The 2018 Apple iPad Pro (11-Inch) Review: Doubling Down On Performance
by Brett Howse & Andrei Frumusanu on December 4, 2018 10:00 AM ESTFinal Words
Apple calls the 2018 iPad Pro the iPad they’ve always dreamed of building. The new iPad Pro offers a completely new design, with some great new features, so it’s not difficult to see why they say that. The first thing anyone will notice is the new thinner bezels, offering up a modern take on the iPad idea.
Let’s start with the display, since it is really a highlight of this iPad. The performance of it is simply outstanding, and Apple offers arguably the best display in any consumer device with the iPad Pro. The 120 Hz ProMotion makes scrolling incredibly smooth. The True Tone adjustment brings a pleasant look to the display in any lighting condition. And the color accuracy is pretty much second to none. Really the only thing missing is HDR – and the battery life hit that would entail in such a portable device would probably not be worth it.
Apple’s SoC efforts have been leading the industry, and the A12X in the iPad Pro offers plenty of performance, but without breaking the power budget. With four Vortex cores for performance, coupled with four Tempest cores for efficiency, and all eight cores available all the time, you get both the burst performance needed for everyday workloads, along with the incredible battery life you’d expect in a tablet. On the GPU side, the seven GPU cores offer 75% more GPU hardware than the iPhone XS, and more memory bandwidth as well. The GPU and CPU both share the sameLPDDR4X memory, with up to 6 GB, and the performance is excellent.
Apple’s new Pencil is also a nice improvement over the outgoing model. A small thing like one flat side makes the Pencil not roll away on you, and also doubles as a connection to the iPad Pro where it magnetically docks for charging. It is a much-improved design over the original, and it is double improved by having a capacitive button on near the tip which can do various functions depending on the application being used.
The new Smart Folio Keyboard is also a nice improvement, offering a much easier setup, but it is not as clear of a win as the Pencil. The extra slot for a second position is nice, but it makes the iPad a bit wobbly and unstable if used anywhere but a nice, flat desk. The keys also don’t offer backlighting, and the definitely should for the price. iOS also shows from time to time that it was not originally intended to be used with a keyboard, which can be frustrating.
And while the hardware is fantastic, iOS is starting to feel like it is holding back the iPad Pro in the productivity realm. There is a lot of performance on tap, but getting access to it can be difficult. It really comes down to the app developers to pull the performance out of this iPad, but due to the fragmented iPad market, they may just target the lowest common denominator, which is often the case. A game like Civilization VI comes by default running at a very low resolution so that it will work well with the older iPads Pros, and will take a developer update to unlock any more fidelity, since the end user has no control over that on iOS for the most part. It makes it easy, but it isn’t always the best experience.
At least on an app basis, the silver lining here is that Adobe bringing their Creative Cloud suite to the iPad is definitely a big win for Apple. Done well, and it should showcase the performance of the tablet, along with the Pencil, in ways that many other apps won’t take advantage of.
If you are a fan of iOS, and you have a workflow that is suited to its operation, there’s little doubt the new iPad Pro models are going to be a great addition, but considering the price increase over the base iPad, you really have to need that performance to justify the iPad Pro 11-inch. Apple also charges a pretty hefty sum to upgrade the internal storage, and the accessories really add on to the price tag as well.
With all of that said, there’s no doubt in my mind that the latest iPad Pro is the best iPad ever. It’s the fastest. It offers great battery life. The display is second to none. But it is still, at its nature, an iPad. Apple has been working on the productivity angle for a few generations now, and while this is their best stab at it yet, the iPad Pro is still in that awkward gap between a content consumption device and a traditional laptop or the Windows convertibles that the original iPad inspired. What you get then is a device that's certainly a lot more professional than the base iPad and a lot more useful for productivity use cases, but also something that feels more like a larger, more expensive iPad than the kind of top-tier machines the iPad Pro is intended to compete with.
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WasHopingForAnHonestReview - Thursday, December 6, 2018 - link
The foundation of your entire at point is questionable at BEST. A tablet is bought for a few major reasons, without which, there would be no tablet.1) a portable device that requires no extra components to do its primary function which is..
2) browse net, absorb entertainment and read on while being ultra portable and low effort to accomplish.
3) Ease of use. Simplicity above all else. "So easy a child can use it".
The iPad can do all of these, but where it begins to fail is in the uses youve laid out. If you render a video for your youtube channel you better have your charger nearby. (Hurts #1 above).
If you plan on doing ANY EDITING, you better have a mouse and keyboard nearby. (Hurts all 3 above.)
If you plan on playing graphic intensive games on it, you better have a controller laying around or in your bag.( kill all 3)
The point is what Apple is trying to do with this device defeats the PRIMARY PURPOSES of a tablet. Therefor I would suggest you simply go buy a laptop to accomplish all the feats you just mentioned.
I find the roundation of our point to be ludicrious. So ludicrious I cannot believe youre that silly to get a tablet to show your buddies how fast Apples new cpu is (which it is) then post here how you love it. Your comment reads like a paid shill post which I see here all the time. Or you have Apple stock.
Either way, this tablet from apple has an impressive cpu/gpu that is completely squandered for 99% of the people who would buy it. Its a development misstep by Apple. Writing this I wonder if they will do some data recon to see whos actually using their cpu/gpu to decide on the future path of the line.
My bets for the future would be low power cpu/gpu thag give you days of 1,2,3 before having to charge again. Thats the proper path.
thunng8 - Thursday, December 6, 2018 - link
Your reasons are for refuting are dubious.1. Do not need to bring charger as iPad hardly uses any power when rendering videos.
2. Can edit fine with the Apple pencil for precise adjustments
3. Not all games need a controller. Some like civ vi, are even better with touch.
thunng8 - Thursday, December 6, 2018 - link
Although I do not edit a lot of videos, I do edit lots of photos using Lightroom CC. Compared to a traditional laptop.1. Battery life is tremendous. Can get around 8 hours of usage compared to 4 in the 2017 13” MacBook Pro. Also in complete silence compared to fans blaring half the time on the Mac.
2. Using the pencil has been great when needing to be more precise. In some cases even better tan mouse when selecting areas of an image.
Socius - Friday, December 7, 2018 - link
1) You should try working with 4K video in LumaFusion before you talk. It doesn’t skip a beat. And the device doesn’t get hot. Nor does it drain a lot of battery.2) That’s your usage for the tablet. Not mine. If that’s all I wanted to do, my iPad Air 2 is more than sufficient for the task.
Also why do you need a keyboard for editing video or photos? Have you seen how amazing it is using your hand and the pencil together? It works like a Wacom device. Touch input is used for image size/position manipulation, as well as tool selection/adjustment. It doesn’t interfere with the work the pencil does. And yes. I do have 2 Wacom devices as well.
Regarding gaming, it depends what you’re playing. I love playing racing games like Grid Autosport, rpg games like final fantasy, or simulation games like civilization. If I want to play hardcore games, I do it at 4K 144Hz with HDR on my desktop.
You talk about needing a mouse and keyboard to be productive. But here’s the thing. I have an i7 surface pro with keyboard and pen. And I honestly find it harder to use. While there is more flexibility in apps and what you can do, it can’t do it as easily as iOS can. The surface pro is a portable desktop. iPad Pro is a different type of device. If you can find the right apps to cover your usage needs, it’ll be far easier to use than the surface pro. I even do my server management on the iPad Pro.
But I appreciate your personal attacks and insults towards me. They say far more about you as a person than they do about me. Also, it’s ludicrous. Not ludicrious, as you misspelled twice. Maybe if you had an iPad Pro, you could take advantage of auto-correct.
Calista - Thursday, December 6, 2018 - link
In many ways an amazing product, packing so many outstanding features in such a small package. At the same time I can't shake the feeling it's a product looking for a real use-case for all its power. What can be properly done on the Pro which can't be done with far less power? Read pdf files? Play the light games the app store offer, watch some media etc. I could easily be doing all of it with a 100 dollar tablet with a Snapdragon 400. And when talking "real work" Windows or OS X is far more versatile compared to iOS.Sailor23M - Friday, December 7, 2018 - link
Agree with Calista and others earlier. I have an ipad 4, a ipad mini, an ipad Air2 and the new education ipad+pencil in my family. I frequently use the iPad Air 2 to take notes and send emails but do not use it for core productivity like ppt/excel - primary reason is lack of a defined local file storage structure and inability to connect to a usb drive - cloud storage is clunky at best for people on the move in trains/public transport.Socius - Friday, December 7, 2018 - link
Why don’t you use a locally synced cloud service like iCloud, google drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, etc? The “files” application on the iPad Pro is really lacking on some very fundamental features such as file compression and decompression. But...it does give full access to browse all apps folders. Even across apps. So you can use apps like iZip or Documents by readlle, to extract, compress, move around, manipulate, edit text, look at pictures/videos etc. etc. you can access all those files in your other apps. It’s definitely flawed and limited, but usable. You also can use usb drives. But not directly in the files app. Has to be imported from a 3rd party app.heywally12 - Friday, December 7, 2018 - link
Back in the day, used to be a tech guy (well, sysmanager/dba anyway) and a lot of the stuff on this site is over my head now. But at the risk of wasting space, let me thank you for a thorough and excellent review that is understandable to me.DaQi - Friday, December 7, 2018 - link
Been a user of the original iPad Pro since it came out. I use it for taking notes and have completely eliminated paper note taking in my life. Was very interested in this new version but two things make it a non-starter and they are very subtle. The physical width of it is slightly wider and thus I can't comfortably hold it in my hand while writing on it. The second thing is that the keyboard when folded has the keys sticking out instead of tucked in like the original. Don't get me wrong the original has a lot of problems. It is a bit of a love hate relationship I have with it but I do use it all the time every day with the pencil and I was looking forward to a new version but this very small and simple change makes it totally a no go - so sad!peevee - Monday, December 10, 2018 - link
"Due to the fact that the bezels required for a tablet"Required by whom?