The Apple iPad Pro Review
by Ryan Smith, Joshua Ho & Brandon Chester on January 22, 2016 8:10 AM ESTSystem Performance
While the iPad Pro is important for some of its tertiary features, without the performance to back it up the user experience will inevitably suffer. In order to try and get an idea for how the iPad Pro performs as a whole we turn to our suite of performance benchmarks that stress a number of different areas including the CPU, GPU, memory, and internal storage.
In the browser benchmarks, it's quite evident that the iPad Pro is far and away superior for browser performance compared to almost anything else on the market today, save the latest Surface Pros. This can be attributed to a few factors. One factor is that Safari has a number of optimizations that most Android browsers don't. The other factor is that the Twister CPU in A9X is just better suited for dealing with intense JavaScript, which is heavily reliant on single-thread performance. As the A9X only has two CPU cores that mostly rely on ILP to get acceptable levels of performance, the iPad Pro ends up doing impressively well in these benchmarks. I've found that this is also reflected in real world browsing performance, as the iPad Pro is less likely to choke on some popular JS-heavy tech websites than other devices with Chrome or an OEM-optimized browser. Quickly checking EmberJS performance tells pretty much the same story here as well.
In Basemark OS II 2.0, the iPad Pro pretty handily sets the record for performance by virtue of its GPU and CPU performance. For whatever reason there's some sort of hang-up in web browsing performance, which could be due to some sort of code path that doesn't respond very well to additional ILP. Whatever the case, performance isn't too far behind the iPad Air 2 here by virtue of higher IPC and clock speeds. Overall, the iPad Pro seems to be quite performant for everyday tasks.
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AirunJae - Wednesday, February 10, 2016 - link
Notice he said nothing about the iPad being better than the Surface, just that "...stop being a Fanboy" and "Surface Pro 4 wins" is ironic because you're following you plea for the reviewers (I assume) to stop being fanboys with some fanboyism of your own.MaxIT - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link
Not running Windows make it better by definition....Delton Esteves - Wednesday, February 17, 2016 - link
Are you out of your mind? Not running full OS makes it worstdarwiniandude - Monday, February 29, 2016 - link
"Full OS"Drivers. Malware. Compatibility issues (install old piece of software, have it break new software). No low latency audio, audio not a priority. Any decent software is designed for mouse and keyboard, not tablet interface. For my purposes Surface is a waste of space. In fact we recently bought used a Surface 2 256GB for $100. Owner thought it was faulty. Wifi didn't work. Touch screen didn't work. Trackpad didn't work. Everything looked fine with the software config except there was malware. Wiped and reset up, works fine. But I can't use it for anything because the software I want to run isn't on Windows. The tablet ecosystem is elsewhere. Windows store is a joke. So it sits gathering dust.
Alecgold - Friday, February 12, 2016 - link
You've written a lot of BS.There is lighting to USB, so what is your point?
Lighting to hdmi adapter is available as well..
Lighting to memory card (with usb-3 speeds) is available
Kickstand is build in in the keyboard or smartcover.
Not everybody needs a pen, so why include it?
I don't need USB, HDMI, SD-cards or kick stands.
So why include it if you don't need it?
Keyboard is expensive indeed, but it's really good...
Who needs backlit, at night you need to sleep
I'm really annoyed by the trackpad on the surface, doesn't work when I want to, does work when I don't want to
Function keys are on the screen if needed or can be swiped up, not as convenient, but I prefer the small depth of the keyboard.
Why would I need to rest my hand? It rests on the table I'm writing on.
Setup was really fast an easy, what is complicated?
The iPad is a tablet so therefore it runs a mobile os, it has great battery life, I can do everything I need to. I just can't OCR PDF's, that is the only thing I still miss.
I'm a professional a consultant, I can do everything I need to, so there it is, it's used by a professional and therefore an iPad Pro. Just as good reasoning as yours, I guess.
Is the iPad Pro for anybody? Absolutely not. It's expensive, others need more processing power or bigger/better/more complete software. But if you can get by with it, I t's really a good device and a really good experience!
Delton Esteves - Wednesday, February 17, 2016 - link
Lighting to USB, lighting to hdmi adapter and lighting to memory card will cost you extra.The Kickstand which was built in the keyboard is very difficult to set up and has limited positions.
"Not everybody needs a pen". This is not a reason to charge for extra money.
Despite you do not need usb, hdmi, it does not mean they cannot include it. Because a device is made having in mind the general needs and not a single person needs.
You call yourself a Professional and yet you say "Who needs backlit". It seems like everybody has a definition of a Pro device this days.
So you always write on a table?
Writting and tapping on the screen is tiresome, function keys make you more productive.
Constructor - Saturday, February 20, 2016 - link
It is an illusion to believe that "included" items were in any way "free". In fact, for most people they would only pay more for stuff that they'd never use.On the bottom line everybody would have to pay more and there would be more electronic waste. Only the few people who actually used those add-ons might(!) get away slightly cheaper. That's it.
Delton Esteves - Tuesday, February 23, 2016 - link
But at least, they are not charging extra. If you consider Ipad Pro price you will notice that it is already expensive for what it is and what the majority of its Users will use it for. They are charging a lot for zero extra functionality.Constructor - Tuesday, February 23, 2016 - link
I have paid a little more for my iPad Pro than for my iPad 3 four years ago, and the iPad Pro is again a much better tablet than the iPad 3 had been (and it was already a very good one!).And I have paid extra for the Pencil which I actually wanted to use. Other users left the Penicl out and didn't have to pay for it. It's that simple and the way it should be.
So what exactly is the problem supposed to be with me paying for what I want to use, and others not paying for what they don't want to use? That's a really weird mindset from my point of view.
Delton Esteves - Wednesday, March 9, 2016 - link
They should lower Ipad pro price because Apple Pen does not come with it