The iPad Pro – should you give it a go? 

Here we review the new 2020 iPad pro with the help of the team. It may be expensive, and it’s likely that a new one will come soon, but will the FIVE microphones, the excellent camera and fluid zoom make you rush to the shops?

 

 

One of our engineers, Oba set up a Pro for a client. As a surface user (Microsoft) Oba found it easy to set up. The client wanted a 12.9” pad with a keyboard and trackpad extension. Office 365 was installed on the new kit alongside Word, Excel and Outlook, One Drive and Zoom. Oba commented that the pad was easy to set up and that it offers a good range of storage with 128, 256, 512gb and even a terabyte for those data hungry users.

Screen resolution for the iPad is good he commented and looks to be designed with gaming in mind. It is fast and as light as the Microsoft Surface which he usually uses.  When asked if he would switch his Surface for a Pad, he said that it would not work due to the incompatibility of using Powershell to do his day to day job. Overall Oba said that the spec of the Pad is good and useful for day to day multitasking.

 

Next, we went to the Senior Engineer, Chris who used an iPad pro at home. He’s been a fan of the iPad over the past 5-years and is now running the largest Pro at 12.9”. Despite being fast to turn on, with an excellent battery life (6-7 hours) for watching videos and web browsing, Chris commented that the display struggles in direct sunlight and that the very much talked about design defect of bending is real. This makes us a little mad. Chris said he cannot hold his Pad with one hand for any length of time as to ensure it is protected, it needs a durable case which makes this lightweight tablet, heavy. The structural integrity of the product is in the screen and its surrounds, but the Pro is malleable. We do not recommend you try bending it, but Chris warns us of this issue, especially with the larger version. To end on a plus he says the high refresh rate of the screen feels much smoother to use than previous versions.

 

 

Onwards in our challenge we went to a Silver Surfer, the CEO’s Mum. Usually a pc user she was propelled to try an iPad to join in with virtual classes during lockdown as she found the small iPhone screen to difficult to see detail. She is loving the iPad for its large screen and speed of use. She has linked her pad up with a smart keyboard which she says is comfortable to use and allows you to type whilst sat in an ergonomic position. One problem is that apps appear and disappear, but we think that is her just getting used to how Apple products work. Children can get Apple products working intuitively in seconds, the older generation take a bit of training. This silver surfer has the 10.2” pad and is enjoying it. When asked whether she moves around with it she said it is usually static and propped up. Perhaps the best way to keep it safe!

 

 

We think this iPad Pro could be a winner when thinking to replace your PC or laptop, but you really need to treat it with care, get some attachments for it (keyboard, pen etc), and use it as you would a laptop. If you want to move the iPad around a lot, please put it in a case and ensure it cannot fall. The bend issue is a problem but if you look after this beauty it will reward you with clear visuals, great speed and memory.