“Steve Jobs’ vision of a ‘post-PC’ future really resonated with me. As a dedicated Mac and iPhone user, I was a day one fan of the original iPad, and have spent countless hours enjoying every full-sized iPad released since then,” Jeremy Horwitz writes for 9to5Mac. “When the iPad mini came out, I happily shifted over to the smaller form factor until buying an iPhone 6 Plus, which pushed me back to full-sized iPads. Like many people, I wouldn’t want to give up my iPad, and would be thrilled if it could replace my laptop.”
“If any iPad had laptop replacement potential, the 12.9″ iPad Pro was it. So I was the first person in line at the local Apple Store to buy one, hoping that it would supplant either my iPad Air 2 or Retina MacBook Pro,” Horwitz writes. “But after a week of daily use, I’m convinced that the iPad Pro won’t replace anything, and am still trying to decide whether to keep or return it.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The promise remains, Apple just has not fully fulfilled it yet. iPad was released in April 2010. Whether you consider that a long time in tech terms or not is likely to color whether you think Apple simply needs more time to continue polishing iOS and the developers need to continue working on their apps (the hardware quality is there, for the most part; 3D Touch is the most glaring omission) or whether you believe that Apple has not yet recovered from the lose of their founder, demanding visionary, tastemaker, and leader.
We believe it’s a bit of both mixed with an influx of new employees amidst rapid growth. Apple will get a handle on it eventually and hopefully return to very high quality, finished software and user interfaces and experiences worthy of the Apple logo. We would also like to see product launches with all important parts and facets ready-to-go at launch in sufficient quantities as to not harm customer enthusiasm. A couple weeks of backorders are fine – good, even – but, a couple of months? No. That should never be allowed to happen (see Apple Watch).
It is built to solve a problem that does not exist. Doesn’t come anywhere near the utility of a good laptop, it is not a mobile device, it is too big and awkward and heavy to hold, its screen is too small to do real 3D, layout, graphics stuff, and the pen is a weak and useless input device. Sure, good for a minuscule amount of tasks, but it is what it is …. a turd.
Your opinion might be considered a turd by many. But you are welcome to it. No one is forcing you to buy an iPad Pro, or any Apple product for that matter.
You seem like a very good candidate for Android. I encourage you to switch.
Why is art and design minuscule? Creating art on a laptop is next to impossible, on a desktop – tedious. We are not all number crunchers. The iPad Pro is the device artists, architects and graphic designers have been calling for for a decade!
“… and the pen is a weak and useless input device.”
And this is where you tipped your hand as a worthless troll.
Really, whatever they’re paying you, you’re not worth it.
I have no problem holding it. Anyone who doesn’t see the utility of the iPad or iPad Pro isn’t even attempting to use the devices.
Software that acknowledges the size, let alone takes advantage of it, is noticeably missing. When you open most apps everything is gigantic, it just looks stupid on the display.
It also suffers from the inherent weakness of iOS compared to a real general purpose OS. People who want a conventional OS are instinctively prejudiced toward the device and see no reason to learn to work with it.
I find gaming much more enjoyable because of the size. Strategy games, or things like Sim City are easier imho. I also plan to use it as a 2nd screen for a MacBook Pro, whenever I finally replace my stolen one.
That’s probably a good point actually. I don’t have a MacBook right now of any kind as someone stole my backpack from a client’s location. Someone smart enough not to connect it to the Internet without wiping it as well.
So I’ve been using my iPad Air 2 as my portable and now I’m using the iPad Pro. So I’ve had to adjust to the shortcomings and work around them. My primary hard drives are iCloud Drive and Dropbox now (effectively speaking.)
There are a host of network utilities that I use of course, but one of my favorite apps is iTeleport for VNC. Between that, TeamViewer and being able to connect to client networks with iOS’s built in VNC it’s great for me.
If I were some other kind of professional, say an artist, I don’t know if it would work for me.
Any silly “all I do is type reviews all day” person working for a website that says it doesn’t work for them, is full of it. It will work.
The world is a changing, just give it a little time.
I’m building a quick website right now using it with Squarespace. Works great!
TM; do you think that didn’t get enough developers involved during the design and rollout of this device – so that when it hit the marketplace, there was not enough software that was ‘pro’ ready to work on it?
It feels that way.
One thing that is important to understand, is that if I were not happily married to the Macintosh, I’d probably be more inclined to look at the Surface Pro 4. Apple should take care of Mac users. The Mac keeps us in the family.
It’s come to resemble a family like mine… The clan all gathered from the four points, into a toasty bungalow away from the nip of November weather, heartily greeting one another, settling in for an aperitif or three ahead of a gleefully anticipated Thanksgiving feast of succulent Turkey, savoury stuffing, potatoes and greens, tangy cranberry sauce.
But a few slurred toasts later, forks begin to be laid aside. The food is subpar. The widowed matriarch is enfeebled, her kitchen helpers an incompetent crop of young cousins still wet behind the ears, and they have botched the feast.
The mood turns surly and conversations turn strident. Accusations, insults, and food fly around the table. The clamour alarms the neighbors, who whisper to one another, “this would never have happened with Mr. Steve Jobs at the head of table!”
The video review above is a typical example of the tech reviews circulating out there: their assessment is based on the very simple computing operations that *they* are familiar with: email, Web browsing, word processing. But this is a ridiculous way to evaluate the iPad Pro. Coupling iOS9 with a huge super hi-res tablet display opens up an incredibly rich array of possibilities for professionals.
But even setting the professional applications aside, it’s been a joy using the iPad Pro as a powerful information gathering and creation device. Take a look, for example, at Writepad Pro: I’ve been using it with the Apple Pencil, and for a notetaking app with text recognition this is taking things to a whole new level. I can take notes in a meeting, complete with text and drawings, and have Writepad save the doc to a shared Dropbox drive, which can then be accessed by colleagues in real time. The Pencil makes taking such notes incredibly effective because of its accuracy. This is going to be a game changer at many levels.
Think back to 2007 when the iPhone came out, no Apps.
This is the early days of iPad Pro, big things are in store, iCal me.
9to5Mac writing a critical article about an Apple product. I’m so shocked…not.
Please stop hiring ex Microsoft employees. All these pia glitches are obviously not from the long time apple employees. Please,stop the glitches. Maistakes,are,not part of the Apple culture. Please Tim,Q Apple is apple because of seamless transitions. Lately its been one questionable launch after another and the updates are screwing up why wasn’t broken. From a long time disciple