The Apple iPad Pro Review
by Ryan Smith, Joshua Ho & Brandon Chester on January 22, 2016 8:10 AM ESTSystem Performance
While the iPad Pro is important for some of its tertiary features, without the performance to back it up the user experience will inevitably suffer. In order to try and get an idea for how the iPad Pro performs as a whole we turn to our suite of performance benchmarks that stress a number of different areas including the CPU, GPU, memory, and internal storage.
In the browser benchmarks, it's quite evident that the iPad Pro is far and away superior for browser performance compared to almost anything else on the market today, save the latest Surface Pros. This can be attributed to a few factors. One factor is that Safari has a number of optimizations that most Android browsers don't. The other factor is that the Twister CPU in A9X is just better suited for dealing with intense JavaScript, which is heavily reliant on single-thread performance. As the A9X only has two CPU cores that mostly rely on ILP to get acceptable levels of performance, the iPad Pro ends up doing impressively well in these benchmarks. I've found that this is also reflected in real world browsing performance, as the iPad Pro is less likely to choke on some popular JS-heavy tech websites than other devices with Chrome or an OEM-optimized browser. Quickly checking EmberJS performance tells pretty much the same story here as well.
In Basemark OS II 2.0, the iPad Pro pretty handily sets the record for performance by virtue of its GPU and CPU performance. For whatever reason there's some sort of hang-up in web browsing performance, which could be due to some sort of code path that doesn't respond very well to additional ILP. Whatever the case, performance isn't too far behind the iPad Air 2 here by virtue of higher IPC and clock speeds. Overall, the iPad Pro seems to be quite performant for everyday tasks.
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valentin-835 - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
Same here. I thought I was reading a novel.FunBunny2 - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
-- Same here. I thought I was reading a novel.Same here. I thought I was reading Ulysses.
Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
I had to copy that text block to an editor and insert paragraphs after all periods. You know, you can actually use paragraphs in a comment here...! ;-)My own experience with the iPad Pro is generally consistent with yours, even though my usage differs from yours.
I've got the Pencil and it is indeed very, very good; Precise and with hardly any noticeable latency unless I crank up the size of the respective drawing tool. Because of the low latency and very little parallax aberration there's no need for an additional "hover cursor".
Charging time could be better but is usually bearable (especially when coming from an iPad 3 which could take up to 7 hours when completely drained!).
The iPad Pro is an excellent mobile TV, streaming radio and general music player whenever I can't have big speakers or headphones. No real bass, but still good range and very good volume at low distortions.
And it is near perfect for anything document-related due to its size: Unrestricted full-page use with documents is finally a reality! Also excellent for reading books, magazines or just simply the web.
I personally can write almost as fast on the virtual keyboard as on a desktop one, so I don't really need a physical keyboard for the iPad.
Gaming is also fantastic (pinball, Real Racing etc.).
Regarding the "Kickstand" I've found one that's near-perfect: Simple, sturdy, adjustable, compact (foldable and pocketable) and even pretty stable with the iPad Pro in portrait orientation. The iPad even fits into the stand with the normal Smart Cover (without keyboard) folded on its back. And yet I can leave the stand off when I don't need it. For me that's a near-perfect solution. And it's even cheap:
http://www.arktis.de/arktispro-ipad-aluminium-stae...
It's actually a China-made OEM product with no manufacturer specified on the box. It's just called "universal stand for tablet pc/smart phone" on the box. I'd expect that other distributors in other countries might have it as well.
Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Just found it on Amazon as well:http://www.amazon.com/TechMatte-Multi-Angle-Alumin...
digiguy - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
I didn't say it, despite my long post, but I too use it as a mobile tv and for games like pinball, real racing, need for speed etc. And in addition to the case, I have several stands for portrait mode. Among them this from amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055CR9R0?psc=1&... (great for cable management)As for the pencil, well here in Switzerland it's still no available....
Constructor - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Nice. Yeah, with my stand I could only charge it from the top (which is possible, though).The Pencil should at least be available online, is it not?
digiguy - Sunday, January 24, 2016 - link
In theory yes, but I think it's imported from the States as currently it costs around 160 EUR from Amazon France for instance. At this price I'll wait for it to be available locally.... Should be there in 2-3 weeks according to the apple storeKPOM - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
I have an iPad Pro with a Pencil and Smart Keyboard. Here is my take. If you are a notebook power user, this won't replace it. Even I don't see it replacing my MacBook. However, if you are an artist, you'll love the Pencil. It's the same if you like taking notes.With Office 365, a few other apps (iMazing or a decent Cloud service such as OneDrive or even iCloud with extra storage, GoodReader, OneNote or Evernote, this could easily be a road device for someone. Office is surprisingly useful, the screen is really nice, and the keyboard works better than I expected it. It feels nicer than the one on the new MacBook, but it isn't backlit (which is a negative). Hopefully iOS 10 opens up some new iPad Pro-only features to enable developers to take better advantage of the decent hardware.
metayoshi - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
I kind of disagree with the sentiment the iPad Pro is "the only game in town," when the Surface Pro clearly has a huge advantage when it comes to using legacy applications and other peripherals when it comes down to being a "Pro." For example, the Surface line still has a full fledged USB port on it, and that allows it to be used with a lot of 3rd party peripherals like USB instruments and other devices. Heck, even staying within the Apple ecosystem here, a full fledged Macbook laptop is still a better choice here, but then you sacrifice the whole appeal of a 2-in-1 device.I'm not saying the iPad Pro isn't a great device. I'm sure it is, especially after reading the whole review. But it's still not going to sway me from choosing a Surface Pro 4 (or even a Surface 3) over something like this.
glenn.tx - Saturday, January 23, 2016 - link
Completely agree. As a software consultant, I use my primary computer 12 hours a day. That computer has been the i7 SP2, i7SP3, and now the i5 Surface Pro 4. (Additional 2-3 hrs/day as a tablet in bed) Every version has been a God send. There is absolutely no way I could (or would) use the iPad Pro as my primary PC/Notebook. When you work in reality, the differences can be ignored.