“The time has finally come. After months of waiting, Apple’s iPad Pro, which was announced at a special press event in September, is now available,” Don Reisinger writes for Fortune. “In tandem with that launch, reviews are piling in. And while the vast majority of people who have tested Apple’s big-screen tablet agree that it delivers an appealing mobile experience, Apple’s seeming hopes of turning it into an eventual notebook killer may not be realized.”
Here’s a rundown of what the early reviewers have to say:
• The iPad Pro is the best tablet, and the best case for tablets, anyone’s ever made. — Wired
• The iPad Pro is a dream machine for graphic designers and media mavens, but this elegant tablet needs more optimized apps and accessories before it can fully achieve laptop-killer status. — CNET
• Given a couple of iOS updates the iPad Pro has room to grow into a more versatile laptop replacement without necessarily giving up the things that people like about iOS. For the rest of us, there’s still the Mac. — ArsTechnica
More review snippets in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: iPad Pro is the King of all Tablets.
Now, when iPad debuted five and a half years ago, we hoped that by 2015 (at the latest) the hardware and the software would have progressed to the point where we could use the iPad as our main mobile computing device. The hardware has, and now the software – which has been lagging until now – has finally begun to fulfill the iPad’s promise.
That it’s taken this long for Apple to get here is not a small contributor to the “iPad pause.”
Hopefully, with a bit more software refinements and some updated third-party apps, the general public will begin to see iPad — Airs, too, not just the iPad Pro — as a serious alternative to the obvious overkill that a laptop is for them.
SEE ALSO:
Gruber reviews Apple’s iPad Pro: A MacBook replacement for many
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Mossberg reviews Apple’s iPad Pro: Graphics folks will love it, but I’m sticking with my iPad Air – November 11, 2015
The Verge reviews Apple’s iPad Pro: Could this replace my MacBook? – November 11, 2015
“Apple’s seeming hopes of turning it into an eventual notebook killer may not be realized.” He’s making up BS.
A review of reviews. Wow. He was not important enough to actually get one to review… 😉
MDN, I think these two reviews by Ben Bajarin and Horace Dediu are very astute
https://techpinions.com/the-ipad-pro-the-start-of-something-new/42336
http://www.asymco.com/2015/11/11/desktop-computer/
Yes! One thousand times Yes!!
This is MDN. We only like tiny little bitty watch screens around here. That’s where we get our work done.
With our noses…
The MDN guys are enamoured of their Apple watches. That may be fine and dandy in their line of work, but the rest of us need more to get our own Real Work done. The iPad Pro looks like it’s the ticket.
yes, although it pains me that its not at least 256gb
yes
Yes totally but not at $1500 CAD after tax. Sucks to be Canadian right now. It usually doesn’t suck to be Canadian. Only when new gadgets are released 🙂
I still see the iPad Pro as a consumer device, not as a Pro device.
Don’t take me wrong. I love the iPad. It’s one of the coolest gadgets (if not the top one) I’ve ever used. I fell in love with it when I tried it.
The iPad Pro pushes the evnelope even further. If you are an artist, it rules. I’m sure the experience is phenomenal, and sure, I’d love to get one for myself.
But I still think it’s not a Pro computer, nor a PC replacement for the Pro user. What does the iPad lacks that let’s say a Mac has?
Two things:
1. Development tools
2. 100% Openness to install whatever you want.
First one is the feature I miss the most when I travel. I’d love to have my development tools, servers, databases, etc. in a light device I can use anywhere. Sure, there’s the argument that most people don’t need that. I agree. But this is a PRO device, and I think a developer qualifies as a Pro user. Because, in the end, a computer (and the iPad IS a computer) in meant to be programmed. And the ultimate form of art on a computer is programming it.
The second one, once again, I’m not bashing Apple. The security wall around the iTunes Store is great for most people, where they can be sure they are not installing something shady. I’m OK with that on my phone and my iPad, since they are consumer devices and as a consumer, I’d rather have that safety net.
Would I have the same restrictions on my Mac, I’d kill myself. Once again, PROs are supposed to know what the hell are they doing. Therefore, the power of decision (and the responsibility) for a Pro user should rely on the USER.
So, in my book (I mght be mistaken), those are the things that makes the “Pro” name unfit for the device. It’s a beautiful device. But it’s still a consumer device.
Got mine on order and am really looking forward to it along with the Apple Pencil. I certainly don’t see it as replacing the MBP 13″ I got earlier this year but I do see it as the device I’ll take out on the road more often while the MBP essentially becomes a desktop driving a large monitor.
I’ll still take the MBP on business trips to Asia which I make 4~5 times per year for 2~3 weeks at a time doing supply chain, sourcing and QC work but I now believe I can keep the MBP in the hotel room or my relatives’ homes where I tend to stay and take only the iPad Pro and the iPhone to the factories.
The iPad Pro will also be ideal for short local day outings visiting dealers and customers I work with. I just won’t need to lug around the MBP as much although I’m sure I’ll want to take it with me on extended trips or in situations when I absolutely have to have it but, for what I do, I think the iPad Pro will work out fine for over 90% of my mobile usage.
For me, the key is the Apple Pencil although I’m certainly not a graphics pro or engineer. I’m seeing it more for note-taking, mocking up basic drawings, annotating reports, and making changes to documents ranging from marketing materials to product blueprints, etc. This is what I’ve wanted to do with an iPad for years but it just wasn’t good enough for that kind of work.
How great it would be for me to look over an ad copy that got sent to me for review and approval and I can just mark it up with the Apple Pencil to send back for further edits with circles, arrows and handwritten notes instead of opening it up on some graphics editor on the MBP? For the kind of work I do the iPad Pro will be a godsend. I really can’t wait to put it to work and that’s what it will be for: work.
The only thing epic is the price. Anyone in Canada who pays that price, and also dishes out more for 128gb just because Apple is forcing you to waste more money instead of there being a 64gb option is quite frankly, an f’ing idiot.