Apple announced two new iPad Pro models at their “creativity” event held in Brooklyn, New York. They promise better performance, Face ID, and a new design in these models among other things as the establishment stares to blur the lines between the people who work on the go and how to keep them regaled. But are they good enough? Let’s see how the new 2018 iPad Pro performs.
A New iPad Design
Apple has always advanced the iPad Pro design, but this is the first year that it looks to be significantly changed from the previous iPad generations. Pleasing and with a more angular attitude to the form aspect, the design is evocative of the iPhone 4 and 5.
The new 2018 iPad Pro misses the chamfered ends for a more squared design, is flatter than the last model and in the case of the 11-inch model, now brings much more screen for the form factor. It weighs 468 g and measures 247.6 x 178.5 x 5.9mm.
The new 11-inch model has the same physical footprint as before, but now gives you more screen space. It’s a similar trick to Apple’s recent change on the iPhone XS Max from the previous plus sized iPhone models. Same overall size, bigger display.
- New 11-inch display size
- Button-less edge-to-edge display
- USB-C charging
New Liquid Retina Display
Apple has increased the physical size of the display but the pixels per inch (i.e., the quality) hasn’t reduced. It’s still the same 264ppi and aside from now featuring rounded rather than square corners isn’t noticeably different from what we could tell when it was shown at the Apple event in New York.
The iPad Pro 11-inch model, like the iPad Pro 10.5-inch model, has a fully laminated display, P3 wide color display, True Tone technology that changes the screen color according to the ambient light, and ProMotion technology.
- 11-inch 2388 x 1668 resolution display
- Rounded corners will mean app updates needed
- No HDR, but bright enough it shouldn’t matter
- Tap to Wake feature
Cameras and Face ID
The biggest change to the iPad Pro’s cameras is the addition of Face ID. While that will appeal to those looking for a quicker way to unlock their iPad in the same way users have been doing on the new iPhone, it also means that users will be able to use Animoji, Memoji, and portrait mode on the iPad for the first time.
Both the front facing 7-megapixel camera and the rear 12-megapixel camera feature Apple’s new Smart HDR technology, however surprisingly the iPad Pro 11’s camera loses optical image stabilization as found in the 10.5-inch iPad Pro. We’re interested to see if that makes a difference to picture quality performance.
- Face ID works in portrait and landscape
- Animoji and Memoji come to iPad
A12X Bionic Performance
As people expect, the iPad Pro gets a substantial power boost in this new aspect. It’s almost a laptop in terms of performance with an 8 core A12X processor. Both iPad Pro models feature the same Apple A12X Bionic processor that is an evolution of the new hardware found in the iPhone XS, designed to give you the power to work on the move.
- A12X Bionic processor
- Up to 1TB storage option
Storage options
Storage options will be 64, 256, 512GB, all the way up to 1TB and like the new iPhones will come with nano SIM and eSIM support although not dual SIM. We’ve yet to test the iPad Pro, but on first look it should be considerably faster than the 10.5-inch iPad Pro we’ve become used to using on a daily basis.
Battery, USB-C connectivity, and Quick Charging
Battery life is a claimed 10 hours for light use like surfing the web or watching videos or listening to music, while that goes down quickly if you’re using cellular data, charging devices via the USB-C or performance heavy apps. We’ll be sure to give the new iPad Pro a thorough test when we get it in the office.
At the event we’ve seen you can connect SD card readers, external monitors – for mirrored and dual view (if the app offers that) and talking to Apple staff understand you’ll be able to connect Ethernet adaptors for a wired connection, and if a third-party manufacturer offers an accompanying app, hard drive support to. It concludes as:
- Fast charging
- 10 hour battery life
- USB-C adds connectivity
New Apple Pencil
Apple has created a new Apple Pencil to continue with the new iPad. It changed its design so you no longer need to oddly stick it out the bottom to charge and now it has a built-in magnet to attach to the side of iPad Pro which also provides wireless charging, and a new feature that will let you double tap to change tools inside it’s apps.
It’s worth noting that the new Pencil will only work with the new iPad Pro models announced. It isn’t backward compatible, but unlike before you can use the same Pencil with multiple iPad Pros. It comprises of the following key features:
- Wireless charging
- New double tap tool change feature
- Magnet to attached it to side of iPad
While the overall size stays the same, Apple has selected a softer matte finish which feels superior in the hand. The magnet is strong enough that the pencil doesn’t fall off if you shake the iPad.
Final Thoughts
Apple has done a tremendous job as this 2018 iPad Pro is full of features and if you like Apple products, then you’ll love this product once its in your hand. Apple has improved in this device with terms that were lacking in previous products which is another good step however we’re not convinced this is yet a laptop replacement with the existing iOS operating system which doesn’t allow access to the file system like a conventional iMac.
