Will the iPad Pro Make Your PC Obsolete?

When the iPad Pro was released in November of 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook proclaimed it “the tablet that will replace the personal computer.” While the Pro is a step up from past Apple tablets and has features that will rival some desktop computing functions, not everyone is convinced it is the next coming of the personal computer.

New Features

The iPad Pro starts at around $799, according to Fortune, for the 32 GB version with Wi-Fi connectivity. If you want to add a cellular connection, you will have to upgrade to the 128 GB model; about $950 on its own. Add the cellular connection and you’re looking at $1,079. Plan to spend even more if you are interested in accessories. For those who like a keyboard in addition to the Pro’s touch screen, Apple’s keyboard costs $169. The Apple Pencil is also sold separately at around $99. The digital stylus comes with a built-in camera and video camera.

The biggest selling point, and favorite iPad Pro feature of most online reviewers, is its large screen. Measuring 12.9 inches diagonally (as compared to what are now being called “mid-size” iPads at 9.7 inches), the screen is not only bigger than other tablets, but Apple claims it is also brighter. Twenty-five percent brighter than the iPad Air 2, Apple’s most recent iPad offering prior to the Pro, according to The Telegraph. The screen also features four speakers, one placed in each corner, that reviewers have said are loud and produce a good sound.

Power & Speed

For power, the iPad Pro comes with the new 64-bit A9X chip, a processor that Apple says doubles the speed and graphics performance of the Air 2 and rivals the power of a PC. The company also says the tablet’s battery lasts ten hours but several online reviewers, including TechRadar, say it is closer to seven or eight when in constant use.

The 12.9 inch iPad Pro comes in metallic finishes, including gold, silver, and space grey. You can get the 9.7 inch version in those colors, plus rose gold.

While that’s all very impressive, the question remains; will everyday people really give up their desktop computers to use the iPad Pro fulltime? It doesn’t appear so at this time. While some people who do very basic computing could be satisfied with the Pro on a day-to-day basis, there are various complaints about it that don’t make it the go-to computer for every person.

Online reviews indicate that people with designer-type jobs like the iPad Pro to sketch out and present mock-ups. Engineers also liked it for this reason. The large screen makes things like blue prints and plans easy to view and the Apple Pencil allows the user to mark them up while making presentations to clients or changes to plans while on job sites. However, most said that when it comes to actual production, they switched to a desktop computer in order to use programs like Photoshop. 

Despite the large number of apps the iPad Pro can support, it can only run two at a time, which can be a drawback for serious multi taskers. Other complaints involved the size of the optional keyboard (small) and the lack of compatibility with a mouse, for those who don’t want to use the touch screen all the time. Others like a larger screen on occasion, such as when working on detailed projects, and dislike that you can’t dock the iPad Pro to a separate monitor, as can be done with some tablets.

The concern that resonated with many people, techies and non-techies alike, is the lack of a storage compartment for the Apple Pencil. In a time when many of us can’t even keep track of our wallets and phones in the chaos of everyday life, some people worried about losing the pencil without a place to store it. 

Verdict

With so many competitors on the market, Apple’s iPad sales continue to decline. The company needs something big to put it back in the game, but after five months on the market, most people don’t believe the Pro is it. While the iPad Pro can do many things a computer can, using it as your full-time computer could be time consuming. By the time you figure out how to do everything your PC does, you could have just used the PC.