The iPad Pro is still Apple's most delightful computer
The iPad Pro is still Apple's most delightful computer The iPad Pro is better than ever thanks to Apple's supercharged M1 chip and a glorious Liquid Retina XDR display. Not used one yet? You're seriously missing out Robert Leedham
If last year brought a major evolution for the iPad Pro with the introduction of cursor support, the laptop-esque Magic Keyboard accessory and a much improved camera setup, then this year's edition rounds out that experience with three major improvements. The advent of 5G, the powerhouse M1 chip most recently seen breathing new life into the iMac and an improved Liquid Retina XDR display represents the next leap forward in Apple's screen tech, all which cements this device as my favourite Apple product by quite some distance. If you're minded to get a new computer but haven't yet thought about the iPad, it's time to seriously reconsider.
M1 strikes again
The iPad Pro is kind of like Harry Potter's Room Of Requirement: it is whatever you want to be. While this versatility is undoubtedly its greatest strength, it also makes this device quite hard to pin down and so most of the discussion surrounding it usually devolves into a binary "laptop vs tablet" debate. Incorporating the M1 chip into this device won't do anything to settle those arguments, but it does mean you can do even more with the thing.
From analysing your tennis strokes in real time with SwingVision to editing 4K video in iMovie and inking a masterpiece in Illustrator, the only real limit here is your ambition… and the fact it runs on the entirely app-based iPad OS instead of Apple's desktop-focused macOS. Not familiar with M1? It's the setup that Apple has been incorporating into almost its entire computing line-up since late last year to transformative effect, both in terms of sheer power and improved battery life. In the context of the iPad Pro this is the first time a MacBook and an iPad have been running via the same fundamental internals. Unless you really take it upon yourself to push the Pro to its absolute limits, the benefits of the M1 chip are so seamless that I doubt most folks will fully appreciate them. Dancing between apps is ludicrously slick, loading up an absurd number of tabs on Safari is no problem and the general responsiveness of this device is just a delight.
Having relied on an iPad Pro as my primary computer for a good fortnight last year, M1's arrival doesn't make this device any more or less valid as a laptop replacement, especially if you already have the excellent Magic Keyboard case to hand, which allows for long stints of typing with big, chunky backlit keys that have plenty of travel, albeit with the slight compromise of bulking out what is otherwise an ultrathin and lightweight device. What does make a real difference, though, is the advent of 5G on iPad and I say this as someone who has been pretty sceptical as to the superfast mobile internet signal's actual utility.
5G makes sense, finally
Whereas on a smartphone, the best you're going to get out of 5G is a faster-loading meme and less buffering on your commute-bound YouTube binge, it just makes a bunch of sense on a machine that can work from anywhere. You can sit down at a cafe and not have to worry about sharing a tempestuous Wi-Fi signal with 15 other hyper-caffeinated freelancers, while having enough bandwidth to carry off a Zoom call or WeTransfer a work project to your colleagues. The only real catch here? Although 5G coverage is a whole lot better across the UK than it was 12 months ago, getting access to it is still very much dependent on your postcode.
So while I can stroll around London with an EE SIM card in tow without wanting for a signal, you won't be able to do the same throughout Scarborough, Whitley Bay or Parkstone. You know, should the urge possess you to go on a post-Covid tour of British seaside towns or just stray outside the UK's major cities. Or, to put things more plainly, check your local coverage before signing up to a pricey new data contract.
However you choose to conduct your video calls, the iPad Pro has one major new upgrade to ensure an ongoing sense of ongoing decorum. Center Stage uses a combination of this tablet's upgraded ultrawide selfie camera and machine-learning smarts to keep you framed correctly onscreen, no matter how fidgety your general disposition. Watching it pan and zoom around to keep you in shot is seriously impressive, without proving overly detrimental to picture quality. Full disclosure: it will definitely weird out any friends or colleagues who don't know what's going on at first – "Wait, are you moving that iPad?" – before they declare it to be some kind of black magic. A bit like when the Ewoks discover C-3PO in Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi.
All bright by me
As much as the iPad Pro is a device you can get a lot of work done with, it is also a big portable screen for lazing on the couch with or fending off boredom through a transatlantic flight. Truthfully, this is still its most important attribute and so Apple has befitted its 12.9-inch variant with a new Liquid Retina XDR display for brighter, more impactful visuals, especially when you're watching HDR content, which is the format any prestige streaming series or movie is filmed in these days, be it Ted Lasso or The Woman In The Window.
So whereas the last iPad Pro could achieve a peak brightness of 600 nits, a Liquid Retina XDR model can ramp itself all the way to 1,600 nits when the moment calls for it. The result is noticeably improved contrast between light and dark areas – think the sun breaking over a city or a torch shining through a claustrophobic torture palace – which elevates the overall level of onscreen detail considerably. Obviously you're not going to notice this kind of fidelity when editing a Google Doc, but that just goes to show this device is one you can use throughout the day.
Since British GQ recently relaunched its website, my Pro has spent a lot of time in "Sidecar" mode as a second screen for my MacBook, so I can check our real-time analytics haven't fallen apart. Come the Euros 2020, Wimbledon and the Olympics it will be a full-time sports machine, such are the perks of working from home when no one can see you obsessing over the results of the shot put qualifying rounds. Although it's by no means a new feature, it is worth mentioning that both editions of the iPad Pro support Apple Pencil connectivity, with silky-smooth Pro Motion responsiveness for sketching and note-taking. As someone with the artistic talents of Michelangelo when he was on the verge of blindness, I can't claim to make much use of the stylus myself though.
Growing pains
As highly as I rate the iPad Pro, it is not without its shortcomings. Anyone whose work revolves around Google's G-Suite apps should know these are objectively half-arsed on tablet and have been for quite some time, to the extent that smashing out a long Google Doc means having to make peace with your copy resting on the bottom of the screen instead of centre aligning itself among other minor irritations. Although running apps side by side on iPad works well enough, you can't yet get on with a task while running a Zoom call out of a picture-in-picture box as you can with FaceTime. As much as I'd expect this to change with the announcement of iPadOS 15 next month, you also shouldn't buy any product based on what some internet-based smartarse thinks is going to happen.
Perhaps most significantly of all, the iPad Pro remains a premium product with an ultra-luxe price tag. Although its 11-inch model isn't too prohibitive at £749, the 12.9-inch Liquid Retina XDR model you really want starts at £999 – and that's before you spec it out with a Magic Keyboard case (£329) and Apple Pencil (£119). The kind of cash that will get you a new M1 chip-equipped MacBook Pro with money to spare, which isn't to say one device is better than the other, just that you should know what you're getting into before making the choice. For whatever it's worth, I use the iPad Pro all the time and tend to restrict my laptop to office hours, mainly in a futile effort to maintain some kind of work-life balance.
iPad Pro verdict
The iPad Pro is capable of a great many things, especially now it's been upgraded with Apple's ultra-powerful M1 chip and a ritzy new display. Leaving its technical mastery to one side, the overriding thing you should know about this tablet is that it's just a lot of fun to have around, be that on your office desk, in the back of a rucksack or sat in your hands on a lazy afternoon. The more you use the Pro, the more you discover what it's capable of and so what seems like a "nice to have" on paper becomes a device you'd rather not do without. Perhaps most excitingly of all, there's a lot of potential for this tablet that's still left on the table. I can't wait to see what's next for it.
From £749. apple.com
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