Apple iPad Pro Long Term Review: A Body Blow To Laptops Everywhere

My friend James, a longtime tech journalist, once told me he thinks that the iPad is just about perfect. Although no product gets everything right, Apple manages with the iPad to meet a number of needs brilliantly. Great for media, great for gaming and brilliant when you want apps on a slightly larger screen than your phone. So, the question when Apple released the iPad Pro was "can it match the smaller devices and justify its existence?"

It's been roughly six months since Apple launched the iPad Pro with a focus on offering a large-screen device that offered long battery life, a decent-sized screen and was lighter than most conventional laptops. I've had the Pro since it launched, mine is the 128GB LTE version and I've used it extensively in that period. Six months seems like a good period to draw on, so let's take a look at the good and the bad of Apple's newest product.

A laptop killer?

Apple doesn't really position the iPad as a replacement to a laptop like the Air or any one of the PC Ultrabooks on the market. However there's a valid argument that it can substitute for a "proper" computer. For that to really work though, you will need to spend extra money on Apple's keyboard attachment.

I was reasonably lucky, and Apple did provide a keyboard for me to test. Bear this in mind then when I say that the iPad has basically replaced laptops for me. This won't be the case for all people, but if you mostly use "office" apps, then the iPad does offer a really good alternative to a PC. Because of what I do I mostly use Google Docs and various CMS systems to publish what I write, for these things the iPad performs excellently. This review is being written almost entirely on the iPad Pro, and it's comfortable and easy to use.

Of course there's a lot more to laptops that just writing. Because the iPad runs iOS it's arguably not as capable. I wouldn't, for example, be confident using to to edit videos for publishing here on Forbes, or YouTube. Of course you can do so, especially if you're shooting on an iPhone or a camera that works well with Apple's QuickTime editing infrastructure.

It's also worth mentioning that as good as the iPad is for working on the go, it does lack the physical balance of a laptop. You can work with it on your lap, on a train, but it never feels quite as stable as a laptop would. It's fine, and pair it with a different keyboard and it might be a little bit more stable, although that would make it much less portable.

Get LTE

My advice with the Pro is to get the 4G-equipped model. Why? Because at its best the iPad Pro is great for working, and to do that in this day and age you need to have an internet connection. I'd actually suggest opting for 4G over storage space, but as it often does Apple forces your hand slightly here. To get LTE you need to also get the 128GB storage, and the total price for that is $1,079. Plus the keyboard, which is another $169.

The screen

Apple loves a 4:3 ratio on screens, so the iPad Pro continues this with its display. It means that if you're using the tablet like a laptop, attached to the keyboard, you get a nice, tall screen that's ideal for working. Some time ago most PCs switched to using 16:9 ratios, which looks impressive but also cuts down on screen real estate, which can lead to you feeling a little "cramped" when working.

As with a lot of Apple devices, the iPad Pro offers you a Retina display. The resolution is 2732x2048, and I have to say that using it is a pretty glorious experience. Apple never goes for the absolute maximum possible resolution, but what it does do is balance the pixel count with what looks good. Doing this means that you can optimise power drain, which increases for every extra pixel you add.

Whatever you do, be it gaming, work or watching video, the iPad screen is superb. For movies and TV the ratio of the screen is, perhaps, less than ideal. However the big 12.9-inch panel does make up for that, and it really is a stunning video experience.

Full fat OS vs iOS

Because the iPad runs iOS you'll have access to any apps you've previously bought for your iPhone. Some of those will have iPad optimised versions too. After much grumbling the Image sharing site Imgur has finally added proper tablet support to its app. Others, like Twitter, have consistently failed to offer decent large-screen support. In this regard the satisfaction you feel with iOS and the iPad Pro will vary massively depending on what apps you use.

I've done a bit of most things, including gaming, which is a pretty solid experience overall. Games for iPad are pretty well established now, so there's plenty of options. I played titles like Pocket Mortys, Fallout Shelter and FTL (which is awesome by the way). All work well on the iPad, but bear in mind that with a screen this big some games just aren't that practical - driving games, arguably, don't work on devices this large.

For other functionality like photo and video editing there are options. Apple provides it's usual suite of apps, and the video editor can easily handle 4K video shot on the iPhone. Naturally if you try and edit other footage you may struggle if it can't be hardware accelerated for the iPad. Hardware acceleration is essential both for power efficiency and performance and without it you will struggle. That said, increasingly people are simply using their iPhones as production facilities that replace everything else, for those people the iPad is absolutely ideal.

WATCH: My unboxing of the iPad Pro

Battery life

Apple quotes the iPad Pro battery life at around 10 hours for video, web browsing or listening to music. You can of course adjust this somewhat by reducing the screen brightness. Some things use more power too, as a rule when you are using an Apple app, like Safari, you'll be getting the best out of the battery life. Third-party apps will drain it at a greater rate. For example, using VLC to play video instead of Apple's player might chew through your power quicker.

I found that for writing, it's not especially difficult to get to those 10 hours. Given my device also has LTE that's actually fairly impressive. As someone who was previously using a laptop that struggled with six hours, the iPad is a veritable powerhouse in battery life terms. Apple has built in some clever screen technology that really helps with power, the iPad is able to detect what's going on and will scale back its frame rate to help with power. Add to that the fact that the screen saves power using pixels that stay illuminated longer, and you can see why the Pro lasts so well.

That said Apple's iPad remains remarkable in that you can charge it to 100%, unplug it, leave it alone and come back to it days later and find it's still charged to 100%. This is not something you'll see on most laptops or Android tablets - although the new Doze feature on Android will offer similar on recent devices. For someone like me, who often forgets to charge this, this is a real blessing.

The Pencil

Apple provided me with the $100 Pencil too. It's great, and very simple to use but I don't think I'd ever buy one personally. It's certainly not something I feel like I'd use much. But it's not aimed at me, and the people it is aimed at - artists - will absolutely love it. It's really nice to use, and it pairs with the iPad automatically when connected to the Lightning port. You can either charge it by plugging it into the iPad Pro, which is a bit precarious, or you can use the supplied adapter to charge it off any Lightning cable. Charging off the iPad is something you should only do if you aren't near a proper charger though, as it's a bit of a pain - it's a nice emergency feature though when the Pencil runs out of power.

Sound

I wouldn't usually bother going to town on sound quality on an iPad or any tablet. Usually these things are serviceable enough, but rarely excel. That's not the case here, because the iPad sounds amazing. The audio decoding is clearly something that Apple has spent time perfecting, and with headphones the iPad sounds as good as the best phone.

The new speaker system is also something to write home about. There are two speakers on the top along with another two on the bottom. Apple uses software to manage how it pushes sound out of them, but I absolutely promise that you won't have heard anything this good from a tablet before. There's a good range of high-end and bass to make things sound well-balanced. Apple separates the two so that bass doesn't overwhelm the vocal in, say, a movie. It works really well, and there's loads of power too.

It's big

Physical dimensions are one thing, but weight is crucial. What I found when using the iPad is that while it is very light - it weighs about the same as the original iPad, despite being larger.

Where I noticed the weight was when I added on the Apple silicon case and the keyboard Smart Cover. With that done the Pro does have some heft to it. I opted to keep the silicon back cover on because I like to return review samples in perfect condition, but if I'd bought it I might not bother, and might have just gone for a slip case or something a bit cheaper and lighter.

When people have tried the Pro out, they have often said "it's heavy". When they say that I take the keyboard and silicon cases off and hand it back to them. Their face then changes to something that more resembles amazement.

Cost vs. MacBook or Ultrabook

The thing about the iPad Pro is that it's not really much cheaper than a MacBook at the high-end. So the model I have retails for well over $1000. You could get a MacBook Air for that price. Of course, you can get one of the restricted memory versions without LTE and save a load of money.

Making the case that the iPad Pro is a bargain isn't going to happen. What the Pro offers is a wealth of flexibility that you probably won't get on most laptops. It's a tablet, but can work like a more traditional laptop. It has a touchscreen, along with the option to use the Pencil to be creative, or change how you use the device. It can play video, music and do a great job of it. All you really miss is the ability to run the apps that you might be reliant on with your PC or Mac. But you'll be the best judge of what you need to make your day-to-day work possible.

What I can say is that the iPad Pro has replaced my Google Nexus 7, iPad Mini and Windows 10 laptop for most day-to-day use. The size makes it good for travel - not only is this review being written on the iPad Pro, it's also taking place at 30,000ft zooming over Europe. I've used it as a second screen while I watch TV, as a gaming device and as my work PC. The one thing you couldn't accuse the iPad Pro of is being inflexible.

Verdict

The iPad has, for me, totally changed how I work. I absolutely have replaced my laptop with this device, it has given me a lighter and with no real compromise in what I can achieve. This won't be the case for everyone, I accept that, and for many business users the lack of a full fat operating system like OSX or Windows might be a deal-breaker.

The iPad isn't supposed to do everything a laptop does, after all, Apple would still quite like to sell you a MacBook too, so killing that market makes no sense for the company. What the iPad Pro does is offer you a more portable, lightweight alternative to grab when you're doing certain tasks. Got a meeting across the country? Grab the iPad Pro and you can stay in touch via email, while still writing Word documents, sneakily playing games and watching Netflix just before bed.

I love the iPad Pro, but then it fitted a need I had exactly. Will you love it? Yes, as long as you can live with the price and buy the keyboard cover with it. I also suggest getting the 4G model, because it gives you so much more flexibility. The Pro can't truly replace a laptop for everything, but if you buy one you'll use your laptop a lot less, and find yourself grabbing the iPad a lot more.