Review: 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2018) - A Tamed BEAST! By 9to5Mac

How's it going, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. This is Jeff Benjamin, with nine-to-five math in this video we're taking a look at the 2018 iPad Pro check it out, thanks for watching nine-to-five, Mac, be sure to thumbs up click the subscribe button and then enable notifications with the bill icon. So you won't miss any upcoming videos 9 to 5 Mac on YouTube is sponsored by our friends over at hyper who make awesome USB Chubs. Of course, these hubs work with the Mac, but now that the iPad Pro has USB, these hubs work on your iPad and not just that hyper is actually making a brand-new hub specifically for the iPad Pro check. The link down below in the description for more details. Ok, so here is the iPad Pro are going to unbox it right now.

But before that, let's talk about pricing and configuration, because this iPad is the most expensive iPad. Ever now it comes in silver or Space Gray, with capacities of 64 256 512 and for the first time one terabyte of storage. You have an 11-inch option, and you get a 12 point 9 inch option, which I personally recommend we'll talk about that a little later, so you can choose between your silver space grade, but here's the interesting thing starts at 64 gigabytes.4000 bucks goes up to 256 for about 1155, 12 1350 and then one terabyte 1750, so you're paying a 750 but premium to go from 64 gigabytes to one terabyte of storage. You can only imagine the incredible margins that Apple is making from this, and, of course, if you want cellular, you're going to have to pay a little more. These iPads come in at about 2 grand after taxes, so not cheap at all and that sort of sets the stage for this whole conversation whether this should be treated as a bona fide pro machine, not because just the name but because of the price as well.

So let's go ahead and unbox the iPad Pro here, we'll take off the plastic, wrap, and we'll lift the box here and inside. Of course, you have the iPad Pro on top just remove that and from there it's a pretty typical iPad unboxing, but there are some noteworthy changes in I'd, starting with the power adapter, which is now branded new. It's a USB power, adapter, an 18 watt power adapter, so you get faster charging with the iPad Pro out of the box, which is nice, and you get a USB type-c cable as well for connecting the iPad Pro to the power adapter. Alright. So let's look at the documentation.

You have the iPad Pro getting started guide, and it's obviously going to be a little different because there's a bunch new here with the brand-new iPad Pro for 2018. So you may want to give that a once-over to briefly familiarize yourself with what's new now they're, also, of course, regulatory information inside the documentation packet and because this is a cellular version of the iPad Pro. You do have a sim eject tool for the NATO SIM there's, also an EC embedded inside the iPad Pro as well, and, of course, what major Apple product unboxing would be complete without the Apple stickers. They are inside, don't worry all right. So now, let's get to the meat and potatoes the iPad Pro.

This is the one terabyte cellular version in silver. I opted to go for silver, because you know I'm just kind of getting tired of space gray everything Space Gray these days, so I thought hey. Why not do it throwback style and go for silver and excuse? My voice I have a wicked case of bronchitis right now. So just bear with me please, alright, so here's the 2018 iPad Pro powered on you can see those rounded corners. You see that super thin bezel that all screen quote unquote design.

It's not technically all screen. There still is a bezel there, but the bezel is very, very thin compared to the outgoing model. Here is the last generation iPad Pro, and here is the new iPad Pro you could see. It is smaller in all dimensions. Yet the screen size remains the same, which is super impressive, so it's a more portable device, it's easier to tote around.

It looks better. Yet it is still a little unwieldy, though I will admit that compared to the 11-inch version, this one takes a little more effort to hold in the hand even with the reduced footprint. So keep that in mind you may want to try it out in the store, if you're, on the fin between the 11 and 12 point 9-inch versions. Okay, so let's talk about features, you have the true def camera sensor, housing, definitely one of the reasons to upgrade to the new iPad Pro, because it enables face ID, which is just awesome on the rear. You get a redesigned, 12 megapixel camera to fit inside that super thin chassis, and because of that it does come with some technical limitations.

The smart connector has been relocated to the rear of the iPad Pro. It works with that brand-new smart keyboard folio, and then you get five microphones which enhance FaceTime calls. You get one two three four and then one on the front to make five definite steps up from the dual microphone system from last generation, and while the iPad Pro removes the home button, you still do get the two volume buttons on the side, and you still get the sleep/wake button. On top for speakers, you get a new woofer and tweeter pair in each corner, which delivers more dynamic sound, even though the chassis is one millimeter. Thinner, lightning is no more on the iPad Pro now you get USB type-c for charging and I/o and there's a new magnetic connector for the second gen Apple Pencil that allows it to connect pair in charge wirelessly, and although the cellular, iPad Pro supports IOM they're still in NATO SIM slot and speaking of cellular, the antenna lines have been redesigned.

There are now antenna lines on both the top and the bottom of the iPad Pro and unlike previous generations, of iPad Pro the chambered edges are no more in. Unlike previous generations, you get black bezels, even with the silver iPad Pro and the headphone jack on the new hardware is no more that's a legitimate concern for creative professionals who use this on a regular basis, and you know what that means. It's Fumble time, but to be fair, some of these changes were necessary to achieve the sort of form factor. Apple was going for. This thing is legitimately smaller in every dimension than the previous hardware.

Now, let's talk about some of the things that make this a pro machine number one. You have an option to configure up to one terabyte. Yes, one terabyte with the T of storage on your iPad. That is a significant win for creative professionals who work in video in high-resolution raw photos. This makes a big difference and if you configure a one terabyte iPad Pro look, you now get six gigabytes of RAM compared to four gigabytes on lesser storage configurations and last generation models.

It is sort of a bummer that you can't get the six gigabytes of RAM without paying so much for the one terabyte storage configuration, but it's Apple. If I said, I was shocked, I'd be lying okay. So let's look at the benchmark. Comparisons using Geek bench war- and here is where the new iPad Pro lays the smackdown on last generations version and even surpasses some models of the 2018 MacBook Pro, which is ridiculous. Last year's iPad Pro was no slouch, but here you can see far and away the new iPad Pro in single core handily beats the old iPad Pro and in multi-core it's no contest that eight core CPU that can use all eight cores simultaneously really lays down the beats, and you can see right here.

It even beats out the 2018 13-inch MacBook Pro I 5 quad-core. Indeed, this thing is a monster which makes it a little frustrating because you have all this power yet the limitations of iOS or have handcuffed. You'll talk about that, a little later and speaking of power. Let's talk about GPU performance, Apple's, custom-designed, GPU, 7, core GPU. You can see it is just no contest.

Compared to last generation. Apple says that its graphics performance compares to that of an Xbox One S, which I don't know. Man you're, comparing a dedicated gaming console with active cooling versus a thin and light tablet. That said, the graphics performance on the iPad Pro is nothing short of impressive speaking of impressive. Let's talk about the features that I think is the most impressive or the one I'm most hyped about, and that is of course face.

I'd I love this feature because it removes friction from the iPad experience. You don't have to do anything. You simply look at your iPad like you normally would, and it does things for you on it unlocks your iPad. It allows you to log in to support it apps. It allows you to pay for things with Apple Pay, and the iPad now supports tap to wait, which seems like a tiny feature on the surface, but it is so nice to have only iPad, there's no home button.

Of course. So now you just tap the screen it wakes up and your iPad unlocks just like that seamlessly it works in any orientation as well. Face idea has been enhanced specifically for the iPad Pro its various orientations, whether you have it docked at a certain angle, with the smart, Keyboard folio. All these things are considered on the fly, because Apple has trained the true death camera to consider these various possibilities, and even if you cover up the true depth, camera housing notice, what it does it actually will point and say: hey goofball, you've covered it up, but remove your hand, and now it unlocks. Just like that super cool and because of that true depth, camera for the very first time you get an emoji on an iPad, so you have all your in emoji characters, and you can even create your own, an emoji character using the new Nemo G functionality found in iOS 12.

This allows you to create your own avatar. You can customize it to your liking to look like you or anyone else in Apple's, Clips app has been recently updated. It, too, works with the true depth camera. You can use it with selfie scenes to put yourself in the action. Ok.

So now, let's talk about one of the most fundamental changes to the iPad hardware, and that is of course, the removal of the home button like what the iPhone 10 gestures rule. So you can use a gesture to quickly go back to the home screen. You can use a gesture to quickly open up the app switcher just swipe up and hold for a second. You can use a gesture to invoke the dock, just simply swipe up from the bottom and tap one of the apps you wish to switch to and if you wish, to switch between open apps, you simply swipe on the home indicator like this, and you can switch between apps that you have opened. So, as you can see now that there is no home button, you really have to get used to using gestures, to control your iPad, even something as simple as waking and unlocking your device yep.

It's all gesture based and using face ID to authenticate purchases from the App Store. Now it works just like it does. On the iPhone 10, you double press. The sleep/wake button, like this verify with face ID and your purchase, is approved and because there is no home button, even Siri gets a change. Yes to invoke Siri nil, you press and hold on the sleep/wake button in Siri comes alive to help you out, like I mentioned earlier, the speaker's have improved on the iPad Pro thanks to a new redesign.

Of course, the speakers are thinner to fit inside that thinner, chassis and Apple took the time to create a new woofer and tweeter pair that results in more immersive dynamic. Sound. However, still an iPad and physics are still a thing: don't get rid of your home pod just yet. The rear facing camera drops from a six element to a five element lens, and it drops optical image stabilization. Both changes are presumably because of space constraints.

However, it's not all bad. When it comes to the camera. Now you can record stereo sound thanks to those extra microphones and making its debut in this iPad Pro is the knurl engine which allows for things like smart HDR, which works really well, if you've seen our iPhone 10s review, you know smart HDR can help out with exposure in very challenging situations, but video also gets an upgrade as well. Here you get 4k at 24 and 4k at 60 frames per second now on this brand-new iPad Pro something that wasn't available on the last generation model, so that is a big upgrade and also the front-facing true depth. Camera can shoot at 60 frames per second in 1080p, so, like the previous iPad Pro 4k footage looks pretty good, not a lot of complaints there.

When you consider this is an iPad, and you're shooting an excellent looking for K quality footage and here's where you can see the benefit of smart HDR. Everything is properly exposed. I didn't touch the screen to just exposure at all. Everything is just done on the fly, thinks that neural engine and smart HDR- and this is a fairly challenging situation with the sunlight in the dark areas. You're getting proper exposure.

Smart HDR is no joke. It is a serious upgrade now. One negative thing about the new iPad Pro is that you do lose optical image stabilization, and this hurts not only with the obvious video and handheld footage, but it also hurts low-light photography, there's no other way to say it. This thing is pretty abysmal when it comes to low-light shots. Another iPad first is portrait mode now, not on the rear facing camera, but on the tree depth camera you can actually pull off some decent.

Looking portrait shots as long as you have plenty of light, you need plenty of light to pull this off. The new smart, Keyboard folio and the new second-generation Apple Pencil are simply must-have products. In my opinion, if you want to really use your iPad Pro to its full potential, what you'll find is that both of these products answer some common complaints expressed by iPad users. The smart connector on the smart keyboard has been relocated. You now get multiple viewing angle magnetic attachments and because it adopts a true folio setup, it now protects both the front and rear of your iPad Pro, which is something that a lot of users, including yours, truly complained about the last version.

So this is a big upgrade. The iPad Pro features over a hundred magnets that are precisely aligned, which makes it easy to attach official accessories without having to finagle with it. It just works. Now, thanks to those magnets when the keyboard folio is closed, it will stay attached to your iPad Pro. But, as you notice, the edges are still exposed, so be careful.

Having two viewing angles is a huge improvement with the smart, Keyboard folio compared to the last generation version, and because there are so many strong magnets, it really takes some effort to detach the iPad Pro from the smart, Keyboard folio I've tested it on my lap, and it is truly suited now for getting work done in traditional laptop style. So, overall, this thing is a huge improvement over the previous version and, of course there is the second-generation Apple Pencil. Consequently, the first generation Apple Pencil will not work with the new iPad pros, and this Apple Pencil won't work with the old iPad pros. But what's really nice is that it now attaches to your iPad Pro via magnets and charges in pairs wirelessly. This instantly makes the new Apple Pencil so much better than last generations.

Apple Pencil I can't tell you how many times I lost my old, Apple, pencil, or I just forgot to take it with me. You don't have to worry about that now, and the pencil also supports tap gestures. So if you double tap, you can switch tools right there within apps and when you dock the Apple Pencil, it tells you how much battery is left thumbs up. If you like to see a more in depth, video on the Apple Pencil, another big new feature for the iPad Pro is the transition from lightning to USB-C, and that brings with it a bunch of new USB accessories like this one right here. The USB 2 SD card reader, which actually supports US 2 cards, and then you have this right here which is kind of funny.

It's the USB-C 2 headphone jack yeah. That's a thing, and you have the USB-C 2 USB adapter. Now you may be thinking wow. This is exciting. I can connect all my great USB-C devices to the iPad Pro and really use this as a professional device.

For instance, I'm editing a video right now with Lima fusion, and it's a desktop class video editing app, but you're going to see that the iPad Pro still has some annoying limitations, which simply handcuffs the hardware. It's a limitation of iOS, for instance, notice here, I'm plugging in a US 2 card from my Sony a7 3, now I plug that in guess what happens? The Photos app opens up, but there's no import option. It's like it doesn't even see the card. It doesn't recognize its formats, for whatever reason this Sony formatted SD card just doesn't want to talk to the iPad Pro, which is ironic, because Apple actually has a Sony camera on its press materials on its website. Connecting to the iPad Pro via USB-C, and because iOS frustratingly forces you to use the Photos app to import photos and videos, everything was to upload to iCloud I, don't want huge multi gigabyte files go in an iCloud, that's so frustrating here's! Another frustrating thing connecting a USB flash drive yet has absolutely no effect.

In fact, it tells you straight up. No, you can't do this now. This again is another iOS limitation, and it seems silly considering this is an iPad Pro. It costs nearly two thousand dollars, and you still can't use external drives now. I understand.

Io's 13 will hopefully bring about changes for the better in this regard, but skeptics are going to say: hey Apple just wants you to pay it for more internal storage space. They don't want you using external storage because they want that margin. The markup from their super high flash storage prices, and it's hard to argue against that to be honest, but we will wait for iOS.13 I am very optimistic because I think a lot of stuff was put on the back burner or delayed because they wanted to get iOS 12. Just bright, but really my thoughts hinge on iOS 13. If iOS 13 brings some real improvements to the iPad Pro to match its spectacular hardware, then this machine has the potential to be one of the best computers ever, but a lot of that depends on the individual user and their needs.

I know a lot of people that can be just too fine with this iPad Pro in its current state. In fact, with some clever workarounds and some back-end hardware changes, you know, I could probably do my day-to-day job with this iPad Pro pound-for-pound. This machine is so impressive, and it makes you really want to use it day to day here's hoping iOS 13 swoops in and comes to the rescue, with the key for the handcuffs to unlock the full potential of his powerful beast of a computer special things to our friends over at hyper for sponsoring 905 Mac on YouTube. Of course, hyper makes excellent us PC hubs for the Mack, and now these same hubs work on your iPad Pro, but it gets better they're, actually working on a dedicated, iPad Pro hub solution with all sorts of I/o. It's coming soon check the description for the details.

This is Jeff with nine-to-five Mack.

Source : 9to5Mac