Just a Size Increase? Apple iPad Pro Review

The iPad can be considered a "topic" product of Apple. When the first generation iPad was released , some people laughed at Jobs for gluing four iPhones together. The positioning of the "large iPhone" stuck between the mobile phone and the computer made people puzzled.

Five years later, mobile phone screens are getting bigger and bigger, and the entire tablet industry is beginning to decline. Even the iPad, which occupies half of the market share, has seen its sales decline after its glory days. So Apple came up with the iPad Pro, which not only gave the iPad another size, but also tried to expand the iPad's scope of application.

After getting the iPad Pro review unit, I spent a week verifying its positioning, experiencing its keyboard, and the controversial Apple Pencil stylus.

What is an iPad Pro? What can it do?

What exactly is the iPad Pro? Explaining this question is as difficult as making people understand what the iPad is. Apple used apps such as 3D4Medical to demonstrate the functions of the iPad Pro at its September launch event. With a keyboard and stylus attached, I prefer to think of it as an iPad with the attributes of a productivity tool.

I am used to flipping through magazines or reading a few pages of books on my iPad before going to bed, and the iPad Pro can still do this. The original iPad experience is not lost, because the screen is 12.9 inches, and the field of view is much wider.

The nearly 13-inch Retina display with a resolution of 2732x2048 has a pixel density of 264ppi, which is consistent with the 9.7-inch iPad Air series. Although it is smaller than the 326ppi of the iPad mini, after all, the viewing distance of the iPad Pro is different from that of smaller devices, so the screen is delicate enough.

The advantage of a large screen is in the restoration of the picture. Its screen area is enough to 100% restore a paper magazine, or two pages of comics, and more text - just like a 40-inch TV will never have the impact of a movie theater screen. This is an advantage created by physical size and cannot be compensated by system software.

In addition to magazines, the experience of watching videos on iPad Pro is also different from that on the other two sizes of iPad. The larger size means a better experience, which is a bit like the difference between watching videos on a mobile phone and on a computer.

The iPad Pro has four speakers, which are three times louder than the iPad Air 2, and the sound quality is a little deeper than the latter. Due to the limitations of the body, the sound is a little thin, but the directional sound effect is very obvious. When I watch videos on it while lying in bed at night, I can clearly distinguish the sound effects on the left and right sides.

The impact comes at the expense of portability. It is not as light as the other two sizes of iPad. The weight of 713 grams (WiFi version) means you have to hold it with both hands, which is the most likely place to be complained. For some female users, I am afraid they have to put it on the desktop to use it.

The screen performance of iPad Pro is better than previous generations, not only in size. It also has better color performance. It is not easy to achieve this. There are 5.6 million pixels on the entire screen. Most mainstream laptops are still 1080P, about 2 million pixels. Too many pixels on the screen will cause some troubles. The 5K screen iMac has also encountered this problem. However, iPad Pro is not a desktop computer. It is powered by a battery and needs to be held in your hand at all times, so the balance between power consumption and display effect must also be considered.

The iPad Pro's screen uses a variety of technologies that have been verified on the 5K screen iMac, such as the oxide TFT screen, which saves power and has a more uniform brightness. In order to drive these 5.6 million pixels, Apple redesigned the timing controller (TCON), which can orderly control the execution of instructions for each pixel. In addition, the "light directional" technology used on the iPhone 6 has also been moved to the iPad Pro, making the black deeper and the text clearer and sharper, thereby enhancing the visual experience.

In addition to these existing technologies, Apple has also added a variable refresh rate to its own products for the first time. When the content on the iPad Pro screen is static, the refresh rate is automatically halved from 60 times per second to 30 times per second to save power. This is most obvious when reading.

However, this screen does not have 3D Touch, which seems to indicate that Apple still wants to prioritize the most advanced technology on the iPhone.

2. As a productivity tool?

The iPad is not a natural productivity tool. Whether it is a mobile phone or a tablet, it was originally created for consuming content. Since iOS 9, Apple has added features such as split-screen multitasking to the system, clearly telling the outside world that the iPad is moving in a new direction.

Although iPad Air 2 can also achieve split-screen multitasking, in terms of product iteration time, it is more like a preview before the iPad Pro came out. The subsequent iPad Pro represented the first step of iOS 9 towards the direction of productivity tools.

The difference between the two is the experience, which is determined by the difference in screen size and hardware.

The 12.9-inch screen area is almost twice that of the iPad Air. An intuitive analogy is that you can read a page of document in portrait mode on the iPad Air, while you can display two pages in landscape mode on the iPad Pro.

The hardware configuration of iPad Pro is also important. Although the running score is never the only criterion for judging the quality of a device, it has to be admitted that the higher hardware configuration makes iPad Pro better than other iPads. Apple's A9X processor replaced the A8X in iPad Air 2 and became the strongest in the A series chips. When many people are still arguing about whether the iPhone 6s has 2GB RAM, the iPad Pro has already reached 4GB.

You can understand this intuitively by running a test on GeekBench: the single-core task is 3200 points, and the multi-core task is around 5400 points. On Apple's previous generation "benchmark king" iPad Air 2, the single-core score is only 1800 points, and the multi-core score is only around 4600.

It still needs to be emphasized that the running score does not mean anything. It is just that the configuration upgrade makes the iPad Pro more responsive, and 3D design in AutoCAD 360 or video editing in iMovie is smoother.

Apple will not improve a certain configuration for no reason (remember how many years it took to use 1GB of RAM?). If it does, it must be placed where it is needed.

At the September launch event, Apple's marketing president Phil Schiller said that the iPad Pro has achieved "desktop-level performance" and has a "game console-level" GPU. The overall speed exceeds 80% of PCs released in the past six months, and the image processing speed is faster than 90% of PCs.

The data we have cannot prove the data he said, but according to the running points, the configuration of iPad is sufficient for its use environment. It only runs iOS system, and in the use scenario set by Apple, it is much less troublesome to use as a productivity tool than many laptops (including MacBook). It has no fan, basically no heat, quick response and no crashes, and has a power bank with a power bank for up to 10 hours. There is basically no need to worry about viruses, and there is basically no need for post-maintenance.

Of course, we have to admit that it is not a computer after all.

The use scenario of iPad Pro is definitely not to open dozens of windows at the same time, accept the boss's instructions on QQ, make a PPT, open Photoshop to draw, and open WeChat to chat with your girlfriend...

Its typical usage scenario should be simple multi-tasking. For example, editors and reporters quietly do text work, or artists and creative workers use it to paint. In this scenario, its user experience is better than many professional tools.

3. What is the use of Smart Keyboard?

Next, let’s talk about the Smart Keyboard. This text was typed using this keyboard.

I have previously used Bluetooth keyboards with my 9.7-inch or 7.9-inch iPads, and used them as computers for typing in certain situations. At the time, Apple did not officially point this out. When the iPad Pro was released, Apple equipped its products with official keyboards, and its purpose was self-evident.

This keyboard is a derivative of the previous Smart Cover. Apple has made an addition. The shape of the new keyboard continues the appearance of the MacBook. There is no gap between the key grains. It is covered with a waterproof and anti-fouling coating. It can be wiped with water. Microsoft's Surface has a similar product. Apple's key travel is longer and the force is moderate. It does not require an adaptation period like the 12-inch MacBook. During my evaluation, I gave it to some text editors, and almost everyone was able to get used to its feel immediately.

The Smart Keyboard is a wired keyboard. Yes, you read that right, it is a wired keyboard, it does not use Bluetooth or other wireless methods to connect, Apple calls it "Smart Connector" technology, there are three contact points on the left side of the iPad Pro host and the edge of the keyboard, and it connects instantly through magnetic contact.

The entire protective cover is a wire that is responsible for data transmission between the keyboard and the host, rather than a line on the edge of the cover that will break if bent for a long time.

The wired method doesn't sound high-tech enough, but it's convenient: there's no switch, it's connected to the iPad Pro by just sucking it, no charging required, and the connection is stable. But the disadvantage of this keyboard is that it has no backlight and the angle cannot be adjusted.

Smart Keyboard is purchased separately, priced at $169 (RMB 1,288 in China), which is not cheap; but the good news is that iPad Pro can also connect to other keyboards via Bluetooth. In addition, Smart Connector technology is open to third parties. Logitech has already manufactured a keyboard compatible with iPad Pro, which feels the same as MacBook and has backlight. I believe that more manufacturers will join the iPad Pro accessories army in the future.

You don’t have to buy this keyboard accessory, because the screen is large, and the built-in virtual keyboard of iPad Pro is the same size as the physical keyboard, and is arranged in 5 rows. The layout is basically the same. As long as you are used to it, you can type smoothly by tapping on the glass with your hand.

4. Who needs a pen for iPad?

The Apple Pencil was the most controversial thing at the September event.

At a previous iPhone launch event, Jobs believed that human fingers were the best tool. Now that Apple has released a pen, the "face-slapping theory" is everywhere.

All companies have done similar things. The comments of entrepreneurs should be time-sensitive and only valid at a certain time. All products exist due to changing market demands. When Apple rejected the stylus, and now the stylus is back, there are two main considerations: Does the market need it? Can it meet the demand?

After the launch event in September, Sina Technology asked Cook about this pen during an exclusive interview . His explanation was that the Apple Pencil can already meet Apple's requirements for accuracy and latency, so it appeared.

Whether in length or appearance, the Apple Pencil looks like a pencil. Like almost all Apple products, it is well made, has a moderate weight, and is almost easy to use. Like the keyboard, it is also an accessory that needs to be purchased separately, priced at $99 (domestic price 728 yuan).

Let's start with pairing. The Apple Pencil and iPad Pro are connected via Bluetooth, but there is no pairing button or anything like that on the pen. Its pairing method is very strange. After removing the magnetic pen cap at the end, the Lightning interface will be exposed. When you insert it into the end of the iPad Pro, the Bluetooth pairing button will pop up. Only then can it be used.

Apple has made identification restrictions, and the iPad Pro screen has added a stylus-assisted sensing system. In other words, the Apple Pencil is currently an exclusive accessory for the iPad Pro and cannot be used on other Apple devices. There is no pairing window when the pen is inserted into other iPads. Like the keyboard, this is obviously how Apple defines the attributes of the iPad Pro.

It is positioned as a creative tool. To put it simply, it is suitable for tasks such as painting and sketching that require precise brushstrokes.

Don't forget that the iPad Pro is just an iPad. You can draw on the screen with your fingers, or use a ten-dollar capacitive stylus to do the same thing, but the difference with the Apple Pencil is that it is more precise.

To give a simple example, the smallest word written by a finger on the screen is one centimeter square, while the iPad Pro can be controlled within 3 millimeters. This difference is not obvious when taking notes, but it is a huge difference when drawing.

In terms of data, Apple Pencil scans the display screen 240 times per second, collecting twice as many data points as a finger; in terms of actual experience, the pen will only start to react when it touches the screen, and the action of lifting the pen disappears, with almost no delay. With different forces or angles, the strokes on the screen have different changes, just like a real pencil. In addition, the iPad Pro screen has a false touch mechanism, so even if your palm touches the screen when drawing, it will not have any effect.

This pen has a built-in battery that can be used continuously for more than 10 hours. If it runs out of power and you need it urgently, you can plug it into the iPad Pro for 15 seconds and use it for 30 minutes. Currently, the iPhone and other devices have not yet adopted fast charging, but Apple Pencil has achieved it first. I guess it is just a test field, and iPhone fast charging should not be far away.

During the iPad Pro review, I asked many professional designers what they thought of the pen and how it differed from the digital tablets they were using. Most of them thought that the iPad Pro + Apple Pencil experience was better. Apart from Apple's brand appeal, the main reasons included:

1. When using a digital tablet, you look at the screen and draw with your hands, which is not intuitive. However, the combination of iPad Pro and Apple Pencil is not like that. You can get used to it almost immediately.

2 The lines on the tablet feel like the slippery feeling of catching a fish with your hands. The tip of the Apple Pencil has the right amount of friction on the glass of the iPad Pro, which provides better controllability and restoration, and is more like the experience of paper + pencil;

3. Compared with low-priced tablets at the thousand-yuan level, it has no delay;

4 Compared with high-end digital tablets with screens that cost tens of thousands of yuan, iPad Pro has a better screen performance and response speed. And it is an iPad. In addition to drawing at work, it can also be used for many other things when you get home from get off work (high added value).

But when asked whether they would choose this product, most people hesitated and answered that they would put iPad Pro on the list when they change the graphics tablet next time.

Habits are the biggest obstacle. Many people still think that iPad is a leisure device rather than a work device. In addition, at the software level, iPad Pro cannot work as skillfully as a digital tablet with PS software. If Apple wants designers to accept it, it must speed up the development of software adapted to iPad Pro.

Another question is, who needs the Apple Pencil besides artists?

Those who need to take notes quickly, such as students or white-collar workers in meetings; engineers using AutoCad for drawing; team coaches giving explanations, etc. Currently, Apple's App Store has successively launched (or updated for iPad Pro) AutoCad 360 engineering drawing, Join.me document sharing tools, and Hudl game analysis software, etc.

This ecosystem will be different from the original iPad application, but it will not be implemented all at once. I believe that after the official release of iPad Pro, the App Store will usher in a peak of updates.

As for the iPad Pro, it will not replace the drawing tablet on the designers' desks all at once, but if they want to update their equipment next time, they will add the combination of iPad Pro and Apple Pencil.

5. Conclusion: Why do people choose iPad Pro?

People are not so fond of tablets now, not only because they have been replaced by large-screen mobile phones, but also because their replacement cycle is much longer than that of mobile phones, and users can't find a reason to upgrade.

Tablets tried to shake the position of laptops a few years ago, but only partially changed. People no longer fell asleep with a laptop with a humming fan, but they are still indispensable in the office. Now that this market has declined, Apple has added another size to the iPad, hoping to broaden its scope of application, give existing users a reason to change their phones, and find new users at the same time.

Therefore, iPad Pro is full of the meaning of "occupying a position", both in terms of positioning and price.

iPad Pro only has 32 and 128GB capacity versions, no 64GB. The 32GB WiFi version is priced at 5888 RMB, and the 128GB WiFi version is priced at 6888 RMB. 5888 RMB is neither too high nor too low, higher than iPad Air 2, but better than iPad Air 2 in all aspects; lower than 12-inch MacBook, but the positioning of the two is completely different.

Its usage scenario is "lighter" than a MacBook, but heavier than previous iPads. In the usage scenario set by Apple, its experience is better than others. Because of the existence of keyboards and styluses, professionals have a reason to choose it. It is an iPad itself and can be expanded to do many other things through accessories. Its potential added value is greater than professional products of the same price.

Of course, to unlock these added values, you need to spend some more money on accessories.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.