The 9.7" iPad Pro Review
by Brandon Chester on June 1, 2016 9:00 AM ESTA Smaller iPad Pro
When the 12.9” iPad Pro was the only iPad Pro, the appeal it had was fairly obvious. Supporting Apple Pencil and the Smart Keyboard brought the iPad experience to a whole new level, and the large display allowed for an enormous canvas for full screen apps, as well as two essentially full sized iPad apps side by side. Of course, the large display also made the iPad Pro much less portable than Apple’s other iPads. Now that the 9.7” iPad is also an iPad Pro, it appears that Apple doesn’t consider the display size as playing a role in what defines an iPad as an iPad Pro. With that factor eliminated, it seems that Apple’s criteria for the iPad Pro is that it supports the Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard, and is powered by the fastest ARM SoCs that Apple can produce.
While the 9.7” iPad Pro shares a name with the 12.9” model, I think the use cases for each are quite different. Much of this comes down to what sort of application workflow you can have given the constraints of the display. In turn, this changes how you use the Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard, and so it’s worth going over how the experience with these accessories translates to the smaller iPad Pro.
Given that it’s by far my most used accessory, I’d like to begin with the Apple Pencil. The Apple Pencil was the first stylus that I ever used where I felt that it could truly replace my paper notebook and pencils for note taking. The Surface Pro 4 is an awesome device, but the integration of the Surface Pen within apps and the OS isn’t at the same level as the iPad Pro, and the accuracy and latency of the pen itself aren’t either. The 12.9” iPad Pro is particularly useful for taking notes in an academic setting, as you’re able to keep one application open for taking notes and another for viewing web resources, lecture slides, or a textbook. The 9.7” doesn’t have the same ability, and for the kind of use case where you need to be writing things by referencing other material, I think the 12.9” model has an obvious advantage.
However, the 9.7” iPad Pro excels in other situations, and for my current work I actually prefer it to the 12.9” model because I find myself needing to take notes in meetings. In a setting where you don’t need to reference other materials, the ability to use the 9.7” iPad Pro comfortably while standing and the fact that its size and mass makes it easy to pass around makes it a much more appealing device. You can almost treat it like a pad of paper on a clipboard in some respects, and that’s something you definitely cannot do with the larger iPad Pro.
For me, the Smart Keyboard is a different story. I have the Smart Keyboard for the 12.9” iPad Pro, but I never ever use it. The only occasion where I found myself using it was when I had to use a terminal application to SSH into servers to do some work, and that’s an almost hilariously niche use case for an iPad. Beyond that, I never felt that the keyboard provided any advantage to me compared to just using the on-screen keyboard. On top of that, the added mass is significant, and with the Smart Keyboard attached to the 12.9” iPad Pro the mass of the full package ends up being quite high for what I perceive as little to no benefit. Obviously there are situations where the keyboard can be helpful, such as working on documents or writing a review such as this one, but for my work my computer is still an active part of my day, and when I’m using the iPad I’d rather write things down with the Apple Pencil than type them out.
With the 9.7” Smart Keyboard Apple does address a couple of my issues with the larger one. For one, it’s obviously much lighter due to its smaller size. It’s actually light enough that I wouldn’t really mind if I had to keep it attached to the iPad as a cover, but I still opt not to because it does impact the usability of the device when you hold it while the cover is folded around the back. What hasn’t been addressed is the unsightly folded design which is awkward to set up, and the fact that it honestly isn’t the most compelling accessory despite commanding such a high price.
While the Smart Keyboard probably isn’t for me, I’m sure there are many users who are interested it and are wondering what sort of experience you get from the smaller version. I originally saw concerns about the usability of a smaller keyboard, but I don’t think the 9.7” Smart Keyboard is any worse than the 12.9” version. The smaller keys take some time to get used to, but you do get used to it. The travel distance is equivalent to the larger one, and so the feel of the keys themselves hasn’t changed, which is either a good or bad thing depending on how you feel about the larger Smart Keyboard. Honestly it really is just a shrunken down version of the other Smart Keyboard, and as a keyboard it works okay, but there’s not a whole lot to say beyond that.
Ultimately, the 9.7" iPad Pro provides the same feature set as the larger model, but there are obvious limitations caused by the smaller display. Workflows that require viewing two full iPad applications at the same time don't really work, and there are certain apps like Paper and Adobe's Photoshop suite where the 12.9" iPad Pro has a significant advantage due to the larger canvas. On the other hand, the 9.7" model's portability opens up use cases where the larger model is too cumbersome to use, particularly situations where you have to hold the iPad for a considerable period of time. As with most devices that come in multiple sizes, you'll have to decide for yourself which one better suits your needs. On the iPad Pro you can at least be sure that no matter which one you choose, you won't be missing out on any of the features that differentiate the iPad Pro from the rest of the line.
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digiguy - Friday, June 3, 2016 - link
What do you know? even core I7 has been made fanless in a 12 inch tablet with a new cooling solution, so I don't see why core M could not work well in 10 inches. Battery life will depend on the battery size, in the onda it's smaller than in ipad air 2 for instance, and it lasts around 4 hours, with a bigger one it could last more, but is definitely much more than the 1 hour you speculate about...erple2 - Sunday, June 5, 2016 - link
But then that's the point, isn't it? Throwing a honestly poorly designed 10" tablet as proof that you can get a good tavlet with Core M is not helping your argument. How good is the display? How are the touch apps? How well does the pen work? How heavy is it? How hot does it run? How long does it run on a charge? What about everything else that is tested? Honestly, there has to be a reason why the big players hasn't integrated a more powerful CPU into a small tablet.As a staunchly anti Apple person, I gave to co cede that Apple really does have the best tablet this generation. While the Pixel C comes close, the Pen is very well implemented. Surfaces are fine, but I find that when I want to do real work, I turn to my much more powerful laptop to do that.
melgross - Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - link
Neither Surface Pro display can match the display for this product. First of all those products were reviewed before this one came out, and secondly, they are both sRGB displays, with their resultant smaller color gamut.Also, the iPad Pro, either model beats the least expensive Surface Pro in performance, and that model costs as much, or more than the competing iPad.
I understand that your Microsoft products are second best in a number of ways. Get used to it.
jlabelle2 - Thursday, June 2, 2016 - link
Having a wider color gamut than sRGB is not universally an advantage. Without going into this discussion on how many (little) images are benefiting from that, even in a proper color managed workflow (and iOS seems to be quite good here), sharing and distributing images with wider color space than sRGB is often (most of the time) counterproductive if others 1/ do not have wide gamut screen (the majority), 2/ do not have applications / browser reading the embedded color space (the majority). As such, the interest is honestly quite limited. It does not hurt at all the iPad, on the contrary, but in real life this is not what will make such display stands above other sRGB gamut wide screens.And regarding the Surfaces and DisplayMate, read in details and you will see they are also praised equally :
"The Surface Pro 4 also has the most accurate on-screen colors of any Tablet display that we have ever measured"
"However, Microsoft has also taken an important initial step, with the Surface 3 providing its best Color Accuracy in typical indoor 300 lux ambient"
My point is that many tablets have just excellent screens and that the iPad Pro does not seem to stand in a class of its own at all. But what makes Surfaces screens a real treat for people that value color accuracy is being able to calibrate the screen. That is making all the difference.
Because LCD screen colors evolve unfortunately with time. It would be interesting that Brandon would test and iPad Air 2, today, used since the beginning and how it differs of the original out of the box measurement.
As such, if we are taking only this criteria, for designer or photo / video editor that value utmostly color accuracy, the non calibrating iPad display is a drawback. I mentioned this because making some photo editing on the wedding I shoot, I can clearly see that the iPad Air 2 I have is no match with the Surface Pro 3 I also have, once calibrated.
Meteor2 - Thursday, June 2, 2016 - link
Cor, you're angry.grayson_carr - Thursday, June 2, 2016 - link
You can compare the displays at the link below. Basically, the calibrations are on par out of the box, with the iPad having a slightly better calibrated white point. The iPad has MUCH higher max brightness and a higher color gamut. The Surface Pro 4 has slightly better contrast and like you said, the ability to do your own calibration. Out of the box I would say the iPad Pro has the slight edge with the higher brightness, higher color gamut, and true tone feature. But the Surface Pro 4 display might be better for professionals down the road with the ability to recalibrate it.http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1697?vs=157...
nikon133 - Thursday, June 2, 2016 - link
Performance... in what scenarios? Only if there are pro apps to take advantage of that power, does performance have any meaning. Right now, iPad Pro's "power" is only good for rubbing it into others' faces over a cup of coffee. Once these babies are put to use, iPP turns out just faster iPad, but far cry from Pro device. In real life, it is just an iPad that will turn iBook pages faster, do smoother fly-overs in Apple Maps. Have Apple decided to call it iPad Air 3, no-one would know the difference.I'm finding it ironical that, for ecosystem (and fans) insisting on quality and quantity of casual apps in library, suddenly lack of apps in Pro segment is being ignored or played down. One can't do much on it, but look, oooh, it is so fast.
iPad Pro can be twice as fast as i7 Surface... but without tools from Adobe, Corel, Audodesk... even full-blown Office suite... how is it better Pro tablet than any x86 device?
Re pricing. I cannot compare 32GB iPP with 128GB SP. Much as prices go here in NZ - might differ where you are - 128GB 9.7" iPP is NZ$1,329.00, plus NZ$189 for pen. That makes NZ$1,518, compared to $1,439 for 128GB mCore SP4, which comes with pen. Even if we ignore that these are prices from Apple's and MS's web stores and that SP can be found even cheaper in shops, while iPP basically can't... even if we stick to these prices... you are saying that more expensive device with smaller screen, crippled multitasking, no real library of pro software, no easy (or any, in some cases) way to dock it, connect it to multiple desktop screens, wired network, USB devices... is somehow better device just because it cranked out better score in some synthetic benchmarks..?
OK...
Lochheart - Friday, June 3, 2016 - link
Yes, the Surface can run Adobe, Corel, Autodesk... etc...Do you think anyone will buy a Surface when it need to work on Adobe tools ? It will never happen.
Who work on a 12" screen ? My 15" Laptop is already to small... So yes, a Surface can run lot of stuff... but compare to what we have on PC side, it's just a outdated config overhype.
jlabelle2 - Tuesday, June 14, 2016 - link
"Do you think anyone will buy a Surface when it need to work on Adobe tools ? It will never happen."I do. This is why I replaced my iPad (my wife is still using her iPad Air 2 for casual stuff) with a SP3 and gave my desktop to my kids. I am using the SP3 as a tablet in the bed, train, airplane for media consumption and tablet things, I am attaching the keyboard when I want to type things, but I can also develop my RAW files in the train with Capture One Pro (alternative from Adobe Lightroom) or in the bed in tablet mode. And 12" is plenty enough to work on pictures as the screen is high resolution and you can easily pinch to zoom.
Or I can simply dock it and use it with a calibrated 27" monitor / keyboard and mouse. That is THE point of using a Surface. Doing more than an iPad.
"but compare to what we have on PC side"
It IS a PC. Also. It replaces basically the need for a PC for 98% of the people.
mrochester - Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - link
I see you post in a similar vain here as you do on the Verge forums!