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iPad Pro 2018: If Apple would deliver...

18.3.2019

Translation: machine translated

The new iPad Pro has nothing to criticise technologically. However, Apple has made some serious blunders with the iPad Pro 2018. And yes, the price is one of them.

I switch on my new iPad Pro
.
The 2018 version, of course. It's not officially called the iPad Pro 2018, of course, because Apple doesn't do any proper versioning of its devices. It's just not for techies. Or something like that. Except that the Pro is for techies after all. I'm already getting cynical. This could be a cheerful review for me.

So I have over 2,000 quid in technology on my desk for testing purposes. An iPad, a keyboard for said iPad and a pen.

Tablets

Apple iPad Pro (2018)

12.90", 1000 GB, Space grey

Styluses

CHF86.90

Apple Pencil (2nd generation)

Tablet keyboards

Apple Smart Keyboard

CH, iPad Pro 12.9 2018 (3. Gen)

Tablets

Apple iPad Pro (2018)

Styluses

CHF86.90

Apple Pencil (2nd generation)

Tablet keyboards

Apple Smart Keyboard

I admit it: I like iOS. In fact, I really like Apple's mobile operating system. Sure, I'd like a bit more freedom of customisation and I'd like to have more fun with the OS, but I like knowing that no matter what I do, it will work and run smoothly. Face Unlock, for example, is great. Quick to set up, works at a distance and doesn't mess around. The only thing I would like is a shorter autolock frequency than two minutes. Although the iPad seems to recognise when it is not being used and then locks itself. Clever.

The iPad is now more angular and fits better in the hand

On the hardware side, the iPad is extremely unobtrusive. There are no visual highlights such as the home button. The screen side is generally black, all black, and at the back the back plate is also kept almost unnoticeable. I don't remember what my iPad looks like from the back and the last time I held it in my hands was 30 seconds ago. I like that. The iPad is clearly designed as a device that displays content on a screen and allows maximum interaction with the almost borderless screen. Well done, Apple.

The display, one of the device's USP (pronounced "Ju Ess Pii") features in marketing speak, looks damn good, but is not the quantum leap in screen technology that was announced. However, I soon realise why Apple wants to sell such sophisticated features as a USP. There's simply nothing that's revolutionarily new. Not yet.

Where is my revolution?

The reason for the test is simple. I have two questions for the device:

How well does the new version of Photoshop tailored for tablets work?
Is the iPad finally replacing the laptop? Because Apple has been claiming this for what feels like ages, but is happily continuing to make laptops.

The Photoshop thing is the main reason I tested it. Ever since I discovered Photoshop in 2001, I can no longer imagine my everyday life without the programme. I've been using Photoshop since Photoshop 6.0, testing every new version and always getting upset about the horrendous prices. Of course I have to test the Photoshop version for iPads. Just take a look at the video above. How can I resist?

So after I've moved all the apps that I'll never need anyway to a /dev/null folder - I always have to do this with Apple - I fire up my App Store. Except that there are three shop apps there.

App Store: The app store I want
iTunes Store: Apple Music but in antique?
Apple Store: A funny advertising app that tells me what's going on in my local Genius Bar. Fuck off.

I know which store I need, but I think it's a bit strange that Apple needs three store apps with their otherwise so cleverly structured range of software. If you want more shopping apps, then there's the Music app, which is essentially Apple's Spotify. Except that U2's album "Songs of Innocence" is still installed.

The /dev/null folder is mandatory on iOS. It contains all superfluous apps

It is also strange that the iPad sometimes refers to itself as an iPhone in the settings. Well, iPads and iPhones run exactly the same software as far as I can tell, so it can happen. I don't blame the device. But I do resent the fact that I have to move 18 apps to /dev/null. Because only very few of the pre-installed apps are actually the ones I use. There are exactly two:

Files: The finder for iOS
Camera: The camera

Other than that, I'll have to upgrade everything from the App Store. Let me do that. This is the first time the iPad shows what it can do. Because according to the press conference, the A12X Bionic somehow delivers "x per cent more", but in practice, according to fan magazine Cult of Mac, it delivers 2.48 GHz on eight cores with 6 GB of RAM. However, the RAM is only installed in the Pro version with 1 TB of memory. All other models make do with 4 GB of RAM.

The apps install quickly and of course without any problems. SnowHaze as an anonymous browser, Spotify, the Google product range... only Photoshop I can't find.

Adobe's offering on sale in the App Store lacks the full-fledged Photoshop

The app won't be available for a few months. Well, that's just adorable. I slap 2000 quid on the table for equipment from a manufacturer from whom I'm used to everything just working and being there, and then something like this. Apple and Adobe, that's really unsportsmanlike. Well, the test will come later. Later.

iPad without Photoshop: What's left?

Without Photoshop, the iPad is only half as much fun. It also quickly becomes clear that it won't replace my old, battered HP Spectre. Even with a stylus, the thing is still afflicted by the disease of tablets that they look pretty and can be customised with endless accessories, but working with them is difficult. Of course, I can write text in Google Docs. Thanks to the keyboard, this works quite well, even if the keyboard rattles when typing on our hideous chipboard tables in the kitchen.

Not in the picture: hideous chipboard table

The problem arises when I want more. The iPad Pro easily has the power to cut videos or edit pictures. But since I have the lock-in with iOS, I can't do that because there is no app for it. Windows and macOS both have the Creative Cloud, on iOS there are only the slimmed-down versions, which are more cute than useful. This is unworthy of the iPad.

The task switcher gives you a bit of a laptop feeling

Nice, however, is that Apple has thought about how the device should and must function as a laptop replacement at operating system level. The task switcher is really nice. If you press ⌘+TAB on the keyboard, an overlay appears that shows you all open apps and you can switch apps by pressing TAB again. I would particularly like to highlight the "Home screen" icon, which minimises all apps and shows you the home screen. On Windows, you know this as WIN+M and on Apple macOS it is ⌘+⌥+M, or via a custom shortcut (usually ⌘+$ for me).

The pen, which is actually quite nice

Apple has overhauled its pen. It is now still white, but attaches magnetically to the side. Apple has pulled off a clever manoeuvre here. I don't remember seeing an instruction manual for the Apple Pencil anywhere. But I can remember very well how I put the Pencil into operation. I knew that the Pencil is magnetic and charges itself on the iPad. So I simply clicked it onto the tablet. And voilà, the pencil connects. It's only a small thing and easy to explain, but I'm still impressed.

The Pencil connects magnetically to the iPad and also charges itself

Funnily enough, I use the pencil on the iPad all the time. It's nice to be able to navigate the operating system without leaving fingerprints on the screen. Except that the big swipe up, the one with the bar from the bottom that leads to the home screen, doesn't seem to work with the Pencil. In general, with a few exceptions, you can't do anything that you couldn't do with your finger. Except for drawing, of course.

Yup, I used Apple's 2000 francs hardware to draw my Säuli. Best Säuli ever? I think so! Unfortunately, I can't do much more with it. I can type around in GDocs, use all the apps you know from the iPhone and essentially I have an iPad like the one from last year.

Shame. The iPad Pro is supposed to be Apple's powerhouse. It's supposed to replace the laptop, even surpass it. But Apple is shooting itself in the foot with the software. If I can't stress the iPad because there are no apps that need a lot of system performance, then I essentially have last year's device, which is a bit more expensive and a bit more angular. Mainly because I'm used to the following situation: Apple says "$software is coming to our devices" and less than 24 hours later the update trundles in. That's a USP, Apple, not "You'll have to wait a few months and by then you'll have a Spotify player". No, Apple, that's not how it works.

That's why I have a display that is beautiful and has a resolution of 2732×2048 pixels, and does some black marketing magic with the rounded corners, but why do I still have the app grid of 5×4 apps on the home screen? I don't want fist-sized icons. That's wasted screen real estate. Apple, please let your flagship show what it can do. I'm not in the mood for a throttled machine. If I'm going to drop a lot of money, I want to be able to utilise its full power, really show it off and be really productive. I can't do any of that.

Apple, I want more. I know there's more to it. I can see it in the iPad Pro. But please let me do it. Give me tools, give me something I can really pester the iPad with. I don't want to have the same experience as last year.

On my own behalf: Why I'm so disappointed

In and of itself, the iPad Pro does nothing wrong. But what really bothers me is Apple's marketing when I put it in the context of the company's normal business practices. Apple has made a name for itself as a reliable company. And as one that delivers. When CEO Tim Cook says "This is our new product" on stage, it usually shows up in software form on my Apple devices the next day or in hardware form on my desk a few days later. Not that Apple would provide the press with test devices, but that's another topic.

With the new iPad, however, the announcement was in October. Seven days ago, we finally received the email "Your iPad is here and the accessories are finally here too". And then, the one reason why I want to test the thing at all comes "in a few months". Well, that's quite enchanting. I doubt that Apple - the first brand to be worth more than a billion - couldn't have done better. I would have forgiven Apple a few days' delay. Things can always happen. But months? That's better. Apple has proven over the years that it can do better.

48 people like this article

Dominik Bärlocher

Senior Editor

dominik.baerlocher@digitecgalaxus.ch

Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.

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