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Having first appeared in 2010 with question marks over its value as a piece of tech, the iPad is now one of the stalwarts of the modern gadget era.
The new iPad Pro is an interesting prospect within this way of thinking – encounter it for the first time and it’s instantly familiar, thanks to the size and design. At 9.7 inches, the display is very similar to the dimensions of the iPad Air 2.
But there’s also the Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil – still new accessories that were first introduced with the bigger iPad Pro back in September. That is a beast of a device, with the sort of power that could show up many a laptop on the market, but with the mobility of an iPad.
The kicker here is that this iPad Pro is in fact both of these things just described, a familiar-sized iPad but with the internal punch of the supposed Microsoft Surface – and indeed any hybrid laptop – competitor.
Using the new Pro day-to-day is a completely nondescript experience, but that is why it’s so good.
Given the power this device has, it should be bigger and heavier. It’s pretty much the same weight as the Air 2, yet it has 1.8 times the CPU performance of the Air 2, and can handle editing three streams of 4K video at once without so much as a wince.
Everything you do on the new Pro is silky smooth. A game we played on mobile – iPhone 6s no less – felt even better on the Pro’s screen, which in itself is a triumph, but more on that later.
As already touched upon, this iPad looks and feels much like those we’ve seen in the last couple of years in the Air range. The only telltale signs of difference are the cellular strip which is now colour-blended with the rest of the device, and the camera bump, similar to the iPhone 6s, where the lens protrudes from the body slightly.
At the heart of this shrunken Pro is the new, updated screen.
Apple has poured some new technology into it that is likely to reach other devices in the near future, but for now they serve as big plus points to what was already a very pleasing piece of hardware.
The first of the new technologies on show is True Tone, this alters the colours in the screen depending on the light conditions you find yourself in. The aim is to always offer a “paper white” screen experience no matter where the user is.
It’s actually an extension of a feature added to iOS 9 as part of the 9.3 update, called Night Shift, which lowers the amount of blue in the screen at night as a way of improving sleep – blue light is notorious for disrupting it.
Combined, this means that your iPad screen could appear a strange, more golden colour – particularly at night or in low light. It actually looks as though your screen might be on the blink in some instances, and doesn’t always compliment what you’re doing or playing, but it does ease the impact of a mobile device on your eyes.
Suddenly turn to a laptop or smartphone without the feature installed and you’ll quickly notice the difference.
Another aspect of the screen Apple was very keen to promote was the improved colour gamut. This is, in plain English, the spectrum of colours and shades of colour the iPad Pro’s screen is able to show – though in truth, the difference can be a little hard to spot unless looking at high-resolution, colourful photos.
Where this iPad really excels is in the day-to-day use.
The A9X chip housed within this smaller Pro means that even the most demanding apps – be it games or multi-layered Photoshop apps are sharp and responsive, with minimal fuss.
Anyone who has used the original iPad Pro will be familiar with such performance, but to those using an iPad Air 2 or older you will feel and see the upgrade in your hands. The screen is brighter and everything in it feels that way too.
The camera is charming – a real surprise star of the show given how much of a taboo tablet photography remains. While a single device won’t change that, the 12 megapixel rear camera in the new Pro is by far the most tempting we’ve ever seen in tablet, and by that we mean you might find yourself snapping more quick images on this device than any previous iPad. It’s the same camera as the iPhone 6s, after all.
Of course, the accessories that made the iPad Pro a hybrid are back too.
A smaller Smart Keyboard to fit the reduced screen size, along with Apple Pencil-compatibility, mean that as a hybrid the new Pro is a very good option.
The Keyboard is just as comfortable as its larger sibling, and the Pencil nuances are still fresh and exciting enough to make you smile and want to sketch more.
You can see the thinking behind this smaller iPad Pro – Apple was clearly told the over-12-inch display was too big for some.
What this version of the device does is reign in that warped perception the bigger Pro gave on first sight. That seemed a little too big, this doesn’t.
There’s no doubt that Apple will sell these by the boatload to businesses looking to upgrade their portable tech solutions, but the average tablet user shouldn’t shy away either – particularly if they’re using anything older than an Air 2.
Though a mid-cycle release, the smaller iPad Pro is more than just a shrunken down alternative.
