The 9.7" iPad Pro Review
by Brandon Chester on June 1, 2016 9:00 AM ESTDisplay Uniformity
With Apple billing the 9.7" iPad Pro as a professional device with individually calibrated displays, I felt it was relevant to bring our uniformity test over to mobile. While we usually just measure errors at the center of a display, there are also errors across the panel itself due to inconsistencies in the panel and the backlighting array. This means that a display can be accurate at the center, but the edges can have significant luminance dropoff or gain that makes the display unsuitable for any sort of image work due to the fact that there are visible color differences across the display itself. For this test we use an array of 25 points on the display and measure the accuracy of colors in the GretagMacbeth ColorChecker test, as well as the uniformity of the white and black levels at each spot.
While I don't have any other mobile devices for reference, if I were evaluating the 9.7" iPad Pro as a professional monitor I would say that the white uniformity is decent, but not amazing in any regard. The central area of the display is fairly uniform, but there's noticeable dropoff on the left, right, and bottom edges. This is something I see on a number of phones and tablets, and maintaining uniformity probably hasn't been a concern for vendors until this point, but I'm hoping that a larger focus on it will make companies put more focus on it as a selling point for professional devices.
Black uniformity on the 9.7" iPad Pro isn't great. If you divide the display along its diagonal from the top right to bottom left corners you see that the in general the bottom section has higher black levels, while the top has lower black levels. In general, the black level isn't as dark at the edges as it is in the center. Black levels and contrast are the areas where Apple's LCDs really can't compete with Samsung's AMOLEDs, and with the 9.7" iPad Pro falling pretty far behind its bigger brother with black levels Apple should put more focus on at least keeping their blacks consistent across the display.
While the black uniformity isn't great on the 9.7" iPad Pro, and the white uniformity is just okay, the uniformity for colors is outstanding. There are a few hot spots on the edges, but in general the error relative to the center is well under two, and often near or even below one. I'm surprised that Apple has such uniform color rendition, as an uneven luminance level will usually throw off colors much more severely. Whatever the case may be, you can at least depend on even color rendering across the 9.7" iPad Pro's display.
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Klug4Pres - Thursday, June 2, 2016 - link
Didn't stop you in the LG G5 review.Meteor2 - Thursday, June 2, 2016 - link
It would be great if you could source one, I think a lot of people are in this situation. Well, I am :)ragingfighter - Wednesday, July 13, 2016 - link
I still believe the original iPad if you want it is still good enough and it's not necessary to upgrade to even a pro. I would say for a couple reasons one it's in the middle of that list for upgradability so it's still future proof for a few more years, also it has a similar body and weight compared to the others. if it is absolutely necessary you need the best camera well then obviously there will be aspects of the newer tablets upgrade. Drawing also would be the next reason to as well if it's something that you desire or your workflow needs without the use of a laptop or other. All in all though I still consider the first generation iPad Air a recommended keep still. Sure you will get a faster boot up by about 28 seconds give or take and your apps will launch a little quicker but in no way is the original iPad Air or even air 2 sluggish and my opinion. I'm surprise many reviews don't even consider this to their readersKilgharrah - Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - link
Another significant difference not mentioned between the 9.7 and 12.9 is that the larger unit supports USB3 speeds over lightning. The 9.7 is restricted to USB2. This difference is quite noticeable when importing pictures via the new SD card reader or USB adapter.Wolfpup - Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - link
Huh, I didn't know that. That's cool...finally using something akin to an SSD in these things, so the faster speed is actually meaningful (and presumably would be on the three current iPhones and 9.7" iPad too).digiguy - Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - link
I own an air, a mini 2 and a pro 12.9. My air hardly gets any use anymore.. I bought the pro 12.9 as I wanted something larger and lighter than my Surface pro 3 for displaying documents and annotating. And I use it quite often for that, while my SP3 is used mainly a as small portable PC. The main advantage of the big pro for me is precisely its large and beautiful screen. And the 4GB RAM make me feel better when I think I spent close to $1000 for it, as it should last quite a few years. Also something that hardly any review mentions is that the sound of the 12.9 pro is definitely better and louder compared to the smaller pro.jlabelle2 - Thursday, June 2, 2016 - link
"something larger and lighter" : you spend 1000$ on another tablet to gain ... 66g ?Especially considering that one has a kickstand and the other not ?
digiguy - Thursday, June 2, 2016 - link
the exact difference is 85g (just checked both). My main use for reading and annotating is in vertical position. There is no vertical stand on Surface unfortunately. And when you hold it in your hand for some time you can definitely feel the 85g difference. But that's not the only reason. The combination of a inch larger plus a better aspect ratio for vertical position make a difference, making for a true A4 page display. Check here http://i.imgur.com/mmifVfU.jpg (SP3 on the left)And there there are other reasons for the purchase of an ipad pro, but reading and annotating was the main one for me.
trewtrew - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
I switched from a SP3 to an iPad Pro 12.9" and MacBook Air. I decided that although one device to rule them all sounded awesome, it sucked in practice. It wasn't one of my deciding factors but it's crazy how much more fits on the iPad Pro's screen than the SP3. I figured they both have screens in the 12" range it should be similar but it's not.jlabelle2 - Tuesday, June 14, 2016 - link
A SP3 has a smaller screen than the SP4 and they have a 3:2 ratio which is PERFECTLY the A4 ratio so the it is better in this aspect compared to the iPad Pro but I see that you are showing music partition and there is nothing like iReal Pro or other specialized music softwares on the Surface matching the great selection on the iPad though.