Artists, designers, and tech pundits have all provided their (generally positive) comments and reviews of the new iPad Pro, but I thought I would add my two cents on the new Apple device. I’m an Apple fanboy who loves the idea of a bigger iPad. Plus, I’ve always wanted to be able to draw directly onto my computer screen. Thanks to Apple, this is now a reality for me (well, except my Apple Pencil has not yet arrived — Back-ordered!)
I can’t say that I know many of the tech specs of the iPad Pro, but I know it’s bigger (duh!) than my gen3 iPad. I believe it’s almost 13 inches across. I’ve just been telling people that the height of my old iPad is now the width of my iPad Pro. You definitely feel that it’s bigger. I had mentioned to my brother that I didn’t love the way the app icons are still the same size as the ones on my old iPad, but now they’re spaced further apart. That seemed kind of silly to me. With a bigger screen area you’d think they would fit more apps on a single screen instead! Surprisingly, now that I’ve been using it for a day, I don’t really mind the waste of space. Do you remember that episode of Seinfeld where Kramer wanted to give drivers a feeling of luxury on his mile of highway by making a three-lane highway into two lanes? It’s a little bit like that. More breathing room isn’t a bad thing.
I felt that roominess certainly when I started playing games on the iPad Pro. Against my wishes, I am getting older and I find that I appreciate a larger size (especially when I’m playing a board game like Talisman), and the cartoony games like Angry Birds, or Nibblers, look so nice blown up. On apps like Flipboard (which has been updated for iPad Pro) it actually fits more content on a page rather than merely enlarging things. I used to be unhappy with the limited number of topic tiles that Flipboard could display on its main pages, but now I get so many more tiles that I can easily access all my favourite topics (without hitting the “More” button). I can’t wait for more apps to take advantage of the available screen real estate.
I actually got a case for my iPad Pro from Amazon (didn’t want to shell out for the pricey keyboard case from Apple) and so now with my iPad Pro in a nice, black folio it feels very much like choir folder (for anyone whose ever sung in a choir). It’s not light, but considering how much bigger it is, it’s not too heavy either. It feels good in my arms, but I think I’d be hard-pressed to hold it in one hand for very long.
I tried the multi-tasking, split-screen view, and it’s not bad, but I don’t know how useful I’m going to find it from day to day (and it kind of pops up too often when I’m swiping from right to left). I don’t actually work with a lot of documents (since I’m not using this device for work). Plus, the view only works with apps that have been updated for iPad Pro. Generally, the iPad Pro feels faster and the wifi is better than on my old iPad (again, I’m not sure how much better the tech specs are). I’ve played many simple games, but also some fast moving games like Marvel’s Contest of Champions. I have yet to play Infinity Blade 3 on it, but everything seems to be quite zippy.
Something else new to me (but not to the rest of you in Appleland) is TouchID. I love how easy it is to use and (now that I’ve set up both thumbprints in the system), I can activate it from any angle and either thumb. It’s no surprise that I would want to get away from entering a number code to unlock my iPad, but since I don’t bring my iPad out so much, it’s probably not as useful as it could be. This experience really makes me want to upgrade my phone to one with TouchID as well.
Knock on wood, I have not yet experienced the unresponsiveness after charging that others have reported, but it’s still early days. I love Apple products, but they’ve given me their share of problems as well. Still, I am cautiously optimistic. For now I will keep enjoying my new iPad Pro while I wait patiently for the Pencil to arrive (hopefully before the holidays).
Alvin Meets Mac 