It has been a month that I’ve had the iPad pro now, and I can say I love it. It is not perfect and I will go thru a few of the problems I’ve had with it, but let me go thru what I like.
1) The screen – yes it is an amazing screen. It is big, bright, and has an incredible resolution. I’ve been amazed at how well Apple has address the scaling issue that SO many apps have. (More on this later). I am able to use the screen for very long periods without eye strain. For movies and podcasts, it’s as good, if not better, than my 27 inch iMac.
2) The Apple Keyboard – it took me about a day to get used to the keyboard. After that I find that I am typing almost as fast as my desktop keyboards. I do find that very infrequently I incorrectly position my fingers, and then all bets are off. It is light, and the covering actually makes it pretty comfortable to type on. I wish that I could adjust the title on the keyboard a bit, as I’ve been developing a major case of carpal tunnel over the last few years, but when I have to do a lot of typing it is more effective than my other iPad keyboards I have used over the years.
3) Speed – one thing that is interesting about the iPad to me, it has always been fast enough. I know that this one is faster than my iPad Air, but do I actually notice the speed? Not really, but at the same time, I’ve not noticed any slowdowns. To that end, it is running well.
4) The Apple Pencile – I got mine, a few weeks ago. I played with a tiny bit. And overall, it feels good in my hands, but I don’t really use it. I don’t have much drawing talent, and I don’t have much need to “markup” documents. So for now, this is a neutral device for me. It’s nice to have, but don’t think the average person will need it.
5) The Weight – yes it is heavier than the iPad Air. But so what. I find that I can easily take off the keyboard, and carry it like a clipboard. The weight makes it feel more substantial, and it is substantial in all respects.
The not so go:
1) Apps – I know that most developers do not have tons of time to keep updating their apps to the latest Apple technology. If you, as a developer, have kept up with Apple’s Xcode changes and recommendations, then all is good. All you have to do is add new sized graphics and everything is fine. Your app can be resized and run in side by side mode. But, most developer haven’t done this. And so, much of the really cool functionality doesn’t work for the apps. My day job is a great example of this. The apps I need for day to day work – IBM Connections, IBM Chat, and IBM Verse – none of these apps are updated to use this funcationality. I hope this is resolved quickly.
2) Keyboard – Apple enabled exchangeable keyboard in a prior release of iOS. I have been using TextExpander on my Mac and my iPad for some time. Swapping to the TextExpander keyboard (and other third party keyboards) is frustrating when using the Apple Keyboard. The external keyboard and the software keyboard tend to get confused at times… I am sure a future update will fix this.
3) Network – Apple has had problems with their wifi software both on iOS and OSX over the last few years. I am finding this same issue with the iPad Pro. Very annoying.