses actually don't need much more than a browser interface anyway!
Yes, there are some uses for which desktop or mainframe computers will be the only really viable option. But what you and many others didn't seem to have noticed is that those domains have been shrinking rapidly over the last decade(s).
-- It's by now become a quasi-religious belief system for some that "mobile devices cannot ever be used for any professional purposes whatsoever!".
despite what some think, Apple didn't invent the tablet. warehouses and manufacturers (when the US had them, of course) have used tablets with 802.11, and earlier protocols, for decades. all Apple did was create a consumer version.
"You will still never be able to fit Photoshop's whole interface and abundance of options and menus into the tablet in a way that the user is easily able to reach them, without scrolling through pages of big buttons." Huh. Wonder why folks. The professional ones, for years have been buying Wacom tab companions to their 'workstation' specifically FOR PS, And EXACTLY for the reasons you outline, the ability to have precision touch and capacitance/tactile feel and response of real pencil or pen to paper. Some of these Wacom Photoshop controllers cost several times the price of the iPP for YEARS, & the iPP has its computer built in! No need to add a 'workstation' You must've been hiding under a rock the last ½ decade. You've CERTAINLY not visited the App Store in some time. Adobe, Autoideskk Microsoft and the BIGGEST makers of "Content Creation" software are currently devoting MORE resources to mobile programming and development than their 'workstation' counterparts. The 'big brow box' filled with diseases,; viruses - malware, adware, & the ilk's days are numbered. They're already on their way out of MANY folks' homes and offices being replaced by ultra books, passively cooled and ultra low voltage with ultra high efficiency is all the rage today. Battery life > 5 extra FPS, usability and funtionality > pure power, lotsa RAM, and expensive CPU and GPUs. Portability and the ability for 'instant on' access to their tab or phone > waiting til home, turning the power on, waiting for the boot. Opening PS (a slowly dying program with a phenomenal amount of alternatives on an iPad and iPhone and iDevice -- been that way for years, now with Adobe on board, their CreativeCloud suite offers a plethora of companion apps capable of ALL CS6's abilities as it's designed to aggregate and integrate with 'your' CC assets allowing for MOST editing ANYone will ever need on the iPad ...especially now with the display's ability to work with such an excellent active stylus and it's near direct comparison to Wacom's line of ...apparently unnessasary PS instruments and tools over the last decade or two those 'productive individuals' have made many millions of dollars in publishing? Now an AIO system with its OWN computer built in - a massive community of developers, independent to Adobe, friend next door or Autodesk themselves --- any software company interested in future survival in the industry is devoting more resources than ANY point in history to mobile dev. It's why MS, Adobe and AD were all there at the iPP unveiling. ALL demonstrating some phenomenal --- and yes, PROfessional use-case applications and software. I'm not a doctor but downloaded the examples shown at its unveiling of the Human Body atlas and AutoCAD --- its mind blowing how easily and flue to the iPad is able to manipulate such extensive detail and graphic overlays (nervous, muscular, skeletal, circulatory system overlays --- in any combination and with the ability to manipulate the direction you're looking at at a consistent 60fps) are MUCH better teaching aids - and learning that ANY static text book
Whether you ARE creating, flying a jet filled with passengers, entertaining a couple thousand folks at a concert, controlling inventory or filing your flight plan a personal pilot --- and probably 100,000 other occupations have been made significantly easier to accomplish, with less weight, more time away from the charger and 110v. That's what people need, want and are looking for. Unfortunately for Apple, they're making their iPad 'too well' --- as I've got the original, and an iPad 2 that both work, hold a charge and last as long as the Day I bought them six and five years ago respectively this year. I also own the Air 2 and iPP and both have significantl impacts on my business I've run for nearly thirty years, successfully and exponentially dropping 'weight' every decade or so with something as capable as the always on, always connected and never a concern with battery life --- as the iPad is, easily replaces hundreds of dozens of crates of vinyl records! All while weighing about as much as a single - double record LP.
So, to summarize at the end of the day if you're a Photoshop user, you just got an incredible tool to augment your worlflow, make your photographic post production easier, organization and metadata handling, batch alteration or editing and aggregation of your library, metadata in tact and ready for post when you get home. No more off loading memory cards, organizing memory cards, redundantly dumping them for redundant/backup purposes and all the other BS that goes into using a dinosaur of a program FEW truly NEED for their projects. Today, Adobe offers a ½ dozen "Photoshop" apps on iOS. Along with drawing, marking PDFs, even Premier and AE capture and integration (w/motion) - the options are becoming more extensive everyday, Adobe's just rewrote their entire app library and replaced each app for even better continuity for those still needing PS's tools or Acrobat's abilities beyond the $3, $5, $10 alternatives ...some, like Pixelmator, cross platform with ANY & EVERY PS tool the average layman could dream of --- available - @ the cost of a single month rental of PS/Lightroom 'rental'. And not just for hobbyists. Spend some time at DPreview.com to see the PS competition OR see Adobe's subscription tactics to maintain revenues.
It's not just a super powerful tablet. It's that and so much more thanks to an extensive and larger library of accessible software already matured to the point the App Store is - all in one place and all reasonably priced. Best prices and selection of software in history is currently more convenient and organized than ever and it's in the App Store
As devs have only had single GB of RAM, slower SoCs and smaller displays to program to over the last six years, even the Air 2 & 6s line of iPhones seems HUGE right now with double the RAM, graphics and compute. Double it again and you've got tether iPP. I'm already seeing apps available for Air 1/Mini 2 - 5s or A7/64bit iPads and newer to run the app. As a daily user of the iPP for two months --- so many of your goofy statements make no sense, shout ignorance and beg to be straightened out --- but there's always a few schills around these parts beating an incredible product down while the masses of us are enjoying it! Silly Murloc. What is it that makes YOU a Pro, and why is it YOUR job wouldn't be made easier or convenient with a tablet?
" now with Adobe on board, their CreativeCloud suite offers a plethora of companion apps capable of ALL CS6's abilities as it's designed to aggregate and integrate with 'your' CC assets allowing for MOST editing ANYone will ever need on the iPad"
a very big big rant that just fall flat because of false premises. The claim above is a good example : simple case that most photographers need : Can I develop my RAW files on an iPad ? When I mean developing, it is the normal basic reasons why you are shooting RAW in the 1st place : 1/ work in 16 bits mode so that you can push shadows / pull highlights and work on color without posterization ; 2/ apply automatically the lens correction (distorsion, CA, vignetting, ...) and 3/ have a color managed workflow (take into account the color space of the RAW file, have a calibrated display...) The answer is ... drums rolling : you can NOT. And you do not need a CS subscription to do that on a Surface, you can just purchase once Capture One Pro, DXO Optics... what you want. So what you can do with a Windows tablet, you simply cannot on an iPad Pro. This is just one example but the same is true for a list so long that it makes no sense to try argue against that.
A gamer you would know what Pro moniker means. It goes like this: "I'm a Pro, gamer or whatever" meaning "I'm a big shot, a slick, better and cooler that you". And that's what iPad means when it says it's "Pro" :)
"Performance is better than a high end workstation from 10 years ago, a system which was capable of running professional tasks which are still nowhere to be found on mobile platforms."
That's sort of an odd claim - what are those tasks, exactly? And if it's not a performance issue, why do you need an iPad Pro to do them?
Design, engineering, content creation. Basically every scenario that involves making something professionally rather than consuming something.
Nobody needs a ipad pro to do this, point is the device is powerful enough for such tasks, and it would be nice if there was the software for it, in order to make that device truly PRO as in useful to professionals and not "pro" as in an empty marketing BS.
This, there is no filesystem. The hardware can be as fast as it wants, but it's severely limited by it's input options, and it's locked down nature. A ipad, or a phone for that matter, will never be able to replicate a x86 device. aarch64 is crude in comparison to x86 as detailed in the 2nd page of this article.
Sure they can re-write a lot of it, and make a bunch of compramises to make it work, but they wont' waste the time, because:
1: nobody wants to pay more than $10 for apps on the platform because it's seen as a toy and disposable within 4 years
2: Lacks a true filesystem for moving files from physical media, to the devices
3: Lacks precise input methods for quick and ultra precise manipulation of the software (unlike mouse or trackball on pc). Like Slicing a video file, or selecting text and making it Bold, italic, underlined
4: platform lacks pro level payment and upgrade options for developers
There's a file system, you just don't have access to it.
1) Pretty much any computer is disposable in 4 years because the shelf life for hardware before it goes obsolete is about 3 years. Protip: If you 'upgrade' your processor, video card and/or motherboard (!) you just assembled a new computer. It doesn't matter that it is in the same case that your old computer used. Also users are willing to pay more than $10 for software. But, to be honest a lot of legacy developers from the desktop realm have been giving their users the shaft on software prices for years and years and consumers are more apt to pay $6 for an app that actually does that they need rather than $700 for one that does way more than they ever will need.
2) There is a file system. You can plainly see it and interact with it when you use software like iExplorer. Personally, I have no problems with handling files on iOS9 and moving them about.
3) Apple Pencil. Have you heard of it?
4) Actually those options already exist on the platform. I don't know why you think they don't when they so clearly do and have been demonstrated by iOS game developers for years now. You mean to tell me that I can pay $6-20 for a ship or $100 for a bushel of smurfberries but somehow there's no way to add in upgrade options? Dude, just make it optional DLC.
1: apple has succeeded in convincing you that computers are disposable within 4 years. Thousands of schools around the world are using Pentium 4's and Nehalm Pc's. These pc's can run the latest photoshop CC, Office Suite, or any other software that has been made recently. I know a ton of people using i7 920's and are playing the latest games no problem. With apple, the applications just wont load at all, because they require a certain OS. WIndows 10 Supports very old hardware, and very slow hardware. Same with any flavor of linux. OSX and iOS do not.
2: the file system is not accessible within the device. So your argument is basically this. Use a 2nd machine, install a third party application, and access the files. Really? Pro's don't need a hidden or in-accessible file system, they need file permissions, and only a jailbreak can give that to them.
3: The pencil is a drawing device first and foremost. It is not designed, nor meant to be, a primary way of interacting with the device's OS and applications. Moreover, only one device in apple's entire product history, supports this peripheral. Good luck slicing video with precision. A mouse can hover over a precise point, and offer two context actions via left or the right mouse button. A pencil can hover over a precise point, and do nothing. any actions require tap and hold, and buttons aren't used anywhere except for drawing apps.
4: Developers want to be able to charge yearly fee's for updates, instead of release a whole new app. Like Tweetbot 1, 2, 3,, 4. In-app purchases are not meant for upgrades. They are meant to be used as a glorified "demo" system. You demo the app, and then buy it if you like it. There are a number of articles and reddit posts about developers leaving ios and going with their own distribution platform due to apples store policies. Big developers too, not little ones.
1. The iPad 3 which I have just replaced with an iPad Pro has just started its new life for a new user after 4 years of perfectly up-to-date and fully supported use by me. It is still fully supported and almost everything that's available for iOS still runs on it, most of it very well – and that on a device which has about 1/10th of the iPod Pro's performance!
The main reason why you can still use old Windows PCs (or old Intel Macs, for that matter, like I'm doing right now!) without too many disadvantages against new ones is that Intel has entered a prolonged stagnation phase since they've bumped into the end of Moore's Law with their ridiculously outdated x86 architecture. There simply is hardly any movement forwards any more on the Intel front.
Meanwhile Apple is cranking up the performance of their own processors at a speed we haven't seen for a decade on the desktop (it's actually a major achievement that the older iOS devices run as well as they do compared to the multiple times more powerful new ones!).
2. Where I want filesystem access under iOS, I have it. I use Good Reader as my general-purpose local file manager for all kinds of files (including local or remote up- and downloads) and I can use iCloud, Dropbox and others for online shared filesystems. Your imagined problem is pretty much just an imaginary one.
3. The Pencil is a precise pointing device. Which can be user everywhere. It's just not needed most of the time, in part because the touch interface can be used very precisely without it already.
4. Payment is actually a lot easier and simpler than on any desktop platform, and in-app-payment is explicitly not permitted for "demo unlocking". Where it's done well it can unlock additional features, which can be used for featured upgrades as well.
Your whole post betrays above all a profound ignorance about iOS and looks a lot like a panicked attempt to somehow justify why the exact habits you happen to have formed somehow were the only possible way to do anything for everybody.
But as always, the world is not as simple or as limited as that.
1: what about the iphone 4, or ipad 2? Stuck on iOS 7 and can't be updated any further
2: Physical media? USB drive? Even android can take a thumb drive. This allows android to be more of a traditional computer. You can store ISO's on your phone, EXE's, etc, and use your phone as a mini-laptop for working with other machines. Your goodreader just lets you view the files, so your solution is to email it or dropbox it everytime you need it on a different device? that's what we call a "work-around".
Sending everything over the cloud is not something everyone wants to do, or can do. What if your in a area with no service, or better yet, you don't subscribe to service, and you want to use the phone as a computing device on wifi.
3: again, the pencil is not comparable to a mouse or trackpad. the ipad has no cursor, Your fingers are large compared to a mouse selecting a single pixel on a screen. Main actions, and contextual actions are done via tap, long press, etc.. selecting text on a touch screen should be a good enough example to understand what i'm getting at.
4: did you know apple will not even let you update apps you already own, if your credit card expires, or does not have any money on it?
the fact that you are trying to argue this point, only shows that you have not been following public out cry on this subject. No Paid upgrades, No demo's (very important for expensive pro like apps), no way for developers to respond to bad reviews, at any given time apple can replicate your app, and since apple apps are not sandboxed, they have a inherit advantage. everyone else must be sandboxed, and pay a 30% royalty.
Regarding payment on PC, pretty much everything pro level has gone to a subscription model. If by easy, you mean having a credit card on file for all purchases, then ok, it's easy. But it's also locked down, and like i said, you cant update the app if your card suddenly runs out of money or you go over the credit limit. it will force you to enter a new credit card, just to update a app you already paid for.
look man, if your ok with apple making all the choices for you, then by all means, keep on doing what your doing. but some people have different ideas and want to customize the device to their needs.
i can tell your a fanboy because you started insulting me there at the end, and that only shows your having a hard time justifying what you say to be true. These are not my habits, they are established work-loads that people have been doing on their computers for decades.
you really do need a filesystem to be called a comptuer. and you need a cloud service that is compatible with all platforms and file types. Your solutions to a lot of my arguments is used a bunch of third party programs. a file system is fundamental to computing. there should be a 1st party file explorer (even a restricted one with the option to run root). To deny that access is basically saying "we are apple and we know better, you don't need that option"
iOS 9 now covers a performance range from the iPad Pro down to the iPhone 4S which is 13 times slower.
The iPhone 4 is even 26 times slower, and it only has a single CPU core, contrary to all devices which are still currently supported to this day (including the iPad 2).
And I'm pretty sure you'd be right in front raking Apple over the coals for iOS 9 running less than smoothly on that single-core iPhone 4.
It's actually quite remarkable how well iOS still runs on those over four years old devices after the breakneck performance development of the past years in the iOS space.
2: Physical media? USB drive?
And then where is that floppy drive "everybody knows" is absolutely required..? ;-)
Even android can take a thumb drive. This allows android to be more of a traditional computer. You can store ISO's on your phone, EXE's, etc, and use your phone as a mini-laptop for working with other machines. Your goodreader just lets you view the files, so your solution is to email it or dropbox it everytime you need it on a different device? that's what we call a "work-around".
...and wrong again!
Good Reader can do many things, among them using DropBox. But I can also simply tap a button and Good Reader appears in my local WiFi network (including in the one my iPhone has just provided) as a bog-standard WebDAV network drive which I can directly mount on my Mac, on a PC or on any other mobile device (including on a Good Reader instance running there if I want).
GoodReader can also mount locally available shares and download from these (or upload to them).
I can also throw files to another Apple device purely locally via AirDrop, or I can exchange files locally via Weafo (which appears as a web-server from which anybody else can download the file). And that's only scratching the surface (ahem) of what I could do with iOS since I have simply stopped exploring further for the time being because I haven't needed more than that personally.
You know very little about what's actually possible under iOS.
3: again, the pencil is not comparable to a mouse or trackpad. the ipad has no cursor, Your fingers are large compared to a mouse selecting a single pixel on a screen.
...and that is why there is the Pencil for those rare events where I actually need to address specific pixels. Finger-based UIs can actually be quite precise otherwise, so these needs are actually relatively rare.
Main actions, and contextual actions are done via tap, long press, etc.. selecting text on a touch screen should be a good enough example to understand what i'm getting at.
You can't have actually used iOS devices if you still believe that. Text selection – to take your example – works very well and very precisely by finger touch alone because it is designed for exactly that.
4: did you know apple will not even let you update apps you already own, if your credit card expires, or does not have any money on it?
I've never used a credit card for iTunes in all those years and never had a single problem.
the fact that you are trying to argue this point, only shows that you have not been following public out cry on this subject. No Paid upgrades, No demo's (very important for expensive pro like apps), no way for developers to respond to bad reviews, at any given time apple can replicate your app, and since apple apps are not sandboxed, they have a inherit advantage. everyone else must be sandboxed,
"Outcries" about Apple are the norm rather than the exception. And of course there are valid points to be made in multiple directions. But the measure of the App Store is where there is one that actually works better for a) the users and b) the developers.
There isn't one.
So Apple may not actually have made all the wrong compromises there, as inconvenient as some of them may be for some people. Perfection sounds nice, but actually achieving an actually workable solution is much harder than just clamouring for one.
and pay a 30% royalty.
Ouch. Again with the cluelessness!
First up, these 30% are no "royalty" as pure profit for Apple as you appear to believe, they cover all the costs of distribution including minimum payment transaction charges which are quite substantial as a ratio at the very low item prices in the App Store (no, the percentages you've heard of don't apply there – the minimum charges are much higher than that!). They also cover all other fees and expenses, also including cross-subsidies for the large number of distribution of free apps.
That all the other app stores have never been able to undercut Apple here should have given you a hint or two: It's pretty much run at cost, at Apple as much as anywhere else.
look man, if your ok with apple making all the choices for you, then by all means, keep on doing what your doing. but some people have different ideas and want to customize the device to their needs.
You don't even know what can or can't be done with iOS as it is, and yet you're all about sweeping generalizations.
i can tell your a fanboy because you started insulting me there at the end, and that only shows your having a hard time justifying what you say to be true. These are not my habits, they are established work-loads that people have been doing on their computers for decades.
I'm simply fed up with always the exactly same ignorant cow manure being shoveled all over the place by people who are full of prejudices but empty on actual knowledge of the topic, let alone actual, practical experience.
you really do need a filesystem to be called a comptuer.
Rubbish. I could just as arbitrarily claim that if you didn't have a HiDPI screen your machine was a mere toy and "completely unusable" for any serious uses just because that's what I fancied most.
In real life with real use I need solutions which are appropriate to my actual needs. Stomping your foot and throwing tantrums when you can't replicate exactly the same workflow you happened to have earlier is silly and shortsighted.
Successfully working with IT has always meant adapting what was actually available to what one actually needed and being creative at getting both together for as much pragmatic efficency as feasible.
Crybabies whining about their bygone habits and preferences have always been left behind in the process when new opportunities appeared on the scene.
and you need a cloud service that is compatible with all platforms and file types. Your solutions to a lot of my arguments is used a bunch of third party programs. a file system is fundamental to computing. there should be a 1st party file explorer (even a restricted one with the option to run root). To deny that access is basically saying "we are apple and we know better, you don't need that option"
It is as if you haven't paid any attention for the past nine years.
iOS is a safe, stable and still extensible mobile platform which can run third-party software. This was extremly hard to achieve, and Apple forced a lot of compromises regarding "hackability" because of it. I get how that rubs many people the wrong way (not least as a developer myself, even if not for iOS so far), but as someone who has developed and handled substantially complex, extensible systems (some from the ground up) I am very much aware of where crucial decisions have to be made for something like that, and between which alternatives these decisions have been in major cases.
And the very real stability and safety (including privacy protection!) which actually results from Apple's decisions is hard to deny.
I'm not at all denigrating your preference for completely different kinds of systems where many decisions have been made completely differently, but your problem here is that you don't seem to be aware what these criteria and these options even are when it's about the creation of a major platform.
One can easily disagree with many of Apple's decisions and rules, and that aplies to myself as well in various cases, but actually being aware of why Apple is handling many things the way they do is actually relevant here, and in most cases it's actually knowable.
You'd be much better off if you started at least questioning some of your evident prejudices and preconceived notions at the very least for some broader perspective – which is valuable even if your conclusions for your own system preferences end up in exactly the same place as they do now, just not out of sheer ignorance any more.
Good reader requires you to be on the same network as the machine you want to share files with. Some networks do not even have wifi ap's so your sol in that regard. The only workaround I've found is to pack around a nano wifi router that can run off a battery pack, and physically hook it into the network (if you even have access to the ports). ita really just a file viewer with a few nifty features, but it does not excuse the lack of a native solution. Micro usb otg thumb sticks are the shit. No worrying about sensitive files over the network.
You are becoming ridiculous... Are you really complaining because a smartphone from 2010 isn't supported anymore in 2016 ? Lol at you ... Tell me about HTD Evo or Google Nexus One, both android flagships from 2010 .... They were death and buried by 2012 .....
-- bumped into the end of Moore's Law with their ridiculously outdated x86 architecture.
not true, strictly speaking. years ago Intel stopped executing the ISA in silicon, and went with an emulator which ran "micro-code" on a "micro-architecture". the real processor (ALU, etc.) in a X86 chip is some RISC machine; which gets changes each tock. whether this is really more efficient than using those billions and billions of transistors to do all of X86 in silicon is a question I've never seen answered.
Exactly: They have been forced to build a real-time hardware cross-assembler into their CPUs because that was the absolute last resort to get ahead at all any more. Absolute madness, and close to a miracle that they've pulled that off at all, even with the substantial penalties that entails.
The ARM64 ISA, by comparison, is completely new, legacy-free and was designed from scratch for optimal execution efficiency. It's not even backward compatible to ARM32. The two are completely different, much more different than x86 and AMD64.
ARM CPUs generally don't need any microcode – they can decode and execute the instruction stream directly, and complications are kept to a minimum (just consider, by comparison, what an Intel CPU needs to take care of internally when processing asynchronous high-priority interrupts, for instance!).
Intel has always completely botched their basic ISA designs. Remember the original x86? What a horrendous, incompetently conceived turd! The painful iterations after that were hardly any better, and If AMD hadn't helped them out with AMD64 (which given what they had to start from was actually somewhat decent), if they hadn't put everything in chip design and manufacturing and if the Microsoft monopoly hadn't afforded them a perfect base for their own monopoly, they would have been toast a long time ago already.
The declining Windows PC market, however, is not a good portent at all for Intel specifically, especially when looking at the continuous profit erosion of the dwindling number of PC manufacturers.
The era of the ascent of the Windows PC is over. The rollercoaster car has just passed the top of its climb.
-- Remember the original x86? What a horrendous, incompetently conceived turd!
well. legend has it that IBM chose Intel over Motorola just because Intel a BK waiting to happen, thus easy to manipulate. Motorola, at that time with the 68K family, was the King Kong of microprocessors. or so the legend says.
Wouldn't surprise me much. It's also said the priority at IBM was to just head off the emerging threat of companies like Apple (with the Apple II back then, whose construction the IBM PC closely copied) but absolutely not do anything to impact the then-dominant IBM mainframe business, so the IBM PC had to be relatively weak and limited.
To limited productivity in various cases where the only reason their workers even have to have and walk to a desk is that they don't have any mobile devices available which could serve the same purposes where the actual work is being done.
That doesn't apply to every workplace, of course, but to quite a bunch of them.
-- Pretty much any computer is disposable in 4 years because the shelf life for hardware before it goes obsolete is about 3 years.
yes. and no. yes, Intel keeps making ever more big chips with, arguably, faster cpu. most of the real estate for years has been used by non-cpu functions. even an i7 is really an SoC. Intel gets monopoly control of computing.
the reason pc sales have tanked in the last decade or so is simple: except for gearhead gamers, a Pentium does what most folks want to do good enough. it used to be that Windoze Next demanded the Intel Next processor just to run Word or Excel. not any more.
used to be: "the top 10 applications for the PC are spreadsheets, word processing, email..." still is.
Really, you have no problem moving files around in iOS, yeah, sorry but I don't believe you. I haven't met a single person, Dia hard Apple nuts as well that couldn't stand the lack of a decent file-management system. It's probably the worst I have ever seen on any OS. Everytime I download, edit and than upload to the cloud I create at least 4 copies if the same file. My system is littered with duplicates. File-managers in iOS do very little to alleviate this problem, it's just another place to hold more copies.
When was last time you actually use an iDevice ? iOS 5 ? The whole argument about the file system is utterly ridiculous and outdated... You can manage your files in a lot of different ways in iOS as of today.
Do you need a parallel port or a VGA exit on your tablet in 2016 ?
Well, as someone that uses an iPad Pro, I like the idea of taking my work wherever I go and not having to deal with the overhead that comes from a traditional OS.
From what I see in my work, a lot of people think the same way. iOS is simple, reliable, consistent, and offers far less maintenance and security headaches compared to a traditional OS. The iPad Pro is showing up mostly in a "paper and pencil" replacement role, i.e. a role where a purpose-built tablet makes sense.
Sure, files are clunky to access in iOS, but this also means that malicious apps can't get to your files. It's a compromise that many seem very willing to make vs. the near total lack of security in the Windows file system, for example.
download OrCad Capture and try drawing a circuit with it.
Now think about how you can do the same with a smaller touch screen and NO mouse (so big buttons are a no-no because fingers) at the same speed. Can you fit the whole interface in the screen? If no, then component insertion is already slower than a PC, so a 10 years old school desktop computer wins, the tablet loses.
This software requires no computational power at all.
Why do Apple only want content consumers' money in mobile, and not creators' too? Apple are in business to make a profit. If there was money to be made building workstation apps for mobile, it would happen. Furthermore "exploit their owners commercially" is just a pejorative way of saying "sell them stuff in return for money", i.e. "business".
The iPad Pro is a fantastic device for all kind of uses – I personally also use it as a mobile TV, streaming radio (due to its really excellent speakers), game console, internet and magazine reader (since it is pretty much exactly magazine-sized!), drawing board, note pad, multi-purpose communicator (mail, messaging, FaceTime etc.), web reader, ebook reader and so on...
As to the numbers: According to an external survey it seems about 12% of all iPads sold in the past quarter were iPad Pros. We're talking about millions of devices there at the scale at which Apple is operating – most other tablet manufacturers and even PC manufacturers would kill for numbers like thes at prices like these!
It's almost funny how some people completely freak out about the iPad Pro because it crashes through their imaginary boundaries between their imaginary "allowed" kinds of devices.
The iPad Pro is a really excellent computer for the desktop (if for whatever reason an even bigger display is not available), which also works really well on my lap (actually much better and almost always more conveniently than a "laptop" computer!) and even in handheld use like a magazine or notepad. It's very light for its size, has a really excellent screen, excellent speakers and is fast and responsive.
Yeah, you can find things which you at this moment can't do on it yet. But there are many, many practically relevant uses at which it excels to a far greater extent than any desktop or notebook computer ever could.
so you basically use it as a consumption and a communication device.. our point is, a professional cannot use this as their only computing device. they need PC's or MAC's to supplement it, which all use Intel or AMD.
Until this fact changes, intel is far from being in trouble. iPad sales are in a huge slump as well, not just pc sales. Actually, Notebook PC sales are great, its the desktop that slows down every 3-4 years. iPhone is about to become a 0 growth product as well. Apple see's the writing on the wall, and that's why they are exploring cars, and other unknown products. The Chinese market never turned out like they had hoped, with stiff competition at low costs with similar quality.
so you basically use it as a consumption and a communication device..
Among many other things! So let me guess, when you happen to play some streaming music on your workplace computer or if you're watching the news on it, does it automatically turn into a "toy" and yourself into one of those mythical "only consumers" as well?
This silly ideology is really ludicrous.
our point is, a professional cannot use this as their only computing device. they need PC's or MAC's to supplement it, which all use Intel or AMD.
Nope.
Some portion of workplaces actually requires a desktop OS. This portion is not 100% but substantially lower than that.
A very large portion of workplaces (likely the majority) could very well use iPads as well, but external circumstances make regular PCs or Macs just more convenient and practical.
And some other portion can and does use mobile devices already now as their primary tools.
The tedious and absurd conclusion from people's own limited knowledge and imagination to absolute judgments of the entire market is anything but new, but it's really old news by now.
Until this fact changes, intel is far from being in trouble. iPad sales are in a huge slump as well, not just pc sales. Actually, Notebook PC sales are great, its the desktop that slows down every 3-4 years. iPhone is about to become a 0 growth product as well. Apple see's the writing on the wall, and that's why they are exploring cars, and other unknown products. The Chinese market never turned out like they had hoped, with stiff competition at low costs with similar quality.
You should seriously get better sources for your information as your imaginations are rather far off from actual reality.
Intel is already in a tightening squeeze between the eroding PC market (especially regarding its crumbling profitability) and the ever-rising development costs they face with their creaking x86 antiquity. That their CPU performance is stagnating at the same time is also increasingly problematic, too, since it puts another damper on the PC market.
When you're talking about Apple you clearly live in a different universe from the rest of us: Apple is actually booming in China while the cheap manufacturers have run into unexpected difficulties against them, and your other imaginations of Apple's doom are neither original nor do they have anything to do with the actual reality on the ground.
Even the iPad is a massive cash cow on a scale the competition can only dream about – it's just dwarfed by the absolute gigantic profits from the iPhone.
But yeah, surely that spells inescapable doom for the company.
This is the stupidest paragraph about computing I've ever read. It's equivalent to lamenting Bell's role in telephony because we managed to win World War 1 with telegraphs but now teenagers spend all their time hanging off the kitchen set chatting to one another about their crushes.
@ddriver I disagree with most of what you say in these contents, but, "today we have gigahertz and gigabytes in our pockets, and the best we can do with it is duck face photos," hits the nail on the head! The problem though is not that software developers don't try to do more, but that they can't make any money doing so. The masses just want to buy the latest duck photo app, and there's not enough of the pie left over to support much else. In the early days of the iPad this wasn't so, but nowadays take a look at the top charts in iOS to see what I mean. Games makes more than all others put together, and then even in categories like Utilities, you see mainly Minecraft aids, emoji texters, and a few web browser add-ons. Apple doesn't promote this in their advertising, but they do so in more subtle but effective ways like which apps they choose to feature and promote in the app store. In fact, the store is littered with all kinds of creativity- and productivity-unleashing apps if you search hard, but they all tend to die on the vine because they get swamped out by the latest glossy-image joke-text-photo-video apps and the developer loses interest.
"Pro" is just a marketing moniker. There are smartphones that carry it.
Apple wants iOS to succeed. People wonder if OSX will come to the iPad, I think Apple would rather consider bringing iOS to Macs. They are fanatical about simplicity and an iPad with iOS got that in spades.
And that's why they are taking the opposite approach of Microsoft. Microsoft is trying to make their desktop OS touch-friendly enough. Apple is trying to make their touch OS productive enough.
Windows devs are by and large ignoring Metro, the tough UI, and just deploy desktop apps. Apple wants to force devs to find ways to bring professional grade software to iOS.
I'm quite happy that the two companies are exploring different avenues instead of racing into the same direction.
People should really have higher standards of expectations, because otherwise, the industry will take its sweet time milking them and barely making any increments in the value and capabilities of their products. They won't make it better until people demand better, the industry is currently in a sweet spot where it gets to dictate demand, by lowering people's expectations to the point they don't know and can't even imagine any better than what the industry makes.
People should stop following the trends dictated by the industry, and really should look beyond that, which the industry is willing to do at this point, towards what is now possible to do and has been for a while really. Because otherwise, no matter how much technology progresses, this will not be reflected by the capabilities of people, if it is up to the industry, it will keep putting that into almost useless shiny toys rather than the productivity tools they could be.
ddriver, I want to start out by commending you on your writing and ideas. Top notch, really.
I also really enjoy your idealist approach to saying that people should be dictating the industry, rather than vice versa (seriously). My only question is how can one do that as a consumer? Is seems to me that we have little or no choice but to follow trends because Google, Apple, and Microsoft are becoming too big to fail.
A perfect anecdote would be BlackBerry's OS10. They came late to the show (after they realized you can be too big to fail when you become stagnant) and released a technically superior mobile OS that had the consistency and reliability of iOS, with the control and versatility of Android. On top of that was the use of gestures and an amalgamated hub for messages. I wish I had a choice to use this operating system, but the writing on the wall says that it will collapse within the next 2 years. This is because they're still losing market shares and people are not supporting applications.
There is innovation, but it's stomped out by these huge companies and THE PEOPLE that dictate which OS to develop for.
What software do you use that came out in 1981 when the PC launched. Probably none. Virtually guaranteed none. It is surprising the lack of forward vision sometimes. In five years there will be plenty of professional software on iOS, to run on the significantly more powerful iPad Pro Whatever. The writing is on the wall.
There were barely any software development tools back then, and barely any software developers for that matter. Today there is plenty of software development tools, and plenty of software developers, plus mobile devices have been around for a while. Yet none of those seems to produce any professional software, despite all the time and the fact the hardware is good enough. As I said earlier, this is entirely due to the philosophy, advocated for mobile devices - those should not be tools for consumers to use, but tools through which the consumers are being used. This market was inventing for milking people, not for making them more capable and productive.
I think it really goes back to what a person needs to be productive. For some people that is just a web browser (eg chromebook). I have no doubt that the iPad pro may be productive for some people/uses and be everything they need in a computing device.
In my case, as a windows/linux/web software developer I need a windows machine (or vm), with visual studio, sql server, eclipse, postgres, ms office, and various supporting apps. For me a chromebook or ipad is not a pro device or really even useful. I have various co-workers with SP3/4's + dock that drive dual screens and peripherals and get by ok. I like to run vm's and various other things that cause 16gb of ram to not be enough, so I'm stuck in desktop/premium laptop territory. I really don't mind that.
Personally - I barely use my ipad air and ended up installing crouton (ubuntu) on the chromebook. I'm sure other people are different.
Different devices for different kinds of professionals.
$1000 laptops (even from Apple) are MUCH more powerful already, and they will get even more powerful. Same can be said about $1000 Windows 10 tablets. Technology will always progress, this isn't restricted to iPads.
Why is everyone trying to make iOS for professional productivity a thing? Why torture ourselves? Do you guys really believe it's only about computing power, which by the way isn't nearly close to being adequate? Good luck moving that 200GB RAW 4K video clip on that thing, let alone edit it. Good luck using it for 3D modelling and engineering. Good luck writing and compiling software...
As pointless as the new Macbook was, it sure as heck is a lot better than this thing for what it's advertised for...
This is an accessory, NOT a pro product. "The writing is on the wall"...................
"Why is everyone trying to make iOS for professional productivity a thing?"
You ENTIRELY miss the point, which is "why is NOBODY doing it". It is a computer, REDUCED to an accessory, which COULD be THAT MUCH MORE USEFUL.
Actually, using OpenCL even mobile hardware can process high resolution video faster than a good video workstation was capable not 5 years ago. The hardware is perfectly capable of audio, video editing, 3d modelling, graphics, engineering, software development and whatnot. It is not as fast as the fastest desktop workstation, but it is fast enough to do the job, while still being very portable. All it lacks is the software to do it.
But still. Why torture yourself with iOS running on crippled "hardware", when there are devices that do iPad stuff better than iPads, run desktop class OSs and already have the software you need for the engineering and productivity stuff.
Because buying multiple devices to accomplish one task is a better thing to do?
What a touching attempt at condescending cynicism. Alas, as always you get things the wrongest way possible. Those capitalized words were not the product of mood, but motivated by your poor cognitive abilities, a last resort attempt at making the painfully obvious a tad more obvious, so that hopefully, you could finally get it. Unfortunately, you seem to be entirely hopeless.
"Because buying multiple devices to accomplish one task is a better thing to do?"
It is you who advocates such things. My point is exactly that - given the proper software, an ipad would be all that is needed, no need to buy an ipad AND a laptop to get your work done.
And that would be the last set of keystrokes I waste on you. Seriously dude, invest some time in improving yourself.
"I beg your pardon, Miss Taggart," he had said, offended. "I don't know what you mean when you say that I haven't made use of the metal. This design is an adaptation of the best bridges on record.
What else did you expect?”
"A new method of construction."
"What do you mean, a new method?"
"I mean that when men got structural steel, they did not use it to build steel copies of wooden bridges."
Ann Rand, "Atlas Shrugged"
The question around the iPad Pro is not is it a close enough copy of a workstation to do workstation work, but does it enable new work streams that were previously unexplored. As has been previously noted, the Surface Pro 4 is an extremely capable piece of hardware that checks all the same boxes as the iPad Pro, but no software had been designed to take advantage of it's unique form factor - it's still using a wooden design on a steel bridge.
The real differentiation for the iPad Pro is iOS, and the touch first / mobility first design mentality it brings to the table - software has to be written specifically for that environment and usage case. There are some notable hardware and input difference between the iPad Pro and previous iOS devices - time will tell if they can be combined to provide real productivity improvements vs previous designs or if they are merely novelties that will be quickly forgotten. Jury is still out on that, but if anyone can build the "critical mass" to jump start that exploration it's Apple. Hopefully some apps come out and wow us - to channel Asimov, there is a single light usage case advancement, and to progress it anywhere is to progress it everywhere.
I simply cannot figure your complaint: "It is a computer, REDUCED to an accessory, which COULD be THAT MUCH MORE USEFUL."
So what do you want? You want the iPad Pro form factor running OSX? You want the ability to plug in a second screen? You want to be able to install Windows?
Your complaint seems to be "this is not a Surface Pro 4". It isn't MEANT to be. It's meant to be a larger screen version of an iPad, for those for whom an iPad is an appropriate device. If you're not one of those people, WTF does it matter to you? Do you hang around bicycle tracks telling everyone there they should be using a motorbike or a car or a truck because those are more powerful?
You are stuck in a certain vision of what a computer is "supposed" to be, every bit as much as IBM confronted by DEC couldn't imagine a computer that wasn't a mainframe, then DEC confronted by Apple, Atari, etc couldn't imagine a computer that wasn't a mini, then in 2007 people couldn't imagine a pocket computer.
If you want to think of this as an "accessory" to a Mac, go ahead. I don't see what the value of that analogy, or why it's supposed to be an insult (Apple grew to the company it is today on the back of that accessory, the iPod...). People loved their iPods, they love their iPhones (especially the way they work together seamlessly with their Macs), and I expect they will love their iPad Pros.
Actually it is being touted as surface competition. Apple PR pushes this as a laptop replacement and its pricing is right with the Surface. Totally valid to compare the two.
You can do that. And Apple does indeed propose it as such – among very many other things, quite a few of which are actually better served by an iPad than by a conventional notebook.
Just one example among many: The ability to simply use it in portrait mode already makes a huge difference for anything document-related, for which the narrow widescreens on computers are woefully inadequate.
Indeed it is. And it's way better than a Surface Pro, because it runs an OS that is actually designed to be used with a touch interface, while the Surface doesn't....
Windows 10 was designed to be used with touch as well, it's silly to even think otherwise. People who such things have never used one before, simple as that.
It's not about now. Yes now I have a laptop for things my device can't do, and a desktop for things my laptop can't do timely.
But I am excited that soon devices that can be carried and pocketed will soon be powerful enough and have the software to do every thing I want to do in a timely fashion.
The iPad Pro marks the beginning of the final stage of the mobile transition, being THE computer for all mainstream activities.
There will still be larger form factors, just as there will still be mainframes. But most homes and many business won't have them.
In fact, that is what IBMs new angle is. The occasional or particular high-power computation you need done elsewhere, results served to your device. Most people won't even need that
Conditioning I guess. Some people can't imagine that using the right tool for the job is more important than using a form factor that was originally designed for media consumption.
Pros use Oracle, SAP, Cytrix for 98% of hardware, and some other exotic stuff amounts for the 2% left...Hence, nobody will approve capital expense of $1000+ on software unsupported device, when a $329 workstation can just do it. Software companies don't bother to bring the huge databases to exotic silicon either, when there are already CHEAPER well developed alternatives. Tablets are great for POS terminals, some apps that require mobile high quality visual content, and that's it pretty much. There is just no functionality need for something else, especially an expensive one.
In the office where I work, the iPad Pro may be the device people have been looking for. All of our remote application access goes through Citrix, with the most-used applications being Outlook for e-mail, Word for document review/minor editing, and Adobe Reader for PDF viewing. The experience on the iPad currently is not great, because the desktop versions of these applications do not translate well to the touch-first environment. The stylus and keyboard cover, coupled with the enhanced resolution, could make a difference.
It is not a solution for everyone, but I have been fielding calls from our users already about wanting these, so there is potentially some kind of market to cater to here. I realize that from a technology standpoint there are more powerful alternatives and that there are other ways to approach the software situation, but at the end of the day, this is the kind of device that our users want: an iPad with a slightly bigger screen, responsive stylus input, and a keyboard cover in a convenient package, not to mention the implied prestige of Apple product ownership (in some circles the image is considered very important).
Time will tell if this is a fad or a long-term product line strategy. If Apple can turn a profit with these (and they do have a history of turning a profit on their devices), even in spite of a limited market appeal, they will probably keep marketing them.
Citrix support isn't very good on the iPad Pro, we have one on the office as a test bed. We've gone with ChromeBooks instead, a little cheaper, though not by much as we bought the Dell 13" ChromeBooks which are about 600 bucks. Works fantastic as a terminal machine. The iPad Pro is just to expensive for such a thing and it doesn't support a mouse, plus external display support absolutely sucks. Their was black bars, resolution looked bad, doesn't support extending the desktop (an absolute must have feature) and the DPI is so large it looks like a children's OS. Though are biggest complaints was the lack of multi-user support, horrible file management, no Open ID support and can't run apps in the background. The iPad Pro just isn't an Enterprise computer. They might use them as data entry and retrieval devices but as an Office computer, nope.
Your comment, like the use of the term "Productivity software", reveals the sort of white collar snobbery that is rampant in supposedly classless America. I agree that an iPad (and for that matter a Surface) are highly sub-optimal devices for the tasks of large amounts of writing, research, constructing spreadsheets, debugging code, etc.
But those are not the only jobs in the world. Musicians are also professionals (in the colloquial, if not the legal) sense, as are designers/drawers/artists, as are those using these sorts of tablet devices to hold large numbers of technical papers [my particular use case] (ie scientists/researchers), or blueprints or CAD/CAM material or medical diagrams. To claim that those people are not doing "real" jobs, or that they don't "deserve" or "need" a device optimized to their usage models (which are much heavier on finger or pencil/stylus/brush style manipulation, much lighter on keyboard manipulation) is basically one more version of the usual "look at me, I'm the most important person in the world, and only my needs matter".
Absolutely correct! To some people on this (and similar) forum if you aren't doing Photoshopping, 3D modeling , CAD or extensive data querying you don't deserve the term "Pro". I know of people making a lot of real money, real big money, using just a notepad and a word processor. Or a sketch device. In my organization we are managing $36 millions gear with an outdated iPad 4 and PROFESSIONAL APPS (the same apps someone here keep saying it doesn't exist). But we don't deserve the term "pro", do we ?
regarding software, I have to agree with Ddriver. On the "SOC Analysis: CPU Performance" page, the authors used Apple XCode (running presumably on a Mac). Could Apple's own XCode run on this hardware? This is being discussed on multiple sites, and the consensus seems to be that memory and IOS are the problem - see here, for example: https://www.quora.com/Will-Apple-make-an-iPad-Pro-...
Sure it could. The performance is definitely there. Replicating the entire UI would just be a pretty big task, and larger screens are usually a big advantage in coding and debugging.
There's also the matter that Apple is reluctant to allow binaray code generation directly on the device because it could be abused for attacks (because the code signing key would have to be on the device and might be exploitable through other vulnerabilities).
Maybe in the future, but not yet. To do some serious developing you need multiple windows, a good workspace and maybe some virtual machines... That means a big screen, a lot of ram and a different UI.
Apparently you're oblivious to the amount of resources, time money and man hours being devoted specifically to the development of mobile, companion apps from the likes of MS, Adobe and AutoDesk. None want to be left in the rear view mirror! Also, to whoever was beating up on the 2 dozen MS apps, there's a 'Glass' app used specifically for Office suite, scanning and the like. Maybe even 'Office Glass' --- but v1 of the suite's 'drop' a year ago ---or has it been two now? Doesn't Matter, I was on board day one and have had nothing but luck and reliability with it. Both on iOS and OS X. Adobe's companion apps JUST underwent ground up re-writes to support 64bit, handoff amnd it's continuity with a home, studio, desk or one's 'main production' --- not necessarily "pro" rig, but possibly the machine with peripheral options, storage, more power with. 110v constantly, etc. I received mine November 6th, ordered around a week, maybe two post-launch. I've owned every iPad and deploy them now and since iPad 4 'in the field' for my business our family's run for three generations. As well as a dozen full and two dozen part time & temp employees, plenty of us pay our mortgages, car payment(s), daycare and taxes using the iPad as our primary, if not 'only' computer while 'making paper' (we own/operate a flight service and mobile A/V production company in Alaska - I've been flying myself nearly thirty years --- & the ½ pound replacement (Mini 4) or 1.5 pound long trip replacement, iPP is an incredible relief from my 45-60 pound flight bag. Faster, more reliable and up to date than anything 'printed' as well --- its ability to file my flight plan, calculate fuel, diversions for safety, real time traffic, weather, or airport 'issues'. Jeep charts, plates 'no fly areas' maybe -- or any diversion from routine T/O or landing cycle knowledge is paramount & the more details, the better when you're flying in & outta the same areas son long In the air, test/beta versions of NextGen (ADSB's successor and the update to America, if not the world's ATC system --- with 3D display or HUD showing traffic, terrain, and their headings, altitude and speeds - as well, and most importantly where they're going to, whether their path crosses mine @ a certain moment in the future ...& with the info, both (if equipped) planes will be instructed to change heading, decrease/increase speed or altitude. TCAS (collision avoidance) and 'always on' transponders w/GPS & better tracking then radar and the many blind spots on the planet to radar --- as travel increases, your idea of professional should be changing - as these guys are faster than anything we used on our desks in 2010, just six years ago. Solid state, blazing fast storage, always on and always fast LTE connectivity, wifi if you're in range. The horsepower (I've yet to notice frame drops other than in the App Store as its repopulating during an extensive swatch and I'm deep down) to run most anything developers can dream up now and will continue better their apps, integration and aggregation with the 'mainframe' of the business ...whether you're an engineer, architect, car salesman or waitress. Teachers, UPS & FedEx'll update their tabs so,easy and the garbage men can get rid of pen and pencil as well as the monstrous waste of paper generated daily to be thrown straight into the trash. iPad Pro, the Surface Pro --- they're 'words' but my definition of professional is the ability to help me make money. A tool, usually an invaluable one that's evolved enough in the capacity I need it for to be considered Revolutionary That's 2010, 2012 the original and the Retina display 'then 2015, with iPP. I'm with the author(s). I've owned and LOVE Pencil, don't need or want the KB cover after using it for a week. At all 9one thing on the UI side of the equation is the very excellent OS X like software keyboard layout, the Pencil as a helper for typing and picking suggested/predicted words above the keyboard I've found. And with common punctuation including 'shift' 5 for the % -- shift keys on both sides, double shifting does rage cap lock thing and we've got tab/delete, larger emoji key w/numeric and keyboard switcher in both sides of the space bar. The clipboard, undo and redo are awesome as are the 'up down' form filler/maneuver buttons on the right top of the KB UI. Well enough laid out, I've found a very comfortable case in the lap, perfect angle typing with my left thumb and right hand using/holding the pencil as my second hand. Worlds a treat, hard to explain correctly but efficient, effective and my near new 15" 2015 rMBP has been lonely since Thanksgiving (I'm floored by what Adobe's accomplished with their creative cloud, my iPad Air 2 or Pro mad their aggregation with OS X on my iMac, the Mac Pro. Or earlier mentioned MacBook. They're ALL Over It! The software companies are done boxing DVDs up with 300 page instruction manuals and the packaging costs. Get used to it. Lap/desktops aren't going anywhere but iPads can certainly be the tool of choice, primary tool to get their job done, inventory counted or their record produced! Pro football today had a bunch of problems on the sidelines today with their Surface Pros, had to 'turn em off' for a few. Both teams ...til they 'rebooted the system' lol iPads man. They're for pros that want to look, sound and be prepared professionally with reliability and extensive functionality, support and longevity. 'Imstiimown kids still use and it's still working great, the original iPad. Also have the Xoom, predecessor to Nexus. Doesn't 'light up'. It's. Broked.
Those tasks are all just simple data entry tasks connected to a remote site that is connected to a DB on the back end, I know because I write these types of apps (I worked on the DHL one), and the flight system app is just a client which could have just as easily been written to run on Android, Windows, etc. and it also falls under content consumption. The question you need to ask yourself is, did they use an iPad to create these solutions, no of course not. That is the difference between creation and consumption. These iPad's used in Enterprose settings are all just client server solutions.
I do my entire job from anywhere with just a browser - not sure what pro apps you need but something like this is awesome for me - even a 4lb laptop gets heavy after walking around Tokyo or Sydney all day!
The litmus test as to whether or not a device is "pro" should be a simple question, "If you had to use Excel all day on this device, would you want to kill yourself afterward?" I can't speak for all businesses, but we use iPads for email-on-the-go and Windows laptops for actual work... and we're thinking of moving to only having Surface Pro 4 tablets and docks.
I understand why a company would want to do that, but IMO it's still better to support two devices with BYOD and a corporate cloud. A "real" notebook will usually beat a Surface Pro (even if it's just the screen size, better keyboard), and people who really want an iPad will usually buy it themselves as long as they can get corporate e-mail (and possibly make light use of Office) on it.
Better late than never, I guess. I usually wait for the AT review before I buy something, but in this case it took so long that I didn't.
Anyway, I am really enjoying my iPad Pro as a personal consumption device. Expensive, I know, but worth it for the huge screen, the performance and the amazing speakers. Once you've tried it, you can't go back to the 9.7" one.
Why is there no near iPad Air with the A9X. Is it because the TDP is too high? Why do we never see any attempts to measure power for the Apple SOCs? Is it because Apple remove publications from review and press access lists if they attempt to delve too deeply?
"Why do we never see any attempts to measure power for the Apple SOCs?" Because it's destructive, which means we can't do it to our review units. We'd need to buy units specifically for it, and even then there's a good chance we'd simply break it due to how difficult it is.
It's one of those things I'd like to do, but it requires a lot more in the way of resources than you'd otherwise expect.
Perfectly understandable for review units and products just hitting the market. However, I suspect Anandtech has a few drawers full of tablets and phones that are no longer in active use/loaner review units which could be sacrificed for this data. Acquiring older units from the used market would be a cost effective way to get this data too.
An alternative would be to partner up with a site like iFixit to help split the cost of the hardware. They take it apart and Anandtech would pay for a functional, already disassembled unit.
The difficult part would simply be getting the time to sit down and so this. :)
We don;t need to resort to crazy conspiracy theories. Some possibilities include: - Yields from TSMC on the SoC weren't high enough. Or the variant - Apple was worried that even with TSMC and Samsung making A9/A9X, there wasn't enough capacity to make all the SoCs they needed for iPhone AND new iPads, so they limited themselves to just the halo model (which they know will sell in smaller quantities).
- Apple want the next iPads to have 3D Touch and the screens for that were not ready in quantity. (This is the option I would bet on).
- Apple want the next iPads to have some other nice new feature (like at least two, perhaps four) speakers and that hardware is not ready in quantity.
I would not be at all surprised to see Apple release the next gen iPad Air and mini in say March or April (and perhaps to maintain those dates from now forward, to spread demand somewhat throughout the year instead of all peaked in Sept/Oct).
It runs whatever software someone chooses to write for it, within its capabilities. What if your profession was doing digital sketches? Talk about narrow-minded.
What if you profession goes beyond doing just digital sketches tho? Let's open up that mind and admit the iPad Pro, for all its qualities, doesn't fit most professional needs - if anything, because apps are not available.
"Most" professional needs are actually related to UIs of server-based administrative systems or to aommunication and documentation, all of which the iPad Pro (or any other iPad) easily manages.
And then there are multiple solutions for a wide range of professional needs which many desktop systems can't match (example: using the built-in camera, the Pencil, Siri and either the onscreen or the add-on keyboard to quickly create documentation on site for insurance or research purposes).
Many people have the problem that they've tightened their blinders exactly to the limitations of pre-existing computer systems and anything else puts them in a state of shock and denial.
Hmm...let's see... built in camera, Surface/Note. Siri, why not Cortana/Google Now - again Surface/Note. Onscreen or add-on keyboard, hey that's Surface/Note as well. But hey the IPAD line has had all these too and they haven't stopped it from shrinking numbers in the market.
I was talking about the comparison to desktop and notebook computers.
And even Apple's "shrinking" numbers of iPads sold after the initial rush are still well above what Microsoft is managing to sell in Surfaces, and that despite all that glorious desktop compatibility.
Okay, what's you point, that person who probably have a Intuos Wacom board connected to an iMac but who knows, maybe even an iPad Pro but it will be used like the Intuos, connected to either a laptop or computer. This is the disconnect, no one is saying that their aren't any good apps, uses or even that the iPad Pro isn't good for certain things, it's just not a laptop replacement or a standalone computer.
So basically according to your logic if it don't use a mouse, it can't satisfy professional 's needs... Lol. My professional's needs don't require any mouse. Actually a mouse or a keyboard are totally useless....
Well, its a good bit better off than the Pixel C software wise - there is at least a very large ecosystem actively built around 10" tablets, and adapting in places for larger ones. Very good indeed for some end user use cases.
Yea see. I have both the Pixel C and iPad Pro and the thing is, I'm running the same apps on both platforms. I have MS Office, I have Art Rage, I have the entire Adobe app collection, I have Flipboard, Pinterest, Feedly and all of those apps. The only thing I don't have is the music creation stuff. I use the Pixel C for my productive stuff because it's just better geared for it, especially that it has an actually file-system, dealing with files is 10x better. The iPad Pro is for media consumption and other leisure activities. I just couldn't get pass iOS, to many restrictions for me to use it as a work machine. Well that and I couldn't even connect the iPad Pro to my works network, no Open ID or multiple user support.
why no direct comparison against surface pro? i believe anandtech did a review on surface pro 4 recently, so it shouldn't be too difficult. roughly the same size and weight, roughly the same price (for core m3 anyway, against which ipad pro kindla holds its own). clearly these two are marketed against each other, whether you consider surface pros to be in their own little niche.
Different platforms all together, plus, one is running a desktop OS, the other a mobile OS. They really shouldn't be compared, no Professional is going to buy an iPad Pro to use as a laptop and no one is going to buy the Surface Pro to use as a tablet. At least no one who has half a brain that is.
Sure but it took 3 months to get it out.... I have read many others on the net and this review doesn't say anything new to me apart a bit of X86 vs ARM
You just don't quit. Every article in the past 3 months has a post from you, "Ipad pro review, where is it?" and then you state it has nothing new than other reviews had. What the hell did you expect?
@lucam, maybe to YOU --- but for those of us that appreciate real world use, in depth testing and even 'subjective' comparisons using the device in the real world -- you better believe it's WORTH IT! And apparently not just worth it to me but about 300 other comments from folks also interested in with it or beating it up.
To the crew @ Anand, keep up the excellent work and realize ignorance like I'm responding to is just that. We don't need reviews earlier. The 'wait' is cool because of the payoff with your reviews. Unreal. Go find another site lucam! This one ain't for you. Period. WAY Over YOUR Head!
This is not a very popular version of the iPad, if it had a mobile version of Mac OS X then yeah there'd be a reason to use one but otherwise it's just a larger iPad. Seems the iPad mini is growing in demand. During the Christmas shopping season at the Apple store near me, the wall where the iPad Pro was often empty, most of the crowd were around iPad minis and MacBooks and occasionally checking out the next gen Apple TV with the infrared remote.
The popularity of any iPad or most computing devices in general is going to come down to cost...
Funny, compare your logic on "reason to use" an iPad pro with what was said about the original iPad. "It's just a 'Big EyeTouch, there's no reason to use it!".
Supposedly 12% of the iPads sold last quarter were the Pro (at least according to one of those retail surveys that always come out around earnings time). Considering that it starts at $799 and goes all the way up to $1347 with all the bells and whistles, that's pretty good.
Its really hard to take your reviews seriously when the entire tone is "how to spin this as good".
"We need to make it sound like its worth $1000 for a iPad or we wont get anymore Apple crap to review".
It is comical to hear you try and excuse the keyboard and even slant the argument to say its a better idea than its counterparts like the Surface Pro. COMICAL, that keyboard implementation on the iPad Pro in its current form is a POS.
You make BS statements like the "The Surface Pro 4 comes close to be sure, but I would argue that it really isn’t a proper tablet by virtue of how dependent it is on trackpad input."
Surface Pro is completely and perfectly capable and independent of needing a trackpad for input when using it as a tablet. Sure when you run desktop applications it becomes incredibly dependent on a trackpad but its BECAUSE ITS RUNNING A DESKTOP APPLICATION!
iPad Pro is a cool concept and has potential but its just a bigger iPad still running the same OS as the freaking PHONES!!! In no way is it even close to being worth the cost until they put a more functional operation system on it.
That is the thing. Most of the pro stuff you'd want to run on a Surface is a desktop application. Using the track pad here makes sense given the application though it does go against the idea of a touch based tablet.
Apple on the other hand has one OS designed around touch input and another around keyboard/mouse. The downside here is that applications can appear on one OS and not the other. That is the problem Apple has with the 'pro' moniker here is that there are few truly professional level applications available. Given the history of Apple's app store, I would not expect this to remain true for long.
So essentially MS and Apple have chosen different paths for tablets and considering the trade offs with each product, I think it is safe to say that both companies have not found the perfect mix. For the end user, do a bit of research and simply pick the best tool for the job.
It is even funnier when you assume to know anything about someone, just makes you look ignorant.
I'm a software developer who writes software for corporations, personal use, and public use.
I have published applications for web, desktop, and mobile applications.
I understand, probably more than you could comprehend, the differences between platforms and what the purpose, use cases, and requirements are for each.
No, I don't need to know anything about you. You have already make your point across, and it is rather obvious you are on the Microsoft camp. Nothing wrong with that.
But there is a fundamental difference between the two camp, Microsoft and Apple view of Computing platform. One doesn't make the other one any better. Read a few post post below yours. And being a decent software developer doesn't make you any difference or better then anyone on UX or platform.
Nice try, Kevin, but stupidity is a constant in the world. I've been trying to explain this point (Apple has two UI's on top of one OS), along with related issues like how Apple doesn't sell all-in-one devices because they use iCloud to glue different devices together, for years. But if your entire world view depends on being unreasonable, then unreasonable you will be... It's not enough to accept that Apple has a different analysis of how to do computing than MS; it has to be stated repeatedly that "APPLE'S VIEW IS GARBAGE, WRONG, STUPID, IDIOTIC, DOOMED TO FAIL!!!"
"APPLE'S VIEW IS GARBAGE, WRONG, STUPID, IDIOTIC, DOOMED TO FAIL!!!" Really? Considering Apple can buy a number of countries out there you might want to rethink that statement. God I get sick of jealous people who have nothing better to do than rail on about Apple. Get a life.
Why do you care, Apple sells inanimate objects, they don't love you, they don't care about you. Just another huge company trying to separate you from your money. Don't you have anything better to do than defend a corporation, they would do the same for you.
Windows tablets do have the benefit of Modern UI apps that are good to use with touch, though the choice available is limited. The ones that are available are the ones you'd probably want to predominately use touch for.
Not all desktop applications are bad with touch either. Sure, some things are a little fiddly, but you can get used to them. Desktop OneNote is a great example of a desktop application that works well with touch.
The problem with iOS devices is that they are touch only. That really limits their capabilities. iOS devices do do touch very well though.
I agree. I have never seen comprehensive stylus review for Samsung's Notes or Microsoft Surface. They never took those daily to their respective note taking classes.
Latency on a barebones app like Notes or a gimped ios version of PS is obviously lower than what PS on Windows on a Cintiq on top of Windows(or even OSX) offers you. There's also cursor function that Windows supports and enhances the Pen. There is also no handwriting recognition in ios.
That irked me to. If they had they would have found that several differences. One major one would be the difference in exporting notes.
The latency test was lacking. Comparing it to a Cintiq (not the tablet version) is good, but there are several more active digitizer technologies and implementations that it should also be compared to. The PS comparison was a joke considering the differences between them. The authors even state that latency is application dependent, yet don't heed that in their conclusions!
As for handwriting; I'm not familiar with it in iOS. In Windows however, it is fantastic, and can even decipher my bad Japanese handwriting.
Too bad they have a metric ton of bugs. I wanted to buy the Surface 3, but when I read about the rediculous charging issues it sways me towards Ipads. I think KNOWING my device will be charged rather than hoping far outweighs the Surface pen...unfortunately. If they just made the 3 with the same connector as the 3 pro,or made a smaller version of the 4 with the connector and not micro usb, I'd be thrilled. Also, they need to fix all the sleep and standby battery issues. In that respect Apple does it better.
No native HWR. However, Writepad Pro adds a rather excellent HWR input method that deciphers my chicken scratches flawlessly. It supports English and 4 other languages so it's not a solution for everyone.
That's because Note styli are undersized and like using a toothpick. I owned a note 8, and am typing this on my wife's Note 12.2 and the stylus on Galaxy devices suck, they are simply too small to have real fine control over, or comfort for lengthy use.
The only thing I found comical is your post.... The surface pro is an half baked solution. Use it without the keyboard and trackpad? Lol, good luck with most of the apps just NOT designed to be touch friendly (starting from the operative system).
hmm. Quite a serious problem with numbers in this article when comparing with macbook. The use of negative percentages is quite surprising to say the least. e.g core m is twice as fast but looks like -48% only. Libquantum benchmark is even funnier. The correct methodology is to set one platform as 100% and scale the other accordingly...
The MacBook is set as 100%. If one thing is twice as fast as something else, the latter is 50% slower than the former. I don't get why you think that is wrong.
on cannot use negative percentages this way as it is higly misleading. If one uses the same formulae, there is a big imbalance between two results that would be let s say -50% and 50%. in one case one is twice as fast while in the other case it is only 1.5x as fast. So positive and negative percentages are not in the same scale. Using this methodology two compare two processors, one will be able to go above 100% while the other one will never get below -100%. I have no problem saying that a proc has only 51 % of the speed of another, but using -49% instead is not really sound i think. The formuale a/b-100% is highly non linear.
The idea that a $47 tablet SoC die can be 15% larger than the dies that Intel is selling for $400+ only speaks to Intel's desire to relegate itself into extinction.
As per the review, Intel's chips are on a more advanced process, which was born from research they had to foot the bill for. It was clearly worth it too since the Core chips are better-performing.
This might backfire on me but I'll say it again. This is why Windows RT was the BEST OS to address that problem. The OS can run, natively, on practically any platform if Microsoft wanted to. I seriously believe Intel had a LOT to do with that perception (Google too, of course).
People ignorantly shunned the concept of RT without fully knowing the implications. If it succeeded, it would have made HUGE pressure on Intel to up their game. Good thing Microsoft is back with Unviersal Apps. I seriously hope they succeed and the new platform takes off. If it does, these same apps can run on Windows 10 Mobile, which can theoretically run a full fledged desktop environment (other than continuum).
This will make an explosion in processor and SoC competition, where the consumer wins.
Apple is in the best position to seize the future. There is not going to be an ARM OS X, nor will Apple merge. Apple will maintain the split approach until iOS hits a critical point and then OS X will go. I predict new OS X versions will cease inside of ten years. There will be software for iOS that will do everything needed to be done.
Sure, many of the people currently on these tech sites will not like how the new software works and will be very vocal about how they can only get real work done on legacy software with a legacy OS. But Apple sees that you are getting older and closer to your final resting place.
Young people, the future buyers of all tech, don't have legacy attachments. They will do their real work on the new tech.
I walked up to a young guard who was blasting away messages at astonishingly high speed on her Android phone with her thumbs, faster than I could ever type. When she needed to use a "real" computer to check me in, it took her forever to peck out a few bits of information on the keyboard.
It was clear that whenever given the choice of new tech, new software, and new ways that is what she will choose. Which is why Microsoft's devices and OS that can also do real work is useful now, but will soon become a disadvantage. The up and coming workforce in 2025 are going to want devices without the legacy cruft.
I meant to say Google also. Android will also develop pro capabilities on powerful new devices without worrying about supporting "real" software for guys that will be retired and fishing inside of 20 years.
Ever heard the word "saturation " ? There isn't anything eating up iPad market. The Surface Pro isn't even a credible contender. The tablet market is just saturated because people don't replace their tablets every year or two like the smartphones...
OCR supposedly works with Spotlight search. However in practice if you want ink to text I found that it is necessary to do the conversion by syncing to Windows x86 OneNote and doing the conversion on that platform, which is a rather suboptimal workflow.
A few thing on the Intel x86 Vs Apple ARM. 1.Intel is on their 2nd generation FinFET, while TSMC is still on 1st Gen. Intel also provides higher node density and slightly lower power consumption. 2.LLVM is good, but not anywhere as good at optimising as Intel Compiler. 3.A9X is without L3 Cache which has always shown to add quite a bit of performance for CPU task.
Even if Apple somehow don't have the above three disadvantage, my guess is that Intel Core M will still wins. But it just show how close Apple is getting into Intel performance territory. Considering We don't get any update from Intel, ( Unless Intel surprise us with Kaby Bridge performance improvement ) This year Apple A10 will be interesting compared to Intel and see how close the gap is.
I still find it strange how reviewers focus so much on the hardware when the big, massive elephant in the middle of the room is the lack of pro-grade applications.
We all figured the hardware was high-quality, fast and sturdy. This isn't what we need to hear about.
For fsck's sake guys. The hardware has only been out for three months. Do you have any IDEA how long it takes to write code, especially when you're considering implementing something totally new (because it didn't make sense on a smaller screen or slower CPU, or without a stylus)?
Complain about a lack of software in two years, not now.
So basically performs the same as the worst Intel Core chip that no tech site would recommend buying at the same TDP, has worse battery life than a Surface when watching movies and takes twice as long to charge? What has happened to Apple?
You're right. What happened to them ? They're getting the same performance with an ARM Soc, their GPU is faster than Intel, the tablet is twice as light and even with the pen and keyboard, the price is not too bad against Surface products since Surface contains those overpriced CPU's from Intel. On top of that, no worries about those endless Windows updates. What on earth are they doing ?!!!
The 462.libquantum result is more likely a result of better auto-vectorization in Intel compiler than Apple's LLVM (I asume they compile using Intel's compiler)
Using iPad Pro at this price is more like torturing yourself than owning a productivity "powerhouse". iOS is lacking as a productivity OS, iPad Pro is lacking heavily in productivity things and accessories other than overpriced pencil. Apple criticizes Microsoft for Surface line but if they wish to produce a real productivity powerhouse and challange MS on that front, they should make a product like SP4 with Mac OS X inside it, not a smartphone OS. Apple was late with challenging Surface Pro line and now they are even more late. Other than that, ok, fanboys will be happy and buy a new and bigger iPad very happily :)
Apple rarely spends much effort on challenging sinking ships. The reality is that Windows is a legacy platform. It will continue to be important for some time, but ultimately it will fade away.
Yes, it will fade away, but thank the Lord, Apple will be there to accept our humble apologies for not seeing the ios/osx light when we should. Atonement here we come.
Oh please stop this bs about "productivity ". You know nothing about other's needs and productivity. Are the Surface Crap more of a "productivity tool" ? Reality check: almost no one is buying Surface Pros .....
A tablet is a tablet, no matter what you turn it around. If people want a laptop then buy a laptop. This thing to compare any time a tablet to laptop doesn't make any sense. iPad Pro is just another type tablet: professional tablet.
Thanks Ryan for the review, but this time it took too long and it lost interest.
Exactly this one that runs new professional softwares but it cannot be compared with Surface Pro. The other way around is applicable too. The Surface pro as tablet is just laughable.
I wrote a review of this unit several weeks ago for my own website, but strictly from the point of view of a professional photographer (me) trying to find a place for it in my workflow. I can't help but feel that my conclusion was inline with not only the author of this piece, but moreso many of the commenters.
It's a fantastic device. But as a photographer, it's just not there yet. There is not a compelling enough reason, nor a smart enough work flow solution to have this thing replace a laptop. And I'm not on the fence about this. However its mostly a software issue, and in the case of a photographer, a 'how the device communicates with my camera' issue. I can't send 42 megapixel RAW files from my Sony A7R II to the Adobe Software this thing currently runs. So why, as a working professional, would I accept lower resolution jpeg? So I can start the editing process all over again when I move the REAL files to a computer? No thanks. I'll just do this on my laptop.
The hardware on this thing is unreal. In the hands of an illustrator it is indeed a fascinating device. But for me, and likely, for most, it is still not quite there yet as a professional tool. That was my conclusion, and I've read nothing since to make me change my mind.
Can that app really edit RAW images? I looked at the description in the App Store and didn't see anything mentioned. It's frustrating that apps like Pixelmator and Photoshop Fix can't handle RAW files. I really don't want to have to mess with shooting RAW+ JPEG just to maybe be able to make small adjustments. I don't even think Lightroom Mobile does it.
Having multiple dongles to attach and detach is not an ideal workflow. Nor is having to use another piece of software.
Yes, people should adapt to new technology in their profession/interest, but sometimes doing something differently is just not worth the time it takes.
You'll need exactly the same, to tether camera to lap or desktop. Dongles, check. Extra piece of software (it's Sony, damn right ya do!) check. Yes, there's apps that allow editing raw and DNG, as well as proxy editing it PS's creative suite so edits carry back over to deal or laptop when exported. Look a bit more Mr. Reviewer. I've been editing raw files from my Canon 5d Mk II & III as well as motion.
First of all, thanks a lot for this article. I especially very much appreciate your SPEC2006 benchmarking. Now, it's a time to compare this little A9X monster to SPARC64, POWER etc. :-) Anyway, libquantum seems to make some troubles, are you sure your -Ofast switch on proper vectorising (auto-vectorising) and NEON usage? I'd recommend to double check this.
In 2016 you guys still run the 3d Ice storm test which is really obsolete, it's a 720p an use OpenGL ES 2.0 Really you will have to start using the new one Sling Shot and the new GFX bench 3.1 that now is also on IOS too.
Guys you should surely be aware that libquantum is problematic as a benchmark because it can be (and is, by icc) restructured to be auto-parallelized and auto-vectorized. It's a matter of opinion the extent to which you consider this "cheating"; the more important point IMHO is that this particular transform seems very specific to the structure of libquantum and doesn't much empower icc to produce better (more frequently parallelized or vectorized) code in other circumstances. Point is libquantum is not telling us much about Twister vs Broadwell' it's telling us about icc vs LLVM.
Hmmer is similar, but less egregious. The hot loop there is amenable to some restructuring that moves some load-stores around, then runs everything as vectors replacing if's with select. This is a justifiable, more general purpose transform, which is on LLVM's to-do list, but hasn't been done yet.
icc also seem to do a remarkable job (some sort of transformation I assume, but it might be generating good software prefetching?) on mcf, but I don't know quite what that is.
This website (in French) is hardly ideal but is the best I can find for making this point: http://www.hardware.fr/articles/847-9/performances... Forget the exact numbers on each graph, or the AMD graphs. IMHO the point of interest for each graph is to see the cases where the icc results are dramatically different from the gcc results, (which in other words shows a benchmark which is primarily comparing LLVM vs icc, not CPU vs CPU). mcf, hmmer, milc, lbm, show this. This page is not ideal in that it's three years old, so gcc (and LLVM) could in theory have picked up some of icc's skill. (milc and lbm are FP benchmarks, presumably being improved by vectorization and/or parallelization; and gcc/llvm both have much better autovectorization than three years ago, though not yet autoparallelization).
Personally I think for THIS type of review (where the interest is in trying to compare Twister against Intel's latest) it would have been better to also perform an LLVM run of the x86 code and also include those results. That would strip out most of the compiler differences and thus make the CPU:CPU comparison somewhat cleaner, for those for whom that is the primary interest.
Thx, I have stated in the another comment about the advantage of ICC as well. So Twister isn't that far off Skylake. And will likely improvement more as LLVM matures,
The one benchmark that probably is telling us something interesting is 471.omnetpp This particular benchmark is dominated by DTLB misses. You can see that having two effects - first it gets the least speedup from A8X to A9X (substantially less than even just the frequency boost) - secondly it's one non-faked-out-by-icc benchmark that is substantially below Intel.
This presumably tells us that DTLB performance on A9/A9X was not improved much (or at all) relative to A8/A8X, and that it's substantially behind Intel. The question, then, is whether Apple think's this is worth improving given real mobile workloads (my guess is yes) and when they improve it (I would expect with the A10, but we haven't seen the SPEC numbers for that yet).
What are the sorts of things they could do? Well of course we don't know what their baseline is, but things that have been done include - increase the size of the first and second level TLBs (that's obvious) - use coalesced TLB entries (this is a way to use a single TLB entry to cover multiple physical pages). It works best with OS support --- fortunately Apple controls their OS... - use a prefetcher that pulls in TLB entries before they're needed - use an additional cache that holds superpage data - provide at least two TLB walkers (Intel has done this for a while now, and the A73 does it)
It's also possible that they're not using large pages at all, or not using them as aggressively as they could, to cover things like OS data and/or code, and these could be fixed in an OS update at any time.
This device will never be a true productivity machine or laptop,replacement without iOS getting a massive update. The Surface is far more usable with. full version of Windows.
For many, "true productivity" means focusing on a few things and doing them well. iOS works well for this type of productivity, especially when coupled with a purpose-built tablet like the iPad Pro.
It's rare that people focus on a little bit of a lot of things for serious work. Instead they focus a lot on a few things, and apps are very often hurting in terms of depth compared to programs.
And exactly who said the "full version of Windows" is a more productive operative system ? Especially used on a half baked solution like a surface pro, not good as a tablet and not good as a notebook....
Maybe what is really missing (in my opinion) in this review is a bit of more spaces on professional softwares that Apple has created specifically for iPad Pro. Those softwares won't run on iPad Mini and use capabilities of this specific GPU and the Apple Pencil. Don't want to blame Ryan for that as this is the first ''different' tablet ever outside there. But if we really want to put this thing in perspective apart run benchmarks we need to see how does perform with some specific software. For example I would be pretty much interested to see how the Cad tool run on it.
"they have been closing the architecture and manufacturing gap with Intel" - on architecture yes, but on manufacturing you have the wrong party, that is TSMC, not Apple.
On stylus testing. So, you cannot possibly draw a straight diagonal on Windows? Are you sure you have tested the Surface Pen as extensively as you tested the Pencil?
We understand that TSMC is the foundry, but to some extent customers do guide foundry roadmap and process spec. TSMC is not making new processes in a vacuum to our understanding.
Regarding the stylus the Surface Pro 4 and other N-Trig devices have an issue where trying to draw a straight diagonal will cause wavy lines. The SP4 does improve on this over the SP3, but it's still not quite perfect compared to iPad Pro which doesn't have this issue at all.
I am compelled to thank you for your utterly prompt reply. My toying with the SP2's Wacom based stylus certainly cannot be equivalent to the recent tech used by MS.
Sensitivity levels is an area I haven't seen discussed. Judging by the wording in the review, it's good enough that's imperceptible compared to Wacom's.
To my knowledge the SP2 and SP1 Wacom styluses are better than the N-Trig styluses in some ways still. However for people that are looking to buy a new Surface Pro or Surface there isn't really an option to use a Wacom stylus.
We don't know the exact TDP of A9X, and TDP across silicon vendors isn't comparable. However it's roughly comparable based upon the power consumption seen in our power virus tests.
Thanks for putting together such a high quality review. I've talked to a few people at work with iPad Pros and they are all using them as a "paper and pencil" replacement. This is not just for taking notes, but also for annotating presentations and research papers. Reading PDF files also works very well, although an OLED screen would be nice for night time reading (in inverse mode). Some of the people I talked to have owned Windows tablets in the past and they rave about how well the Apple Pencil works. All in all, I'm quite impressed with the iPad Pro. It's a great tablet.
I'd bet Apple switches to OLED sooner than later but the combination of IGZO and A/R glare covering/coating/glass infused front end and iOS 9's (current beta. I'm not sure if it's life in the current version of public iOS) display 'blue point' setting helps significantly at night, while reading. You're able to turn the temp down, fairly low in temp to help your eyes in the dark with a warmer screen. I use it every night. Amazing, yet small addition to iOS that - again may go unnoticed but if you take advantage of it, your eyes will thank you! I'm actually using Pencil in right hand, left free to hold or help type -- as you can navigate, open apps, manipulate the iPad and UI with the pencil but with a LOT more precision whether using a sketch pad, editing in Pinnacle or iMovie, GarageBand, or even using playback apps like dJay, games, and writing or notating a PDF, picture or just prefer sending a hand written note, it's an exceptional piece of hardware and the App Store's selection of apps, the best in history and at the lowest cost we've enjoyed ...in history. I'm floored by the accelerated pace of apps being updated for support of both iPP and the Apple Watch. Niche product? Sure, but as a smaller iPad owner as well I'd LOVE to see this speaker tech drizzle down the line. Speakers, SoC and the 'speed' of this guy are phenomenal and anyone that spends anytime with one and apps from Adobe, MS, Autodesk or other big software devs, you'll immediately 'see' what the authors are discussing and the enjoyment many have found in ownership. As the workplace transitions to BYOD, Jr and HSchools transition to the same --- as well as colleges, iPads of all shapes and sizes can be seen. That said, the iPP offering of the Pencil takes this another step forward for education and medical/sciences/teaching, audio production, mobile video capture, controlling your Parrot or --- as many ignorant, haven't seen or touched it yet, folks will tell you -- 'consumption'. Media; music, videos, books and magazines --- all look, sound and are more enjoyable with the larger display, significantly upgraded speakers and improved perfomance make it the perfect iPad --- for me. I still have my rMBP 15" at home for heavier lifting my iMacs and Mac Pro in studio but the use they get is minimal compared to just a couple years ago. For everyday everyone tasks; email, surfing, comms, Twit, FB, Instagram or fill in favorite social site here -- to wifi calling, continuity with the rest of your system through handoff, and sooooo many other little things that took me away from 20 years of PC usage seven years ago to strictly OS X and iOS - with Win 7/10 on partitions of the MP in the case software is proprietary to Windows --- an ever growing anomaly rather than the usual just a half decade ago ALL the big software developers have switched up staff and dollars from desk and laptop to mobile development --- some, over 50%! Adobe's got a dozen companion apps as does Google (that run many times better on iOS than my Android devices!) -Autodesk and Microsoft both demonstrated their software at the iPP release and I've been using the MS suite since the day it dropped, subscribed to Adobe CC since its inception and have watched literally ...weekly updates to their companion iOS software. To the extent they've rewritten ALL of their apps for 64bit compatibility opimized to iOS and are absolutely phenomenal --- certainly not 'gimped' - bit extensions of the CC suite on your MBP, MP, iMac or iPhone!
Anyway, as you seem to get it, that it's a great tablet --- as far as nighttime reading, the latest iOS drop allows much more granular control of the screen temp than Android's standard, cinema, photo, and adaptive settings. Definitely help with reading in the dark!
I am an IBM mainframe systems programmer and have been for 38 years. I have been using PC's as well for longer than many of you have been alive. I have seen and owned lots of hardware. The hardware along with the software will always evolve. Why can't you people just enjoy the changes, I do. I bought an iPad Pro. I love it. I am typing on it right now. But I am not going to lambaste others for using different devices. If there was only one solution then the hardware/software would be boring. However that might not be a bad thing because then I would have to read all of childish rants of my d*** is bigger than your d***.
"When discussing azimuth, we’re basically looking at the angle that the stylus makes with the plane of the display, while altitude is the angle that the stylus makes relative to the normal of the display"
This could be more clearly expressed - the azimuth is the angle of the pencil *within* the display plane vs the horizontal axis, not the angle it makes with the plane itself.
Basically the Pencil gives: • pixel-precise location (x, y) • pretty precise pressure (from manual testing – subtle pressure variations come through very well) • relatively crude inclination (looks like only a few increments from 0..90° in the software I've checked) • relatively precise direction when inclined (dx, dy – when shading "sideways" it knows the orientation of the point)
The only way i could call this thing "pro" is if it could run the software i use for work. I-lux, ETC software, crestron software, ILC software, wattstopper software, i could keep naming software. Im that years down the road some of them could be available in ios but as a lesser crappy app. My boss is an ipad freak and he wont buy ipads for the company because we cant load any of the software we need to use. The device looks nice and its huge in a good way. Sucks that it doesnt have a usb drive and file system. No this cant not replace a laptop. No it cant run real games. It all depends on what use u give it.
Look, Samsung makes a 256GB 850 PRO ssd. For my job, 256 gigs isn't nearly enough. How can it be pro? Because it has features and performance above and beyond their other models. It's just a label. It doesn't mean every profession on the planet will find it to be the perfect device. I know a lot of graphics professionals that could use an iPad Pro in their workflow where an Air wouldn't have worked very well (pencil, larger screen).
No, the Samsung "pro" SSDs are not just a different badge. They also use different chips with a different architecture for more consistent performance and for increased reliability.
With the iPad it's more similar to the MacBook Pro: Anyone can use it for anything; It's mostly similar to the smaller models. But its full-page document capability, its professional-grade Pencil and its high processor performance make it more suitable for demanding work than any other model.
The whole "pro" bitching is utterly ridiculous. One can use a Mac Pro for Safari and Mail while another could earn real money just using an iPad mini ... Who's the "Pro" here ?
It seems cliché in Apple product reviews to mention bias, but this article fits the cliché quite well.
The selective comparisons with other tablets are alarming. As others pointed out, no other product with a stylus has been thoroughly reviewed. A bare mention of the SP3 pen is all we get whilst all of the cons explored in the stylus section have no counterpoint as to how strong Surface tablets (and even Samsung devices) are at note taking (the exporting woes with the iPad come to mind). Even more troubling is the keyboard section where anyone who has decent tech knowledge knows how big of an improvement is the SP4 keyboard just to have it conveniently ignored in the conversation. The section is even worse when one considers the lack of angle adjustments, stability issues and cumbersome setup of the iPad keyboard are compared to the SP. Not to say a thing about the lack of mouse input which makes the whole desktop use uncomfortable. Finally the bland treatment given to the charge time of the tablet is inexcusable.
On the plus side, the SOC section is impeccable.
But the overall falling (as with all of Joshua's Apple writings) is a self-fulfilling prophecy: he likes the iPad and excuses or dismisses the the product's failings and conveniently never discusses what other products+software do better. Happy you like your iPad and you've written a good essay as to why its a good device for you, but this, a professional unbiased review its not.
As a Note 8 and 12.2 owner, I can say the "exporting woes" of the iPad Pro are absolutely trivial in comparison. Samsung completely fumbled building a pen app ecosystem. This will not be the case with the iPad Pro.
When it comes to the Surface Pro, we need to talk about how Windows is a broken platform and few developers want to write apps for it anymore. Even Microsoft's own developers don't like Windows anymore and are writing their latest software for other platforms using open source frameworks such as Electron.
And we also have the endless "whack-a-mole" adventure that is trying to maintain some semblance of data privacy/security with Windows 10 and its factory installed malware and forced updates.
One could on. You know, so things are more "professionally unbiased".
Thank you, for I am racing this on a Note 12.2 now. The S Pens have good hardware but their size sucks and the apps for them are too dumbed down or too many steps just to take simple notes.
This installs a share sheet into iOS which allows you to "print" to a variety of real or virtual printers. One of these virtual printers is, of course, a PDF printer which just create a PDF file.
THIS sort of thing is why Apple folks get so irritated with Windows/Linux folks. You keep claiming that something or other cannot be done (on OSX or iOS) but 95% of the time your actual complaint is "I don't know how to do ... on OSX/iOS; therefore obviously it can't be done because I know everything in the universe about computing". There's more than one way to do things, folks, and just because the Windows way is some weird voodoo of "install a driver; go into some dialog that hasn't been updated since Windows 95; change three settings in the registry; now you can create PDFs" doesn't mean that iOS makes you do the same thing if you want to create PDFs.
Share sheets are the generic inter-app communication mechanism for iOS, and anyone who was actually familiar with the platform would immediately think that this was the sort of place to look to solve the problem.
As for Printer Pro being "unsupported". Well, my version is actually free because Apple liked the product so much they sponsored it being free on the app store for two weeks or so. I don't think they're likely to yank it from the store...
Should this be part of the OS? Well, plenty of thing should be part of every OS. How long did it take WINDOWS to get a Print to PDF option?... My guess is that at some point it will be wrapped into the standard iOS bundle of features, but that right now Apple have higher priorities, and the third party solution works very well without the sorts of security, stability, or power concerns that might compel Apple to move other features into the base OS more rapidly.
True, but it'seems stupid in this day of very common WiFi printers that you can'take just install an app from the app store that is from the printer manufacturer that allows IOS to print directly (No Airprint nonsense). How a out the fact that it took until IOS 8 or 9 to attach a PDF to an email.
I like both companies and use both, but this is the kind of stupid crap that apple does that gives haters a "Foot in the door". It's why I switched out my IPad 3 for a Note at the time.
Small correction to your comparison of ARM to x86 ISA: you said "By comparison, the ARM ISA has no direct equivalent to this instruction. Any instruction like leal/leaq is going to take multiple instructions.". This is incorrect. ARM with its 3-operand instructions usually takes fewer instructions compared to Intel. In this case, there is a single instruction which is more powerful than the Intel equivalent -> ADD R1,R2,R3,LSL #2. This is effectively R1 = R2 + 4*R3. The barrel shifter and 3-operand instructions mean you can do more work than the Intel ISA allows. Individual ARM instructions are on average longer than Intel instructions, but you usually need fewer of them to accomplish the same task.
We can be more precise about this. Experiments have been done about the density of code and it is a fact that ARM-v8 is very slightly DENSER than x64 code. ARM-v7 was slightly less dense than 32-bit x86 code.
The barrel shifter is not relevant to ARM-v8 (neither is predication). What is relevant is a very cleverly designed ISA that actually exploits what we've learned about usual code patterns over the past 30 years or so. So ARM has load and store register pair, or just enough predication-like instructions (CSEL and the concatenated branch conditions), or a way to distinguish between instructions that do and don't set branch conditions, or an encoding of literals that is, as matter of empirical reality, substantially denser than a flat encoding. All these make for a substantially denser ISA than the traditional load-store type ISA of something like MIPS or POWER.
I didn't realize CNet had purchase Anandtech, I can honestly say this is the last review I will ever read on this website. Much better to just do your own research.
I think Apple is entering the 2-in1 business the wrong way. What they should be doing is making a touchscreen-based (and perhaps detachable) version of the Macbook Pro (basically, an OS X version of the Surface Book). This would make a far more usable hybrid device than a bigger iPad. IMO, it would take a lot less work to make an OS X tablet than to try to bring iOS up to business/enterprise standards.
I disagree. The first version would make Windows 8 look elegant. OS X is NOT designed for touch input. I think Apple's going about it the right way. They just need to speed it up. Hopefully iOS 10 is a major improvement in that regard.
OSX is TOTALLY designed for touch input. It just happens to be touch input directed towards a trackpad rather than a screen. For precisely the reasons given in this article (about the hassles of moving from keyboard to screen, and the discomfort in trying to touch a vertical screen).
Oh, I absolutely agree. My point was simply one of clarity. To say that "OSX is not designed for touch input" implies that Apple is stuck in 1999, insisting on maintaining an obsolete UI model. The truth is that OSX is, as I said, absolutely design for touch input; what it's not designed for is the tablet UI model.
Anandtech needs more people. Where is that video which records the latency of the Apple pencil or SP4? Aren't musicians and sound engineers be interested in the tablet for simple creation of music which I meant, audio should be tested? If testing methodology of Wi-Fi has problems, wouldn't it be nice to test if one could play or edit a high bit rate video saved from a high performance NAS? The device is a small niche but Anandtech could put some more analysis just for the entertainment/education value of it.
Regarding stylus latency, the videos would be quite boring as it's nothing more than a straight line with the stylus. I've simply taken those videos and done multiple trials and averaged times to determine the approximate latency of the stylus system.
We would like to properly test speaker and 3.5mm output. We're working on these things but it looks like 3.5mm output testing is quite difficult.
We are also working on WiFi testing. This one will prove to be quite interesting as well.
Thanks. I just thought the device deserves more analysis and work based on the amount of interest and comments here. I have one more critique on camera testing. Why is it not possible to have a static object or studio for camera testing since Anandtech constantly review mobile devices which will make the tests faster to produce and output to be easily comparable between devices?
One more issue. When you test storage throughput, do you use traditional file IO or memory mapped files? Apple has ALREADY indicated a strong preference that developers use memory mapped files, and as we move to a world on NVM living more or less directly on the memory bus, memory mapped IO will become SUBSTANTIALLY more performant than traditional file IO. It seems to me incumbent that your testing become prepared for this new world today (maybe by running tests both ways and reporting both speeds, or the higher speed); otherwise at some point soon (and it may be as soon as two or three years) Apple or Samsung or MS are going to ship the first consumer device using NVM, and your storage performance tests are just going to look dumb because you're not simply not accessing the storage properly.
5 hours to charge? If you started a working day on this with a flat battery and worked on it for 8 hours, would the battery even have charged by the end of the day?
As an ipad pro owner (128GB wifi), I'll give my opinion after owning it for around 2 months and reading this review (plus many others before this one, none as detailed, the best so far had been that of notebookcheck) and 166 comments. I also own a Surface pro 3, a Surface 2, a galaxy note 8, an ipad air and ipad mini 2, plus a few convertibles and a few laptops (no Macs however, Windows only). As expected, in the comments there was the traditional battle full OS vs mobile OS. Microsoft has proven how hard is to make a full OS easy to use on a tablet (some people here don't seem to understand what a titanic effort would be making OSX and its app good for tablets). Of course MS itself cannot control most apps and impose a touch friendly version. They tried the route of a mobile OS with RT but unfortunately it failed. It has to be said that Metro itself had some serious shortcomings, like the lack of a decent touch optimized file manager, onscreen keyboard issues etc. It's not easy to transform a desktop OS into a touch optimized OS and I understand why Apple has not and certainly will never try to make OSX for tablets. Same for Google, they tried to make chrome for touch with pixel c, but gave up and used android. Having said that, let's come to why I bought the ipad pro (especially while owning an SP3). First of all, screen size, I wanted something bigger to display documents in true A4 size, and the additional inch plus the better 4:3 ratio achieve that. The alternative would have been the surface book, but it's too expensive for just this (and has too compromises to replace my asus ultrabook, let alone my desktop replacement). Second reason was IOS music apps. IOS is the only mobile platform that can be used to a decent extent professionally by musicians. And this is great for sound libraries that can be used for example directly on the music rest of a piano/keyboard while connected to it via midi. Or to replace a mixer etc, where touch is essential. You can do this on Windows tablets, but software is not well optimized for touch and you often need anti-piracy dongles etc. so that a single USB port is not enough. None of that is necessary on IOS. Ipad pro sound, the best for any tablet, makes it useful without having to plug an external speaker in some circumstances (ex hotel room for working on music creation). Also an Ipad pro can act as a secondary monitor with duet display. And at it's size it can become useful, contrary to other ipads. So to sum up, screen size (and quality), high quality touch apps (for use cases in which touch is very important) without need for antipiracy dongles (widespread for music software) and sound. And this without mentioning the pencil (I am not an artist and only need to annotate PDFs, and for that I use my SP3, so haven't bought the pencil yet or the keyboard for that matter). Now, the shotcomings of ipad pro: Lack of a kickstand (with variable angles), lack of a pencil holder. Both can be solved by spending another 80$ for a urban armor gear case, with which the ipad pro is still lighter than SP3 with type cover. Lack of a file manager. This can be solved (to a decent extend) by buying a software called imazing. That's another 40$ but gives you a proper file manager and the possibility to copy file and folders from a pc to ipad. Other than that, some apps allow to sync you dropbox folders to ipad. Lack of storage expansion. Again spend the money for the 128GB version. As for SP3, screen is reflective, but, as for SP3, a matt screen protector works great and make the screen even more beautiful (no fingerprints, colors look even better without reflections). IOS not optimized enough for 12.9 inches, yet. No solution yet, we can only wait for IOS 10. So, with money you can fix many of the shortcomings, but is the over 1000$ necessary for that, justified? I would say probably not yet. But by buying the ipad pro I made a sort of bet on Apple to optimize IOS for better multitasking etc. and on IOS developers to continue making pro apps (especially for music, in my case), while already taking advantage of what it already offers. And the sheer power of this machine, so far not completely used, should make it a future-proof device, much more than other ipads (ready for IOS 10, 11, etc and for new powerful apps). What about Surface pro 3? Well to be honest, other than for annotating, I use it mainly as a very portable laptop on the go (only bring the 14 inches ultrabook when out for several days) with a nice, but not absolutely necessary, touch screen and nice pen input for taking handwritten notes. So mainly as a very convenient laptop rather than a tablet (as probably most Surface pro owners do too). As a tablet for the bed or for checking emails etc. on the go, my android phone or one of my 8 inch tablets are the most convenient devices....
I had to copy that text block to an editor and insert paragraphs after all periods. You know, you can actually use paragraphs in a comment here...! ;-)
My own experience with the iPad Pro is generally consistent with yours, even though my usage differs from yours.
I've got the Pencil and it is indeed very, very good; Precise and with hardly any noticeable latency unless I crank up the size of the respective drawing tool. Because of the low latency and very little parallax aberration there's no need for an additional "hover cursor".
Charging time could be better but is usually bearable (especially when coming from an iPad 3 which could take up to 7 hours when completely drained!).
The iPad Pro is an excellent mobile TV, streaming radio and general music player whenever I can't have big speakers or headphones. No real bass, but still good range and very good volume at low distortions.
And it is near perfect for anything document-related due to its size: Unrestricted full-page use with documents is finally a reality! Also excellent for reading books, magazines or just simply the web.
I personally can write almost as fast on the virtual keyboard as on a desktop one, so I don't really need a physical keyboard for the iPad.
Gaming is also fantastic (pinball, Real Racing etc.).
Regarding the "Kickstand" I've found one that's near-perfect: Simple, sturdy, adjustable, compact (foldable and pocketable) and even pretty stable with the iPad Pro in portrait orientation. The iPad even fits into the stand with the normal Smart Cover (without keyboard) folded on its back. And yet I can leave the stand off when I don't need it. For me that's a near-perfect solution. And it's even cheap:
It's actually a China-made OEM product with no manufacturer specified on the box. It's just called "universal stand for tablet pc/smart phone" on the box. I'd expect that other distributors in other countries might have it as well.
I didn't say it, despite my long post, but I too use it as a mobile tv and for games like pinball, real racing, need for speed etc. And in addition to the case, I have several stands for portrait mode. Among them this from amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055CR9R0?psc=1&... (great for cable management)
As for the pencil, well here in Switzerland it's still no available....
In theory yes, but I think it's imported from the States as currently it costs around 160 EUR from Amazon France for instance. At this price I'll wait for it to be available locally.... Should be there in 2-3 weeks according to the apple store
I have an iPad Pro with a Pencil and Smart Keyboard. Here is my take. If you are a notebook power user, this won't replace it. Even I don't see it replacing my MacBook. However, if you are an artist, you'll love the Pencil. It's the same if you like taking notes.
With Office 365, a few other apps (iMazing or a decent Cloud service such as OneDrive or even iCloud with extra storage, GoodReader, OneNote or Evernote, this could easily be a road device for someone. Office is surprisingly useful, the screen is really nice, and the keyboard works better than I expected it. It feels nicer than the one on the new MacBook, but it isn't backlit (which is a negative). Hopefully iOS 10 opens up some new iPad Pro-only features to enable developers to take better advantage of the decent hardware.
I kind of disagree with the sentiment the iPad Pro is "the only game in town," when the Surface Pro clearly has a huge advantage when it comes to using legacy applications and other peripherals when it comes down to being a "Pro." For example, the Surface line still has a full fledged USB port on it, and that allows it to be used with a lot of 3rd party peripherals like USB instruments and other devices. Heck, even staying within the Apple ecosystem here, a full fledged Macbook laptop is still a better choice here, but then you sacrifice the whole appeal of a 2-in-1 device.
I'm not saying the iPad Pro isn't a great device. I'm sure it is, especially after reading the whole review. But it's still not going to sway me from choosing a Surface Pro 4 (or even a Surface 3) over something like this.
Completely agree. As a software consultant, I use my primary computer 12 hours a day. That computer has been the i7 SP2, i7SP3, and now the i5 Surface Pro 4. (Additional 2-3 hrs/day as a tablet in bed) Every version has been a God send. There is absolutely no way I could (or would) use the iPad Pro as my primary PC/Notebook. When you work in reality, the differences can be ignored.
I don't think anyone is saying that ipad pro is the only game in town. At least not me. As you can see I am a "multi-device" guy. I don't believe in one device for everything. And all my devices and synced via dropbox + onedrive + sugarsync.
I have several activities and a lot of what I do is done via a computer. No surface pro/book or other clone could replace my main device, the one I spend most time on and from which I am writing, a 17 inch quad core i7 with 16GB of RAM, 2 SSDs, 1 HHD, lots of ports etc. I am a heavy multi-tasker and 8GB or a dual core are sometimes not enough.
But my quad core stays at home and I also work on the go (teach at university, among other things) and travel, so I have my SP3 for when I work on the go and my 14 inch ultrabook for travelling (better on my lap and on a plane).
So each device has a role and I would never dream of replacing any laptop with the ipad pro... I think very few people buy the ipad pro with this objective. For what I use it for ipad pro beats SP3 on a lot of things (size, sound, weight, touch optimization) and that’s why I bought it.
Yeah, when backward desktop compatibility is the primary thing you need.
The whole point of contention her is that some people overgeneralize their own needs to apply to absolutely every professional user, which is simply not the case.
An iPad (Pro or otherwise) can very well be a professional tool, especially when flexibility of use, portability and ease of use are critical, but of course there will still be cases where other computers will be better suited. Just not exclusively any more by a long shot.
you won't find that kind of people (pure office workers who only need the office ecosystem and sync everything to the cloud and have no need for other software or usb ports) commenting on this review.
"I didn’t really notice that it had gotten significantly harder to handle in the hands than an iPad Air 2"... Are you kidding me? Find me someone else that agrees with this opinion. Every other review of the Pro notes that it's a bit unwieldy. I wish I could find another quality technical source for reviews other than Anandtech because the bias for Apple is gushing.
Most people who have handled mine have remarked how light it is relative to what they expected at its size, and that reflects my own impression as well.
Of course it's bigger and heavier than an iPad Air 2, but "harder to handle" is something I can't really get together with the actual device. It's just A4-sized like any ordinary paper magazine. If you can't cope with that, you must have major problems anyway.
I would say that the air you can hold it from one side for as long as you like, the ipad pro you'll probably want to hold it like a pizza if for more that a few seconds, but if you hold it like that you can hold it for long without feeling tired. That's not a big issue IMO.
Even prolonged sessions playing Real Racing for several hours (where it's held free without support with both hands because it also acts as the steering wheel) have not been a major problem yet.
Yes, holding it with one hand at one edge is not ideal, but it's just like a stiff A4 note pad in general. Not a big problem.
One great feature is that the microfiber back side of the Smart Cover sticks very firmly to any kind of fabric, so it's perfectly comfortable to cross my legs and put the iPad on my thigh, without touching it with my hands at all. It just stays there very securely (even on a train) as if glued in place.
Actually much more comfortable than any book or magazine I've ever read while sitting down (which you always have to keep from slipping away and from trying to close by itself).
It is also very useful when typing on my lap with the onscreen keyboard, where it also prevents the iPad from slipping all over the place.
I don't know if that was explicitly a design goal, but it's definitely a great advantage and one of the reasons why I can very much recommend the regular Smart Cover. (The one for my previous iPad 3 had survived four years of regular use with minimal wear already.)
You guys are a bit late reviewing this, no? Especially for a ipad that is the exact same thing, only a little bigger.....what a stupid idea,.....But of course idiots are gonna buy it cause its apple.
I'm buying it not because it's an Apple. It's the only one out there. Samsung had a 12 inch and they have discontinued it. As for Surface, I don't have a need for desktop apps on my tablet ( not yet ). If that makes me an idiot, so be it.
I am interested in iPad Pro because of the pen. Most of my tablets have active digitizer. I have never used iPad as there was no active digitizer available. I have a few Galaxy tablets before with active stylus. However below is my workflow. Please suggest if iPad Pro could handle my workflow. 1. I have 200+ email per day and my company's cloud is very limited. It is only 2 GB so I have to archive my email every 15 days. Now I am using Outlook client. I have to access my email from 2013 or 2014 from time to time. 2. My office works are mainly on Office suite either Word, Excel, PowerPoint. I need to copy content from one work (eg. Word) to another one (eg. Excel). 3. I use OneNote heavily and require to copy content from Word/Excel/PowerPoint to OneNote for note taking. 4. I use Outlook extensively for email, calendar and task. I prefer everything in one place and do not want to go to multiple apps to access those information.
Your workflow seems more typical of a laptop than of a tablet. It wouldn't be impossible to use the ipad pro, but it's definitely not the best device for that. A surface pro 3/4 (or even book) would be a much better option, especially if you copy and past a lot and (seem to) need the full office suite. Also if you want a fanless device, you have more options with similar devices such as the Lenovo Miix 700 and the HP Spectre X2.
Strange. There are no ms fanboys claiming, surface is better. Surface is better as a laptop, not as a tablet. Same go's for the iPad pro, the best professional tablet, not very good as a laptop.
From the final words: "Android has some pretty severe issues with making a tablet UI that is more than just a scaled-up phone UI". What exactly are these severe issues? As I understand it the main issue with Android tablets has been apps: few apps lead to few sales so few apps. Video works and is apparently huge in some places but for other apps Microsoft's Office is one of the few good tablet apps on Android... Not talking about the 7-8" tablets where phone UI is usually OK.
Not sure if this is why the article says that, but the iOS APIs make it very clearcut and simple to build a UI that adapts to tablets and phones in standard ways. Android provides some of the building blocks, but leaves you much more on your own for putting it all together. So, while it's actually easier on Android to build the UI that simply expands and shrinks for the screensize, providing two separate modes for tablet-size and phone-size is mostly up to you.
I am very interested in energy per calculation comparisons between the A9X and the Core M. Yes Core M will beat out the A9X from a power perspective but are both within the same power budget? If so then Intel has done some impressive work.
That's not even cut and dried. The Anandtech performance comparison leaves quite a number of question marks. It looks a lot as if some of the tests were written originally so autovectorization would work with known desktop compilers but LLVM for iOS just didn't catch on to it.
The drastic swings between the various tests are not very plausible otherwise.
Which makes that comparison utterly useless if that's the case. And that the testers didn't even bother to check the generated code is highly disappointing.
I just registered to post this but I have a question? How so cant you draw diagonal lines with a surface 3? I just tried it several times with and without ruler but they are flawless?
Surface diagonals: The MS N-Trig pen tech manifests a subtle but distinct anomaly when drawing slow diagonal lines in that the lines waver a bit. If you search on this you can see it demonstrated. It is a genuine defect in the current tech. For my use case it is not a concern. I use the pen extensively for interview and meeting note taking (and for light sketching for fun).
For my own purposes, the SP4 provides the most compelling overall device available on the market at this time: the power, form factor, desktop docking, OS and apps, ports, and pen when taken all together cannot be matched. It is my primary device every day all day.
At night when I just want to consume web, video, or music, I use an iPad Air 2. Perfect for that. I bought and returned an iPad Pro. I could never try to do production work on it. And it's price and bulk are not worth the beauty of its screen. So I'm keeping the Air for casual consumption. But for work its the SP4 (with a Toshiba dynaPad as a light backup).
I initially had pen issues at the edge with the SP4, but it was completely resolved for me by a pen calibration reset. The only thing left is the subtle diagonal - which does not impact me.
I also note that the iPad's palm rejection isn't perfect. It allowed my palm to make marks on the screen in OneNote, and it will register finger input as drawing from your "non pen hand" as well in some apps. And right now there's no way to switch off touch input while using the pen so you can grab it however you want. (Another IOS "protected garden" limitation.)
Nope. The Procreate app, for instance, ignores my fingers completely for any drawing tools but I can still simultaneously draw with the Pencil and operate the UI with my fingers (such as the opacity and size sliders, or the two- and three-finger undo/redogestures.
That bit about the "protected garden" is pure rubbish – iOS provides separate APIs for the Pencil and apps already make use of that.
By the way: Palm rejection (in apps where you can't disable finger touch drawing on the canvas) can be trained to some degree. if you're setting your palm clearly on the glass with a larger area touching the surface, it works best. Avoid just light touches with a knuckle of your pinkie finger, for instance (which is when palm rejection can't distinguish it from an intended finger touch), but actually fully rest your hand on the glass for drawing and trust palm rejection to filter that out.
Glad to hear that Procreate has done it right. Users will benefit greatly if other apps follow suit. Until they do (and many likely will not)
On my other point, I think it unlikely that Apple will either provide or allow others to provide (in the controlled garden of the app store) a utility that toggles the touch input off and on while using the pen. If you haven't used a pen tablet with this feature it may not be obvious at first. But many of those who do discover and use it find it to be a "game changer." All of a sudden your tablet can be handled like a physical piece of paper without any concern for unintended touch inputs. It is the first thing I install on a pen tablet. If iPad Pro had it the experience for me would greatly improve. But I predict that Apple won't allow it. But there is much to the iPad Pro to love no doubt.
Your theory is completely wrong. Apple doesn't "disallow" anything!
Any app can distinguish between passive finger touch and active Pencil dtection at their own discretion. The APIs already provide that distinction, and I have no idea where you get that idea from that Apple would have any interest to interfere with that.
Again: In Procreate I can simultaneously draw with the Pencil and during the same time move the size slider with a finger while the Pencil keeps drawing – there is no "toggling" of any kind.
It is purely on the application to decide how to treat fingers on the one hand (ahem) and the Pencil on the other – and both are clearly distinguishable at the same time!
It's only by default that the Pencil can also work like a finger if the app doesn't use the extra APIs so all apps immediately work with the Pencil without having to change anything. But their developers can distinguish the Pencil if they want to.
@Constructor "Apple doesn't "disallow" anything!" I'll allow the broader community to debate the historical veracity of your point. I've just heard countless stories of Apple's approval / rejection process for apps for years. If Apple allows anything (by not "disallowing") as you say, all the better. Would love it to be true. It's just not been what I've been seeing and reading since the inception of the app store.
My point was that, in my humble opinion, I don't believe there will never be a utility in the App Store that allows users to toggle touch off and on. This is now - for some of us - a desired feature in light of the appearance of the Apple Pencil on the market. But my estimate is that it just won't happen. You can argue that Apple won't allow it - or that too few would want it. Either way. But a small group (percentage wise) of pen tablet enthusiasts have learned to love having this capability on the Windows pen based platform. My experience with everyone who learns of it and tries it is "Wow" and once you use it, it is compelling.
I'd be ecstatic to be wrong on the idea of such an ability showing up on the Pro! I'd love to see it on the iPad Pro. We can only hope. It may convince me to buy one again and not return it. Perhaps I can overlook the limitations of using a mobile OS to do real work. Nah, probably not.
Regarding Procreate - I already said it's great that they've implemented what they have. My point about a toggle is distinct from your point about what Procreate has done. But it doesn't matter.
I'm not here to convince anyone - I was just sharing my experiences and insights.
@Constructor "Apple doesn't "disallow" anything!" I'll allow the broader community to debate the historical veracity of your point.
This is just a bunch of nonsense. Using the special Pencil APIs is not only allowed, but even desired and encouraged. It is in no way an impediment to admission of an app to the App Store. If anything, it's an advantage!
My point was that, in my humble opinion, I don't believe there will never be a utility in the App Store that allows users to toggle touch off and on.
Of course there won't be such a switch, because that would be a really bad idea.
Among the most obvious issues with it would be that if you lost your Pencil or if it broke, you would not be able to toggle such a nonsensically global option off again – the device would be bricked, effectively! The only way around that would be some clumsy, half-baked workarounds again. Blergh!
The Pencil is excellent for drawing and for a small number of other uses, but general touch ID operation is not its forte. Trying to handle the general UI with it feels strange, it is generally slower and less intuitive and actual multi-touch is of course not supported at all.
Which leads back to the original point: The implementation in Procreate is exactly how it's supposed to be done: Both finger touch and the Pencil are supported (and at the same time!), but it's individually configurable what exactly they can be used for in this particular (drawing) app. That's the way it should be, and that also provides the maximum effectivity as well: In Procreate the distinction provides the advantages of both finger and Pencil use, not forcing the user to abandon one for the other.
Examples: Two- and three-finger-taps within the drawing area are used to signal undo and redo, respectively. Zoom is also done with two fingers. But drawing can still be restricted to the Pencil alone.
A global toggle switch would only produce additional limitations and inconveniences. it would not be a positive.
And who's forcing you to do that every month, if at all?
Quite apart from varying incomes my iPad Pro will most likely serve me for several years. If I replace if after four years like I did with my iPad 3 (whose new owner still gets further update support from Apple) the cost per year will be around $250 or $21 per month. Most people can afford that without a problem, and many are paying more for more frequently replaced smartphones, just hidden in their pseudo-"subsidized" phone bill (which is actually just a credit payment plan plus a radio service charge).
I'm not saying that everybody should definitely get an iPad Pro (that's still a matter of needs and preferences), but given its likely useful longevity most people certainly could without breaking a sweat.
"With the right software, I can easily see the iPad Pro completely displacing traditional note-taking in light of obvious advantages that would come with OCR and digitizing notes for easy search."
This is true and has been for at least a year or two with the combination of a Surface and desktop OneNote, which does OCR, search indexing and even recording (tied to the notes so you can cue up the part of a lecture from when a particular note was made). I'd sell my spleen to send my SP4 back to myself as a college freshman.
If we just consider displacing pen and paper, while the ipad pro is lighter and larger than the SP4, but hasn't desktop Onenote, there is a much more interesting device for that, that was recently presented, the Dynapad, which is much lighter than both, but with a 12 inch screen, cheaper, and has full windows. Sure it has a CPU similar to the surface 3, rather than surface pro, but at that size and weight (lighter than even the 10.8 inches surface 3) it's the ideal device for note-taking.
The dynaPad (just delivered last Wednesday) provides an almost unbelievable note taking experience. Yes, the machine is underpowered, but it is worth it at this time to have a full windows 10 device that is fully loaded with production software and data - and is incredibly light and thin. It truly is the first to provide a real feel of a digital clipboard all while providing a full desktop OS. The Wacom AES pen has the best feel of anything on the market. And windows utilities allow for full control of the touch HID layer so that it can be on or off while using the pen. Simply amazing and ALL IN w pen and keyboard at $650.
Can't wait to see how well Samsung's TabPro S performs in this company next month. Great times for new, light, pen-based tablets with full desktop OS's!
The article spends a hell of a lot of time comparing this to irrelevant devices, you fail to put clear that this is the direct competition to the Surface Pro 4 of the same price tag, "I don't know why Apple decided to send a disgusting charger" come on, its cheaper.
Considering the review is about getting work done why not compare its productivity to its proper competition, after all, they are charging the same price for less storage.
Windows 10 on tablets has its learning curve but after that it's a joy -most of the time, there are still rough edges, updates have been fixing those- but those are tradeoffs for the unparalleled functionality. Nothing that justifies calling the Surface a "Laptop that can double as a tablet" its actually the opposite, I'm not saying this was a bad review or that this is a bad device by any means, but I believe it to be necessary to expand on iOS's so called Pro features when compared to similarly priced devices, like, once again, The Surface Pro 4 TABLET, there is a proper tablet UI mode where you won't experience problems with small targets that need a mouse while still retaining a significant amount of productivity.
Just my 2 cents, I feel like the subject was barely touched in the final words, still, great analysis as usual, keep these up.
I have to say I'm a bit confused by the large portion of this review comparing the iPad Pro to the Pixel C, all the while nearly neglecting the Surface Pro 4. You have a long section praising the pen experience with the Pencil, without a single comparison to the (included) Surface Pen? That's just weird. Sure, the SP4 runs a full desktop OS, but it's a far more natural comparison in terms of size, weight, power and compatible accessories. I get that not all of your reviewers can get access to every product, but for the sake of that part of the review, acces to a SP4 would have been essential.
I'm not defending this review necessarily, which is a bit odd and lacking in some regards, but there are various interesting Youtube demonstrations and reviews which make exactly that comparison.
What I miss in the discussion and review so far is the fact that google obviously does not yet support the higher resolution of the ipad pro for their apps. I wonder if there is intent behind that. It is very annoying as a user. Google is getting more and more important as a software/app provider but so far they have not been successfull with any of their hardware ventures (motorola, google glass, tablets, etc.). ipad pro would be perfect with working google apps.
Looks like Google doesn't want to be seen boosting the competition's platform even though that's where they make most of their money on mobile, ironically.
(Can't say I'd miss any of their software, though. Apart from an occasional picture search I'm not using any of it.)
Not that Apple is falling all over themselves in making software for other platforms either (even if they sporadically do, for their own purposes).
Which other pen with the same capabilities (zero-calbration pixel-precise resolution + pressure + tilt + orientation, near-zero latency, near-zero parallax) a) even exists and then b) does not need its own power supply?
The only way I would call this device "Pro" is if I could actually use it at work. I drive a bulldozer and, though I've tried, digging ditches with iPad Pro is terribly inefficient, and that's a problem that I don't see software makers fixing any time soon for a touch only device. Furthermore, the charging port has compatibility issues and would not accept the hose I use to refuel the bulldozer. To add insult to injury, you cannot sit on the iPad while using it! I couldn't help chuckling at the expectation that Apple apparently has for its consumers to either stand or kneel while SUPPORTING THE IPAD'S weight and trying to use it to move a mound of gravel at the same time.
Finally, I have found in my experiments that even adding a keyboard to this device does not solve the problem. I have tried both the Apple iPad Pro keyboard and a Bluetooth one I could use wirelessly while sitting on a stack of cement bags. iPad lacks the basic ability to self-propel around the construction site and requires me to carry it from one task to another.
Better luck next time, Apple! I will stick with my Caterpillar earthmover!
What I don't understand is the constant comparisons to the Surface Pro 3 - particularly in terms of the keyboard which changed quite significantly with the Surface Pro 4 (the pen also changed significantly).
I only owned the device for 3 weeks before returning it but i must say the apple pencil was fantastic. For my needs the ipad pro wasn't particularly any more "pro" than an ipad air 2 but combined with the pencil comes pretty damn close to being something special for graphics work though you are ultimately still not going to finalize/complete any work on it but you can get a hell of a start. File management sucks, like going around your ass to get to your elbow.
But back to the pencil, it is amazing when the app takes full advantage. Adobe sketch is not that great even pen optimized but procreate is a different beast. The pencil has no perceptible lag, something even my wacom pro pen on my cintiq 27qhd can't claim and has more accurate angle recognition and doesn't distort drawing on the edges of the screen. Procreated is the real deal and much better at exporting a complex psd's than adobe's own. Adobe Draw fared a bit better than Sketch as far as responsiveness to pencil. uMake is no solidworks and is too basic and weak for a $15 monthly subsciption app but it felt intuitive with the pencil.
I can wait for the pro 2, it will have a mature selection of apps by then and hopefully that newer version of ios will have better file management solutions. Man apple just needs to make a pencil compatible imac as well and stick it to wacom.
It's interesting to compare A9X and Intel M. I am wondering if Apple has any data to back up its claim that A9X is faster than 80% of portable PCs released in the past year.
I would like to see more info:
1. Die size: A9X is 147 mm^2 while is 99 mm^2. So Intel may have an advantage here. But I am not sure if we can come to the conclusion that Intel has a cost advantage. 2. Where's the GPU comparison? 3. I don't trust Intel's TDP claim. It's better to include that in your power consumption test.
1. Processes are different, as are the respective chip designs on the whole (including what's on the chips), so the physical size doesn't say that much.
2. In other tests. The A9X looks quite good in these.
3. TDP doesn't say much about actual consumption in real life anyway. It only says how much heat the cooling solution will have to move away at maximum. Battery usage can still vary substantially even at the same nominal TDP if – for instance – one of the chips can do "regular work" at lower power than the other. TDP comes only really into play when the chips are ramping up to maximum performance and try to stay there.
The CPU comparison part of this test is pretty sketchy. Not necessarily wrong, but likely disregarding crucial influences on the particular benchmarks (vectorization by the compilers being part of it).
Notice he said nothing about the iPad being better than the Surface, just that "...stop being a Fanboy" and "Surface Pro 4 wins" is ironic because you're following you plea for the reviewers (I assume) to stop being fanboys with some fanboyism of your own.
"Full OS" Drivers. Malware. Compatibility issues (install old piece of software, have it break new software). No low latency audio, audio not a priority. Any decent software is designed for mouse and keyboard, not tablet interface. For my purposes Surface is a waste of space. In fact we recently bought used a Surface 2 256GB for $100. Owner thought it was faulty. Wifi didn't work. Touch screen didn't work. Trackpad didn't work. Everything looked fine with the software config except there was malware. Wiped and reset up, works fine. But I can't use it for anything because the software I want to run isn't on Windows. The tablet ecosystem is elsewhere. Windows store is a joke. So it sits gathering dust.
There is lighting to USB, so what is your point? Lighting to hdmi adapter is available as well.. Lighting to memory card (with usb-3 speeds) is available Kickstand is build in in the keyboard or smartcover. Not everybody needs a pen, so why include it? I don't need USB, HDMI, SD-cards or kick stands. So why include it if you don't need it?
Keyboard is expensive indeed, but it's really good... Who needs backlit, at night you need to sleep I'm really annoyed by the trackpad on the surface, doesn't work when I want to, does work when I don't want to Function keys are on the screen if needed or can be swiped up, not as convenient, but I prefer the small depth of the keyboard. Why would I need to rest my hand? It rests on the table I'm writing on. Setup was really fast an easy, what is complicated?
The iPad is a tablet so therefore it runs a mobile os, it has great battery life, I can do everything I need to. I just can't OCR PDF's, that is the only thing I still miss.
I'm a professional a consultant, I can do everything I need to, so there it is, it's used by a professional and therefore an iPad Pro. Just as good reasoning as yours, I guess.
Is the iPad Pro for anybody? Absolutely not. It's expensive, others need more processing power or bigger/better/more complete software. But if you can get by with it, I t's really a good device and a really good experience!
Lighting to USB, lighting to hdmi adapter and lighting to memory card will cost you extra.
The Kickstand which was built in the keyboard is very difficult to set up and has limited positions.
"Not everybody needs a pen". This is not a reason to charge for extra money.
Despite you do not need usb, hdmi, it does not mean they cannot include it. Because a device is made having in mind the general needs and not a single person needs.
You call yourself a Professional and yet you say "Who needs backlit". It seems like everybody has a definition of a Pro device this days.
So you always write on a table?
Writting and tapping on the screen is tiresome, function keys make you more productive.
It is an illusion to believe that "included" items were in any way "free". In fact, for most people they would only pay more for stuff that they'd never use.
On the bottom line everybody would have to pay more and there would be more electronic waste. Only the few people who actually used those add-ons might(!) get away slightly cheaper. That's it.
But at least, they are not charging extra. If you consider Ipad Pro price you will notice that it is already expensive for what it is and what the majority of its Users will use it for. They are charging a lot for zero extra functionality.
I have paid a little more for my iPad Pro than for my iPad 3 four years ago, and the iPad Pro is again a much better tablet than the iPad 3 had been (and it was already a very good one!).
And I have paid extra for the Pencil which I actually wanted to use. Other users left the Penicl out and didn't have to pay for it. It's that simple and the way it should be.
So what exactly is the problem supposed to be with me paying for what I want to use, and others not paying for what they don't want to use? That's a really weird mindset from my point of view.
Funny you know so well what Apple should(n't) do. Did you look at the tear-down from iFixit on the Pencil? It has some nice, even wonderful, technology inside. It's not a "dumb" pencil that costs 50-65 bucks on a Wacom board and only holds a copper coil. (I know, yes, I'm exaggerating.)
I bought a power- adapter and it came with 4 different wall-plug-prong-thing-adapters. I just needed one, lots of companies do ship region/country specific these days. Did I pay extra for them? No. Did I pay for them? You bet. Even if it was just 15ct. But it's not just the 15ct, it's also the waste that was generated. Could Apple include everything to the iPad Pro, complete with kitchen sink? Yes. Would I appreciate it? Most likely not, don’t you think? I think most people wouldn’t appreciate it, they already have a kitchen sink.
As I wrote before, it is expensive. But it's not like it is a Louis Vuiton bag, Bugatti Veyron or golden Mont Blanc pen. And even if it is in the same category for you, why don't you buy an Android or Windows tablet? If you don't want the iPad Pro, don't buy it. If you can't buy it, I'm sorry for that, but it's not something that is going to be solved by grumbling on Anandtech.
One other thing. Am I a professional? Well, according to the Oxford dictionary: 1 Relating to or belonging to a profession: young professional people 1.1 Worthy of or appropriate to a professional person; competent, skilful, or assured: - his professional expertise - their music is both memorable and professional 2 Engaged in a specified activity as one’s main paid occupation rather than as an amateur
I pretty sure both 1.1 and 2 apply to me, so I guess I’m a professional. Being a professional I do have another life and while my professional life might keep me busy burning the midnight oil every now and then, I prefer to do so in a well lit environment. And at a desk or at the diner table or… It’s much better for your posture to sit upright and not slouch about. Try it! If I need to read large amounts of text, I snap the keyboard off and sit relaxed with just the tablet.
I do not think it is fair to compare and iPad pro with a Surface. The Surface has a full operating system while the iPad pro does not. To me a true iPad pro would pack a core processor and OSX. However, this would create a problem for Apple as it would take away sales from the MacBook Air line.
iPad already far outsells Mac line. And iPhone even more so. There are a billion active iOS devices in use. OS X and iOS share the same kernel and much of the same API's and frameworks. Except one is designed for touch, and the other for classic computing duties. This "full operating system" phrase I hear thrown about makes me laugh because Windows is still a pain to maintain and has no proper audio support, and requires constant hand holding. A secure, reliable, sandboxed Unox application platform (iOS) is far more productive for me.
Very informative review as usual! The performance of the A9X was certainly lower than what the initial hype indicated. Other aspects can basically be summed up by reading a dozen other not-so-informative reviews;) One thing is that AdobeRGB was not tested for, but from the looks of it the screen certainly doesn't cover it either, another aspect that's not as "pro" as Apple made it seem. That said, SP4 as well as MSB are too "consumer" too, in terms of color coverage.
Yes, pretty much, for any devices which have a metal case and no grounding lead on the mains power plug.
It depends on the circumstances, but basically it has to do with some very small residual capacitive coupling of the supply AC through the charger. Depending on your electrical installation it may go away when you just plug the charger in the other way.
But it's not dangerous (there is no actual connection to the power grid), just a minor inconvenience. It's not Apple-specific, though.
Funny comments here. If you like iOS and iPad, buy one. If you like Android or a Windows device, buy one of those. As for people making comments about less professional software for iOS - that's just crap. Just the medical industry alone has hundreds of pro apps, let alone aviation, product management, delivery, management services and more. If someone is so anti Apple, why are you wasting your time reading this article, go read about someone else's hardware.
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ddriver - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Should have named in iPad XL or something, this device will barely suit the need of any professional. Performance is good, but without supporting professional software, the hardware is useless.Coztomba - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
And why would anyone bother to make professional software if the hardware wasn't capable? They needed a starting off point to say "Hey we can produce the hardware to run pro apps on a iPad. It's only going to get better. Start developing!"ddriver - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
If anyone could stimulate software companies to do that, I guess that would be apple with its mountains of money and strong sales. They do have enough resources to do the software themselves.Mobile device hardware has been capable of professional workloads for at least 2-3 years. Nobody bothered to do it. Big software companies did not port their applications to ARM, instead they made cheap, crippled lesser versions. This is IMO a stupid move, they probably did this to promote their professional software to common folk, but it would have been more lucrative to bring professional software to mobile platforms.
There are 2 main issues with mobile platforms - memory and CPU performance. Modern software is very bloated memory consumption wise, especially software relying on managed languages, the latter are also significantly slower in terms of performance than languages like C or C++.
There is one big issue with legacy professional software - it originates back from the days developers were locked in platform specific application development APIs, so it represents a significant effort to port them to mobile platforms - essentially, most of the stuff needs to be rewritten.
But a rewrite in faster and more efficient language, taking advantage of contemporary technology such as OpenCL can easily bring professional software to mobile platforms at an experience as good as that of desktop workstations. Naturally, more efficiently written software will also run that much better on powerful desktop machines as well.
mr_tawan - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Not all pro are in the multimedia industry, you know :-).For most office workers, for instance, the only things they might need are notetaking (onenote), email (outlook), wordprocessor (word), and calendar (onenote). Most all tablet are capable to all of that, but it is a bit awkard to work with (due to the missing stylus, and not-so-comfy keyboard).
With iPad Pro which, well, address this issue in the same way as the Surface Pro by adding keyboard and stylus to the tablet. It's much easier to use the table extensively (rather than just browsing web and watching video, which is hardly described as a profession job). So I personally think that adding these two options could takes the iPad into the 'professional' realm.
I think that Apple would love to have iPad to complement MacBook (and Mac Pro), rather than to compete. If you need more power than just by Mac Pro :-).
ddriver - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Yeah, why use one device when you can buy and lug around two devices instead.melgross - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
There's actually quite a lot of professional software available on iOS, and has been for some time. I suppose if you do t use iOS, and so do t know what's a bailable, you can say that little is available, but it's simply not true. Microsoft itself had about two dozen professional apps on iOS. You really need to look through the App Store.ddriver - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
What would those 24 ("two dozen") professional microsoft apps be?Dave Bothell - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OWA for iPad, Sunrise Calendar, OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, OneNote, SmartGlass, Skype, Bing for iPad, Remote Desktop, Lync, Office 365 Admin, Intune, Azure Authenticator, Sway, SharePoint Newsfeed, Dynamics CRM, Dynamics Business Analyzer, Dynamics Time Management, PowerApps, Global Startup Directory. There's more, but you asked for 24.xerandin - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Smartglass isn't a professional app--it controls Xbox 360s or Xbox Ones, depending on which version of the app you install.dsraa - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
you forgot bing.....bing isnt a professional app either.ddriver - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
Bing is a professional application for every professional lamer. To the latter, the ipad "pro" is a professional product too.ddriver - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
LOL At most 2 or 3 of those could qualify for "professional" if one is inclined to be generous with the labels.Professional applications - photoshop, 3d max, maya, solidworks, coreldraw, indesign, visual studio, cubase, pro tools, after effects, fusion, z-brush, and so on.
10101010 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Yeah, I'm sure that's why the combined "hammer + screwdriver" tool market is just booming.ddriver - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Yeah, I am sure making good analogies is not your strong point.A more appropriate analogy would be those screwdriver kits with a single handle and interchangeable tips, saving you the effort to carry around 20 different screwdrivers, and those kits are GREAT ;)
But we aren't talking just any hardware here, we are talking computers, and general purpose at that, this is not the case of some special purpose hardware. This is a general purpose computer, and what it does is defined entirely by its software. Absent any software, it is just a paper weight, or a serving tray, absent professional software it is just a toy, intended to milk people out of their money.
lmcd - Tuesday, February 9, 2016 - link
I mean, a lot of the times they are bought in bundles ;)abazigal - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Possibly because there isn't a hybrid that is as good as a dedicated laptop and a dedicated tablet. You are essentially trading one set of compromises for another, and people's mileage will vary.ddriver - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
So a "hybrid" being 10% heavier and 10% thicker than a tablet, and 10% slower than a laptop justifies buying and carrying a tablet and a laptop instead of a hybrid?Obviously, a hybrid will be a little slower than a laptop and a little heavier than a tablet, but in many cases that is not detrimental. People should have the option to use their devices to the full extent of their capabilities, and whoever needs the extra horsepower will buy a laptop or even a desktop system instead.
I really don't understand how come people have such a big problem with maximizing a device capability and productivity? IN what way will the availability of professional software for iOS hurt you?
10101010 - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
I just don't see a "hybrid" being defined primarily by size, weight, or speed. If we look at a hybrid such as the "Surface Pro", it is defined mostly by its Windows 10 operating system. This is an insecure loaded-with-spyware-at-the-factory desktop OS that pretends to be a tablet OS, laptop OS, server OS, phone OS, etc. There are really no great Windows apps made specifically for a tablet (although a few work nicely with a pen/stylus). So at the end of the day what is a Surface Pro "hybrid" really? It is a desktop OS and a keyboardless laptop. It's marketed as "best of both" but really it is a Frankenstein computer made of parts that Microsoft sawed off other products.Contrast Microsoft's Frankenstein with the iPad Pro -- a tablet built to be a tablet that runs what is widely regarded as the most stable, secure, and highest quality mobile OS. And delivers the closest thing yet to "paper and pencil" functionality to the market. Your point about the professional software is right on. As the apps evolve for the iPad Pro and more professional apps become available, it will only expand what an iPad Pro can be used for, opening the tablet up to being useful for more customers.
ddriver - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
I am sure iOS is spying on users as much as Windows 10, after all, M$ was largely inspired by Apple in this regard. And unlike W10, you can't really disable it in iOS.Unfortunately, the lack of professional applications, whose UI is usable on a tablet is true, be those windows, android or ios tablets. I do acknowledge that the only reason windows tablets have the upper hand is they can run the good old legacy professional software, which is a pain in the ass to use without a mouse and keyboard.
It would seem that the industry is rather unimaginative, they keep releasing new versions of their professional products, but don't adopt a better paradigm for user interaction, one that would work equally well on a traditional desktop PC and a tablet. Software giants are just as lazy and unimaginative as hardware giants.
And it is not like it is impossible, it is well within the realm of possibility to adapt the UI for wider device usage without impairing productivity, if anything, a more clever design will make application interaction easier, a lot of the professional app UIs are a pain to work with, even with a mouse, and practically impossible to use with a touch device.
One of the projects I am currently working on is a graphical programming language / IDE, capable of producing commercial grade software, and it is equally useful on a desktop with mouse and keyboard and on a tablet or even on a phone with touch. It is 2-3 months away from public release, unfortunately due to apple's policies, I will not be publishing to their store, since they don't really allow the degree of freedom an application development tool requires. It will still be available for jail broken apple hardware.
Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
I am sure iOS is spying on users as much as Windows 10, after all, M$ was largely inspired by Apple in this regard. And unlike W10, you can't really disable it in iOS.That is just nonsense. Apple is very careful about looking at user data, and in fact they credibly follow the tenet "the less of your information we look at, the better!".
That is not how Microsoft is proceeding with Windows 10 – there they seem to go more the Google route.
xerandin - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
In what way did Microsoft saw Surface Pro parts off of other products? You know what's better than that "most stable, secure, and highest quality mobile OS?" For most people, that would be Microsoft Windows--even if they love to complain about it, you can't deny Microsoft's ubiquity in the Professional space (and home userspace, too, but we're trying to keep this in the professional sector, right?)I've heard a few people at work say that the sysadmins love Macs (it was a Director obsessed with his Macbook telling me this), but I can't seem to find any of these supposed Mac-lovers. It could have something to do that they're a nightmare to administer for most sysadmins running a domain (which covers the vast majority of sysadmins), or the fact that Mac users tend to be just as inept and incapable as Windows users, so you get to have another pain-in-the-ass group of users to deal with on a system that just isn't very nice to administer.
If you take off your hipster glasses for a moment and actually use computers in the world we live in, there's no way around the reality that Microsoft wins in the Professional space--including their beautifully made, super-powerful Surface Pro.
And no, I'm not a Microsoft shill, I just can't stand Apple fanboys with more money than sense.
gistya - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
Xerandin, you have no idea what you are talking about. 90% of the professional software development studios I work with are almost solely Mac based, for the simple reason that they barely need an IT department at all, in that case.Windows is technical debt, plain and simple. It's legacy cruft stuck to the face of the world. The only IT guys that hate Macs are the idiot ones who don't know bash from tsch and couldn't sudo themselves out of a wet paper box. Then there are the smart ones who know that a shift to such a low maintenance platform would mean their department would get downsized.
But so many companies are stuck on crap like SAP, NovellNetware, etc., that Microsoft could literally do nothing right for 10 years and still be a powerhouse. Oh wait.
Apple hardware is worth every extra cent it costs, and then some; if you make such little money that $500 more on a tool that you'll professionally use 8-12 hours a day for three years is a deal-breaker, then I feel very sorry for you.
But personally I think it's more than worth it to have the (by far) best screen, trackpad, keyboard, case, input drivers, and selection of operating systems. I have five different OS's installed right now including three different versions of windows (the good one, and then the most recent one, and the one that my last job still uses, which does not receive security patches and gets infected with viruses after being on a website for 10 seconds).
As for the iPad Pro, all of you fools just don't understand what it is, or why the pencil is always sold out everywhere, or what the difference is. As a software developer I can tell you that there is the most extreme difference; and that more development for iOS is being done now than ever before, and is being done at an accelerating pace. This is just version 1.0 of the large-size, pro type model for Apple, and those of us who did not buy it yet and who are still waiting for that killer app, are basically saying that well, once that app comes out, then heck yes we'll buy it. Do you seriously believe that no company will rise up to capitalize on that obviously large market? Someone will, and frankly lets hope it's not Adobe.
I regularly see iPad pros now in the hands of the professional musicians and producers I work with, and they are most certainly using them for professional applications. That's a niche to be sure, but everyone who thinks that the surface pro 4 (a mildly crappy laptop with a touchscreen that makes a bad, thick tablet and an underpowered, overheated laptop) is even remotely in the same category of device, is utterly smoking crack.
doggface - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
I think it might be you smoking the crack there mate. Cor, what a rant. Microsoft are pretty safe in enterprise and it has everything to do with managing large networks(1000s not 10s of computers.. Please, direct me to Apple's answer to sccm, please show me Apple's answer to exchange. Please show me an Apple only environment running 1000 different apps outside ofGoogle and Apple HQ. Just aint haopening.Constructor - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
IBM (yes, the IBM!) has just announced that they will switch over to Macs a while ago. And they're neither the first nor the last. Springer (a major german media company) had done that a while ago already for similar reasons (removing unproductive friction and cutting the actual cost of ownership due to less needed user support).I know that many people had imagined that Windows would be the only platform anyone would ever need to know, but that has always just been an illusion.
damianrobertjones - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
Link to the article please! They're THINKING of using Apple for mobile use... .Constructor - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
Nope. They're massively ramping up Mac purchases as well, with a target of 50-75% Macs at IBM. They are already full steam ahead with it:http://www.i4u.com/2015/08/93776/ibm-purchase-2000...
(Okay: The official announcements don't have that aspect, but an internal video interview with IBM's CIO leaked to YouTube makes it rather explicit even so.)
One of the motivators is apparently that despite higher sticker prices the total cost of ownership is lower for Macs (which is not news any more, but having IBM arriving at that conclusion still says something).
Oxford Guy - Wednesday, January 27, 2016 - link
Gartner said in 1999 that Macs were substantially cheaper in TCO.mcrispin - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
doggface, you speak with confidence where that confidence isn't deserved. I've managed deployments of OS X way over 10k, there are plenty of places with deployments this high. JAMF Casper Suite is the "SCCM of Apple", I don't need an "Apple" replacement for Exchange, 0365 and Google are just fine for email. There are plenty of non-Apple/Google Apps for OS X and iOS. You are seriously misinformed about the reality of the OS X marketplace. Shame that.Ratman6161 - Wednesday, January 27, 2016 - link
mcrispin...sure you can find individual shops that have done big MAC deployments. but its anecdotal evidence. Its like looking at one neigborhood in my city and from that conclude that trailer parks are the norm in my city of 15,000.Take a look at this Oct 2015 article on Mac market share (I'm assuming you dont consider Apple Insider to be a bunch of Microsoft shills?) http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/10/08/mac-gain...
While touting how Mac is gaining market share they show a chart where in Q32015 they were at 7.6%. The chart is by company and even smaller Windows PC vendors Asus and Acer are at 7.1 and 7.4 respectively. Throw in Lenovo, HP and Dell at 20.3%, 18.5%, 13.8% and the 25.3% "others" (and others are not MAC's because Apple is the only company with those).
So IBM is doing 50 - 75% Mac's? OK Ill take your word for that but so what? In the larger scheme of things Apple still has only 7.6% and selling some computers to IBM isn't going to siginificantly change that number. Also, don't forgot that some companies (that compete with Microsoft in various areas) will not use a Microsoft product no mater how good it was.
No matter how you look at it, Windows is the main stream OS for busineses world wide. Touting the exceptions to that doesn't cange the truth of it.
Constructor - Wednesday, January 27, 2016 - link
Of course most workplace computers now are PCs. The thing is just that Macs are making major inroads there as well.$25 billion in Apple's corporate sales are already very far removed from your theory (and that's even without all the smaller shops who are buing retail!).
MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
There is one reason for that: most PCs are just cheap computers compared to Macsddriver - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
"90% of the professional software development studios I work with are almost solely Mac based"That has got to do with the urban legend, begot during the time of apple's pathetic "mac is cool, pc is for dorks" ad campaigns. Ignorant people with no tech knowledge genuinely believe the macs are a good deal. And while the hardware is OK, it offers too little value for the cost, software is... meh... more professional grade products run on windows than on macos. There aren't any notable macos exclusives, there are some professional products which do not support macos.
The ipad "pro" software wise doesn't offer anything on top of the regular ipad, the same cheap, crippled, rudimentary applications. It is a little bigger and has a pen with the world's lamest charging implementation, that's about it.
There is no software for the ipad a professional musician or produced could use, the apps which exist for that platform and light years behind the professional software you can run on a windows tablet. None of the professional DAWs, editors, synthesizers, effects or samplers are available for the ipad. Usually the companies which make such professional products have offer very basic and very scaled down versions of their flagship products, far below the requirements of professionals, really only suited for amateur beginners.
That pretty much sums the ipad "pro" - it is a product for "professional" amateurs :)
iOS is a walled garden, apparently, because apple deems its "smart user base" too dumm to deserve freedom and flexibility. And professional apps need that much as professional users do. Even if there are professional apps, they sure as hell won't be available on the apple store, and would require to root your device and void its warranty so it can be used.
"but everyone who thinks that the surface pro 4 is even remotely in the same category of device, is utterly smoking crack"
DO'H, of course they are not, the surface pro is a real professional computer inside a tablet, the ipad is a hipster/child toy inside a tablet.
Constructor - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
This is exactly the same type of argumentation that tried to "prove" that personal computers had to be "useless toys" – no, that graphical user interfaces were only for "useless toys" – no, that those silly laptop computers could only be "useless toys" – no, that touchscreen smartphones without hardware keyboards could only be "useless toys"...And now, after all these prior predictions have already crashed and burned, tablets are your last and only remaining hope that your oversimplified conclusions from your own preconceived notions might maybe not share the same fate.
Good luck with that! B-)
darwiniandude - Monday, February 29, 2016 - link
iOS and OS X are low latency end to end, with built in audio hardware. Windows is not. iPhone 5s, iPad Air1, iPad mini 2, onwards, can record from 32 simultaneous inputs onto separate tracks with ease till their disk is full. And it's 100% solid. There is much capable and professionally usable iOS music software. And robust plugin and Interapp audio communication logins.jlabelle - Thursday, January 28, 2016 - link
"the surface pro 4 (a mildly crappy laptop with a touchscreen that makes a bad, thick tablet and an underpowered, overheated laptop)"Strange way of seeing things when the surface Pro 4 is pretty much : 1/ the thinner laptop existing
2/ the higher end version is like several order of magnitude more powerful than the MacBook and 3/ it has the same Intel processor as most over high end laptop and overheat the same way and it has an option of having a fanless / staying cold core M if this is your thing
darwiniandude - Monday, February 29, 2016 - link
Music applications iOS is the only game in town. Windows doesn't have low latency except if you use external audio hardware. Many PC notebooks even then cannot achieve low latency due to design flaws. A client recently bought an AUD$3500 Alienware purely for running Tracktor. Spent 6 months trying everything including reverting to Win7. It just crackles and jumps. I worked in the music industry building audio PCs for 8 years and I had a look over the system and tried everything. No dice. I told him it won't work. He bought an AUD$2500 MacBook Pro, installed Tracktor, works faultlessly. Of course.The issue here is more the Alienware craptop where audio is no priority at all, than Windows. Windows has the horrible burden of trying to support every combination of everything. I know this. But for some professional allocations there is no way I'd ever run a Windows system anymore.
Look at anyone performing live with music. It's all Mac / iOS. The sound engineer guys will use a PC laptop because of the old editor utilities for audio equipment needing RS232 etc, but the music you hear is coming off Apple gear.
leemond - Thursday, February 11, 2016 - link
you took the words right out of my mouth! throughout reading this article i cannot fail to see the thinly veiled adoration for Apple held by the author and it is telling in the way he wields the pseudo negatives statements against the product. i was expecting an unbiased fair appraisal of this product but what i got was the Apple store salesman dressed up as an annnandtech reviewer. This product is simply two things the original iPad is not, 1) bigger and 2) has a pencil....not revolutionary and also not that impressive a feat....apple have lost the wow factor that won them so many new customers and they only have these fanboys left to applaud fanatically like a north Korean Army officer listening to KJU..Constructor - Friday, February 12, 2016 - link
Your own post positively reeks of a fanaticism which is simply absent in the article outside of what you're projecting into it from yourself.Major and remarkable features are:
• A highly advanced CPU which has effectively closed the gap to Intel's Core i architecture at comparable TDP.
• The Pencil which is at the very least among the best on the market.
• A crazy-good speaker system for its size class which actually makes listening to music or watching movies enjoyable.
Beyond that, yes, it is "just" a bigger, faster, better iPad, but as long as you're not looking for an awkward hybrid device, that's actually a plus.
jlabelle - Thursday, January 28, 2016 - link
It is utterly non sense. W10 is not more or less "insecure loaded-with-spyware-at-the-factory desktop OS" as OS X.If you want to have the same "secure" experience as an iOS tablet, just install only applications from the Windows Store and it will be the same. If you want to use more powerful program or software that do not exist in the Store, you must like OS X take care of installing them from a reputable source. Nothing complicated.
Also, this is also utterly ridicule to claim that there are no good Windows Store app. There was examples given on the previous pages. There are plenty and you know that. You have ven some which are still quite unique like Polarr or DrawboardPDF.
I know Apple users have a hard time (and the reviewer as well) understanding that having an Apple tablet and an Apple laptop OS is even more a Frankenstein experience than having only ONE OS with ONE UI, able to run ALL type of applications and able to support ALL type of inputs so you can choose what is best for the task at end.
People consider that EVERY tasks that you have to do with a tablet is best without keyboard or mouse or pen. This is simply not true. Typing a long text with the on-screen keyboard is an exercise in frustration.
Also people consider that EVERY task on a laptop is best without touchscreen or pen. This is also wrong. Annoting a PDF, surfing the web, manipulation by hand an object of a webpage is much easier with touch or pen.
Having to go back and forth between 2 different devices that have silos input method IS what is a Frankenstein experience in my view.
And last point, the Surface has provided a "paper and pencil" experience since 3 years, much prior Apple and is still providing a top notch experience, with a pen autonomy of more than 1 year, interchangeable tip and great performance.
MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
Wrong because you said so ?Surface are just half baked solutions to a non existent problem. There are tasks where I require a tablet and tasks where I require a notebook. I don't want an half baked solution not good as a tablet nor good as a notebook....
MathieuLF - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
Obviously you don't actually work in a real office where they require lots of specialized software. What's the point of having one device to complement another? That's a waste of resources.LostAlone - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
Totally agree. For a device to really be useful on a professional level then it needs to be something that is useful all the time, not just when it suits it. If you already wanted a tablet for professional stuff to begin with (a pretty shaky assumption since pro users tend to be working in one place where proper keyboard and mouse are usable) then you need a tablet that can be the only device you need to work on. You need something that you can put in your bag and know that whenever you arrive somewhere you are going to have every single tool you need. And that is not the iPad Pro. It's not even close to replacing an existing laptop. It's certainly very sexy and shiny and the big screen makes it great for reading comics and watching videos on the train but it's not a work device. It's simply not. Even in the only field where it might have claim to being 'pro' (drawing) it's not. It's FAR worse than a proper Wacom tablet because the software is so hugely lacking.It's an iPad dressed up like a grown up device laying in the shadow of actual professional grade devices like the Surface Pro. You get a Surface then you can use it 24/7 for work. You can buy a dock for it and use it as your primary computer. You can get every single piece of software on your desktop plus anything your employer needs and it's easy for your work sysadmins to include it in their network because it's just another Windows PC. Just dumb stuff like iPads refusing to print on networked printers (which happens ALL the time by the way) exclude it from consideration in a professional space. It's a great device for traditional tablet fare but it's not a pro device.
Constructor - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
Your straw man scenarios are just that. In reality most users don't need every last exotic niche feature of any given dinosaur desktop software as a praeconditio sine qua non.Which you also might be able to deduce from the fact that most of those features had not been present on these desktop applications either when "everybody" nevertheless used them professionally even so.
In real life the physical flexibility and mobility of an iPad will often trump exotic software features (most bread-and-butter stuff is very much supported on iOS anyway) where the circumstances simply call for it.
Actual professionals have always made the difference notably by finding pragmatic ways to make the best use of the actual tools at hand instead of just whining about theoretical scenarios from their parents' basements for sheer lack of competence and imagination.
kunalnanda - Wednesday, January 27, 2016 - link
Just saying, but most office workers use a LOT more than simply notetaking, email, wordprocessor and calendar.Demigod79 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Software companies only create crippled, lesser versions of their software because of the mobile interface. Products like the iPad are primarily touch-based devices so apps must be simplified for touch. Although the iPad supports keyboard input (and have for years) you cannot navigate around the OS using the keys, keyboard shortcuts are few and far between and and it still has touch features like autocorrect (and of course the iPad does not support a trackpad or mouse so you must necessarily touch the screen). The iPad Pro does not change this at all so there's no reason why software companies should bring their full productivity suite to this device. By comparison, PC software developers can rely on users having a keyboard and mouse (and now touchscreens as well for laptops and hybrids) so they can create complex, full-featured software. This is the primary difference between mobile and desktop apps. Just like FPS games must be watered down and simplified to make them playable with a touchscreen, productivity apps must also be watered down to be usable. No amount of processing power will change this, and unless the iPad Pro supports additional input devices (at the very least a mouse or trackpad) it will remain largely a consumption device.gistya - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
This is just wrong. There are many fully-fledged applications available on iPad. It comes with a decent office suite, plus Google's is free for it as well. I haven't touched MS Word in a couple of years, and when I do it seems like a step backwards in time to a former, crappier era of bloatware.Sure, I still use Photoshop and Maya and Pro Tools on my Mac, but guess what? iPad has been part of my professional workflow for four years now, and I would not go back.
Ask yourself: is a secondary monitor a "professional tool"? Heck yes. What about a third or fourth? What if it fits in your hand, runs on batteries, and has its own OS? Now you cannot find a professional use?
Give me a break. People who are not closed-minded, negative dolts already bought millions of iPads and will keep buying them because of how freaking useful they are, professionally and non-professionally. They will only keep getting more useful as time goes on.
The main legit critique I've heard is a lack of availability for accessories but that's a production issue, not a product issue. iOS 9 has been out for only a few months and the iPad Pro much less than that... companies have to actually have the device in-hand before they can test and develop on it. Check back in another year or two if it's not up to speed for you yet though.
That's what I did, waited for iPad 3, iPhone 3gs before I felt they were ready enough. 3gs for its day was by far the best thing out, so was the 4s. I don't think the iPad Pro is nearly as far back as the iPad 1 or iPhone 1 were when they launched but give it time...
xthetenth - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
If you consider features to be bloat, I guess you could say that the iPad has full-fledged applications. It's not true, but you could say it. Actually trying to do even reasonably basic tasks in google sheets is horrifying next to desktop Excel. Things like straightforward conditional formatting, pivot tables, the ability to dynamically order the contents of a table and so on might strike you as bloat but they're the foundation of the workflows of people who make the program the cornerstone of their job. An extra monitor is a much better professional tool if it doesn't have its own special snowflake OS with different limitations and way of moving data.Relic74 - Saturday, February 27, 2016 - link
The fffice suits available aren't fully fledged applications, they are still just mobile apps. I can't open 80% of my Excel sheets on the iPad Pro simply because it doesn't support Macros. Visual Basic and Databases. Stop trying to convince everyone that the iPad Pro is a laptop replacement, it's not. It's just a bigger iPad, that's all. Which is fine and has it's uses, but the only people who would use the iPad Pro as an actual computer are the same ones who could get by using a ChromeBook. A professional person could use the iPad Pro, yes but they would have a focused purpose, which means only a few specific apps, the rest of time would be spent on a desktop or laptop computer. It's a secondary device.Relic74 - Saturday, February 27, 2016 - link
Their not crippled, just mobile versions and they have their uses. The problem I have with these comments is when someone says that the iPad Pro is immensely better than the Surface Pro 4. These are completely different devices intended for completely different tasks. These comparisons honestly need to stop, one doesn't buy a Surface Pro 4 to use as a tablet and vice versa. The iPad Pro is a content consumption device first and foremost. Yes there are some productivity apps and certain professions like a musician or an artist could take advantage of the iPad Pro's capabilities however it is not and I cannot stress this enough, is not a laptop replacement . Those that can use the iPad Pro as a laptop are the same types of people who can just as easily get by using a ChromeBook. The iPad Pro is a secondary device where as the Surface Pro is a primary device.IOS is just to limited in it's capabilities to be even considered as a standalone professional device. No, an Architect would not use the iPad Pro to design an house with, the Architect might use one to show off the plans to a client, mark down corrections with the Pencil. No, a programmer would not use the iPad Pro to develope on, he however might use one to create an outline of what needs to be done or even as a second monitor for his laptop. No, a musician would not use one to create his album with, he might use one as the brain for one of his synthesizer, a recording device, instrument, etc. it's a companion device, it's an iPad, nothing wrong with that but stop trying to convince everyone that it's some super computer with fantasy powers. Just the file system issue alone should be enough to tell you that the iPad Pro isn't really meant for connect creation.
FunBunny2 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
-- Modern software is very bloated memory consumption wise, especially software relying on managed languages, the latter are also significantly slower in terms of performance than languages like C or C++.well, that was true back in the days of DOS. since windoze, 80% (or thereabouts) of programs just call windoze syscalls, which is largely C++.
ddriver - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
So in your expert opinion, all programs do is syscalls? No application logic, no application data? LOLAlso, API calls are NOT syscalls. Syscalls are requests to OS kernel, API calls are just regular calls to a library. Fundamentally different things.
FunBunny2 - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
-- Fundamentally different things.exactly the same: your not writing active code, but calling out to somebody else's code to do the work. in neither case does it matter what you're source language is, from a performance point of view. there's a reason that java mostly beats C++ these days.
Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
The main reason for that is the "well, it's fast enough, and if not we'll compensate with CPU upgrades" mentality in many projects.gistya - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
Why are we talking about Java and C++ here? Just curious.I recently worked on Google's j2objc project and it's pretty freaking slick. You can translate Java code into Objective C that compiles and runs pretty flawlesly on an iOS device, and it's fast. It's not emulated, it's actually a port of Android's core libs right into Objective C. Amazing work.
I started working with Swift recently and it's pretty cool itself. Apple's answer to C# and Java, basically. I like that they released it free and open source for Linux. It's weird to program in until you get used to the weird memory management stuff but, hey, code runs so much faster without garbage collection.
ddriver - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
Objective C is an atrocity. Moving away from it in favor of swift is one of the few moves apple can be commended for.Apple have taken advantage of native code, which has resulted in better user experience than android, even when their hardware was mediocre. Because native code is way better than java.
Relic74 - Saturday, February 27, 2016 - link
Developing apps that take advantage of the iPad Pro's hardware is just the tip of the iceberg. iOS needs a complete overhaul as in it's current state it's lacking just to many features to be considered anything approaching a Pro OS.The iPad Pro is my first iOS device, I've played with them over them years but I never really liked iOS, it just always felt extremely restrictive to me. When the Pro came out with iOS 9.2 I was intrigued and started to read up on it, the reviews were solid and everyone I talked to who owned one, really liked them. So I made the plunge and bought one for myself. Now I already have a tablet, the new Pixel C in which I really like, even though the reviews on that haven't been so super. The biggest complaint was that Android isn't really a productivity OS. I found it to be quite the opposite, it's an extremely capable machine. So when I read that the iPad Pro is pretty decent on productivity tasks, I thought well if they thought the Pixel C wasn't up for the task and it is, than the iPad Pro must be something special.
It's not, every reason why I avoided iOS all of these years is still present in the latest version, every single one. As I use CodeEnvy, a cloud based IDE to do most of my programming, I assumed the iPad Pro would be able to handle to handle my work flow. It's nothing outrageous what I'm doing or expect, simply using the CodeEnvy app, Prompt 2 (a terminal app) and Chrome. I also needed Excel to calculate trade PNL's. Within the first hour of using the iPad Pro it was more than apparent that it just wasn't meant for productivity work or at least nothing on the level that I required and didn't come lose to the Pixel C's abilities.
First, I needed to run the terminal app in the background, compiling apps can take a while, plus I run scripts and monitoring applications. However after 3 minutes iOS would terminate it's connections. After some research it seems only about 1% of the apps in the App Store can actually run in the background for extended periods of time, mostly GPS and music apps. Than their was the problem with app resolutions, more than 80% of them I had installed didn't support the iPad Pro's resolution. So again after some research it seems only about 10% of the apps available actually support it's resolution, these unsupported apps also use another keyboard, one that is extremely basic and missing many of the features of the systems default. Now, app developers are working on this problem but the real problem, which is that apps in iOS are resolution independent in the first place just isn't a good idea. However it seems that their is no other way to do it because of this so called Walled Garden Paradigm.
Apps in iOS are basically islands and in some weird way are even like OS's themselves, they basically have to fend for themselves With little contact to actual system except through hacks, okay, API's but it sure sounds like a hack to me. So every time a new feature is added to iOS app developers have to manually update their code to support it. Which brings me to the next issue, dual app view, only about 120 apps or so support it, again, we have to wait for the app developers. Now I'm not saying Android is the better option for any of you, it's all about preferences but when I enabled the dual app view feature in Android 6.0, every app from that moment on supported it. Further, every app I have installed into my Pixel C supported it's resolutions. When I connect a monitor to it, everything is supported, resolution, aspect ratio, I can even change the DPI to make it look more like a proper desktop UI and it supports extending the desktop, not just mirroring. Since the Pixel C has a USB C, I'm using the same port-replicator I bought for my MacBook 12" which has, HDMI, SD Card reader, 2 USB 3, mini USB and Ethernet, connecting a display to the Pixel C couldn't be easier. When I connected my monitor to the iPad Pro it looked like complete crap, black bars, the DPI was so large it looked like a child's toy and it just supported mirroring which absolutely sucks because you can't have two monitors.
File system or should I say lack of because except for iCloud, iOS doesn't have one, it depends on it's apps to manage them. This is absolutely ridiculous and frankly Apple should be ashamed of themselves for leaving it this way for the last 8 years. Dealing with files in iOS is a complete nightmare. Every time I grab a file from the cloud I end up creating at least 4 copies of the same files because when you send a file to an app, it sends a copy, leaving the original in the app your sharing from. So keeping track of which file is the latest version is impossible. Why am I sharing in the first place, on every single mobile device I've ever used, the sharing feature was used to send content to an online source, never was it used as a method to manage files, especially not as the primary method. Also I have yet to have seen an app that can Share to every compatible app installed, their always missing apps in the share list, why because unlike Android which creates it's Share lists dynamically on a system level, the app developers for iOS apps have to manually create a Share profile, which means apps can pick and choose which apps they want to support. When you install the DropBox client, every app that can create a file from that time on should be able to Share to it, period. Instead we have to wait for the app developers for everything in iOS. People say that Android is fragmented, fine but so is iOS, except in it's case, it's the apps that are fragmented. Anytime a new feature is added, every app should automatically be able to do it because the system manages it, not the apps.
The keyboard, I first bought the Apple keyboard, however I really didn't like the way it felt to type on, I missed having the function keys and the biggest issue, no backlite, something I simply cannot live with out as I type at night in bed a lot. It also doesn't provide any protection so I had to buy the hard case, 200 bucks + for a mediocre keyboard. So I bought the Logitech, a much, much better typing experience however there is one problem that became hugely apparent while using it. I wanted a mouse, not every time, just when the keyboard was connected. Why, well like Tim Cook said about notebooks with touchscreen's being a failed idea mostly do to poor ergonomics, the user has to constantly reach up to navigate the UI (get's old real quick), the iPad Pro, ironically, falls under the same category. Foot in mouth next time Tim, I'm sure you didn't realize at the moment that you were also talking about the iPad Pro but it's the same exact thing.
The Pencil, I'm not an artist so I can't really say if it's good or not. The one thing I do know is that I can't use it throughout the system. Something I desperately wanted to do, so in the drawer it went, instead I use a Wacom, has pressure sensitivity, palm rejection and writes great, no lag. In fact I can't tell the difference between the two when using apps like EverNote, Bamboo Paper, OneNote, etc. the iPad Pro is a finger print magnet, I just wanted a stylus to navigate the UI with, also without a mouse the Wacom is the closest thing I can get, works a lot better with it than without when using the keyboard, that's for sure. Is there an actual Apple device available without compromises, there is absolute zero excuse for not allowing the Pencil to function throughout the system. This idea that the iPad Pro is a touch device only completely fell apart the second Apple made the Pencil and keyboard, two accessories that break this touch only paradigm. The only reason why Apple is doing this is to save a little face from all these years of saying the stylus is garbage. This is also why I'm pissed that Pro doesn't have mouse support. The OS certainly supports it by the way, my brother has an iPad Air 2 which is JailBroken and he installed mouse drivers just fine, works great.
There is potential here, however even with great apps the blatant problems in iOS prohibit it from ever becoming a proper productivity tool. Now I fully realize that there are plenty of people that get by just fine with using the iPad Pro, I'm just not one of them. The Pixel C is a much more capable machine for what I do, I have every app that I need which by the way are the same exact apps I had installed on the iPad Pro so I don't get this, no apps for Android tablets thing, I have over 60 apps, all of them look and perform great. In fact, they actually look better on the Pixel C because they all support it's resolution. I have a stylus, the same Wacom. I use for the iPad Pro. I have an actual file-manager with all of my files in a single area, organized by folders. I can access my firms secure NAS drive using Open ID, I have all of my cloud storage, other computers, external HD's and FTP servers mounted as local assets, so when I click on save, the file is saved directly on whichever remote storage I choose. None of that, click on Share BS. When I'm editing a file and need to use more than one app, each app uses the same exact file, no creation of multiple files from Sharing, just open, edit, save, go to other app, open, edit, save. I can find any file in less than a minute, I can find every file that contains a persons name inside of the files In less than a minute. I tried to do this in iOS, I just gave up, finding files in iOS is like trying to find Noah's Ark in Turkey. Zipping and sending files in iOS, well, just also sucks, hopefully the files your sending aren't located in more than 2 apps. I use the Pixel C as a desktop computer as it has mouse support and looks great when connect to a monitor with extending desktop capabilities. Since I can run Linux desktop applications and quickly mind you, it actually makes for a decent desktop machine, however I just purchased an Nvidia Shield TV, installed Arch Linux on it and am now using that as my desktop computer. The performance of the Pixel C was so good when running Linux apps that the Shield TV was a no brainier. Yes, there are GPU drivers for it, in fact my CUDA applications work great on it. I can encode a video file using the GPU to compute faster than most laptops using their CPU's.
Write now I am compiling an app in the background, while downloading a 20GB .rar file to a connected HD, while streaming a movie directly from OneDrive without having to download it first, to my sons TV in his room, I have Gimp running on my monitor as I was editing a picture, (I'm running Arch Linux in a Chroot under Android, to use applications I just start them up through an X-Terminal, works great), while I'm typing this up in Chrome on the Pixel C itself. The iPad Pro doesn't come close to that level of multitasking, running two apps in a split screen view is a nice feature however I would give it up in heart beat to be able to run any and all apps in the background.
I'll end it here, the iPad Pro is still just an iPad, it's not a laptop replacement, it's not a productivity machine, it's an iPad. A content consumption device, just with a larger display. Those wanting one, wait, at least until version 2 comes out. There are just tom any issues that need to be worked out and most importantly, no apps that really take advantage of it.
boozed - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
MaxiPad, surely.definitelyReal - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Lolxerandin - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
You win this comments section. Not really worth much, but it's better than the guys in here defending a product that has left most of everyone everywhere completely nonplussed.Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Ideologue, much?I've simply bought it because I wanted to use it, and I do. Every single day. And it is fantastic.
If you're "nonplussed" by it, you're likely asking the wrong questions to begin with.
MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
Reality check: the "nonplussed" product sold more than the well established surface pro in the last quarter.... So maybe you are just expressing YOUR opinion, and not "everyone's "....lilmoe - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
The performance is "great" for iOS, FTFY. It would suffer on anything "Pro"....ddriver - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Performance is better than a high end workstation from 10 years ago, a system which was capable of running professional tasks which are still nowhere to be found on mobile platforms. And it has nothing to do with performance. It has to do with forcing a shift in the market, from devices used by their owners to devices, being used by their makers to exploit their owners commercially. And professional productivity just ain't it. Not content creation but content consumption. People flew in space using kilohertz computers with kilobytes of memory, today we have gigahertz and gigabytes in our pockets, and the best we can do with it is duck face photos. That's what apple did to computing, and other companies are getting on that train as well, seeing how profitable it is to exploit society, it is in nobody's interest to empower it.Phantom_Absolute - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
I just created an account here to say...well said my friendlilmoe - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
I was trying really hard to understand what you were trying to say.Computers didn't get us to the moon. They sure helped, a LOT, but it was good ole rockets that did.
Anyway, point is (and I exaggerate), even if you shrink the latest 8 core Xeon E3 coupled with the fastest Nvidia Quattro into a 3-5W envelope and stick in an iPad, it won't make it anything close to a "Pro" product. It's about overall FUNCTION.
An iPad "Pro" with a revamped version of iOS, more standard ports, and a SLOWER SoC would be a much better "Pro" product than what we have here.
Even Android sucks for Pro tablets. Only Microsoft has a thing here.
ddriver - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
What I am trying to say is mobile hardware IS INDEED capable of running professional workloads. Of course it won't be the bloated contemporary workstation software, but people have ran workstation software on slower machines than that, and it was useful. So yes, this device has enough performance for professional tasks. There is no hardware lacking, only the software is.I can assure you, no matter how many rockets you have, you will never reach the moon absent computer guidance. The rocket is merely power, but without control, power never constructive and always destructive.
lilmoe - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
"There is no hardware lacking""The rocket is merely power, but without control, power never constructive and always destructive"
You seem convinced that you can be productive on a screen with only a fast SoC attached. I don't know where to start.
With all due respect, your analogies are ridiculously irrelevant (hence why I was having trouble understanding them). Workstations in the past had much more FUNCTION that any iPad today. IT'S NOT ONLY ABOUT THE COMPUTING POWER. These workstations, despite lacking power by today's standards, were built with certain function in mind, and were used for their intended tasks.
iPads are consumption devices, first and foremost. Apple did nothing for "computing", but they did a lot for consumerism. iDevices got popular because they addressed consumption needs by lots of consumers that they didn't even know they needed/wanted, I'll give them that. But Apple's *speed* of forcing "new technology" on people's throats, and turning perfectly functional products unusable is unprecedented, and bad. Your "Pro" device is NO exception, and isn't going to last, nor function, as long as the _workstations from 10 years ago_...
The Pro moniker is being abused. What does it even mean now? Relative speed? Function? Value? Multiple products in one? I don't know anymore. But I'd like to believe that Microsoft's definition of a Pro products sounds easier on my ears.
You seem to be extremely sold on marketed idea that disposable technology with a timed bomb to obsolescence is a good thing. Technology that does nothing but harm the industry and its consumers. To each their own I guess.
ddriver - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
You are ridiculously ignorant. Both a workstation from 10 years ago and this product are in terms of hardware general purpose computers. What specifies one as a workstation and another as a content consumption device is the software that runs on that general purpose computer. A 10000$ contemporary workstation would only be good for content consumption without the workstation grade software. Much the same way that this device can be good enough for workstation use with the proper software. Once again, clean up your ears - there is no limitation on a hardware level. It is all about the software.Your problem with understanding my analogies stems from the fact you are a narrow minded person, and this is not an insult but a sad fact, most propel are, it is not your fault, it is something done to you, something you are yet to overcome. You are not capable of outside the box thinking, you are conceptually limited to only what is in the box. Why is why you perceive outside the box opinions as alien and hard to understand.
lilmoe - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
lol, I should really convert to the Apple religion just to stop being ignorant. Take care man.ddriver - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
You should just sit down and carefully reevaluate your whole life, I mean if "apple religion" is what you were able to take out of all the apple bashing I went through :D Since you obviously missed that obvious thing, let me put it out directly - I am criticizing apple for crippling good hardware to useless toys.lilmoe - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
ok......Sc0rp - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Well, I have to disagree with you on one thing here. I don't think Apple has any blame here when it comes to software. iOS9 is faaaaaaaar more powerful and capable than Mac OS 8 and 9 that I used to run on my power PC's back in the late 90's. Those computers were certainly productive. There's nothing on a software level that's really stopping developers from making productive software for the iPad Pro or even the Air. There is an interface challenge, much as there was an interface challenge when GUI's first came out. As I recall, people lambasted GUI's and mouses as being toys and not for serious work back then. The endless whining over the iPad Pro is just a reverberation of that. People don't like change and they don't like things that rub against their doctrine. But, consider this... While many adults actually have some difficulty adapting to this new computing paradigm, youngsters adapt to it like a fish to water.I think it is a wild boast to call an iPad Pro a 'useless toy'. I certainly have made a ton of use of mine. Of course, I'm an artist so there's that. Not to mention that my iPads have been my primary communication hub for the last five years.
Jumangi - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
iOS blows as an actual productivity system. It is made for smartphones first(Apple's cash cow) and everything else second. Put a version of Mac OSX on this and you have something. Right now this is an expensive artists toy.strangis - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
> While many adults actually have some difficulty adapting to this new computing paradigm, youngsters adapt to it like a fish to water.That's why I, as someone of the Commodore Vic 20 era, has to show relatives and clients 25 years younger than me how to use their phones, tablets and computers every week. Regardless of age, some people get it, some don't.
Similarly, I've never seen the value of an iPad Pro when, as an artist), I need to finish in Photoshop or After Effects. The creative tools available on the iPad Pro are limiting for those of us used to more, and considering its price, better to buy something that will get the job done.
Murloc - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
I have no doubt people will only use tablets once they'll be able to interact with the interface with their brains.Relic74 - Saturday, February 27, 2016 - link
Yea but at least Mac OS had a proper file-system, allowed it's users to select their own default apps, appsdidn't require API's in order to talk to the system, all applications used the same resolution, when a new feature was added to the system every app was able to utilize it immediately and didn't require it's developer to update their apps, the user was ablue to customize their desktop and even the UI, supported widgets, applications were windowed and ran desktop software. Actually, I take it back, Mac OS's UI was a lot more powerful, the system not so much, which is reversed in iOS, the UI isn't very powerful, it's actually pretty vanilla, though it's BSD underpinnings are extremely powerful. If I was able to access the BSD system, I would dump iOS's UI in a heart beat and install a X desktop environment like Gnome 3, which actually works fairly well as a tablet OS. Than maybe the iPad Pro would actually be a Pro device. I'm running Arch Linux on a Xiaomi MiPad 2, love it.NEDM64 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Dude!If you were in the 80's, you'll be advocating text user interfaces instead of graphical user interfaces.
If you were in the 70's, you'll be advocating separate terminals connected to computers, as opposed to "all-in-ones" or "intelligent terminals" like the Apple II, Commodore PET, TRS-80.
Opinions like yours, with due respect, don't matter, because people like you, already have their rigs in place, and aren't in the market.
Apple's market position is for people that want the next thing, not the same ol' thing…
RafaelHerschel - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Apparently the next thing is a larger iPad. I'm going to be bold and predict the next next thing. It's going to be a slightly thinner version of the larger iPad. Awesome.Murloc - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
you aren't understanding tilmoe's posts.You can spend millions developing software for a superpowerful tablet.
You will still never be able to fit Photoshop's whole interface and abundance of options and menus into the tablet in a way that the user is easily able to reach them, without scrolling through pages of big buttons.
At the end of the day, you'll get a crippled version of photoshop and the user will have to get on a traditional computer (a WORKstation, not because it's more powerful, not because software houses invest more in it, but because it has human interaction devices and a big screen that enable humans to get work done faster) to get stuff done.
Tablets are mostly content consumption products exactly because of the limited interfaces. They have the advantage of portability and ease of use, you just open apps while on the couch, and that's why they master content consumptions better than say laptops.
Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
It's by now become a quasi-religious belief system for some that "mobile devices cannot ever be used for any professional purposes whatsoever!".At the same time more and more people (and businesses!) don't care about such beliefs in the slightest and simple use those devices very much professionally and in many cases with more success and higher productivity than they'd had with conventional computers.
Part of the reason is that agility and flexibility often beats feature count, all the more so since professional workflows very often just can't afford to even consider most of the myriad theoretical options some desktop programs offer. Heck, most professional uses actually don't need much more than a browser interface anyway!
Yes, there are some uses for which desktop or mainframe computers will be the only really viable option. But what you and many others didn't seem to have noticed is that those domains have been shrinking rapidly over the last decade(s).
FunBunny2 - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
-- It's by now become a quasi-religious belief system for some that "mobile devices cannot ever be used for any professional purposes whatsoever!".despite what some think, Apple didn't invent the tablet. warehouses and manufacturers (when the US had them, of course) have used tablets with 802.11, and earlier protocols, for decades. all Apple did was create a consumer version.
Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
A "version" which "consumers" (apparently intended as a belittling epithet by you) can use, but the whole point is that it's not limited to that.akdj - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
"You will still never be able to fit Photoshop's whole interface and abundance of options and menus into the tablet in a way that the user is easily able to reach them, without scrolling through pages of big buttons."Huh. Wonder why folks. The professional ones, for years have been buying Wacom tab companions to their 'workstation' specifically FOR PS, And EXACTLY for the reasons you outline, the ability to have precision touch and capacitance/tactile feel and response of real pencil or pen to paper. Some of these Wacom Photoshop controllers cost several times the price of the iPP for YEARS, & the iPP has its computer built in! No need to add a 'workstation'
You must've been hiding under a rock the last ½ decade. You've CERTAINLY not visited the App Store in some time. Adobe, Autoideskk Microsoft and the BIGGEST makers of "Content Creation" software are currently devoting MORE resources to mobile programming and development than their 'workstation' counterparts.
The 'big brow box' filled with diseases,; viruses - malware, adware, & the ilk's days are numbered. They're already on their way out of MANY folks' homes and offices being replaced by ultra books, passively cooled and ultra low voltage with ultra high efficiency is all the rage today. Battery life > 5 extra FPS, usability and funtionality > pure power, lotsa RAM, and expensive CPU and GPUs. Portability and the ability for 'instant on' access to their tab or phone > waiting til home, turning the power on, waiting for the boot. Opening PS (a slowly dying program with a phenomenal amount of alternatives on an iPad and iPhone and iDevice -- been that way for years, now with Adobe on board, their CreativeCloud suite offers a plethora of companion apps capable of ALL CS6's abilities as it's designed to aggregate and integrate with 'your' CC assets allowing for MOST editing ANYone will ever need on the iPad ...especially now with the display's ability to work with such an excellent active stylus and it's near direct comparison to Wacom's line of ...apparently unnessasary PS instruments and tools over the last decade or two those 'productive individuals' have made many millions of dollars in publishing? Now an AIO system with its OWN computer built in - a massive community of developers, independent to Adobe, friend next door or Autodesk themselves --- any software company interested in future survival in the industry is devoting more resources than ANY point in history to mobile dev. It's why MS, Adobe and AD were all there at the iPP unveiling. ALL demonstrating some phenomenal --- and yes, PROfessional use-case applications and software. I'm not a doctor but downloaded the examples shown at its unveiling of the Human Body atlas and AutoCAD --- its mind blowing how easily and flue to the iPad is able to manipulate such extensive detail and graphic overlays (nervous, muscular, skeletal, circulatory system overlays --- in any combination and with the ability to manipulate the direction you're looking at at a consistent 60fps) are MUCH better teaching aids - and learning that ANY static text book
Whether you ARE creating, flying a jet filled with passengers, entertaining a couple thousand folks at a concert, controlling inventory or filing your flight plan a personal pilot --- and probably 100,000 other occupations have been made significantly easier to accomplish, with less weight, more time away from the charger and 110v. That's what people need, want and are looking for. Unfortunately for Apple, they're making their iPad 'too well' --- as I've got the original, and an iPad 2 that both work, hold a charge and last as long as the Day I bought them six and five years ago respectively this year.
I also own the Air 2 and iPP and both have significantl impacts on my business I've run for nearly thirty years, successfully and exponentially dropping 'weight' every decade or so with something as capable as the always on, always connected and never a concern with battery life --- as the iPad is, easily replaces hundreds of dozens of crates of vinyl records! All while weighing about as much as a single - double record LP.
So, to summarize at the end of the day if you're a Photoshop user, you just got an incredible tool to augment your worlflow, make your photographic post production easier, organization and metadata handling, batch alteration or editing and aggregation of your library, metadata in tact and ready for post when you get home. No more off loading memory cards, organizing memory cards, redundantly dumping them for redundant/backup purposes and all the other BS that goes into using a dinosaur of a program FEW truly NEED for their projects.
Today, Adobe offers a ½ dozen "Photoshop" apps on iOS. Along with drawing, marking PDFs, even Premier and AE capture and integration (w/motion) - the options are becoming more extensive everyday, Adobe's just rewrote their entire app library and replaced each app for even better continuity for those still needing PS's tools or Acrobat's abilities beyond the $3, $5, $10 alternatives ...some, like Pixelmator, cross platform with ANY & EVERY PS tool the average layman could dream of --- available - @ the cost of a single month rental of PS/Lightroom 'rental'. And not just for hobbyists. Spend some time at DPreview.com to see the PS competition OR see Adobe's subscription tactics to maintain revenues.
It's not just a super powerful tablet. It's that and so much more thanks to an extensive and larger library of accessible software already matured to the point the App Store is - all in one place and all reasonably priced. Best prices and selection of software in history is currently more convenient and organized than ever and it's in the App Store
As devs have only had single GB of RAM, slower SoCs and smaller displays to program to over the last six years, even the Air 2 & 6s line of iPhones seems HUGE right now with double the RAM, graphics and compute. Double it again and you've got tether iPP. I'm already seeing apps available for Air 1/Mini 2 - 5s or A7/64bit iPads and newer to run the app.
As a daily user of the iPP for two months --- so many of your goofy statements make no sense, shout ignorance and beg to be straightened out --- but there's always a few schills around these parts beating an incredible product down while the masses of us are enjoying it!
Silly Murloc. What is it that makes YOU a Pro, and why is it YOUR job wouldn't be made easier or convenient with a tablet?
jlabelle - Thursday, January 28, 2016 - link
" now with Adobe on board, their CreativeCloud suite offers a plethora of companion apps capable of ALL CS6's abilities as it's designed to aggregate and integrate with 'your' CC assets allowing for MOST editing ANYone will ever need on the iPad"a very big big rant that just fall flat because of false premises. The claim above is a good example : simple case that most photographers need : Can I develop my RAW files on an iPad ?
When I mean developing, it is the normal basic reasons why you are shooting RAW in the 1st place : 1/ work in 16 bits mode so that you can push shadows / pull highlights and work on color without posterization ; 2/ apply automatically the lens correction (distorsion, CA, vignetting, ...) and 3/ have a color managed workflow (take into account the color space of the RAW file, have a calibrated display...)
The answer is ... drums rolling : you can NOT.
And you do not need a CS subscription to do that on a Surface, you can just purchase once Capture One Pro, DXO Optics... what you want. So what you can do with a Windows tablet, you simply cannot on an iPad Pro.
This is just one example but the same is true for a list so long that it makes no sense to try argue against that.
Gastec - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
A gamer you would know what Pro moniker means.It goes like this: "I'm a Pro, gamer or whatever" meaning "I'm a big shot, a slick, better and cooler that you". And that's what iPad means when it says it's "Pro" :)
KPOM - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
What do we need all the ports for? Most people, even in offices, can get by with wireless networks and printing these days.xerandin - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Quadro*rabastens23 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
"Performance is better than a high end workstation from 10 years ago, a system which was capable of running professional tasks which are still nowhere to be found on mobile platforms."That's sort of an odd claim - what are those tasks, exactly? And if it's not a performance issue, why do you need an iPad Pro to do them?
ddriver - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Design, engineering, content creation. Basically every scenario that involves making something professionally rather than consuming something.Nobody needs a ipad pro to do this, point is the device is powerful enough for such tasks, and it would be nice if there was the software for it, in order to make that device truly PRO as in useful to professionals and not "pro" as in an empty marketing BS.
lilmoe - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
DUDE. Software is NOT the only thing the iPad "Pro" is missing for it to be a Pro tablet. Get this through your head.The hardware is lacking even if it were much more powerful. The OS is also lacking.
jasonelmore - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
This, there is no filesystem. The hardware can be as fast as it wants, but it's severely limited by it's input options, and it's locked down nature. A ipad, or a phone for that matter, will never be able to replicate a x86 device. aarch64 is crude in comparison to x86 as detailed in the 2nd page of this article.Sure they can re-write a lot of it, and make a bunch of compramises to make it work, but they wont' waste the time, because:
1: nobody wants to pay more than $10 for apps on the platform because it's seen as a toy and disposable within 4 years
2: Lacks a true filesystem for moving files from physical media, to the devices
3: Lacks precise input methods for quick and ultra precise manipulation of the software (unlike mouse or trackball on pc). Like Slicing a video file, or selecting text and making it Bold, italic, underlined
4: platform lacks pro level payment and upgrade options for developers
Sc0rp - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
There's a file system, you just don't have access to it.1) Pretty much any computer is disposable in 4 years because the shelf life for hardware before it goes obsolete is about 3 years. Protip: If you 'upgrade' your processor, video card and/or motherboard (!) you just assembled a new computer. It doesn't matter that it is in the same case that your old computer used. Also users are willing to pay more than $10 for software. But, to be honest a lot of legacy developers from the desktop realm have been giving their users the shaft on software prices for years and years and consumers are more apt to pay $6 for an app that actually does that they need rather than $700 for one that does way more than they ever will need.
2) There is a file system. You can plainly see it and interact with it when you use software like iExplorer. Personally, I have no problems with handling files on iOS9 and moving them about.
3) Apple Pencil. Have you heard of it?
4) Actually those options already exist on the platform. I don't know why you think they don't when they so clearly do and have been demonstrated by iOS game developers for years now. You mean to tell me that I can pay $6-20 for a ship or $100 for a bushel of smurfberries but somehow there's no way to add in upgrade options? Dude, just make it optional DLC.
jasonelmore - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
keep drinking the kool-aid man.1: apple has succeeded in convincing you that computers are disposable within 4 years. Thousands of schools around the world are using Pentium 4's and Nehalm Pc's. These pc's can run the latest photoshop CC, Office Suite, or any other software that has been made recently.
I know a ton of people using i7 920's and are playing the latest games no problem. With apple, the applications just wont load at all, because they require a certain OS. WIndows 10 Supports very old hardware, and very slow hardware. Same with any flavor of linux. OSX and iOS do not.
2: the file system is not accessible within the device. So your argument is basically this. Use a 2nd machine, install a third party application, and access the files. Really? Pro's don't need a hidden or in-accessible file system, they need file permissions, and only a jailbreak can give that to them.
3: The pencil is a drawing device first and foremost. It is not designed, nor meant to be, a primary way of interacting with the device's OS and applications. Moreover, only one device in apple's entire product history, supports this peripheral. Good luck slicing video with precision. A mouse can hover over a precise point, and offer two context actions via left or the right mouse button. A pencil can hover over a precise point, and do nothing. any actions require tap and hold, and buttons aren't used anywhere except for drawing apps.
4: Developers want to be able to charge yearly fee's for updates, instead of release a whole new app. Like Tweetbot 1, 2, 3,, 4. In-app purchases are not meant for upgrades. They are meant to be used as a glorified "demo" system. You demo the app, and then buy it if you like it. There are a number of articles and reddit posts about developers leaving ios and going with their own distribution platform due to apples store policies. Big developers too, not little ones.
Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
You clearly don't know what you're talking about.1. The iPad 3 which I have just replaced with an iPad Pro has just started its new life for a new user after 4 years of perfectly up-to-date and fully supported use by me. It is still fully supported and almost everything that's available for iOS still runs on it, most of it very well – and that on a device which has about 1/10th of the iPod Pro's performance!
The main reason why you can still use old Windows PCs (or old Intel Macs, for that matter, like I'm doing right now!) without too many disadvantages against new ones is that Intel has entered a prolonged stagnation phase since they've bumped into the end of Moore's Law with their ridiculously outdated x86 architecture. There simply is hardly any movement forwards any more on the Intel front.
Meanwhile Apple is cranking up the performance of their own processors at a speed we haven't seen for a decade on the desktop (it's actually a major achievement that the older iOS devices run as well as they do compared to the multiple times more powerful new ones!).
2. Where I want filesystem access under iOS, I have it. I use Good Reader as my general-purpose local file manager for all kinds of files (including local or remote up- and downloads) and I can use iCloud, Dropbox and others for online shared filesystems. Your imagined problem is pretty much just an imaginary one.
3. The Pencil is a precise pointing device. Which can be user everywhere. It's just not needed most of the time, in part because the touch interface can be used very precisely without it already.
4. Payment is actually a lot easier and simpler than on any desktop platform, and in-app-payment is explicitly not permitted for "demo unlocking". Where it's done well it can unlock additional features, which can be used for featured upgrades as well.
Your whole post betrays above all a profound ignorance about iOS and looks a lot like a panicked attempt to somehow justify why the exact habits you happen to have formed somehow were the only possible way to do anything for everybody.
But as always, the world is not as simple or as limited as that.
jasonelmore - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
1: what about the iphone 4, or ipad 2? Stuck on iOS 7 and can't be updated any further2: Physical media? USB drive? Even android can take a thumb drive. This allows android to be more of a traditional computer. You can store ISO's on your phone, EXE's, etc, and use your phone as a mini-laptop for working with other machines. Your goodreader just lets you view the files, so your solution is to email it or dropbox it everytime you need it on a different device? that's what we call a "work-around".
Sending everything over the cloud is not something everyone wants to do, or can do. What if your in a area with no service, or better yet, you don't subscribe to service, and you want to use the phone as a computing device on wifi.
3: again, the pencil is not comparable to a mouse or trackpad. the ipad has no cursor, Your fingers are large compared to a mouse selecting a single pixel on a screen. Main actions, and contextual actions are done via tap, long press, etc.. selecting text on a touch screen should be a good enough example to understand what i'm getting at.
4: did you know apple will not even let you update apps you already own, if your credit card expires, or does not have any money on it?
the fact that you are trying to argue this point, only shows that you have not been following public out cry on this subject. No Paid upgrades, No demo's (very important for expensive pro like apps), no way for developers to respond to bad reviews, at any given time apple can replicate your app, and since apple apps are not sandboxed, they have a inherit advantage. everyone else must be sandboxed, and pay a 30% royalty.
Regarding payment on PC, pretty much everything pro level has gone to a subscription model. If by easy, you mean having a credit card on file for all purchases, then ok, it's easy. But it's also locked down, and like i said, you cant update the app if your card suddenly runs out of money or you go over the credit limit. it will force you to enter a new credit card, just to update a app you already paid for.
look man, if your ok with apple making all the choices for you, then by all means, keep on doing what your doing. but some people have different ideas and want to customize the device to their needs.
i can tell your a fanboy because you started insulting me there at the end, and that only shows your having a hard time justifying what you say to be true. These are not my habits, they are established work-loads that people have been doing on their computers for decades.
you really do need a filesystem to be called a comptuer. and you need a cloud service that is compatible with all platforms and file types. Your solutions to a lot of my arguments is used a bunch of third party programs. a file system is fundamental to computing. there should be a 1st party file explorer (even a restricted one with the option to run root). To deny that access is basically saying "we are apple and we know better, you don't need that option"
Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
1: what about the iphone 4, or ipad 2? Stuck on iOS 7 and can't be updated any furtherWrong again, both directly and contextually.
First, The iPad 2 is still supported by iOS 9.2.1 which is the current version. Only the iPhone 4 has iOS 7 as its latest version.
This is a pretty illuminating comparison of iOS device performance historically:
http://browser.primatelabs.com/ios-benchmarks
(Select Multi-Core results)
iOS 9 now covers a performance range from the iPad Pro down to the iPhone 4S which is 13 times slower.
The iPhone 4 is even 26 times slower, and it only has a single CPU core, contrary to all devices which are still currently supported to this day (including the iPad 2).
And I'm pretty sure you'd be right in front raking Apple over the coals for iOS 9 running less than smoothly on that single-core iPhone 4.
It's actually quite remarkable how well iOS still runs on those over four years old devices after the breakneck performance development of the past years in the iOS space.
2: Physical media? USB drive?
And then where is that floppy drive "everybody knows" is absolutely required..? ;-)
Even android can take a thumb drive. This allows android to be more of a traditional computer. You can store ISO's on your phone, EXE's, etc, and use your phone as a mini-laptop for working with other machines. Your goodreader just lets you view the files, so your solution is to email it or dropbox it everytime you need it on a different device? that's what we call a "work-around".
...and wrong again!
Good Reader can do many things, among them using DropBox. But I can also simply tap a button and Good Reader appears in my local WiFi network (including in the one my iPhone has just provided) as a bog-standard WebDAV network drive which I can directly mount on my Mac, on a PC or on any other mobile device (including on a Good Reader instance running there if I want).
GoodReader can also mount locally available shares and download from these (or upload to them).
I can also throw files to another Apple device purely locally via AirDrop, or I can exchange files locally via Weafo (which appears as a web-server from which anybody else can download the file). And that's only scratching the surface (ahem) of what I could do with iOS since I have simply stopped exploring further for the time being because I haven't needed more than that personally.
You know very little about what's actually possible under iOS.
3: again, the pencil is not comparable to a mouse or trackpad. the ipad has no cursor, Your fingers are large compared to a mouse selecting a single pixel on a screen.
...and that is why there is the Pencil for those rare events where I actually need to address specific pixels. Finger-based UIs can actually be quite precise otherwise, so these needs are actually relatively rare.
Main actions, and contextual actions are done via tap, long press, etc.. selecting text on a touch screen should be a good enough example to understand what i'm getting at.
You can't have actually used iOS devices if you still believe that. Text selection – to take your example – works very well and very precisely by finger touch alone because it is designed for exactly that.
4: did you know apple will not even let you update apps you already own, if your credit card expires, or does not have any money on it?
I've never used a credit card for iTunes in all those years and never had a single problem.
the fact that you are trying to argue this point, only shows that you have not been following public out cry on this subject. No Paid upgrades, No demo's (very important for expensive pro like apps), no way for developers to respond to bad reviews, at any given time apple can replicate your app, and since apple apps are not sandboxed, they have a inherit advantage. everyone else must be sandboxed,
"Outcries" about Apple are the norm rather than the exception. And of course there are valid points to be made in multiple directions. But the measure of the App Store is where there is one that actually works better for a) the users and b) the developers.
There isn't one.
So Apple may not actually have made all the wrong compromises there, as inconvenient as some of them may be for some people. Perfection sounds nice, but actually achieving an actually workable solution is much harder than just clamouring for one.
and pay a 30% royalty.
Ouch. Again with the cluelessness!
First up, these 30% are no "royalty" as pure profit for Apple as you appear to believe, they cover all the costs of distribution including minimum payment transaction charges which are quite substantial as a ratio at the very low item prices in the App Store (no, the percentages you've heard of don't apply there – the minimum charges are much higher than that!). They also cover all other fees and expenses, also including cross-subsidies for the large number of distribution of free apps.
That all the other app stores have never been able to undercut Apple here should have given you a hint or two: It's pretty much run at cost, at Apple as much as anywhere else.
look man, if your ok with apple making all the choices for you, then by all means, keep on doing what your doing. but some people have different ideas and want to customize the device to their needs.
You don't even know what can or can't be done with iOS as it is, and yet you're all about sweeping generalizations.
i can tell your a fanboy because you started insulting me there at the end, and that only shows your having a hard time justifying what you say to be true. These are not my habits, they are established work-loads that people have been doing on their computers for decades.
I'm simply fed up with always the exactly same ignorant cow manure being shoveled all over the place by people who are full of prejudices but empty on actual knowledge of the topic, let alone actual, practical experience.
you really do need a filesystem to be called a comptuer.
Rubbish. I could just as arbitrarily claim that if you didn't have a HiDPI screen your machine was a mere toy and "completely unusable" for any serious uses just because that's what I fancied most.
In real life with real use I need solutions which are appropriate to my actual needs. Stomping your foot and throwing tantrums when you can't replicate exactly the same workflow you happened to have earlier is silly and shortsighted.
Successfully working with IT has always meant adapting what was actually available to what one actually needed and being creative at getting both together for as much pragmatic efficency as feasible.
Crybabies whining about their bygone habits and preferences have always been left behind in the process when new opportunities appeared on the scene.
and you need a cloud service that is compatible with all platforms and file types. Your solutions to a lot of my arguments is used a bunch of third party programs. a file system is fundamental to computing. there should be a 1st party file explorer (even a restricted one with the option to run root). To deny that access is basically saying "we are apple and we know better, you don't need that option"
It is as if you haven't paid any attention for the past nine years.
iOS is a safe, stable and still extensible mobile platform which can run third-party software. This was extremly hard to achieve, and Apple forced a lot of compromises regarding "hackability" because of it. I get how that rubs many people the wrong way (not least as a developer myself, even if not for iOS so far), but as someone who has developed and handled substantially complex, extensible systems (some from the ground up) I am very much aware of where crucial decisions have to be made for something like that, and between which alternatives these decisions have been in major cases.
And the very real stability and safety (including privacy protection!) which actually results from Apple's decisions is hard to deny.
I'm not at all denigrating your preference for completely different kinds of systems where many decisions have been made completely differently, but your problem here is that you don't seem to be aware what these criteria and these options even are when it's about the creation of a major platform.
One can easily disagree with many of Apple's decisions and rules, and that aplies to myself as well in various cases, but actually being aware of why Apple is handling many things the way they do is actually relevant here, and in most cases it's actually knowable.
You'd be much better off if you started at least questioning some of your evident prejudices and preconceived notions at the very least for some broader perspective – which is valuable even if your conclusions for your own system preferences end up in exactly the same place as they do now, just not out of sheer ignorance any more.
Morawka - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Good reader requires you to be on the same network as the machine you want to share files with. Some networks do not even have wifi ap's so your sol in that regard. The only workaround I've found is to pack around a nano wifi router that can run off a battery pack, and physically hook it into the network (if you even have access to the ports). ita really just a file viewer with a few nifty features, but it does not excuse the lack of a native solution. Micro usb otg thumb sticks are the shit. No worrying about sensitive files over the network.MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
You are becoming ridiculous... Are you really complaining because a smartphone from 2010 isn't supported anymore in 2016 ? Lol at you ...Tell me about HTD Evo or Google Nexus One, both android flagships from 2010 .... They were death and buried by 2012 .....
FunBunny2 - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
-- bumped into the end of Moore's Law with their ridiculously outdated x86 architecture.not true, strictly speaking. years ago Intel stopped executing the ISA in silicon, and went with an emulator which ran "micro-code" on a "micro-architecture". the real processor (ALU, etc.) in a X86 chip is some RISC machine; which gets changes each tock. whether this is really more efficient than using those billions and billions of transistors to do all of X86 in silicon is a question I've never seen answered.
Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Exactly: They have been forced to build a real-time hardware cross-assembler into their CPUs because that was the absolute last resort to get ahead at all any more. Absolute madness, and close to a miracle that they've pulled that off at all, even with the substantial penalties that entails.The ARM64 ISA, by comparison, is completely new, legacy-free and was designed from scratch for optimal execution efficiency. It's not even backward compatible to ARM32. The two are completely different, much more different than x86 and AMD64.
ARM CPUs generally don't need any microcode – they can decode and execute the instruction stream directly, and complications are kept to a minimum (just consider, by comparison, what an Intel CPU needs to take care of internally when processing asynchronous high-priority interrupts, for instance!).
Intel has always completely botched their basic ISA designs. Remember the original x86? What a horrendous, incompetently conceived turd! The painful iterations after that were hardly any better, and If AMD hadn't helped them out with AMD64 (which given what they had to start from was actually somewhat decent), if they hadn't put everything in chip design and manufacturing and if the Microsoft monopoly hadn't afforded them a perfect base for their own monopoly, they would have been toast a long time ago already.
The declining Windows PC market, however, is not a good portent at all for Intel specifically, especially when looking at the continuous profit erosion of the dwindling number of PC manufacturers.
The era of the ascent of the Windows PC is over. The rollercoaster car has just passed the top of its climb.
FunBunny2 - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
-- Remember the original x86? What a horrendous, incompetently conceived turd!well. legend has it that IBM chose Intel over Motorola just because Intel a BK waiting to happen, thus easy to manipulate. Motorola, at that time with the 68K family, was the King Kong of microprocessors. or so the legend says.
Constructor - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
Wouldn't surprise me much. It's also said the priority at IBM was to just head off the emerging threat of companies like Apple (with the Apple II back then, whose construction the IBM PC closely copied) but absolutely not do anything to impact the then-dominant IBM mainframe business, so the IBM PC had to be relatively weak and limited.RafaelHerschel - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
A lot of companies use 8 year old PCs without any problems.For most professionals a big monitor and a full sized keyboard plus a mouse are the keys to productivity.
Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
To limited productivity in various cases where the only reason their workers even have to have and walk to a desk is that they don't have any mobile devices available which could serve the same purposes where the actual work is being done.That doesn't apply to every workplace, of course, but to quite a bunch of them.
FunBunny2 - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
-- Pretty much any computer is disposable in 4 years because the shelf life for hardware before it goes obsolete is about 3 years.yes. and no. yes, Intel keeps making ever more big chips with, arguably, faster cpu. most of the real estate for years has been used by non-cpu functions. even an i7 is really an SoC. Intel gets monopoly control of computing.
the reason pc sales have tanked in the last decade or so is simple: except for gearhead gamers, a Pentium does what most folks want to do good enough. it used to be that Windoze Next demanded the Intel Next processor just to run Word or Excel. not any more.
used to be: "the top 10 applications for the PC are spreadsheets, word processing, email..." still is.
Relic74 - Saturday, February 27, 2016 - link
Really, you have no problem moving files around in iOS, yeah, sorry but I don't believe you. I haven't met a single person, Dia hard Apple nuts as well that couldn't stand the lack of a decent file-management system. It's probably the worst I have ever seen on any OS. Everytime I download, edit and than upload to the cloud I create at least 4 copies if the same file. My system is littered with duplicates. File-managers in iOS do very little to alleviate this problem, it's just another place to hold more copies.MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
When was last time you actually use an iDevice ? iOS 5 ?The whole argument about the file system is utterly ridiculous and outdated...
You can manage your files in a lot of different ways in iOS as of today.
Do you need a parallel port or a VGA exit on your tablet in 2016 ?
Sc0rp - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Well, as someone that uses an iPad Pro, I like the idea of taking my work wherever I go and not having to deal with the overhead that comes from a traditional OS.10101010 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
From what I see in my work, a lot of people think the same way. iOS is simple, reliable, consistent, and offers far less maintenance and security headaches compared to a traditional OS. The iPad Pro is showing up mostly in a "paper and pencil" replacement role, i.e. a role where a purpose-built tablet makes sense.Sure, files are clunky to access in iOS, but this also means that malicious apps can't get to your files. It's a compromise that many seem very willing to make vs. the near total lack of security in the Windows file system, for example.
Murloc - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
download OrCad Capture and try drawing a circuit with it.Now think about how you can do the same with a smaller touch screen and NO mouse (so big buttons are a no-no because fingers) at the same speed.
Can you fit the whole interface in the screen? If no, then component insertion is already slower than a PC, so a 10 years old school desktop computer wins, the tablet loses.
This software requires no computational power at all.
nsteussy - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Well said.Wayne Hall - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
WHAT IS MEANT BY PROFESSIONAL TASKS. I AM THINKING OF THE I-PAD PRO.gw74 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Why do Apple only want content consumers' money in mobile, and not creators' too? Apple are in business to make a profit. If there was money to be made building workstation apps for mobile, it would happen. Furthermore "exploit their owners commercially" is just a pejorative way of saying "sell them stuff in return for money", i.e. "business".Sc0rp - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
1) Apple made the pencil. I'm sure that they want creator's money too.2) The "Pro" market is incredibly small and fickle.
AnakinG - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
I think Apple wants people to "think" they are creators and professionals. It's a feel good thing while making money. :)Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
The iPad Pro is a fantastic device for all kind of uses – I personally also use it as a mobile TV, streaming radio (due to its really excellent speakers), game console, internet and magazine reader (since it is pretty much exactly magazine-sized!), drawing board, note pad, multi-purpose communicator (mail, messaging, FaceTime etc.), web reader, ebook reader and so on...As to the numbers: According to an external survey it seems about 12% of all iPads sold in the past quarter were iPad Pros. We're talking about millions of devices there at the scale at which Apple is operating – most other tablet manufacturers and even PC manufacturers would kill for numbers like thes at prices like these!
It's almost funny how some people completely freak out about the iPad Pro because it crashes through their imaginary boundaries between their imaginary "allowed" kinds of devices.
The iPad Pro is a really excellent computer for the desktop (if for whatever reason an even bigger display is not available), which also works really well on my lap (actually much better and almost always more conveniently than a "laptop" computer!) and even in handheld use like a magazine or notepad. It's very light for its size, has a really excellent screen, excellent speakers and is fast and responsive.
Yeah, you can find things which you at this moment can't do on it yet. But there are many, many practically relevant uses at which it excels to a far greater extent than any desktop or notebook computer ever could.
jasonelmore - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
so you basically use it as a consumption and a communication device.. our point is, a professional cannot use this as their only computing device. they need PC's or MAC's to supplement it, which all use Intel or AMD.Until this fact changes, intel is far from being in trouble. iPad sales are in a huge slump as well, not just pc sales. Actually, Notebook PC sales are great, its the desktop that slows down every 3-4 years. iPhone is about to become a 0 growth product as well. Apple see's the writing on the wall, and that's why they are exploring cars, and other unknown products. The Chinese market never turned out like they had hoped, with stiff competition at low costs with similar quality.
Constructor - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
so you basically use it as a consumption and a communication device..Among many other things! So let me guess, when you happen to play some streaming music on your workplace computer or if you're watching the news on it, does it automatically turn into a "toy" and yourself into one of those mythical "only consumers" as well?
This silly ideology is really ludicrous.
our point is, a professional cannot use this as their only computing device. they need PC's or MAC's to supplement it, which all use Intel or AMD.
Nope.
Some portion of workplaces actually requires a desktop OS. This portion is not 100% but substantially lower than that.
A very large portion of workplaces (likely the majority) could very well use iPads as well, but external circumstances make regular PCs or Macs just more convenient and practical.
And some other portion can and does use mobile devices already now as their primary tools.
The tedious and absurd conclusion from people's own limited knowledge and imagination to absolute judgments of the entire market is anything but new, but it's really old news by now.
Until this fact changes, intel is far from being in trouble. iPad sales are in a huge slump as well, not just pc sales. Actually, Notebook PC sales are great, its the desktop that slows down every 3-4 years. iPhone is about to become a 0 growth product as well. Apple see's the writing on the wall, and that's why they are exploring cars, and other unknown products. The Chinese market never turned out like they had hoped, with stiff competition at low costs with similar quality.
You should seriously get better sources for your information as your imaginations are rather far off from actual reality.
Intel is already in a tightening squeeze between the eroding PC market (especially regarding its crumbling profitability) and the ever-rising development costs they face with their creaking x86 antiquity. That their CPU performance is stagnating at the same time is also increasingly problematic, too, since it puts another damper on the PC market.
When you're talking about Apple you clearly live in a different universe from the rest of us: Apple is actually booming in China while the cheap manufacturers have run into unexpected difficulties against them, and your other imaginations of Apple's doom are neither original nor do they have anything to do with the actual reality on the ground.
Even the iPad is a massive cash cow on a scale the competition can only dream about – it's just dwarfed by the absolute gigantic profits from the iPhone.
But yeah, surely that spells inescapable doom for the company.
Sure!
Coldmode - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
This is the stupidest paragraph about computing I've ever read. It's equivalent to lamenting Bell's role in telephony because we managed to win World War 1 with telegraphs but now teenagers spend all their time hanging off the kitchen set chatting to one another about their crushes.ABR - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
@ddriver I disagree with most of what you say in these contents, but, "today we have gigahertz and gigabytes in our pockets, and the best we can do with it is duck face photos," hits the nail on the head! The problem though is not that software developers don't try to do more, but that they can't make any money doing so. The masses just want to buy the latest duck photo app, and there's not enough of the pie left over to support much else. In the early days of the iPad this wasn't so, but nowadays take a look at the top charts in iOS to see what I mean. Games makes more than all others put together, and then even in categories like Utilities, you see mainly Minecraft aids, emoji texters, and a few web browser add-ons. Apple doesn't promote this in their advertising, but they do so in more subtle but effective ways like which apps they choose to feature and promote in the app store. In fact, the store is littered with all kinds of creativity- and productivity-unleashing apps if you search hard, but they all tend to die on the vine because they get swamped out by the latest glossy-image joke-text-photo-video apps and the developer loses interest.tim851 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
"Pro" is just a marketing moniker. There are smartphones that carry it.Apple wants iOS to succeed. People wonder if OSX will come to the iPad, I think Apple would rather consider bringing iOS to Macs. They are fanatical about simplicity and an iPad with iOS got that in spades.
And that's why they are taking the opposite approach of Microsoft.
Microsoft is trying to make their desktop OS touch-friendly enough. Apple is trying to make their touch OS productive enough.
Windows devs are by and large ignoring Metro, the tough UI, and just deploy desktop apps. Apple wants to force devs to find ways to bring professional grade software to iOS.
I'm quite happy that the two companies are exploring different avenues instead of racing into the same direction.
ddriver - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
"I'm quite happy"People should really have higher standards of expectations, because otherwise, the industry will take its sweet time milking them and barely making any increments in the value and capabilities of their products. They won't make it better until people demand better, the industry is currently in a sweet spot where it gets to dictate demand, by lowering people's expectations to the point they don't know and can't even imagine any better than what the industry makes.
People should stop following the trends dictated by the industry, and really should look beyond that, which the industry is willing to do at this point, towards what is now possible to do and has been for a while really. Because otherwise, no matter how much technology progresses, this will not be reflected by the capabilities of people, if it is up to the industry, it will keep putting that into almost useless shiny toys rather than the productivity tools they could be.
exanimo - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
ddriver, I want to start out by commending you on your writing and ideas. Top notch, really.I also really enjoy your idealist approach to saying that people should be dictating the industry, rather than vice versa (seriously). My only question is how can one do that as a consumer? Is seems to me that we have little or no choice but to follow trends because Google, Apple, and Microsoft are becoming too big to fail.
A perfect anecdote would be BlackBerry's OS10. They came late to the show (after they realized you can be too big to fail when you become stagnant) and released a technically superior mobile OS that had the consistency and reliability of iOS, with the control and versatility of Android. On top of that was the use of gestures and an amalgamated hub for messages. I wish I had a choice to use this operating system, but the writing on the wall says that it will collapse within the next 2 years. This is because they're still losing market shares and people are not supporting applications.
There is innovation, but it's stomped out by these huge companies and THE PEOPLE that dictate which OS to develop for.
The Hardcard - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
What software do you use that came out in 1981 when the PC launched. Probably none. Virtually guaranteed none. It is surprising the lack of forward vision sometimes. In five years there will be plenty of professional software on iOS, to run on the significantly more powerful iPad Pro Whatever. The writing is on the wall.ddriver - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
There were barely any software development tools back then, and barely any software developers for that matter. Today there is plenty of software development tools, and plenty of software developers, plus mobile devices have been around for a while. Yet none of those seems to produce any professional software, despite all the time and the fact the hardware is good enough. As I said earlier, this is entirely due to the philosophy, advocated for mobile devices - those should not be tools for consumers to use, but tools through which the consumers are being used. This market was inventing for milking people, not for making them more capable and productive.andrewaggb - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
I think it really goes back to what a person needs to be productive. For some people that is just a web browser (eg chromebook). I have no doubt that the iPad pro may be productive for some people/uses and be everything they need in a computing device.In my case, as a windows/linux/web software developer I need a windows machine (or vm), with visual studio, sql server, eclipse, postgres, ms office, and various supporting apps. For me a chromebook or ipad is not a pro device or really even useful. I have various co-workers with SP3/4's + dock that drive dual screens and peripherals and get by ok. I like to run vm's and various other things that cause 16gb of ram to not be enough, so I'm stuck in desktop/premium laptop territory. I really don't mind that.
Personally - I barely use my ipad air and ended up installing crouton (ubuntu) on the chromebook. I'm sure other people are different.
Different devices for different kinds of professionals.
lilmoe - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Your point?$1000 laptops (even from Apple) are MUCH more powerful already, and they will get even more powerful. Same can be said about $1000 Windows 10 tablets. Technology will always progress, this isn't restricted to iPads.
Why is everyone trying to make iOS for professional productivity a thing? Why torture ourselves? Do you guys really believe it's only about computing power, which by the way isn't nearly close to being adequate? Good luck moving that 200GB RAW 4K video clip on that thing, let alone edit it. Good luck using it for 3D modelling and engineering. Good luck writing and compiling software...
As pointless as the new Macbook was, it sure as heck is a lot better than this thing for what it's advertised for...
This is an accessory, NOT a pro product. "The writing is on the wall"...................
ddriver - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
"Why is everyone trying to make iOS for professional productivity a thing?"You ENTIRELY miss the point, which is "why is NOBODY doing it". It is a computer, REDUCED to an accessory, which COULD be THAT MUCH MORE USEFUL.
Actually, using OpenCL even mobile hardware can process high resolution video faster than a good video workstation was capable not 5 years ago. The hardware is perfectly capable of audio, video editing, 3d modelling, graphics, engineering, software development and whatnot. It is not as fast as the fastest desktop workstation, but it is fast enough to do the job, while still being very portable. All it lacks is the software to do it.
lilmoe - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Cool story, nice mood swings, you're amazing. lolBut still. Why torture yourself with iOS running on crippled "hardware", when there are devices that do iPad stuff better than iPads, run desktop class OSs and already have the software you need for the engineering and productivity stuff.
Because buying multiple devices to accomplish one task is a better thing to do?
ddriver - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
What a touching attempt at condescending cynicism. Alas, as always you get things the wrongest way possible. Those capitalized words were not the product of mood, but motivated by your poor cognitive abilities, a last resort attempt at making the painfully obvious a tad more obvious, so that hopefully, you could finally get it. Unfortunately, you seem to be entirely hopeless."Because buying multiple devices to accomplish one task is a better thing to do?"
It is you who advocates such things. My point is exactly that - given the proper software, an ipad would be all that is needed, no need to buy an ipad AND a laptop to get your work done.
And that would be the last set of keystrokes I waste on you. Seriously dude, invest some time in improving yourself.
HammerStrike - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
"I beg your pardon, Miss Taggart," he had said, offended. "I don't know what you mean when you say that I haven't made use of the metal. This design is an adaptation of the best bridges on record.What else did you expect?”
"A new method of construction."
"What do you mean, a new method?"
"I mean that when men got structural steel, they did not use it to build steel copies of wooden bridges."
Ann Rand, "Atlas Shrugged"
The question around the iPad Pro is not is it a close enough copy of a workstation to do workstation work, but does it enable new work streams that were previously unexplored. As has been previously noted, the Surface Pro 4 is an extremely capable piece of hardware that checks all the same boxes as the iPad Pro, but no software had been designed to take advantage of it's unique form factor - it's still using a wooden design on a steel bridge.
The real differentiation for the iPad Pro is iOS, and the touch first / mobility first design mentality it brings to the table - software has to be written specifically for that environment and usage case. There are some notable hardware and input difference between the iPad Pro and previous iOS devices - time will tell if they can be combined to provide real productivity improvements vs previous designs or if they are merely novelties that will be quickly forgotten. Jury is still out on that, but if anyone can build the "critical mass" to jump start that exploration it's Apple. Hopefully some apps come out and wow us - to channel Asimov, there is a single light usage case advancement, and to progress it anywhere is to progress it everywhere.
name99 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
I simply cannot figure your complaint: "It is a computer, REDUCED to an accessory, which COULD be THAT MUCH MORE USEFUL."So what do you want? You want the iPad Pro form factor running OSX? You want the ability to plug in a second screen? You want to be able to install Windows?
Your complaint seems to be "this is not a Surface Pro 4". It isn't MEANT to be.
It's meant to be a larger screen version of an iPad, for those for whom an iPad is an appropriate device. If you're not one of those people, WTF does it matter to you? Do you hang around bicycle tracks telling everyone there they should be using a motorbike or a car or a truck because those are more powerful?
You are stuck in a certain vision of what a computer is "supposed" to be, every bit as much as IBM confronted by DEC couldn't imagine a computer that wasn't a mainframe, then DEC confronted by Apple, Atari, etc couldn't imagine a computer that wasn't a mini, then in 2007 people couldn't imagine a pocket computer.
If you want to think of this as an "accessory" to a Mac, go ahead. I don't see what the value of that analogy, or why it's supposed to be an insult (Apple grew to the company it is today on the back of that accessory, the iPod...). People loved their iPods, they love their iPhones (especially the way they work together seamlessly with their Macs), and I expect they will love their iPad Pros.
Jumangi - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Actually it is being touted as surface competition. Apple PR pushes this as a laptop replacement and its pricing is right with the Surface. Totally valid to compare the two.Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
You can do that. And Apple does indeed propose it as such – among very many other things, quite a few of which are actually better served by an iPad than by a conventional notebook.Just one example among many: The ability to simply use it in portrait mode already makes a huge difference for anything document-related, for which the narrow widescreens on computers are woefully inadequate.
MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
Indeed it is. And it's way better than a Surface Pro, because it runs an OS that is actually designed to be used with a touch interface, while the Surface doesn't....Relic74 - Saturday, February 27, 2016 - link
Windows 10 was designed to be used with touch as well, it's silly to even think otherwise. People who such things have never used one before, simple as that.The Hardcard - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
It's not about now. Yes now I have a laptop for things my device can't do, and a desktop for things my laptop can't do timely.But I am excited that soon devices that can be carried and pocketed will soon be powerful enough and have the software to do every thing I want to do in a timely fashion.
The iPad Pro marks the beginning of the final stage of the mobile transition, being THE computer for all mainstream activities.
There will still be larger form factors, just as there will still be mainframes. But most homes and many business won't have them.
In fact, that is what IBMs new angle is. The occasional or particular high-power computation you need done elsewhere, results served to your device. Most people won't even need that
RafaelHerschel - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Conditioning I guess. Some people can't imagine that using the right tool for the job is more important than using a form factor that was originally designed for media consumption.Ananke - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Pros use Oracle, SAP, Cytrix for 98% of hardware, and some other exotic stuff amounts for the 2% left...Hence, nobody will approve capital expense of $1000+ on software unsupported device, when a $329 workstation can just do it. Software companies don't bother to bring the huge databases to exotic silicon either, when there are already CHEAPER well developed alternatives.Tablets are great for POS terminals, some apps that require mobile high quality visual content, and that's it pretty much. There is just no functionality need for something else, especially an expensive one.
mrcaffeinex - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
In the office where I work, the iPad Pro may be the device people have been looking for. All of our remote application access goes through Citrix, with the most-used applications being Outlook for e-mail, Word for document review/minor editing, and Adobe Reader for PDF viewing. The experience on the iPad currently is not great, because the desktop versions of these applications do not translate well to the touch-first environment. The stylus and keyboard cover, coupled with the enhanced resolution, could make a difference.It is not a solution for everyone, but I have been fielding calls from our users already about wanting these, so there is potentially some kind of market to cater to here. I realize that from a technology standpoint there are more powerful alternatives and that there are other ways to approach the software situation, but at the end of the day, this is the kind of device that our users want: an iPad with a slightly bigger screen, responsive stylus input, and a keyboard cover in a convenient package, not to mention the implied prestige of Apple product ownership (in some circles the image is considered very important).
Time will tell if this is a fad or a long-term product line strategy. If Apple can turn a profit with these (and they do have a history of turning a profit on their devices), even in spite of a limited market appeal, they will probably keep marketing them.
Relic74 - Saturday, February 27, 2016 - link
Citrix support isn't very good on the iPad Pro, we have one on the office as a test bed. We've gone with ChromeBooks instead, a little cheaper, though not by much as we bought the Dell 13" ChromeBooks which are about 600 bucks. Works fantastic as a terminal machine. The iPad Pro is just to expensive for such a thing and it doesn't support a mouse, plus external display support absolutely sucks. Their was black bars, resolution looked bad, doesn't support extending the desktop (an absolute must have feature) and the DPI is so large it looks like a children's OS. Though are biggest complaints was the lack of multi-user support, horrible file management, no Open ID support and can't run apps in the background. The iPad Pro just isn't an Enterprise computer. They might use them as data entry and retrieval devices but as an Office computer, nope.name99 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Your comment, like the use of the term "Productivity software", reveals the sort of white collar snobbery that is rampant in supposedly classless America.I agree that an iPad (and for that matter a Surface) are highly sub-optimal devices for the tasks of large amounts of writing, research, constructing spreadsheets, debugging code, etc.
But those are not the only jobs in the world. Musicians are also professionals (in the colloquial, if not the legal) sense, as are designers/drawers/artists, as are those using these sorts of tablet devices to hold large numbers of technical papers [my particular use case] (ie scientists/researchers), or blueprints or CAD/CAM material or medical diagrams.
To claim that those people are not doing "real" jobs, or that they don't "deserve" or "need" a device optimized to their usage models (which are much heavier on finger or pencil/stylus/brush style manipulation, much lighter on keyboard manipulation) is basically one more version of the usual "look at me, I'm the most important person in the world, and only my needs matter".
Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Perfectly said!MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
Absolutely correct! To some people on this (and similar) forum if you aren't doing Photoshopping, 3D modeling , CAD or extensive data querying you don't deserve the term "Pro".I know of people making a lot of real money, real big money, using just a notepad and a word processor. Or a sketch device.
In my organization we are managing $36 millions gear with an outdated iPad 4 and PROFESSIONAL APPS (the same apps someone here keep saying it doesn't exist). But we don't deserve the term "pro", do we ?
Wagobert - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
regarding software, I have to agree with Ddriver. On the "SOC Analysis: CPU Performance" page, the authors used Apple XCode (running presumably on a Mac). Could Apple's own XCode run on this hardware? This is being discussed on multiple sites, and the consensus seems to be that memory and IOS are the problem - see here, for example: https://www.quora.com/Will-Apple-make-an-iPad-Pro-...Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Sure it could. The performance is definitely there. Replicating the entire UI would just be a pretty big task, and larger screens are usually a big advantage in coding and debugging.There's also the matter that Apple is reluctant to allow binaray code generation directly on the device because it could be abused for attacks (because the code signing key would have to be on the device and might be exploitable through other vulnerabilities).
MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
Maybe in the future, but not yet. To do some serious developing you need multiple windows, a good workspace and maybe some virtual machines... That means a big screen, a lot of ram and a different UI.Relic74 - Saturday, February 27, 2016 - link
It can but Apple won't release it for this, it's not a laptop.zeeBomb - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Well I'm lateakdj - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
Apparently you're oblivious to the amount of resources, time money and man hours being devoted specifically to the development of mobile, companion apps from the likes of MS, Adobe and AutoDesk.None want to be left in the rear view mirror!
Also, to whoever was beating up on the 2 dozen MS apps, there's a 'Glass' app used specifically for Office suite, scanning and the like. Maybe even 'Office Glass' --- but v1 of the suite's 'drop' a year ago ---or has it been two now? Doesn't Matter, I was on board day one and have had nothing but luck and reliability with it. Both on iOS and OS X. Adobe's companion apps JUST underwent ground up re-writes to support 64bit, handoff amnd it's continuity with a home, studio, desk or one's 'main production' --- not necessarily "pro" rig, but possibly the machine with peripheral options, storage, more power with. 110v constantly, etc. I received mine November 6th, ordered around a week, maybe two post-launch. I've owned every iPad and deploy them now and since iPad 4 'in the field' for my business our family's run for three generations. As well as a dozen full and two dozen part time & temp employees, plenty of us pay our mortgages, car payment(s), daycare and taxes using the iPad as our primary, if not 'only' computer while 'making paper' (we own/operate a flight service and mobile A/V production company in Alaska - I've been flying myself nearly thirty years --- & the ½ pound replacement (Mini 4) or 1.5 pound long trip replacement, iPP is an incredible relief from my 45-60 pound flight bag. Faster, more reliable and up to date than anything 'printed' as well --- its ability to file my flight plan, calculate fuel, diversions for safety, real time traffic, weather, or airport 'issues'. Jeep charts, plates 'no fly areas' maybe -- or any diversion from routine T/O or landing cycle knowledge is paramount & the more details, the better when you're flying in & outta the same areas son long
In the air, test/beta versions of NextGen (ADSB's successor and the update to America, if not the world's ATC system --- with 3D display or HUD showing traffic, terrain, and their headings, altitude and speeds - as well, and most importantly where they're going to, whether their path crosses mine @ a certain moment in the future ...& with the info, both (if equipped) planes will be instructed to change heading, decrease/increase speed or altitude. TCAS (collision avoidance) and 'always on' transponders w/GPS & better tracking then radar and the many blind spots on the planet to radar --- as travel increases, your idea of professional should be changing - as these guys are faster than anything we used on our desks in 2010, just six years ago. Solid state, blazing fast storage, always on and always fast LTE connectivity, wifi if you're in range. The horsepower (I've yet to notice frame drops other than in the App Store as its repopulating during an extensive swatch and I'm deep down) to run most anything developers can dream up now and will continue better their apps, integration and aggregation with the 'mainframe' of the business ...whether you're an engineer, architect, car salesman or waitress. Teachers, UPS & FedEx'll update their tabs so,easy and the garbage men can get rid of pen and pencil as well as the monstrous waste of paper generated daily to be thrown straight into the trash.
iPad Pro, the Surface Pro --- they're 'words' but my definition of professional is the ability to help me make money. A tool, usually an invaluable one that's evolved enough in the capacity I need it for to be considered Revolutionary
That's 2010, 2012 the original and the Retina display 'then 2015, with iPP.
I'm with the author(s). I've owned and LOVE Pencil, don't need or want the KB cover after using it for a week. At all
9one thing on the UI side of the equation is the very excellent OS X like software keyboard layout, the Pencil as a helper for typing and picking suggested/predicted words above the keyboard I've found. And with common punctuation including 'shift' 5 for the % -- shift keys on both sides, double shifting does rage cap lock thing and we've got tab/delete, larger emoji key w/numeric and keyboard switcher in both sides of the space bar. The clipboard, undo and redo are awesome as are the 'up down' form filler/maneuver buttons on the right top of the KB UI. Well enough laid out, I've found a very comfortable case in the lap, perfect angle typing with my left thumb and right hand using/holding the pencil as my second hand. Worlds a treat, hard to explain correctly but efficient, effective and my near new 15" 2015 rMBP has been lonely since Thanksgiving (I'm floored by what Adobe's accomplished with their creative cloud, my iPad Air 2 or Pro mad their aggregation with OS X on my iMac, the Mac Pro. Or earlier mentioned MacBook. They're ALL Over It! The software companies are done boxing DVDs up with 300 page instruction manuals and the packaging costs. Get used to it. Lap/desktops aren't going anywhere but iPads can certainly be the tool of choice, primary tool to get their job done, inventory counted or their record produced!
Pro football today had a bunch of problems on the sidelines today with their Surface Pros, had to 'turn em off' for a few. Both teams ...til they 'rebooted the system' lol
iPads man. They're for pros that want to look, sound and be prepared professionally with reliability and extensive functionality, support and longevity. 'Imstiimown kids still use and it's still working great, the original iPad. Also have the Xoom, predecessor to Nexus. Doesn't 'light up'. It's. Broked.
Relic74 - Saturday, February 27, 2016 - link
Those tasks are all just simple data entry tasks connected to a remote site that is connected to a DB on the back end, I know because I write these types of apps (I worked on the DHL one), and the flight system app is just a client which could have just as easily been written to run on Android, Windows, etc. and it also falls under content consumption. The question you need to ask yourself is, did they use an iPad to create these solutions, no of course not. That is the difference between creation and consumption. These iPad's used in Enterprose settings are all just client server solutions.MDX - Thursday, June 23, 2016 - link
I do my entire job from anywhere with just a browser - not sure what pro apps you need but something like this is awesome for me - even a 4lb laptop gets heavy after walking around Tokyo or Sydney all day!WorldWithoutMadness - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Mmm... comprehensive stuffs about the stylus. Nerdgasm.Can you guys please do comparison with wacom EMR and wacom AES as well, please?
nathanddrews - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
The litmus test as to whether or not a device is "pro" should be a simple question, "If you had to use Excel all day on this device, would you want to kill yourself afterward?" I can't speak for all businesses, but we use iPads for email-on-the-go and Windows laptops for actual work... and we're thinking of moving to only having Surface Pro 4 tablets and docks.WorldWithoutMadness - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
I'd kill myself if I had to use Excell all day, every weekdays, on any devices.nathanddrews - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Pick your poison. AutoCAD? After Effects?wolfemane - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
I'll go with After Effects for $1000 Alex.KPOM - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
I understand why a company would want to do that, but IMO it's still better to support two devices with BYOD and a corporate cloud. A "real" notebook will usually beat a Surface Pro (even if it's just the screen size, better keyboard), and people who really want an iPad will usually buy it themselves as long as they can get corporate e-mail (and possibly make light use of Office) on it.MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
"Good" choice: choose worst of both world, the Surface ProJimios - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Better late than never, I guess. I usually wait for the AT review before I buy something, but in this case it took so long that I didn't.Anyway, I am really enjoying my iPad Pro as a personal consumption device. Expensive, I know, but worth it for the huge screen, the performance and the amazing speakers. Once you've tried it, you can't go back to the 9.7" one.
Qwertilot - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Especially for stuff like newspapers and magazines - its an a4 sheet of paper, so everything is the right size :)Mine mostly sits on a book stand and does that/internet/bits of TV etc. Exceedingly good for that.
Speedfriend - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Why is there no near iPad Air with the A9X. Is it because the TDP is too high? Why do we never see any attempts to measure power for the Apple SOCs? Is it because Apple remove publications from review and press access lists if they attempt to delve too deeply?WorldWithoutMadness - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Watch your back... you delve too deeply.Ryan Smith - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
"Why do we never see any attempts to measure power for the Apple SOCs?"Because it's destructive, which means we can't do it to our review units. We'd need to buy units specifically for it, and even then there's a good chance we'd simply break it due to how difficult it is.
It's one of those things I'd like to do, but it requires a lot more in the way of resources than you'd otherwise expect.
Kevin G - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Perfectly understandable for review units and products just hitting the market. However, I suspect Anandtech has a few drawers full of tablets and phones that are no longer in active use/loaner review units which could be sacrificed for this data. Acquiring older units from the used market would be a cost effective way to get this data too.An alternative would be to partner up with a site like iFixit to help split the cost of the hardware. They take it apart and Anandtech would pay for a functional, already disassembled unit.
The difficult part would simply be getting the time to sit down and so this. :)
nathanddrews - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
The foil is strong with this one.name99 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
We don;t need to resort to crazy conspiracy theories. Some possibilities include:- Yields from TSMC on the SoC weren't high enough. Or the variant
- Apple was worried that even with TSMC and Samsung making A9/A9X, there wasn't enough capacity to make all the SoCs they needed for iPhone AND new iPads, so they limited themselves to just the halo model (which they know will sell in smaller quantities).
- Apple want the next iPads to have 3D Touch and the screens for that were not ready in quantity. (This is the option I would bet on).
- Apple want the next iPads to have some other nice new feature (like at least two, perhaps four) speakers and that hardware is not ready in quantity.
I would not be at all surprised to see Apple release the next gen iPad Air and mini in say March or April (and perhaps to maintain those dates from now forward, to spread demand somewhat throughout the year instead of all peaked in Sept/Oct).
khon - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
It's not a "pro" tablet when it only runs mobile software, and there is no possibility of using a mouse or trackpad.It's a larger iPad for students to take notes on, or for people who want a bigger screen when they're sitting on the couch.
blackcrayon - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
It runs whatever software someone chooses to write for it, within its capabilities.What if your profession was doing digital sketches? Talk about narrow-minded.
rabastens23 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
What if you profession goes beyond doing just digital sketches tho? Let's open up that mind and admit the iPad Pro, for all its qualities, doesn't fit most professional needs - if anything, because apps are not available.Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
"Most" professional needs are actually related to UIs of server-based administrative systems or to aommunication and documentation, all of which the iPad Pro (or any other iPad) easily manages.And then there are multiple solutions for a wide range of professional needs which many desktop systems can't match (example: using the built-in camera, the Pencil, Siri and either the onscreen or the add-on keyboard to quickly create documentation on site for insurance or research purposes).
Many people have the problem that they've tightened their blinders exactly to the limitations of pre-existing computer systems and anything else puts them in a state of shock and denial.
id4andrei - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Hmm...let's see... built in camera, Surface/Note. Siri, why not Cortana/Google Now - again Surface/Note. Onscreen or add-on keyboard, hey that's Surface/Note as well. But hey the IPAD line has had all these too and they haven't stopped it from shrinking numbers in the market.Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
I was talking about the comparison to desktop and notebook computers.And even Apple's "shrinking" numbers of iPads sold after the initial rush are still well above what Microsoft is managing to sell in Surfaces, and that despite all that glorious desktop compatibility.
MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
Who defined "most professional needs" ? You ?MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
Absolutely right...Relic74 - Saturday, February 27, 2016 - link
Okay, what's you point, that person who probably have a Intuos Wacom board connected to an iMac but who knows, maybe even an iPad Pro but it will be used like the Intuos, connected to either a laptop or computer. This is the disconnect, no one is saying that their aren't any good apps, uses or even that the iPad Pro isn't good for certain things, it's just not a laptop replacement or a standalone computer.MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
So basically according to your logic if it don't use a mouse, it can't satisfy professional 's needs... Lol.My professional's needs don't require any mouse. Actually a mouse or a keyboard are totally useless....
KPOM - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Nice review, as always. Impressive hardware. Now it's up to developers to take advantage of it.MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
It's also up to Apple to improve iOS in a way to take advantage of this kind of hardware.Flunk - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Same issue as Google's Pixel C. Hardware is reasonable, but the software lets it down.rabastens23 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Exactly. The hardware was never the issue or shortcoming, software is - however most reviewers conveniently ignore that.Qwertilot - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Well, its a good bit better off than the Pixel C software wise - there is at least a very large ecosystem actively built around 10" tablets, and adapting in places for larger ones. Very good indeed for some end user use cases.Relic74 - Saturday, February 27, 2016 - link
Yea see. I have both the Pixel C and iPad Pro and the thing is, I'm running the same apps on both platforms. I have MS Office, I have Art Rage, I have the entire Adobe app collection, I have Flipboard, Pinterest, Feedly and all of those apps. The only thing I don't have is the music creation stuff. I use the Pixel C for my productive stuff because it's just better geared for it, especially that it has an actually file-system, dealing with files is 10x better. The iPad Pro is for media consumption and other leisure activities. I just couldn't get pass iOS, to many restrictions for me to use it as a work machine. Well that and I couldn't even connect the iPad Pro to my works network, no Open ID or multiple user support.londiste - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
why no direct comparison against surface pro? i believe anandtech did a review on surface pro 4 recently, so it shouldn't be too difficult. roughly the same size and weight, roughly the same price (for core m3 anyway, against which ipad pro kindla holds its own). clearly these two are marketed against each other, whether you consider surface pros to be in their own little niche.Relic74 - Saturday, February 27, 2016 - link
Different platforms all together, plus, one is running a desktop OS, the other a mobile OS. They really shouldn't be compared, no Professional is going to buy an iPad Pro to use as a laptop and no one is going to buy the Surface Pro to use as a tablet. At least no one who has half a brain that is.Michael Wilding - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Kudos to everyone who wrote this article. It's the most comprehensive iPad Pro review on the net.lucam - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Sure but it took 3 months to get it out....I have read many others on the net and this review doesn't say anything new to me apart a bit of X86 vs ARM
wolfemane - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
You just don't quit. Every article in the past 3 months has a post from you, "Ipad pro review, where is it?" and then you state it has nothing new than other reviews had. What the hell did you expect?lucam - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
Glad you have noticed that. You are right it's not worth it.akdj - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
@lucam, maybe to YOU --- but for those of us that appreciate real world use, in depth testing and even 'subjective' comparisons using the device in the real world -- you better believe it's WORTH IT! And apparently not just worth it to me but about 300 other comments from folks also interested in with it or beating it up.To the crew @ Anand, keep up the excellent work and realize ignorance like I'm responding to is just that. We don't need reviews earlier. The 'wait' is cool because of the payoff with your reviews.
Unreal. Go find another site lucam! This one ain't for you. Period. WAY Over YOUR Head!
Teknobug - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
This is not a very popular version of the iPad, if it had a mobile version of Mac OS X then yeah there'd be a reason to use one but otherwise it's just a larger iPad. Seems the iPad mini is growing in demand. During the Christmas shopping season at the Apple store near me, the wall where the iPad Pro was often empty, most of the crowd were around iPad minis and MacBooks and occasionally checking out the next gen Apple TV with the infrared remote.blackcrayon - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
The popularity of any iPad or most computing devices in general is going to come down to cost...Funny, compare your logic on "reason to use" an iPad pro with what was said about the original iPad. "It's just a 'Big EyeTouch, there's no reason to use it!".
KPOM - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Supposedly 12% of the iPads sold last quarter were the Pro (at least according to one of those retail surveys that always come out around earnings time). Considering that it starts at $799 and goes all the way up to $1347 with all the bells and whistles, that's pretty good.cknobman - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Its really hard to take your reviews seriously when the entire tone is "how to spin this as good"."We need to make it sound like its worth $1000 for a iPad or we wont get anymore Apple crap to review".
It is comical to hear you try and excuse the keyboard and even slant the argument to say its a better idea than its counterparts like the Surface Pro. COMICAL, that keyboard implementation on the iPad Pro in its current form is a POS.
You make BS statements like the "The Surface Pro 4 comes close to be sure, but I would argue that it really isn’t a proper tablet by virtue of how dependent it is on trackpad input."
Surface Pro is completely and perfectly capable and independent of needing a trackpad for input when using it as a tablet.
Sure when you run desktop applications it becomes incredibly dependent on a trackpad but its BECAUSE ITS RUNNING A DESKTOP APPLICATION!
iPad Pro is a cool concept and has potential but its just a bigger iPad still running the same OS as the freaking PHONES!!!
In no way is it even close to being worth the cost until they put a more functional operation system on it.
Kevin G - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
That is the thing. Most of the pro stuff you'd want to run on a Surface is a desktop application. Using the track pad here makes sense given the application though it does go against the idea of a touch based tablet.Apple on the other hand has one OS designed around touch input and another around keyboard/mouse. The downside here is that applications can appear on one OS and not the other. That is the problem Apple has with the 'pro' moniker here is that there are few truly professional level applications available. Given the history of Apple's app store, I would not expect this to remain true for long.
So essentially MS and Apple have chosen different paths for tablets and considering the trade offs with each product, I think it is safe to say that both companies have not found the perfect mix. For the end user, do a bit of research and simply pick the best tool for the job.
iwod - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
This, it is funny they accused Anandtech when they don't even understand the difference.cknobman - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
It is even funnier when you assume to know anything about someone, just makes you look ignorant.I'm a software developer who writes software for corporations, personal use, and public use.
I have published applications for web, desktop, and mobile applications.
I understand, probably more than you could comprehend, the differences between platforms and what the purpose, use cases, and requirements are for each.
iwod - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
No, I don't need to know anything about you. You have already make your point across, and it is rather obvious you are on the Microsoft camp. Nothing wrong with that.But there is a fundamental difference between the two camp, Microsoft and Apple view of Computing platform. One doesn't make the other one any better. Read a few post post below yours. And being a decent software developer doesn't make you any difference or better then anyone on UX or platform.
name99 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Nice try, Kevin, but stupidity is a constant in the world.I've been trying to explain this point (Apple has two UI's on top of one OS), along with related issues like how Apple doesn't sell all-in-one devices because they use iCloud to glue different devices together, for years.
But if your entire world view depends on being unreasonable, then unreasonable you will be... It's not enough to accept that Apple has a different analysis of how to do computing than MS; it has to be stated repeatedly that "APPLE'S VIEW IS GARBAGE, WRONG, STUPID, IDIOTIC, DOOMED TO FAIL!!!"
SFoster4 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
"APPLE'S VIEW IS GARBAGE, WRONG, STUPID, IDIOTIC, DOOMED TO FAIL!!!" Really? Considering Apple can buy a number of countries out there you might want to rethink that statement. God I get sick of jealous people who have nothing better to do than rail on about Apple. Get a life.name99 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Uhh, you realize that my comment was in PRAISE of Apple, right?wolfemane - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
hehehe *wipes tears from eyes*Teknobug - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
I see that you only read one line in that entire post, jumping to conclusion.10/10 for trying.
MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
Lol, you totally missed his point ...Relic74 - Saturday, February 27, 2016 - link
Why do you care, Apple sells inanimate objects, they don't love you, they don't care about you. Just another huge company trying to separate you from your money. Don't you have anything better to do than defend a corporation, they would do the same for you.Tams80 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Windows tablets do have the benefit of Modern UI apps that are good to use with touch, though the choice available is limited. The ones that are available are the ones you'd probably want to predominately use touch for.Not all desktop applications are bad with touch either. Sure, some things are a little fiddly, but you can get used to them. Desktop OneNote is a great example of a desktop application that works well with touch.
The problem with iOS devices is that they are touch only. That really limits their capabilities. iOS devices do do touch very well though.
MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
Modern UI apps .... I stop reading your post there .... :-)Constructor - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
"Modern UI" here seems to refer to the re-branding Microsoft chose for their tile-based touch UI which had previously been referred to as "Metro".id4andrei - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
I agree. I have never seen comprehensive stylus review for Samsung's Notes or Microsoft Surface. They never took those daily to their respective note taking classes.Latency on a barebones app like Notes or a gimped ios version of PS is obviously lower than what PS on Windows on a Cintiq on top of Windows(or even OSX) offers you. There's also cursor function that Windows supports and enhances the Pen. There is also no handwriting recognition in ios.
Tams80 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
That irked me to. If they had they would have found that several differences. One major one would be the difference in exporting notes.The latency test was lacking. Comparing it to a Cintiq (not the tablet version) is good, but there are several more active digitizer technologies and implementations that it should also be compared to. The PS comparison was a joke considering the differences between them. The authors even state that latency is application dependent, yet don't heed that in their conclusions!
As for handwriting; I'm not familiar with it in iOS. In Windows however, it is fantastic, and can even decipher my bad Japanese handwriting.
Teknobug - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
"In Windows however, it is fantastic, and can even decipher my bad Japanese handwriting."lol man that's F'ing sweet.
royalcrown - Sunday, January 31, 2016 - link
Too bad they have a metric ton of bugs. I wanted to buy the Surface 3, but when I read about the rediculous charging issues it sways me towards Ipads. I think KNOWING my device will be charged rather than hoping far outweighs the Surface pen...unfortunately. If they just made the 3 with the same connector as the 3 pro,or made a smaller version of the 4 with the connector and not micro usb, I'd be thrilled. Also, they need to fix all the sleep and standby battery issues. In that respect Apple does it better.RenmHK - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
No native HWR. However, Writepad Pro adds a rather excellent HWR input method that deciphers my chicken scratches flawlessly. It supports English and 4 other languages so it's not a solution for everyone.Icecreamfarmer - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
True, the same goes for the apparent problem with drawing straight lines. I have zero problems with that on my surface 3.royalcrown - Sunday, January 31, 2016 - link
That's because Note styli are undersized and like using a toothpick. I owned a note 8, and am typing this on my wife's Note 12.2 and the stylus on Galaxy devices suck, they are simply too small to have real fine control over, or comfort for lengthy use.MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
The only thing I found comical is your post....The surface pro is an half baked solution. Use it without the keyboard and trackpad? Lol, good luck with most of the apps just NOT designed to be touch friendly (starting from the operative system).
benuk - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
hmm. Quite a serious problem with numbers in this article when comparing with macbook. The use of negative percentages is quite surprising to say the least. e.g core m is twice as fast but looks like -48% only. Libquantum benchmark is even funnier. The correct methodology is to set one platform as 100% and scale the other accordingly...Wheaties88 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
The MacBook is set as 100%. If one thing is twice as fast as something else, the latter is 50% slower than the former. I don't get why you think that is wrong.benuk - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
on cannot use negative percentages this way as it is higly misleading. If one uses the same formulae, there is a big imbalance between two results that would be let s say -50% and 50%. in one case one is twice as fast while in the other case it is only 1.5x as fast. So positive and negative percentages are not in the same scale. Using this methodology two compare two processors, one will be able to go above 100% while the other one will never get below -100%. I have no problem saying that a proc has only 51 % of the speed of another, but using -49% instead is not really sound i think. The formuale a/b-100% is highly non linear.Shadowmaster625 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
The idea that a $47 tablet SoC die can be 15% larger than the dies that Intel is selling for $400+ only speaks to Intel's desire to relegate itself into extinction.jimjamjamie - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
As per the review, Intel's chips are on a more advanced process, which was born from research they had to foot the bill for. It was clearly worth it too since the Core chips are better-performing.lilmoe - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
This doesn't justify Intel trying to get a return on investment from the first batch....lilmoe - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
This might backfire on me but I'll say it again.This is why Windows RT was the BEST OS to address that problem. The OS can run, natively, on practically any platform if Microsoft wanted to. I seriously believe Intel had a LOT to do with that perception (Google too, of course).
People ignorantly shunned the concept of RT without fully knowing the implications. If it succeeded, it would have made HUGE pressure on Intel to up their game. Good thing Microsoft is back with Unviersal Apps. I seriously hope they succeed and the new platform takes off. If it does, these same apps can run on Windows 10 Mobile, which can theoretically run a full fledged desktop environment (other than continuum).
This will make an explosion in processor and SoC competition, where the consumer wins.
The Hardcard - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Apple is in the best position to seize the future. There is not going to be an ARM OS X, nor will Apple merge. Apple will maintain the split approach until iOS hits a critical point and then OS X will go. I predict new OS X versions will cease inside of ten years. There will be software for iOS that will do everything needed to be done.Sure, many of the people currently on these tech sites will not like how the new software works and will be very vocal about how they can only get real work done on legacy software with a legacy OS. But Apple sees that you are getting older and closer to your final resting place.
Young people, the future buyers of all tech, don't have legacy attachments. They will do their real work on the new tech.
I walked up to a young guard who was blasting away messages at astonishingly high speed on her Android phone with her thumbs, faster than I could ever type. When she needed to use a "real" computer to check me in, it took her forever to peck out a few bits of information on the keyboard.
It was clear that whenever given the choice of new tech, new software, and new ways that is what she will choose. Which is why Microsoft's devices and OS that can also do real work is useful now, but will soon become a disadvantage. The up and coming workforce in 2025 are going to want devices without the legacy cruft.
The Hardcard - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
I meant to say Google also. Android will also develop pro capabilities on powerful new devices without worrying about supporting "real" software for guys that will be retired and fishing inside of 20 years.id4andrei - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
That is your wishful thinking so far. I am saying wishful since the market has rewarded the ipad with shrinking numbers.MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
Ever heard the word "saturation " ? There isn't anything eating up iPad market. The Surface Pro isn't even a credible contender. The tablet market is just saturated because people don't replace their tablets every year or two like the smartphones...royalcrown - Sunday, January 31, 2016 - link
I disagree, I think OSX wil' stay as long as there are macs, be it Imacs or Mac pros.simard57 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
it would seem the lack of ink to text is a fail that Apple has to address. How else will ink be searched unless it is OCRed into a document?JoshHo - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
OCR supposedly works with Spotlight search. However in practice if you want ink to text I found that it is necessary to do the conversion by syncing to Windows x86 OneNote and doing the conversion on that platform, which is a rather suboptimal workflow.royalcrown - Sunday, January 31, 2016 - link
That's because there is no ink.iwod - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
A few thing on the Intel x86 Vs Apple ARM.1.Intel is on their 2nd generation FinFET, while TSMC is still on 1st Gen. Intel also provides higher node density and slightly lower power consumption.
2.LLVM is good, but not anywhere as good at optimising as Intel Compiler.
3.A9X is without L3 Cache which has always shown to add quite a bit of performance for CPU task.
Even if Apple somehow don't have the above three disadvantage, my guess is that Intel Core M will still wins. But it just show how close Apple is getting into Intel performance territory. Considering We don't get any update from Intel, ( Unless Intel surprise us with Kaby Bridge performance improvement ) This year Apple A10 will be interesting compared to Intel and see how close the gap is.
guidryp - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Absolutely awesome review. The CPU section is incredible to read. This is what Anandtech does, that no one else comes close to doing.Kudos.
rabastens23 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
I still find it strange how reviewers focus so much on the hardware when the big, massive elephant in the middle of the room is the lack of pro-grade applications.We all figured the hardware was high-quality, fast and sturdy. This isn't what we need to hear about.
name99 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
You mean the software that doesn't exist like this?http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/21/10808754/microso...
For fsck's sake guys. The hardware has only been out for three months. Do you have any IDEA how long it takes to write code, especially when you're considering implementing something totally new (because it didn't make sense on a smaller screen or slower CPU, or without a stylus)?
Complain about a lack of software in two years, not now.
KoolAidMan1 - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Conservative nerds will keep building up that strawmanroyalcrown - Sunday, January 31, 2016 - link
Well THEN it will be a legitimate complaint by then.royalcrown - Sunday, January 31, 2016 - link
Well said.Speedfriend - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
So basically performs the same as the worst Intel Core chip that no tech site would recommend buying at the same TDP, has worse battery life than a Surface when watching movies and takes twice as long to charge? What has happened to Apple?SFoster4 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Yeah they have been kind of busy, you know making money.valentin-835 - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
You're right. What happened to them ? They're getting the same performance with an ARM Soc, their GPU is faster than Intel, the tablet is twice as light and even with the pen and keyboard, the price is not too bad against Surface products since Surface contains those overpriced CPU's from Intel. On top of that, no worries about those endless Windows updates. What on earth are they doing ?!!!royalcrown - Sunday, January 31, 2016 - link
It takes twice as long to charge be a use it actually charges and notaxes "maybe' charges ? Surface 3 specialfically.lefty2 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
The 462.libquantum result is more likely a result of better auto-vectorization in Intel compiler than Apple's LLVM (I asume they compile using Intel's compiler)kgardas - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Are you sure your -Ofast switched on usage of NEON? I'm not so sure hence libquantum bad result on A9X.lefty2 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
XCode switch's that on by default. You just need to use -o3Ryan Smith - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
And -Ofast goes a step beyond that; vectorization, strict aliasing, fast math, etc.Powervano - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Using iPad Pro at this price is more like torturing yourself than owning a productivity "powerhouse".iOS is lacking as a productivity OS, iPad Pro is lacking heavily in productivity things and accessories other than overpriced pencil.
Apple criticizes Microsoft for Surface line but if they wish to produce a real productivity powerhouse and challange MS on that front, they should make a product like SP4 with Mac OS X inside it, not a smartphone OS. Apple was late with challenging Surface Pro line and now they are even more late.
Other than that, ok, fanboys will be happy and buy a new and bigger iPad very happily :)
10101010 - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Apple rarely spends much effort on challenging sinking ships. The reality is that Windows is a legacy platform. It will continue to be important for some time, but ultimately it will fade away.id4andrei - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Yes, it will fade away, but thank the Lord, Apple will be there to accept our humble apologies for not seeing the ios/osx light when we should. Atonement here we come.MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
Oh please stop this bs about "productivity ". You know nothing about other's needs and productivity.Are the Surface Crap more of a "productivity tool" ? Reality check: almost no one is buying Surface Pros .....
lucam - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
A tablet is a tablet, no matter what you turn it around. If people want a laptop then buy a laptop.This thing to compare any time a tablet to laptop doesn't make any sense.
iPad Pro is just another type tablet: professional tablet.
Thanks Ryan for the review, but this time it took too long and it lost interest.
devione - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
So by your definition what's a "professional tablet"?lucam - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Exactly this one that runs new professional softwares but it cannot be compared with Surface Pro.The other way around is applicable too. The Surface pro as tablet is just laughable.
Kyle Andrew Photography - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
I wrote a review of this unit several weeks ago for my own website, but strictly from the point of view of a professional photographer (me) trying to find a place for it in my workflow. I can't help but feel that my conclusion was inline with not only the author of this piece, but moreso many of the commenters.It's a fantastic device. But as a photographer, it's just not there yet. There is not a compelling enough reason, nor a smart enough work flow solution to have this thing replace a laptop. And I'm not on the fence about this. However its mostly a software issue, and in the case of a photographer, a 'how the device communicates with my camera' issue. I can't send 42 megapixel RAW files from my Sony A7R II to the Adobe Software this thing currently runs. So why, as a working professional, would I accept lower resolution jpeg? So I can start the editing process all over again when I move the REAL files to a computer? No thanks. I'll just do this on my laptop.
The hardware on this thing is unreal. In the hands of an illustrator it is indeed a fascinating device. But for me, and likely, for most, it is still not quite there yet as a professional tool. That was my conclusion, and I've read nothing since to make me change my mind.
PeteoBos - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
There is an apple camera connection kit that works with the iPad pro and supports RAW fileshttp://www.apple.com/shop/product/MJYT2AM/A/lightn...
PeteoBos - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
the mylio app supports your raw Sony A7R II files http://mylio.com/support/file-support/Wheaties88 - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Can that app really edit RAW images? I looked at the description in the App Store and didn't see anything mentioned. It's frustrating that apps like Pixelmator and Photoshop Fix can't handle RAW files. I really don't want to have to mess with shooting RAW+ JPEG just to maybe be able to make small adjustments. I don't even think Lightroom Mobile does it.Tams80 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Having multiple dongles to attach and detach is not an ideal workflow. Nor is having to use another piece of software.Yes, people should adapt to new technology in their profession/interest, but sometimes doing something differently is just not worth the time it takes.
akdj - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
You'll need exactly the same, to tether camera to lap or desktop. Dongles, check. Extra piece of software (it's Sony, damn right ya do!) check.Yes, there's apps that allow editing raw and DNG, as well as proxy editing it PS's creative suite so edits carry back over to deal or laptop when exported. Look a bit more Mr. Reviewer. I've been editing raw files from my Canon 5d Mk II & III as well as motion.
kgardas - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
First of all, thanks a lot for this article. I especially very much appreciate your SPEC2006 benchmarking. Now, it's a time to compare this little A9X monster to SPARC64, POWER etc. :-)Anyway, libquantum seems to make some troubles, are you sure your -Ofast switch on proper vectorising (auto-vectorising) and NEON usage? I'd recommend to double check this.
lucam - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
In 2016 you guys still run the 3d Ice storm test which is really obsolete, it's a 720p an use OpenGL ES 2.0Really you will have to start using the new one Sling Shot and the new GFX bench 3.1 that now is also on IOS too.
JoshHo - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
We're definitely aware of this issue and it's part of what we're planning on refreshing for 2016 reviews.name99 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Guys you should surely be aware that libquantum is problematic as a benchmark because it can be (and is, by icc) restructured to be auto-parallelized and auto-vectorized. It's a matter of opinion the extent to which you consider this "cheating"; the more important point IMHO is that this particular transform seems very specific to the structure of libquantum and doesn't much empower icc to produce better (more frequently parallelized or vectorized) code in other circumstances.Point is libquantum is not telling us much about Twister vs Broadwell' it's telling us about icc vs LLVM.
Hmmer is similar, but less egregious. The hot loop there is amenable to some restructuring that moves some load-stores around, then runs everything as vectors replacing if's with select. This is a justifiable, more general purpose transform, which is on LLVM's to-do list, but hasn't been done yet.
icc also seem to do a remarkable job (some sort of transformation I assume, but it might be generating good software prefetching?) on mcf, but I don't know quite what that is.
This website (in French) is hardly ideal but is the best I can find for making this point:
http://www.hardware.fr/articles/847-9/performances...
Forget the exact numbers on each graph, or the AMD graphs. IMHO the point of interest for each graph is to see the cases where the icc results are dramatically different from the gcc results, (which in other words shows a benchmark which is primarily comparing LLVM vs icc, not CPU vs CPU).
mcf, hmmer, milc, lbm, show this.
This page is not ideal in that it's three years old, so gcc (and LLVM) could in theory have picked up some of icc's skill. (milc and lbm are FP benchmarks, presumably being improved by vectorization and/or parallelization; and gcc/llvm both have much better autovectorization than three years ago, though not yet autoparallelization).
Personally I think for THIS type of review (where the interest is in trying to compare Twister against Intel's latest) it would have been better to also perform an LLVM run of the x86 code and also include those results. That would strip out most of the compiler differences and thus make the CPU:CPU comparison somewhat cleaner, for those for whom that is the primary interest.
iwod - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Thx, I have stated in the another comment about the advantage of ICC as well. So Twister isn't that far off Skylake. And will likely improvement more as LLVM matures,name99 - Friday, October 21, 2016 - link
The one benchmark that probably is telling us something interesting is 471.omnetppThis particular benchmark is dominated by DTLB misses. You can see that having two effects
- first it gets the least speedup from A8X to A9X (substantially less than even just the frequency boost)
- secondly it's one non-faked-out-by-icc benchmark that is substantially below Intel.
This presumably tells us that DTLB performance on A9/A9X was not improved much (or at all) relative to A8/A8X, and that it's substantially behind Intel. The question, then, is whether Apple think's this is worth improving given real mobile workloads (my guess is yes) and when they improve it (I would expect with the A10, but we haven't seen the SPEC numbers for that yet).
What are the sorts of things they could do? Well of course we don't know what their baseline is, but things that have been done include
- increase the size of the first and second level TLBs (that's obvious)
- use coalesced TLB entries (this is a way to use a single TLB entry to cover multiple physical pages). It works best with OS support --- fortunately Apple controls their OS...
- use a prefetcher that pulls in TLB entries before they're needed
- use an additional cache that holds superpage data
- provide at least two TLB walkers (Intel has done this for a while now, and the A73 does it)
It's also possible that they're not using large pages at all, or not using them as aggressively as they could, to cover things like OS data and/or code, and these could be fixed in an OS update at any time.
Jumangi - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
This device will never be a true productivity machine or laptop,replacement without iOS getting a massive update. The Surface is far more usable with. full version of Windows.10101010 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
For many, "true productivity" means focusing on a few things and doing them well. iOS works well for this type of productivity, especially when coupled with a purpose-built tablet like the iPad Pro.xthetenth - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
It's rare that people focus on a little bit of a lot of things for serious work. Instead they focus a lot on a few things, and apps are very often hurting in terms of depth compared to programs.MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
And exactly who said the "full version of Windows" is a more productive operative system ? Especially used on a half baked solution like a surface pro, not good as a tablet and not good as a notebook....dgwine - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Great tablet, horrible laptop.lucam - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Maybe what is really missing (in my opinion) in this review is a bit of more spaces on professional softwares that Apple has created specifically for iPad Pro. Those softwares won't run on iPad Mini and use capabilities of this specific GPU and the Apple Pencil.Don't want to blame Ryan for that as this is the first ''different' tablet ever outside there. But if we really want to put this thing in perspective apart run benchmarks we need to see how does perform with some specific software. For example I would be pretty much interested to see how the Cad tool run on it.
id4andrei - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
"they have been closing the architecture and manufacturing gap with Intel" - on architecture yes, but on manufacturing you have the wrong party, that is TSMC, not Apple.On stylus testing. So, you cannot possibly draw a straight diagonal on Windows? Are you sure you have tested the Surface Pen as extensively as you tested the Pencil?
JoshHo - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
We understand that TSMC is the foundry, but to some extent customers do guide foundry roadmap and process spec. TSMC is not making new processes in a vacuum to our understanding.Regarding the stylus the Surface Pro 4 and other N-Trig devices have an issue where trying to draw a straight diagonal will cause wavy lines. The SP4 does improve on this over the SP3, but it's still not quite perfect compared to iPad Pro which doesn't have this issue at all.
id4andrei - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
I am compelled to thank you for your utterly prompt reply. My toying with the SP2's Wacom based stylus certainly cannot be equivalent to the recent tech used by MS.Sensitivity levels is an area I haven't seen discussed. Judging by the wording in the review, it's good enough that's imperceptible compared to Wacom's.
JoshHo - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
To my knowledge the SP2 and SP1 Wacom styluses are better than the N-Trig styluses in some ways still. However for people that are looking to buy a new Surface Pro or Surface there isn't really an option to use a Wacom stylus.rubene66 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
No Pixel C comparison why!Ryan Smith - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Check back on Monday,=)snuffysasa - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Question: I want to know how much watts, what TDP is the A9X? we know core-M is 4.5W how much is A9X? thanksI have been wanting to know the answer to this question since the iPad Pro was announced
JoshHo - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
We don't know the exact TDP of A9X, and TDP across silicon vendors isn't comparable. However it's roughly comparable based upon the power consumption seen in our power virus tests.10101010 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
Thanks for putting together such a high quality review. I've talked to a few people at work with iPad Pros and they are all using them as a "paper and pencil" replacement. This is not just for taking notes, but also for annotating presentations and research papers. Reading PDF files also works very well, although an OLED screen would be nice for night time reading (in inverse mode). Some of the people I talked to have owned Windows tablets in the past and they rave about how well the Apple Pencil works. All in all, I'm quite impressed with the iPad Pro. It's a great tablet.akdj - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
I'd bet Apple switches to OLED sooner than later but the combination of IGZO and A/R glare covering/coating/glass infused front end and iOS 9's (current beta. I'm not sure if it's life in the current version of public iOS) display 'blue point' setting helps significantly at night, while reading. You're able to turn the temp down, fairly low in temp to help your eyes in the dark with a warmer screen. I use it every night. Amazing, yet small addition to iOS that - again may go unnoticed but if you take advantage of it, your eyes will thank you!I'm actually using Pencil in right hand, left free to hold or help type -- as you can navigate, open apps, manipulate the iPad and UI with the pencil but with a LOT more precision whether using a sketch pad, editing in Pinnacle or iMovie, GarageBand, or even using playback apps like dJay, games, and writing or notating a PDF, picture or just prefer sending a hand written note, it's an exceptional piece of hardware and the App Store's selection of apps, the best in history and at the lowest cost we've enjoyed ...in history.
I'm floored by the accelerated pace of apps being updated for support of both iPP and the Apple Watch. Niche product? Sure, but as a smaller iPad owner as well I'd LOVE to see this speaker tech drizzle down the line. Speakers, SoC and the 'speed' of this guy are phenomenal and anyone that spends anytime with one and apps from Adobe, MS, Autodesk or other big software devs, you'll immediately 'see' what the authors are discussing and the enjoyment many have found in ownership.
As the workplace transitions to BYOD, Jr and HSchools transition to the same --- as well as colleges, iPads of all shapes and sizes can be seen. That said, the iPP offering of the Pencil takes this another step forward for education and medical/sciences/teaching, audio production, mobile video capture, controlling your Parrot or --- as many ignorant, haven't seen or touched it yet, folks will tell you -- 'consumption'. Media; music, videos, books and magazines --- all look, sound and are more enjoyable with the larger display, significantly upgraded speakers and improved perfomance make it the perfect iPad --- for me.
I still have my rMBP 15" at home for heavier lifting my iMacs and Mac Pro in studio but the use they get is minimal compared to just a couple years ago. For everyday everyone tasks; email, surfing, comms, Twit, FB, Instagram or fill in favorite social site here -- to wifi calling, continuity with the rest of your system through handoff, and sooooo many other little things that took me away from 20 years of PC usage seven years ago to strictly OS X and iOS - with Win 7/10 on partitions of the MP in the case software is proprietary to Windows --- an ever growing anomaly rather than the usual just a half decade ago
ALL the big software developers have switched up staff and dollars from desk and laptop to mobile development --- some, over 50%! Adobe's got a dozen companion apps as does Google (that run many times better on iOS than my Android devices!) -Autodesk and Microsoft both demonstrated their software at the iPP release and I've been using the MS suite since the day it dropped, subscribed to Adobe CC since its inception and have watched literally ...weekly updates to their companion iOS software. To the extent they've rewritten ALL of their apps for 64bit compatibility opimized to iOS and are absolutely phenomenal --- certainly not 'gimped' - bit extensions of the CC suite on your MBP, MP, iMac or iPhone!
Anyway, as you seem to get it, that it's a great tablet --- as far as nighttime reading, the latest iOS drop allows much more granular control of the screen temp than Android's standard, cinema, photo, and adaptive settings. Definitely help with reading in the dark!
J
SFoster4 - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
I am an IBM mainframe systems programmer and have been for 38 years. I have been using PC's as well for longer than many of you have been alive. I have seen and owned lots of hardware. The hardware along with the software will always evolve. Why can't you people just enjoy the changes, I do. I bought an iPad Pro. I love it. I am typing on it right now. But I am not going to lambaste others for using different devices. If there was only one solution then the hardware/software would be boring. However that might not be a bad thing because then I would have to read all of childish rants of my d*** is bigger than your d***.blackcrayon - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Thank you.Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any correlation between maturity and interest in tech...
klassobanieras - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
"When discussing azimuth, we’re basically looking at the angle that the stylus makes with the plane of the display, while altitude is the angle that the stylus makes relative to the normal of the display"This could be more clearly expressed - the azimuth is the angle of the pencil *within* the display plane vs the horizontal axis, not the angle it makes with the plane itself.
Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Basically the Pencil gives:• pixel-precise location (x, y)
• pretty precise pressure (from manual testing – subtle pressure variations come through very well)
• relatively crude inclination (looks like only a few increments from 0..90° in the software I've checked)
• relatively precise direction when inclined (dx, dy – when shading "sideways" it knows the orientation of the point)
SaolDan - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
The only way i could call this thing "pro" is if it could run the software i use for work. I-lux, ETC software, crestron software, ILC software, wattstopper software, i could keep naming software. Im that years down the road some of them could be available in ios but as a lesser crappy app. My boss is an ipad freak and he wont buy ipads for the company because we cant load any of the software we need to use. The device looks nice and its huge in a good way. Sucks that it doesnt have a usb drive and file system. No this cant not replace a laptop. No it cant run real games. It all depends on what use u give it.blackcrayon - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
You really don't understand why they used "pro"?Look, Samsung makes a 256GB 850 PRO ssd. For my job, 256 gigs isn't nearly enough. How can it be pro? Because it has features and performance above and beyond their other models. It's just a label. It doesn't mean every profession on the planet will find it to be the perfect device. I know a lot of graphics professionals that could use an iPad Pro in their workflow where an Air wouldn't have worked very well (pencil, larger screen).
Constructor - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
No, the Samsung "pro" SSDs are not just a different badge. They also use different chips with a different architecture for more consistent performance and for increased reliability.With the iPad it's more similar to the MacBook Pro: Anyone can use it for anything; It's mostly similar to the smaller models. But its full-page document capability, its professional-grade Pencil and its high processor performance make it more suitable for demanding work than any other model.
MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
The whole "pro" bitching is utterly ridiculous. One can use a Mac Pro for Safari and Mail while another could earn real money just using an iPad mini ... Who's the "Pro" here ?MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
World doesn't end at your job...And the iPad pro DOES have a file system.
ghostbit - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
I like iPads as thin clients.wolfemane - Friday, January 22, 2016 - link
The article was a great read and very thorough. Thank you Joshua Ho, Brandon Chester & Ryan Smith. I look forward to the next article!nrencoret - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
It seems cliché in Apple product reviews to mention bias, but this article fits the cliché quite well.The selective comparisons with other tablets are alarming. As others pointed out, no other product with a stylus has been thoroughly reviewed. A bare mention of the SP3 pen is all we get whilst all of the cons explored in the stylus section have no counterpoint as to how strong Surface tablets (and even Samsung devices) are at note taking (the exporting woes with the iPad come to mind). Even more troubling is the keyboard section where anyone who has decent tech knowledge knows how big of an improvement is the SP4 keyboard just to have it conveniently ignored in the conversation. The section is even worse when one considers the lack of angle adjustments, stability issues and cumbersome setup of the iPad keyboard are compared to the SP. Not to say a thing about the lack of mouse input which makes the whole desktop use uncomfortable. Finally the bland treatment given to the charge time of the tablet is inexcusable.
On the plus side, the SOC section is impeccable.
But the overall falling (as with all of Joshua's Apple writings) is a self-fulfilling prophecy: he likes the iPad and excuses or dismisses the the product's failings and conveniently never discusses what other products+software do better. Happy you like your iPad and you've written a good essay as to why its a good device for you, but this, a professional unbiased review its not.
10101010 - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
As a Note 8 and 12.2 owner, I can say the "exporting woes" of the iPad Pro are absolutely trivial in comparison. Samsung completely fumbled building a pen app ecosystem. This will not be the case with the iPad Pro.When it comes to the Surface Pro, we need to talk about how Windows is a broken platform and few developers want to write apps for it anymore. Even Microsoft's own developers don't like Windows anymore and are writing their latest software for other platforms using open source frameworks such as Electron.
Let's not forget to mention that the Surface Pro hardware, firmware, and drivers are so flaky that there is "SurfaceGate":
https://www.thurrott.com/mobile/microsoft-surface/...
And we also have the endless "whack-a-mole" adventure that is trying to maintain some semblance of data privacy/security with Windows 10 and its factory installed malware and forced updates.
One could on. You know, so things are more "professionally unbiased".
royalcrown - Sunday, January 31, 2016 - link
Thank you, for I am racing this on a Note 12.2 now. The S Pens have good hardware but their size sucks and the apps for them are too dumbed down or too many steps just to take simple notes.name99 - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Hmm. For a team that is supposedly so blindly in love with Apple, they seem remarkably ignorant about how to actually DO things. For example, here's how you export those Pencil written notes:you install an iOS app called PrinterPro https://readdle.com/products/printerpro OR
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/printer-pro-print-...
This installs a share sheet into iOS which allows you to "print" to a variety of real or virtual printers. One of these virtual printers is, of course, a PDF printer which just create a PDF file.
THIS sort of thing is why Apple folks get so irritated with Windows/Linux folks. You keep claiming that something or other cannot be done (on OSX or iOS) but 95% of the time your actual complaint is "I don't know how to do ... on OSX/iOS; therefore obviously it can't be done because I know everything in the universe about computing". There's more than one way to do things, folks, and just because the Windows way is some weird voodoo of "install a driver; go into some dialog that hasn't been updated since Windows 95; change three settings in the registry; now you can create PDFs" doesn't mean that iOS makes you do the same thing if you want to create PDFs.
Share sheets are the generic inter-app communication mechanism for iOS, and anyone who was actually familiar with the platform would immediately think that this was the sort of place to look to solve the problem.
As for Printer Pro being "unsupported". Well, my version is actually free because Apple liked the product so much they sponsored it being free on the app store for two weeks or so. I don't think they're likely to yank it from the store...
Should this be part of the OS? Well, plenty of thing should be part of every OS. How long did it take WINDOWS to get a Print to PDF option?...
My guess is that at some point it will be wrapped into the standard iOS bundle of features, but that right now Apple have higher priorities, and the third party solution works very well without the sorts of security, stability, or power concerns that might compel Apple to move other features into the base OS more rapidly.
royalcrown - Sunday, January 31, 2016 - link
True, but it'seems stupid in this day of very common WiFi printers that you can'take just install an app from the app store that is from the printer manufacturer that allows IOS to print directly (No Airprint nonsense). How a out the fact that it took until IOS 8 or 9 to attach a PDF to an email.I like both companies and use both, but this is the kind of stupid crap that apple does that gives haters a "Foot in the door". It's why I switched out my IPad 3 for a Note at the time.
bitbank - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Small correction to your comparison of ARM to x86 ISA: you said "By comparison, the ARM ISA has no direct equivalent to this instruction. Any instruction like leal/leaq is going to take multiple instructions.". This is incorrect. ARM with its 3-operand instructions usually takes fewer instructions compared to Intel. In this case, there is a single instruction which is more powerful than the Intel equivalent -> ADD R1,R2,R3,LSL #2. This is effectively R1 = R2 + 4*R3. The barrel shifter and 3-operand instructions mean you can do more work than the Intel ISA allows. Individual ARM instructions are on average longer than Intel instructions, but you usually need fewer of them to accomplish the same task.JoshHo - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Fiora Aeterna has also helpfully pointed this out. I've since updated the article to resolve this inaccuracy and use a (hopefully) better example.name99 - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
We can be more precise about this. Experiments have been done about the density of code and it is a fact that ARM-v8 is very slightly DENSER than x64 code. ARM-v7 was slightly less dense than 32-bit x86 code.The barrel shifter is not relevant to ARM-v8 (neither is predication). What is relevant is a very cleverly designed ISA that actually exploits what we've learned about usual code patterns over the past 30 years or so. So ARM has load and store register pair, or just enough predication-like instructions (CSEL and the concatenated branch conditions), or a way to distinguish between instructions that do and don't set branch conditions, or an encoding of literals that is, as matter of empirical reality, substantially denser than a flat encoding. All these make for a substantially denser ISA than the traditional load-store type ISA of something like MIPS or POWER.
Angi24 - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
You make the test with an average illumination, and how long it will operate at maximum brightness in the game loads?Onetimeonly - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
I didn't realize CNet had purchase Anandtech, I can honestly say this is the last review I will ever read on this website. Much better to just do your own research.Dennis Travis - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Show me one CNet review with all the detail in any Anandtech review. What is wrong with people. People today are so ungrateful!MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
You won't be missed. GoodbyeDemigod79 - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
I think Apple is entering the 2-in1 business the wrong way. What they should be doing is making a touchscreen-based (and perhaps detachable) version of the Macbook Pro (basically, an OS X version of the Surface Book). This would make a far more usable hybrid device than a bigger iPad. IMO, it would take a lot less work to make an OS X tablet than to try to bring iOS up to business/enterprise standards.KPOM - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
I disagree. The first version would make Windows 8 look elegant. OS X is NOT designed for touch input. I think Apple's going about it the right way. They just need to speed it up. Hopefully iOS 10 is a major improvement in that regard.name99 - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
OSX is TOTALLY designed for touch input. It just happens to be touch input directed towards a trackpad rather than a screen. For precisely the reasons given in this article (about the hassles of moving from keyboard to screen, and the discomfort in trying to touch a vertical screen).KPOM - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
That said, it still doesn't translate. An OS X tablet would be a terrible experience.name99 - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
Oh, I absolutely agree. My point was simply one of clarity. To say that "OSX is not designed for touch input" implies that Apple is stuck in 1999, insisting on maintaining an obsolete UI model. The truth is that OSX is, as I said, absolutely design for touch input; what it's not designed for is the tablet UI model.MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
What's wrong with you, guys? I absolutely don't want to touch the display of my notebook! And I don't want something ridiculous like a Surface Book...zodiacfml - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Anandtech needs more people. Where is that video which records the latency of the Apple pencil or SP4? Aren't musicians and sound engineers be interested in the tablet for simple creation of music which I meant, audio should be tested? If testing methodology of Wi-Fi has problems, wouldn't it be nice to test if one could play or edit a high bit rate video saved from a high performance NAS? The device is a small niche but Anandtech could put some more analysis just for the entertainment/education value of it.JoshHo - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Regarding stylus latency, the videos would be quite boring as it's nothing more than a straight line with the stylus. I've simply taken those videos and done multiple trials and averaged times to determine the approximate latency of the stylus system.We would like to properly test speaker and 3.5mm output. We're working on these things but it looks like 3.5mm output testing is quite difficult.
We are also working on WiFi testing. This one will prove to be quite interesting as well.
zodiacfml - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Thanks. I just thought the device deserves more analysis and work based on the amount of interest and comments here. I have one more critique on camera testing. Why is it not possible to have a static object or studio for camera testing since Anandtech constantly review mobile devices which will make the tests faster to produce and output to be easily comparable between devices?name99 - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
One more issue. When you test storage throughput, do you use traditional file IO or memory mapped files? Apple has ALREADY indicated a strong preference that developers use memory mapped files, and as we move to a world on NVM living more or less directly on the memory bus, memory mapped IO will become SUBSTANTIALLY more performant than traditional file IO.It seems to me incumbent that your testing become prepared for this new world today (maybe by running tests both ways and reporting both speeds, or the higher speed); otherwise at some point soon (and it may be as soon as two or three years) Apple or Samsung or MS are going to ship the first consumer device using NVM, and your storage performance tests are just going to look dumb because you're not simply not accessing the storage properly.
dontlistentome - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
5 hours to charge? If you started a working day on this with a flat battery and worked on it for 8 hours, would the battery even have charged by the end of the day?digiguy - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
As an ipad pro owner (128GB wifi), I'll give my opinion after owning it for around 2 months and reading this review (plus many others before this one, none as detailed, the best so far had been that of notebookcheck) and 166 comments. I also own a Surface pro 3, a Surface 2, a galaxy note 8, an ipad air and ipad mini 2, plus a few convertibles and a few laptops (no Macs however, Windows only). As expected, in the comments there was the traditional battle full OS vs mobile OS. Microsoft has proven how hard is to make a full OS easy to use on a tablet (some people here don't seem to understand what a titanic effort would be making OSX and its app good for tablets). Of course MS itself cannot control most apps and impose a touch friendly version. They tried the route of a mobile OS with RT but unfortunately it failed. It has to be said that Metro itself had some serious shortcomings, like the lack of a decent touch optimized file manager, onscreen keyboard issues etc. It's not easy to transform a desktop OS into a touch optimized OS and I understand why Apple has not and certainly will never try to make OSX for tablets. Same for Google, they tried to make chrome for touch with pixel c, but gave up and used android. Having said that, let's come to why I bought the ipad pro (especially while owning an SP3). First of all, screen size, I wanted something bigger to display documents in true A4 size, and the additional inch plus the better 4:3 ratio achieve that. The alternative would have been the surface book, but it's too expensive for just this (and has too compromises to replace my asus ultrabook, let alone my desktop replacement). Second reason was IOS music apps. IOS is the only mobile platform that can be used to a decent extent professionally by musicians. And this is great for sound libraries that can be used for example directly on the music rest of a piano/keyboard while connected to it via midi. Or to replace a mixer etc, where touch is essential. You can do this on Windows tablets, but software is not well optimized for touch and you often need anti-piracy dongles etc. so that a single USB port is not enough. None of that is necessary on IOS. Ipad pro sound, the best for any tablet, makes it useful without having to plug an external speaker in some circumstances (ex hotel room for working on music creation). Also an Ipad pro can act as a secondary monitor with duet display. And at it's size it can become useful, contrary to other ipads. So to sum up, screen size (and quality), high quality touch apps (for use cases in which touch is very important) without need for antipiracy dongles (widespread for music software) and sound. And this without mentioning the pencil (I am not an artist and only need to annotate PDFs, and for that I use my SP3, so haven't bought the pencil yet or the keyboard for that matter). Now, the shotcomings of ipad pro: Lack of a kickstand (with variable angles), lack of a pencil holder. Both can be solved by spending another 80$ for a urban armor gear case, with which the ipad pro is still lighter than SP3 with type cover. Lack of a file manager. This can be solved (to a decent extend) by buying a software called imazing. That's another 40$ but gives you a proper file manager and the possibility to copy file and folders from a pc to ipad. Other than that, some apps allow to sync you dropbox folders to ipad. Lack of storage expansion. Again spend the money for the 128GB version. As for SP3, screen is reflective, but, as for SP3, a matt screen protector works great and make the screen even more beautiful (no fingerprints, colors look even better without reflections). IOS not optimized enough for 12.9 inches, yet. No solution yet, we can only wait for IOS 10. So, with money you can fix many of the shortcomings, but is the over 1000$ necessary for that, justified? I would say probably not yet. But by buying the ipad pro I made a sort of bet on Apple to optimize IOS for better multitasking etc. and on IOS developers to continue making pro apps (especially for music, in my case), while already taking advantage of what it already offers. And the sheer power of this machine, so far not completely used, should make it a future-proof device, much more than other ipads (ready for IOS 10, 11, etc and for new powerful apps). What about Surface pro 3? Well to be honest, other than for annotating, I use it mainly as a very portable laptop on the go (only bring the 14 inches ultrabook when out for several days) with a nice, but not absolutely necessary, touch screen and nice pen input for taking handwritten notes. So mainly as a very convenient laptop rather than a tablet (as probably most Surface pro owners do too). As a tablet for the bed or for checking emails etc. on the go, my android phone or one of my 8 inch tablets are the most convenient devices....Klug4Pres - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
One of the better walls of text I have read, thank you.digiguy - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
thanks! well, I myself was impressed by how long it was... I only realized after I posted it.... ;-)id4andrei - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Damn man, insert some spaces between ideas. Segmentation.digiguy - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Yeah, right, sorry, the writing box is so small that I didn't think about layout. Next time I'll write in Word first and then copy...valentin-835 - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
Same here. I thought I was reading a novel.FunBunny2 - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
-- Same here. I thought I was reading a novel.Same here. I thought I was reading Ulysses.
Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
I had to copy that text block to an editor and insert paragraphs after all periods. You know, you can actually use paragraphs in a comment here...! ;-)My own experience with the iPad Pro is generally consistent with yours, even though my usage differs from yours.
I've got the Pencil and it is indeed very, very good; Precise and with hardly any noticeable latency unless I crank up the size of the respective drawing tool. Because of the low latency and very little parallax aberration there's no need for an additional "hover cursor".
Charging time could be better but is usually bearable (especially when coming from an iPad 3 which could take up to 7 hours when completely drained!).
The iPad Pro is an excellent mobile TV, streaming radio and general music player whenever I can't have big speakers or headphones. No real bass, but still good range and very good volume at low distortions.
And it is near perfect for anything document-related due to its size: Unrestricted full-page use with documents is finally a reality! Also excellent for reading books, magazines or just simply the web.
I personally can write almost as fast on the virtual keyboard as on a desktop one, so I don't really need a physical keyboard for the iPad.
Gaming is also fantastic (pinball, Real Racing etc.).
Regarding the "Kickstand" I've found one that's near-perfect: Simple, sturdy, adjustable, compact (foldable and pocketable) and even pretty stable with the iPad Pro in portrait orientation. The iPad even fits into the stand with the normal Smart Cover (without keyboard) folded on its back. And yet I can leave the stand off when I don't need it. For me that's a near-perfect solution. And it's even cheap:
http://www.arktis.de/arktispro-ipad-aluminium-stae...
It's actually a China-made OEM product with no manufacturer specified on the box. It's just called "universal stand for tablet pc/smart phone" on the box. I'd expect that other distributors in other countries might have it as well.
Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Just found it on Amazon as well:http://www.amazon.com/TechMatte-Multi-Angle-Alumin...
digiguy - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
I didn't say it, despite my long post, but I too use it as a mobile tv and for games like pinball, real racing, need for speed etc. And in addition to the case, I have several stands for portrait mode. Among them this from amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055CR9R0?psc=1&... (great for cable management)As for the pencil, well here in Switzerland it's still no available....
Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Nice. Yeah, with my stand I could only charge it from the top (which is possible, though).The Pencil should at least be available online, is it not?
digiguy - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
In theory yes, but I think it's imported from the States as currently it costs around 160 EUR from Amazon France for instance. At this price I'll wait for it to be available locally.... Should be there in 2-3 weeks according to the apple storeKPOM - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
I have an iPad Pro with a Pencil and Smart Keyboard. Here is my take. If you are a notebook power user, this won't replace it. Even I don't see it replacing my MacBook. However, if you are an artist, you'll love the Pencil. It's the same if you like taking notes.With Office 365, a few other apps (iMazing or a decent Cloud service such as OneDrive or even iCloud with extra storage, GoodReader, OneNote or Evernote, this could easily be a road device for someone. Office is surprisingly useful, the screen is really nice, and the keyboard works better than I expected it. It feels nicer than the one on the new MacBook, but it isn't backlit (which is a negative). Hopefully iOS 10 opens up some new iPad Pro-only features to enable developers to take better advantage of the decent hardware.
metayoshi - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
I kind of disagree with the sentiment the iPad Pro is "the only game in town," when the Surface Pro clearly has a huge advantage when it comes to using legacy applications and other peripherals when it comes down to being a "Pro." For example, the Surface line still has a full fledged USB port on it, and that allows it to be used with a lot of 3rd party peripherals like USB instruments and other devices. Heck, even staying within the Apple ecosystem here, a full fledged Macbook laptop is still a better choice here, but then you sacrifice the whole appeal of a 2-in-1 device.I'm not saying the iPad Pro isn't a great device. I'm sure it is, especially after reading the whole review. But it's still not going to sway me from choosing a Surface Pro 4 (or even a Surface 3) over something like this.
glenn.tx - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Completely agree. As a software consultant, I use my primary computer 12 hours a day. That computer has been the i7 SP2, i7SP3, and now the i5 Surface Pro 4. (Additional 2-3 hrs/day as a tablet in bed) Every version has been a God send. There is absolutely no way I could (or would) use the iPad Pro as my primary PC/Notebook. When you work in reality, the differences can be ignored.glenn.tx - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
I mean't CAN"T be ignored :0MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
There is absolutely no way I could (or would) use a Surface Pro as my primary laptop (or even tablet)...digiguy - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
I don't think anyone is saying that ipad pro is the only game in town. At least not me. As you can see I am a "multi-device" guy. I don't believe in one device for everything. And all my devices and synced via dropbox + onedrive + sugarsync.I have several activities and a lot of what I do is done via a computer. No surface pro/book or other clone could replace my main device, the one I spend most time on and from which I am writing, a 17 inch quad core i7 with 16GB of RAM, 2 SSDs, 1 HHD, lots of ports etc. I am a heavy multi-tasker and 8GB or a dual core are sometimes not enough.
But my quad core stays at home and I also work on the go (teach at university, among other things) and travel, so I have my SP3 for when I work on the go and my 14 inch ultrabook for travelling (better on my lap and on a plane).
So each device has a role and I would never dream of replacing any laptop with the ipad pro... I think very few people buy the ipad pro with this objective. For what I use it for ipad pro beats SP3 on a lot of things (size, sound, weight, touch optimization) and that’s why I bought it.
Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Yeah, when backward desktop compatibility is the primary thing you need.The whole point of contention her is that some people overgeneralize their own needs to apply to absolutely every professional user, which is simply not the case.
An iPad (Pro or otherwise) can very well be a professional tool, especially when flexibility of use, portability and ease of use are critical, but of course there will still be cases where other computers will be better suited. Just not exclusively any more by a long shot.
Murloc - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
you won't find that kind of people (pure office workers who only need the office ecosystem and sync everything to the cloud and have no need for other software or usb ports) commenting on this review.glenn.tx - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
"I didn’t really notice that it had gotten significantly harder to handle in the hands than an iPad Air 2"... Are you kidding me? Find me someone else that agrees with this opinion. Every other review of the Pro notes that it's a bit unwieldy. I wish I could find another quality technical source for reviews other than Anandtech because the bias for Apple is gushing.KPOM - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Most sites have said that the weight balance is good.Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Most people who have handled mine have remarked how light it is relative to what they expected at its size, and that reflects my own impression as well.Of course it's bigger and heavier than an iPad Air 2, but "harder to handle" is something I can't really get together with the actual device. It's just A4-sized like any ordinary paper magazine. If you can't cope with that, you must have major problems anyway.
digiguy - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
I would say that the air you can hold it from one side for as long as you like, the ipad pro you'll probably want to hold it like a pizza if for more that a few seconds, but if you hold it like that you can hold it for long without feeling tired. That's not a big issue IMO.Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Even prolonged sessions playing Real Racing for several hours (where it's held free without support with both hands because it also acts as the steering wheel) have not been a major problem yet.Yes, holding it with one hand at one edge is not ideal, but it's just like a stiff A4 note pad in general. Not a big problem.
One great feature is that the microfiber back side of the Smart Cover sticks very firmly to any kind of fabric, so it's perfectly comfortable to cross my legs and put the iPad on my thigh, without touching it with my hands at all. It just stays there very securely (even on a train) as if glued in place.
Actually much more comfortable than any book or magazine I've ever read while sitting down (which you always have to keep from slipping away and from trying to close by itself).
It is also very useful when typing on my lap with the onscreen keyboard, where it also prevents the iPad from slipping all over the place.
I don't know if that was explicitly a design goal, but it's definitely a great advantage and one of the reasons why I can very much recommend the regular Smart Cover. (The one for my previous iPad 3 had survived four years of regular use with minimal wear already.)
dsraa - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
You guys are a bit late reviewing this, no? Especially for a ipad that is the exact same thing, only a little bigger.....what a stupid idea,.....But of course idiots are gonna buy it cause its apple.valentin-835 - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
I'm buying it not because it's an Apple. It's the only one out there. Samsung had a 12 inch and they have discontinued it. As for Surface, I don't have a need for desktop apps on my tablet ( not yet ). If that makes me an idiot, so be it.blackcrayon - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
People that buy it are "idiots", yet you think the iPad Pro is the "*exact* same thing"? Not sure if you need a dictionary or what.osxandwindows - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
What a stupid comment.NitT - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
I am interested in iPad Pro because of the pen. Most of my tablets have active digitizer. I have never used iPad as there was no active digitizer available. I have a few Galaxy tablets before with active stylus. However below is my workflow. Please suggest if iPad Pro could handle my workflow.1. I have 200+ email per day and my company's cloud is very limited. It is only 2 GB so I have to archive my email every 15 days. Now I am using Outlook client. I have to access my email from 2013 or 2014 from time to time.
2. My office works are mainly on Office suite either Word, Excel, PowerPoint. I need to copy content from one work (eg. Word) to another one (eg. Excel).
3. I use OneNote heavily and require to copy content from Word/Excel/PowerPoint
to OneNote for note taking.
4. I use Outlook extensively for email, calendar and task. I prefer everything in one place and do not want to go to multiple apps to access those information.
digiguy - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
Your workflow seems more typical of a laptop than of a tablet. It wouldn't be impossible to use the ipad pro, but it's definitely not the best device for that. A surface pro 3/4 (or even book) would be a much better option, especially if you copy and past a lot and (seem to) need the full office suite. Also if you want a fanless device, you have more options with similar devices such as the Lenovo Miix 700 and the HP Spectre X2.osxandwindows - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
Strange.There are no ms fanboys claiming, surface is better.
Surface is better as a laptop, not as a tablet.
Same go's for the iPad pro, the best professional tablet, not very good as a laptop.
KPOM - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
Different tools for different tasks.amrs - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
From the final words: "Android has some pretty severe issues with making a tablet UI that is more than just a scaled-up phone UI". What exactly are these severe issues? As I understand it the main issue with Android tablets has been apps: few apps lead to few sales so few apps. Video works and is apparently huge in some places but for other apps Microsoft's Office is one of the few good tablet apps on Android... Not talking about the 7-8" tablets where phone UI is usually OK.ABR - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
Not sure if this is why the article says that, but the iOS APIs make it very clearcut and simple to build a UI that adapts to tablets and phones in standard ways. Android provides some of the building blocks, but leaves you much more on your own for putting it all together. So, while it's actually easier on Android to build the UI that simply expands and shrinks for the screensize, providing two separate modes for tablet-size and phone-size is mostly up to you.willis936 - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
I am very interested in energy per calculation comparisons between the A9X and the Core M. Yes Core M will beat out the A9X from a power perspective but are both within the same power budget? If so then Intel has done some impressive work.Constructor - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
That's not even cut and dried. The Anandtech performance comparison leaves quite a number of question marks. It looks a lot as if some of the tests were written originally so autovectorization would work with known desktop compilers but LLVM for iOS just didn't catch on to it.The drastic swings between the various tests are not very plausible otherwise.
Which makes that comparison utterly useless if that's the case. And that the testers didn't even bother to check the generated code is highly disappointing.
Icecreamfarmer - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
I just registered to post this but I have a question?How so cant you draw diagonal lines with a surface 3?
I just tried it several times with and without ruler but they are flawless?
Could you explain?
VictorBd - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
Surface diagonals: The MS N-Trig pen tech manifests a subtle but distinct anomaly when drawing slow diagonal lines in that the lines waver a bit. If you search on this you can see it demonstrated. It is a genuine defect in the current tech. For my use case it is not a concern. I use the pen extensively for interview and meeting note taking (and for light sketching for fun).For my own purposes, the SP4 provides the most compelling overall device available on the market at this time: the power, form factor, desktop docking, OS and apps, ports, and pen when taken all together cannot be matched. It is my primary device every day all day.
At night when I just want to consume web, video, or music, I use an iPad Air 2. Perfect for that. I bought and returned an iPad Pro. I could never try to do production work on it. And it's price and bulk are not worth the beauty of its screen. So I'm keeping the Air for casual consumption. But for work its the SP4 (with a Toshiba dynaPad as a light backup).
Constructor - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
There also seem to be problems properly following the pen near the edges of the screen, even requiring calibration by the user, apparently.The Apple Pencil has neither of those problems. It works very precisely and consistently in any direction and right up to the edges.
VictorBd - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
I initially had pen issues at the edge with the SP4, but it was completely resolved for me by a pen calibration reset. The only thing left is the subtle diagonal - which does not impact me.I also note that the iPad's palm rejection isn't perfect. It allowed my palm to make marks on the screen in OneNote, and it will register finger input as drawing from your "non pen hand" as well in some apps. And right now there's no way to switch off touch input while using the pen so you can grab it however you want. (Another IOS "protected garden" limitation.)
Constructor - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
Nope. The Procreate app, for instance, ignores my fingers completely for any drawing tools but I can still simultaneously draw with the Pencil and operate the UI with my fingers (such as the opacity and size sliders, or the two- and three-finger undo/redogestures.That bit about the "protected garden" is pure rubbish – iOS provides separate APIs for the Pencil and apps already make use of that.
By the way: Palm rejection (in apps where you can't disable finger touch drawing on the canvas) can be trained to some degree. if you're setting your palm clearly on the glass with a larger area touching the surface, it works best. Avoid just light touches with a knuckle of your pinkie finger, for instance (which is when palm rejection can't distinguish it from an intended finger touch), but actually fully rest your hand on the glass for drawing and trust palm rejection to filter that out.
VictorBd - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
Glad to hear that Procreate has done it right. Users will benefit greatly if other apps follow suit. Until they do (and many likely will not)On my other point, I think it unlikely that Apple will either provide or allow others to provide (in the controlled garden of the app store) a utility that toggles the touch input off and on while using the pen. If you haven't used a pen tablet with this feature it may not be obvious at first. But many of those who do discover and use it find it to be a "game changer." All of a sudden your tablet can be handled like a physical piece of paper without any concern for unintended touch inputs. It is the first thing I install on a pen tablet. If iPad Pro had it the experience for me would greatly improve. But I predict that Apple won't allow it. But there is much to the iPad Pro to love no doubt.
VictorBd - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
EDIT: "Until they do.... I don't think Apple will allow the touch toggle ability....."Constructor - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
Your theory is completely wrong. Apple doesn't "disallow" anything!Any app can distinguish between passive finger touch and active Pencil dtection at their own discretion. The APIs already provide that distinction, and I have no idea where you get that idea from that Apple would have any interest to interfere with that.
Again: In Procreate I can simultaneously draw with the Pencil and during the same time move the size slider with a finger while the Pencil keeps drawing – there is no "toggling" of any kind.
It is purely on the application to decide how to treat fingers on the one hand (ahem) and the Pencil on the other – and both are clearly distinguishable at the same time!
Constructor - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
It's only by default that the Pencil can also work like a finger if the app doesn't use the extra APIs so all apps immediately work with the Pencil without having to change anything. But their developers can distinguish the Pencil if they want to.VictorBd - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
@Constructor "Apple doesn't "disallow" anything!" I'll allow the broader community to debate the historical veracity of your point. I've just heard countless stories of Apple's approval / rejection process for apps for years. If Apple allows anything (by not "disallowing") as you say, all the better. Would love it to be true. It's just not been what I've been seeing and reading since the inception of the app store.My point was that, in my humble opinion, I don't believe there will never be a utility in the App Store that allows users to toggle touch off and on. This is now - for some of us - a desired feature in light of the appearance of the Apple Pencil on the market. But my estimate is that it just won't happen. You can argue that Apple won't allow it - or that too few would want it. Either way. But a small group (percentage wise) of pen tablet enthusiasts have learned to love having this capability on the Windows pen based platform. My experience with everyone who learns of it and tries it is "Wow" and once you use it, it is compelling.
I'd be ecstatic to be wrong on the idea of such an ability showing up on the Pro! I'd love to see it on the iPad Pro. We can only hope. It may convince me to buy one again and not return it. Perhaps I can overlook the limitations of using a mobile OS to do real work. Nah, probably not.
Regarding Procreate - I already said it's great that they've implemented what they have. My point about a toggle is distinct from your point about what Procreate has done. But it doesn't matter.
I'm not here to convince anyone - I was just sharing my experiences and insights.
Constructor - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
@Constructor "Apple doesn't "disallow" anything!" I'll allow the broader community to debate the historical veracity of your point.This is just a bunch of nonsense. Using the special Pencil APIs is not only allowed, but even desired and encouraged. It is in no way an impediment to admission of an app to the App Store. If anything, it's an advantage!
My point was that, in my humble opinion, I don't believe there will never be a utility in the App Store that allows users to toggle touch off and on.
Of course there won't be such a switch, because that would be a really bad idea.
Among the most obvious issues with it would be that if you lost your Pencil or if it broke, you would not be able to toggle such a nonsensically global option off again – the device would be bricked, effectively! The only way around that would be some clumsy, half-baked workarounds again. Blergh!
The Pencil is excellent for drawing and for a small number of other uses, but general touch ID operation is not its forte. Trying to handle the general UI with it feels strange, it is generally slower and less intuitive and actual multi-touch is of course not supported at all.
Which leads back to the original point: The implementation in Procreate is exactly how it's supposed to be done: Both finger touch and the Pencil are supported (and at the same time!), but it's individually configurable what exactly they can be used for in this particular (drawing) app. That's the way it should be, and that also provides the maximum effectivity as well: In Procreate the distinction provides the advantages of both finger and Pencil use, not forcing the user to abandon one for the other.
Examples: Two- and three-finger-taps within the drawing area are used to signal undo and redo, respectively. Zoom is also done with two fingers. But drawing can still be restricted to the Pencil alone.
A global toggle switch would only produce additional limitations and inconveniences. it would not be a positive.
VictorBd - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
To each his own.Gastec - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
Only $1000 !? Sing me up, I'm excited to give my monthly wage to Apple.Constructor - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
And who's forcing you to do that every month, if at all?Quite apart from varying incomes my iPad Pro will most likely serve me for several years. If I replace if after four years like I did with my iPad 3 (whose new owner still gets further update support from Apple) the cost per year will be around $250 or $21 per month. Most people can afford that without a problem, and many are paying more for more frequently replaced smartphones, just hidden in their pseudo-"subsidized" phone bill (which is actually just a credit payment plan plus a radio service charge).
I'm not saying that everybody should definitely get an iPad Pro (that's still a matter of needs and preferences), but given its likely useful longevity most people certainly could without breaking a sweat.
xthetenth - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
"With the right software, I can easily see the iPad Pro completely displacing traditional note-taking in light of obvious advantages that would come with OCR and digitizing notes for easy search."This is true and has been for at least a year or two with the combination of a Surface and desktop OneNote, which does OCR, search indexing and even recording (tied to the notes so you can cue up the part of a lecture from when a particular note was made). I'd sell my spleen to send my SP4 back to myself as a college freshman.
digiguy - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
If we just consider displacing pen and paper, while the ipad pro is lighter and larger than the SP4, but hasn't desktop Onenote, there is a much more interesting device for that, that was recently presented, the Dynapad, which is much lighter than both, but with a 12 inch screen, cheaper, and has full windows. Sure it has a CPU similar to the surface 3, rather than surface pro, but at that size and weight (lighter than even the 10.8 inches surface 3) it's the ideal device for note-taking.VictorBd - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
The dynaPad (just delivered last Wednesday) provides an almost unbelievable note taking experience. Yes, the machine is underpowered, but it is worth it at this time to have a full windows 10 device that is fully loaded with production software and data - and is incredibly light and thin. It truly is the first to provide a real feel of a digital clipboard all while providing a full desktop OS. The Wacom AES pen has the best feel of anything on the market. And windows utilities allow for full control of the touch HID layer so that it can be on or off while using the pen. Simply amazing and ALL IN w pen and keyboard at $650.Can't wait to see how well Samsung's TabPro S performs in this company next month. Great times for new, light, pen-based tablets with full desktop OS's!
Fidelator - Monday, January 25, 2016 - link
The article spends a hell of a lot of time comparing this to irrelevant devices, you fail to put clear that this is the direct competition to the Surface Pro 4 of the same price tag, "I don't know why Apple decided to send a disgusting charger" come on, its cheaper.Considering the review is about getting work done why not compare its productivity to its proper competition, after all, they are charging the same price for less storage.
Windows 10 on tablets has its learning curve but after that it's a joy -most of the time, there are still rough edges, updates have been fixing those- but those are tradeoffs for the unparalleled functionality. Nothing that justifies calling the Surface a "Laptop that can double as a tablet" its actually the opposite, I'm not saying this was a bad review or that this is a bad device by any means, but I believe it to be necessary to expand on iOS's so called Pro features when compared to similarly priced devices, like, once again, The Surface Pro 4 TABLET, there is a proper tablet UI mode where you won't experience problems with small targets that need a mouse while still retaining a significant amount of productivity.
Just my 2 cents, I feel like the subject was barely touched in the final words, still, great analysis as usual, keep these up.
Valantar - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
I have to say I'm a bit confused by the large portion of this review comparing the iPad Pro to the Pixel C, all the while nearly neglecting the Surface Pro 4. You have a long section praising the pen experience with the Pencil, without a single comparison to the (included) Surface Pen? That's just weird. Sure, the SP4 runs a full desktop OS, but it's a far more natural comparison in terms of size, weight, power and compatible accessories. I get that not all of your reviewers can get access to every product, but for the sake of that part of the review, acces to a SP4 would have been essential.Constructor - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
I'm not defending this review necessarily, which is a bit odd and lacking in some regards, but there are various interesting Youtube demonstrations and reviews which make exactly that comparison.This is an interesting comparison of tracking accuracy and latency: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niD1N1d4nTc
This is from a designer's perspective:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaO_ucAZ4dQ
And comparing iPad Pro, Surface Pro 3 and Wacom Cintiq:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlspvcF-DKs
glenn.tx - Wednesday, January 27, 2016 - link
I agree completely. It's quite disappointing. The comparisons seem to be cherry picked.bebby - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
What I miss in the discussion and review so far is the fact that google obviously does not yet support the higher resolution of the ipad pro for their apps. I wonder if there is intent behind that. It is very annoying as a user.Google is getting more and more important as a software/app provider but so far they have not been successfull with any of their hardware ventures (motorola, google glass, tablets, etc.).
ipad pro would be perfect with working google apps.
Constructor - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
Looks like Google doesn't want to be seen boosting the competition's platform even though that's where they make most of their money on mobile, ironically.(Can't say I'd miss any of their software, though. Apart from an occasional picture search I'm not using any of it.)
Not that Apple is falling all over themselves in making software for other platforms either (even if they sporadically do, for their own purposes).
Zingam - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
A Chargeable Pen? Apple's sense of humor never fails to amaze me!Constructor - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
Which other pen with the same capabilities (zero-calbration pixel-precise resolution + pressure + tilt + orientation, near-zero latency, near-zero parallax) a) even exists and then b) does not need its own power supply?phexac - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
The only way I would call this device "Pro" is if I could actually use it at work. I drive a bulldozer and, though I've tried, digging ditches with iPad Pro is terribly inefficient, and that's a problem that I don't see software makers fixing any time soon for a touch only device. Furthermore, the charging port has compatibility issues and would not accept the hose I use to refuel the bulldozer. To add insult to injury, you cannot sit on the iPad while using it! I couldn't help chuckling at the expectation that Apple apparently has for its consumers to either stand or kneel while SUPPORTING THE IPAD'S weight and trying to use it to move a mound of gravel at the same time.Finally, I have found in my experiments that even adding a keyboard to this device does not solve the problem. I have tried both the Apple iPad Pro keyboard and a Bluetooth one I could use wirelessly while sitting on a stack of cement bags. iPad lacks the basic ability to self-propel around the construction site and requires me to carry it from one task to another.
Better luck next time, Apple! I will stick with my Caterpillar earthmover!
Constructor - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
Yep. The exact same argumentation as above in many cases! B-)althaz - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
What I don't understand is the constant comparisons to the Surface Pro 3 - particularly in terms of the keyboard which changed quite significantly with the Surface Pro 4 (the pen also changed significantly).Jumangi - Saturday, January 30, 2016 - link
Why wouldn't it? It's in a similar price range and is pushed as a "professional" device for use in business.eNT1TY - Wednesday, January 27, 2016 - link
I only owned the device for 3 weeks before returning it but i must say the apple pencil was fantastic. For my needs the ipad pro wasn't particularly any more "pro" than an ipad air 2 but combined with the pencil comes pretty damn close to being something special for graphics work though you are ultimately still not going to finalize/complete any work on it but you can get a hell of a start. File management sucks, like going around your ass to get to your elbow.But back to the pencil, it is amazing when the app takes full advantage. Adobe sketch is not that great even pen optimized but procreate is a different beast. The pencil has no perceptible lag, something even my wacom pro pen on my cintiq 27qhd can't claim and has more accurate angle recognition and doesn't distort drawing on the edges of the screen. Procreated is the real deal and much better at exporting a complex psd's than adobe's own. Adobe Draw fared a bit better than Sketch as far as responsiveness to pencil. uMake is no solidworks and is too basic and weak for a $15 monthly subsciption app but it felt intuitive with the pencil.
I can wait for the pro 2, it will have a mature selection of apps by then and hopefully that newer version of ios will have better file management solutions. Man apple just needs to make a pencil compatible imac as well and stick it to wacom.
[email protected] - Wednesday, January 27, 2016 - link
It's interesting to compare A9X and Intel M. I am wondering if Apple has any data to back up its claim that A9X is faster than 80% of portable PCs released in the past year.I would like to see more info:
1. Die size: A9X is 147 mm^2 while is 99 mm^2. So Intel may have an advantage here. But I am not sure if we can come to the conclusion that Intel has a cost advantage.
2. Where's the GPU comparison?
3. I don't trust Intel's TDP claim. It's better to include that in your power consumption test.
Constructor - Wednesday, January 27, 2016 - link
1. Processes are different, as are the respective chip designs on the whole (including what's on the chips), so the physical size doesn't say that much.2. In other tests. The A9X looks quite good in these.
3. TDP doesn't say much about actual consumption in real life anyway. It only says how much heat the cooling solution will have to move away at maximum. Battery usage can still vary substantially even at the same nominal TDP if – for instance – one of the chips can do "regular work" at lower power than the other. TDP comes only really into play when the chips are ramping up to maximum performance and try to stay there.
The CPU comparison part of this test is pretty sketchy. Not necessarily wrong, but likely disregarding crucial influences on the particular benchmarks (vectorization by the compilers being part of it).
rightbrain - Friday, January 29, 2016 - link
Another useful comparison would be die size, since it gives a rough but real cost comparison.Constructor - Friday, January 29, 2016 - link
Not really, because densities are different and so are yields as well as process and SoC development costs.ads2015 - Monday, February 1, 2016 - link
Apple's SPEC06 option "-O3 -FLTO" not "-Ofast". All cases are okhttp://llvm.org/devmtg/2015-10/slides/Gerolf-Perfo...
and llvm has 30+% performance headroom for SPEC06.
Delton Esteves - Wednesday, February 3, 2016 - link
Biased review.Ipad Pro
No usb ports
No display port or HDMI
No memory card
No Kickstand
No pen included
Keyboard:
Is expensive
No backlit
No trackpad
No function keys
There is no place to rest the hand
Very complicated to set up
Ipad Pro runs a Mobile OS
Summing up, Ipad Pro cannot be considered a Pro device, so, stop being a Fanboy. Surface Pro 4 wins
Crisisis - Thursday, February 4, 2016 - link
Just.in.the.same.paragraph: "stop being a Fanboy" and "Surface Pro 4 wins". A new definition of irony.Delton Esteves - Wednesday, February 10, 2016 - link
"A new definition of irony". why do you think Ipad Pro is better? Justify?AirunJae - Wednesday, February 10, 2016 - link
Notice he said nothing about the iPad being better than the Surface, just that "...stop being a Fanboy" and "Surface Pro 4 wins" is ironic because you're following you plea for the reviewers (I assume) to stop being fanboys with some fanboyism of your own.MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
Not running Windows make it better by definition....Delton Esteves - Wednesday, February 17, 2016 - link
Are you out of your mind? Not running full OS makes it worstdarwiniandude - Monday, February 29, 2016 - link
"Full OS"Drivers. Malware. Compatibility issues (install old piece of software, have it break new software). No low latency audio, audio not a priority. Any decent software is designed for mouse and keyboard, not tablet interface. For my purposes Surface is a waste of space. In fact we recently bought used a Surface 2 256GB for $100. Owner thought it was faulty. Wifi didn't work. Touch screen didn't work. Trackpad didn't work. Everything looked fine with the software config except there was malware. Wiped and reset up, works fine. But I can't use it for anything because the software I want to run isn't on Windows. The tablet ecosystem is elsewhere. Windows store is a joke. So it sits gathering dust.
Alecgold - Friday, February 12, 2016 - link
You've written a lot of BS.There is lighting to USB, so what is your point?
Lighting to hdmi adapter is available as well..
Lighting to memory card (with usb-3 speeds) is available
Kickstand is build in in the keyboard or smartcover.
Not everybody needs a pen, so why include it?
I don't need USB, HDMI, SD-cards or kick stands.
So why include it if you don't need it?
Keyboard is expensive indeed, but it's really good...
Who needs backlit, at night you need to sleep
I'm really annoyed by the trackpad on the surface, doesn't work when I want to, does work when I don't want to
Function keys are on the screen if needed or can be swiped up, not as convenient, but I prefer the small depth of the keyboard.
Why would I need to rest my hand? It rests on the table I'm writing on.
Setup was really fast an easy, what is complicated?
The iPad is a tablet so therefore it runs a mobile os, it has great battery life, I can do everything I need to. I just can't OCR PDF's, that is the only thing I still miss.
I'm a professional a consultant, I can do everything I need to, so there it is, it's used by a professional and therefore an iPad Pro. Just as good reasoning as yours, I guess.
Is the iPad Pro for anybody? Absolutely not. It's expensive, others need more processing power or bigger/better/more complete software. But if you can get by with it, I t's really a good device and a really good experience!
Delton Esteves - Wednesday, February 17, 2016 - link
Lighting to USB, lighting to hdmi adapter and lighting to memory card will cost you extra.The Kickstand which was built in the keyboard is very difficult to set up and has limited positions.
"Not everybody needs a pen". This is not a reason to charge for extra money.
Despite you do not need usb, hdmi, it does not mean they cannot include it. Because a device is made having in mind the general needs and not a single person needs.
You call yourself a Professional and yet you say "Who needs backlit". It seems like everybody has a definition of a Pro device this days.
So you always write on a table?
Writting and tapping on the screen is tiresome, function keys make you more productive.
Constructor - Saturday, February 20, 2016 - link
It is an illusion to believe that "included" items were in any way "free". In fact, for most people they would only pay more for stuff that they'd never use.On the bottom line everybody would have to pay more and there would be more electronic waste. Only the few people who actually used those add-ons might(!) get away slightly cheaper. That's it.
Delton Esteves - Tuesday, February 23, 2016 - link
But at least, they are not charging extra. If you consider Ipad Pro price you will notice that it is already expensive for what it is and what the majority of its Users will use it for. They are charging a lot for zero extra functionality.Constructor - Tuesday, February 23, 2016 - link
I have paid a little more for my iPad Pro than for my iPad 3 four years ago, and the iPad Pro is again a much better tablet than the iPad 3 had been (and it was already a very good one!).And I have paid extra for the Pencil which I actually wanted to use. Other users left the Penicl out and didn't have to pay for it. It's that simple and the way it should be.
So what exactly is the problem supposed to be with me paying for what I want to use, and others not paying for what they don't want to use? That's a really weird mindset from my point of view.
Delton Esteves - Wednesday, March 9, 2016 - link
They should lower Ipad pro price because Apple Pen does not come with itAlecgold - Sunday, March 13, 2016 - link
Funny you know so well what Apple should(n't) do.Did you look at the tear-down from iFixit on the Pencil? It has some nice, even wonderful, technology inside. It's not a "dumb" pencil that costs 50-65 bucks on a Wacom board and only holds a copper coil. (I know, yes, I'm exaggerating.)
I bought a power- adapter and it came with 4 different wall-plug-prong-thing-adapters. I just needed one, lots of companies do ship region/country specific these days. Did I pay extra for them? No. Did I pay for them? You bet. Even if it was just 15ct. But it's not just the 15ct, it's also the waste that was generated.
Could Apple include everything to the iPad Pro, complete with kitchen sink? Yes. Would I appreciate it? Most likely not, don’t you think? I think most people wouldn’t appreciate it, they already have a kitchen sink.
As I wrote before, it is expensive. But it's not like it is a Louis Vuiton bag, Bugatti Veyron or golden Mont Blanc pen. And even if it is in the same category for you, why don't you buy an Android or Windows tablet?
If you don't want the iPad Pro, don't buy it. If you can't buy it, I'm sorry for that, but it's not something that is going to be solved by grumbling on Anandtech.
One other thing. Am I a professional? Well, according to the Oxford dictionary:
1 Relating to or belonging to a profession: young professional people
1.1 Worthy of or appropriate to a professional person; competent, skilful, or assured:
- his professional expertise
- their music is both memorable and professional
2 Engaged in a specified activity as one’s main paid occupation rather than as an amateur
I pretty sure both 1.1 and 2 apply to me, so I guess I’m a professional.
Being a professional I do have another life and while my professional life might keep me busy burning the midnight oil every now and then, I prefer to do so in a well lit environment.
And at a desk or at the diner table or… It’s much better for your posture to sit upright and not slouch about. Try it!
If I need to read large amounts of text, I snap the keyboard off and sit relaxed with just the tablet.
ams0129 - Wednesday, February 17, 2016 - link
I do not think it is fair to compare and iPad pro with a Surface. The Surface has a full operating system while the iPad pro does not. To me a true iPad pro would pack a core processor and OSX. However, this would create a problem for Apple as it would take away sales from the MacBook Air line.darwiniandude - Monday, February 29, 2016 - link
iPad already far outsells Mac line. And iPhone even more so. There are a billion active iOS devices in use. OS X and iOS share the same kernel and much of the same API's and frameworks. Except one is designed for touch, and the other for classic computing duties. This "full operating system" phrase I hear thrown about makes me laugh because Windows is still a pain to maintain and has no proper audio support, and requires constant hand holding. A secure, reliable, sandboxed Unox application platform (iOS) is far more productive for me.Delton Esteves - Wednesday, March 9, 2016 - link
That's a joke, right?s.yu - Tuesday, March 1, 2016 - link
Very informative review as usual! The performance of the A9X was certainly lower than what the initial hype indicated. Other aspects can basically be summed up by reading a dozen other not-so-informative reviews;)One thing is that AdobeRGB was not tested for, but from the looks of it the screen certainly doesn't cover it either, another aspect that's not as "pro" as Apple made it seem. That said, SP4 as well as MSB are too "consumer" too, in terms of color coverage.
SL1990 - Wednesday, March 9, 2016 - link
Anyone notice while charging Ipad Pro back metal area can feel the vibration. It's that normal??Constructor - Friday, March 11, 2016 - link
Yes, pretty much, for any devices which have a metal case and no grounding lead on the mains power plug.It depends on the circumstances, but basically it has to do with some very small residual capacitive coupling of the supply AC through the charger. Depending on your electrical installation it may go away when you just plug the charger in the other way.
But it's not dangerous (there is no actual connection to the power grid), just a minor inconvenience. It's not Apple-specific, though.
ifrpilot - Friday, April 29, 2016 - link
Funny comments here. If you like iOS and iPad, buy one. If you like Android or a Windows device, buy one of those. As for people making comments about less professional software for iOS - that's just crap. Just the medical industry alone has hundreds of pro apps, let alone aviation, product management, delivery, management services and more. If someone is so anti Apple, why are you wasting your time reading this article, go read about someone else's hardware.