iPad Pro 9.7 May Be Apple's Best Tablet Yet
Apple's mid-size 9.7-inch tablet takes a big step forward in the new iPad Pro. This powerful slate offers plenty for mobile professionals to like. Here's an up-close look.
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The new iPad Pro relies on the same basic form factor of the iPad Air 2, but includes some of the updated components and capabilities of the larger iPad Pro. Don't be fooled -- the smaller iPad Pro is no Franken-iPad cobbled together from spare parts. It may be similar to its predecessors, but the iPad Pro 9.7 is a more powerful and complete tablet that may just be Apple's best yet.
The iPad Pro is the exact same size as the iPad Air 2, down to the fraction of an inch. It's also the exact same weight. At 9.4 inches long, 6.6 inches wide, and 0.24 inches thick, and weighing 0.96 pounds, it is among the slimmest and lightest 10-inch slates on the market. The aluminum chassis is strong and attractive. It's obvious Apple paid attention to the details and used high-quality materials throughout -- from the speakers to the screen.
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Many devices are unusable outdoors or anywhere there is a lot of direct lighting. The iPad Pro's anti-reflective coating eliminates glare almost entirely, making the screen far more visible in a variety of lighting conditions. The True Tone technology helps the iPad Pro adapt to those lighting conditions by matching the tone of the ambient light.
It does this by playing with the white balance a bit and making the display warmer (more yellow) or colder (more blue) depending on the surroundings. It's very effective. Further, the Wide Color increases the color gamut by 25% compared to previous iPad screens. The results are incredible. This is Apple's finest display, without a doubt. It's a shame the larger iPad Pro doesn't offer these eye-pleasing features.
Under the hood, the iPad Pro has the same A9x processor with M9 motion coprocessor as the bigger slate. Apple doesn't publish clock speeds for its processors. In my real-world tests, the performance of the two is comparable. That means I was able to edit a multitrack song in GarageBand and a 4K video in iMovie without the iPad choking up. The iPad Pro is noticeably quicker than the Air 2.
Here is a closer look at the notable features I found in my review of the tablet as well as my gripes, and pricing. Scroll through and let me know what you think. Would you dump your tablet or laptop of the iPad Pro 9.7?
(All images by Eric Zeman/InformationWeek)
The 9.7-inch Pro is significantly smaller and lighter than the 12.9-inch Pro. The larger model is sometimes awkward to use when you're standing or when it's in your lap. I found the 9.7-inch iPad Pro easy to carry around and use for hours at a time.
The most important feature of any device is the display, and the 9.7-inch iPad Pro's screen is a marvel. Like the Air 2, the LCD panel includes 2,048 by 1,536 pixels and an oleophobic coating to minimize fingerprints. It has several key differentiators that make it a top-class display: a better anti-reflective coating and what Apple calls True Tone and Wide Color technology.
Apple gave the new iPad Pro the same four-speaker design of 12.9-inch Pro, and that's a good thing. I found watching movies or TV shows on the iPad Air 2, which had a pair of speakers on only one side, a decidedly one-dimensional affair. The four-speaker array on the new slate delivers a wider range of sound and produces far more volume. The overall effect is a huge improvement to the multimedia experience. I enjoyed watching bits and pieces of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" on the iPad Pro over the weekend. The sound really popped.
The other standout feature, believe it or not, is the camera. Before you laugh, hear me out.
The iPad Air 2 and larger iPad Pro share similar 8-megapixel sensors. They have the same f/2.4 aperture, 1080p HD video capture, 43-megapixel limit on panoramas, and many other features. These are fine cameras, and produce images better than most other tablets on the market do. The 9.7-inch iPad Pro is a generation ahead of both.
It relies on the same 12-megapixel sensor found in the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. It has a wider aperture of f/2.2 to let in a bit more light. This produces better results in low light. The 9.7-inch Pro can record both 4K video and slow-motion video at twice the frame rate of the older iPads. The results are markedly better.
The same is true of the user-facing camera. The Air 2 and 12.9-inch Pro can capture 1.2-megapixel selfies, while the 9.7-inch Pro can snag richer 5-megapixel portraits. Moreover, the new iPad Pro includes the Retina Flash feature, which blinks the display to illuminate you and your colleagues celebrating after a successful sales pitch.
I'm not saying that I advocate using tablets as imaging devices, but if you must take pictures and video with your tablet, the iPad Pro is the tablet to use. The one downside is the camera module, which protrudes from the back surface of the 9.7-inch Pro. The camera has a flush mount on the older iPads.
Of course, the Smart Connector (pictured above) and Apple Pencil are what put the "pro" in the iPad Pro. The Smart Connector allows the tablet to attach directly to Apple's Smart Keyboard. This $129 accessory talks to the iPad Pro without requiring Bluetooth, and the Pro supplies the Smart Keyboard with the power it needs to operate.
The Apple Pencil is as sharp as ever, but I prefer the larger canvas afforded by the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. It functions perfectly with supported apps on the smaller Pro. It simply feels more natural when there's more space to for writing, drawing, or sketching.
The Smart Keyboard feels decent as far as typing goes, but I dislike the lack of useful shortcut keys (volume, brightness, multitask, music controls) that are available on some third-party keyboards.
Connectivity options run the standard list and I didn't run into trouble with any of them. The Bluetooth, GPS, LTE, and WiFi radios all functioned without issue. Battery life, too, is on par with tablets in the class. The iPad Pro easily pushed through 10 hours of mixed use over LTE.
iOS remains the iPad's biggest weakness. Apple's mobile operating system is no doubt powerful, but it's not quite as powerful as Mac OS. I find I can't do everything on the iPad Pro that I can on my laptop.
On the plus side, you have quick app-switching, multi-window support, and a full day of battery life. On the minus side, you have wonky Safari behaviors (and let's be real, browser performance is absolutely critical), too many non-optimized apps, and fussy text fields when it's time to get some work done.
Speaking of work, Apple's email app is still laughable; I find Google's Gmail app and Microsoft's Outlook app far better. Google Maps is dramatically better than Apple Maps, despite the latter's improvements over the years. More to the point, most mobile professionals will be better off sticking with Office 365 or Google Docs, rather than relying on Apple's Pages, Numbers, and Keynote apps. The good news is all these apps are available to the iPad Pro from the iTunes App Store -- many of them free.
Pricing out the new iPad Pro is tricky, since Apple has muddied up everything.
The basics are these: The 32-GB iPad Pro with WiFi costs $600. Increase that to $750 and $900 for 128 GB and 256 GB, respectively. LTE adds an additional $130 to each model.
The larger iPad Pro's prices are $800 for 32 GB, $950 for 128 GB, and $1,100 for 256 GB. Again, tack on $130 for LTE.
Apple still sells the iPad Air 2, which now costs $400 for 16 GB and $500 for 64 GB.
If you're in the market for a new iPad, there's no question in my mind that the iPad Pro 9.7 is the one to get. It is easier to tote around, offers all the larger Pro's productivity features, and has a superior display.
Pricing out the new iPad Pro is tricky, since Apple has muddied up everything.
The basics are these: The 32-GB iPad Pro with WiFi costs $600. Increase that to $750 and $900 for 128 GB and 256 GB, respectively. LTE adds an additional $130 to each model.
The larger iPad Pro's prices are $800 for 32 GB, $950 for 128 GB, and $1,100 for 256 GB. Again, tack on $130 for LTE.
Apple still sells the iPad Air 2, which now costs $400 for 16 GB and $500 for 64 GB.
If you're in the market for a new iPad, there's no question in my mind that the iPad Pro 9.7 is the one to get. It is easier to tote around, offers all the larger Pro's productivity features, and has a superior display.
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