Apple updates iPad Pro with a trackpad, faster processor. Is it a real computer now?
- Reference: 1584547207
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/03/18/apple_updates_the_ipad_pro_with_a_trackpad_and_faster_processor/
- Source link:
Enter the latest iPad Pro, which received a radical refresh today. Apple claims the new model – which comes in 11-inch and 12.9-inch variants – is “more powerful than most Windows PC laptops.” Their words, not ours.
At the heart of the device is an overhauled octa-core A12Z Bionic platform that Apple claims has improved thermal management versus previous versions. You’ll likely need it, given Apple is touting the iPad Pro as a tool for editing weighty 4K video footage.
Apple has also tarted up the optics, adding a second camera. In addition to a 12MP wide-angle shooter, there’s also a 10MP ultra-wide camera that’s capable of 2X optical zoom. Accompanying that is a LIDAR scanner, which can help the tablet understand the tablet’s surroundings – something that’s useful for AR applications.
On the sound front, the pricey tablet also includes a constellation of five microphones, which can capture audio with a better fidelity than previous models, and is more capable of negating background interference.
Arguably, the most manifestly important change is on the peripheral front, thanks to the release of new keyboard that for the first time includes a trackpad.
This has been a long time coming. Apple introduced pointer functionality with the first iPadOS release, but it wasn’t really pitched as a tool for everyday use, but rather an accessibility feature. This was a bit of a head-scratcher, particularly when the primary rival to the iPad Pro, the Microsoft Surface, had (obviously) included trackpad support from day one.
Analyst Ben Wood at CCS Insight opined: "For years Apple resisted support for a mouse and trackpad on the iPad. That changed last year with the announcement of support for external storage and a mouse on iPadOS. Apple has now fully embraced that user interface paradigm with the inclusion of a trackpad on the new 'magic keyboard'. It will be interesting to see how this changes the user interaction with an iPad and how application developers take advantage of it."
Per Apple, iPad OS 13.4's trackpad support is fairly fleshed out, and supports the usual gestures that let you traverse apps and multitask easily. Most existing apps should support gestures already, although Apple is offering specific iPad trackpad APIs for those apps to add their own functionality.
The new Magic Keyboard is undoubtedly the most interesting iPad Pro keyboard announced to date. As the name implies, it uses the scissor mechanism found on the [1]16-inch MacBook Pro – as well as the latest MacBook Air, which Apple also drew the veil back on today.
The Magic Keyboard includes a floating hinge design that allows users to adjust the height of the display in relation to the keyboard. Users can also adjust the viewing angle up to 130˚. There's also a USB-C port for charging, allowing users to use the tablet's USB-C device for other stuff, like external storage.
Really... it costs that much?
Of course, this doesn't come cheap. The base 11-inch slab retails at £769 for the Wi-Fi model and £919 for the LTE variant. Prefer a larger screen to play with? The 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at £969 for the Wi-Fi model and £1,119 for the cellular-capable one.
For that, you get 128GB of storage. This can be boosted to 256GB, 512GB and 1TB, but at a steep cost.
And that's before you factor in the price of the Magic Keyboard, which retails at £299 for the 11-inch model, and £349 for the 12.9-inch model. Want an Apple Pencil? That'll be a further £119.
So, yeah. Any configuration of the iPad Pro will be a pricey proposition. It compares reasonably to its closest rival, the Microsoft Surface Pro 7, however. A middle-of-the-road config of Redmond's premium tablet will set you back over a grand, and that's before you consider the price of a keyboard.
Wood at CCS Insights added: "It is hard to assess how well the
'Magic Keyboard'
concept works without trying it, but it is certainly a compelling design, which is likely to be the main talking point around this latest version of the iPad Pro. The only issue I foresee is that it will have an eyewatering price tag, particularly given the existing Smart Keyboard Folio for the current iPad already costs £179, which is more than a 10-inch Amazon Fire HD 10-inch tablet."In theory, the Magic Keyboard has the potential to elevate the iPad Pro to a more universal productivity tool, rather than the preserve of road-warrior creatives. Whether this new approach will help boost its market share is anyone's guess, however.
Those familiar with [2]El Reg 's fraught relationship with Cupertino will have probably guessed that we weren't pre-briefed for this. Not to worry though – we can't wait to go to an Apple Store and get our hands on…
[3]Oh . Never mind. ®
[1] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/11/13/16_macbook_pro/
[2] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/07/reg_effort_to_attend_iphone_7_launch/
[3] https://www.apple.com/uk/newsroom/2020/03/apples-covid-19-response/
Cheaper iPads are available. I'm pretty happy with my iPad Air 2.
Cheapest available today costs £349.
The previous release was faster than an i7-8700U, so faster than basically all laptops on the market at the time except gaming laptops and workstation laptops running H-Series chips. This one is presumably even faster than that, so obviously it is going to be more expensive than a cheap laptop.
The previous release was faster than an i7-8700U, so faster than basically all laptops on the market at the time except gaming laptops and workstation laptops running H-Series chips.
These figures are very suspicious. [1]They are based on benchmarks, which are prone to all sorts of fiddling. And that's for the same SoC on the same OS ... let alone when both are different.
[2]But on the other side, perhaps this is why ARM Apple laptops are coming in 2021 or thereabouts?
[1] https://www.xda-developers.com/benchmark-cheating-strikes-back-how-oneplus-and-others-got-caught-red-handed-and-what-theyve-done-about-it/
[2] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/26/famed_apple_analyst_ming_chi_kuo_reckons_armbased_macs_will_land_next_year/
Yes. Show me an iPad connected to 2 external monitors, running an IDE, a couple of virtual machines, Outlook, half a dozen RDP and TeamViewer sessions and then I'll start to believe that the A12 is as powerful as a Windows laptop.
I'm sure Apple's ARM chip is highly optimized and, with raw benchmarks, can put in some very nice run times. But it is real-use that counts at the end of the day. The iPadOS has so far been optimized for a single, or possibly 2, visible app(s) and what is running in the background can be slept when needed. I'm sure it would have no problems running Safari and standard office applications in a desktop scenario, but multiple VMs? Premier Pro or (full) Photoshop? There I'm a little sceptical, until I see an iPad actually doing those sorts of things faster than a Wintel laptop.
Intel has bee complacent for too long, they need a good fright, but Apple has only said their CPU is quicker than Intel laptops, it hasn't actually shown any proof, yet (and synthetic benchmarks are just that, they aren't the real world). Maybe they have a skunkworks project to get their chip to run a full version of macOS, but they haven't demonstrated anything yet.
You pretty much nailed it here.
Maybe they have a skunkworks project to get their chip to run a full version of macOS, but they haven't demonstrated anything yet.
To be honest, some "practical" proof exists.
Ages ago, the original iPad Air (only the iPad Air) can run Mac OS X Mavericks, because Apple had included ARM binaries of the whole system in the Mavericks release.
[1]Tutorial
[1] https://tidbits.com/2014/04/01/install-and-run-os-x-10-9-mavericks-on-the-ipad-air/
I have a 2018 iPad Pro 12.9 that I use for general-purpose computing, and as a digital music stand on stage. I bought it mostly for the latter application, because it can display music sheets at 100% size. Given the cost, I wanted to make it as useful as possible -- without paying Apple prices for add-ons.
* iPads work fine with 3rd party BlueTooth keyboards and mice. I use a Logitech keyboard that I already had and a generic $5 Chinese mouse. (Hoping that iPadOS 14 will make the mouse more useful; the current Accessibility support is crap for general use.)
* I don't need the pressure sensitive feature of the Apple Pencil, so I got a Logitech Crayon for $50. It supports palm rejection, and it's fine for scrawling quick notes and such.
* The iPad is wrapped in a really nice $30 leather case from Amazon.
Even if I'd had to drop $50 on a good-quality keyboard, the whole accessory package would have come to maybe $150, tops. My hodge-podge is not as sleek as Apple's magic thingy. But it does all of the same stuff for a tiny fraction of the cost, and I rarely need the keyboard and mouse anyway.
No you don't.
The iPad can't do general purpose computing. General purpose computing by definition requires that you be able to run arbitrary software from any source of your choosing.
And the iPad can't do that. It's an overpriced toy, nothing more.
Um....
I’d like to use Apple’s Pages and Numbers applications on a tablet. Where’s the “general purpose computer” that can do that?
Written on my VLuIFs
Re: Um....
A Windows tablet that is turned into a Hackintosh.
Common sense
It's an overpriced toy, nothing more.
Finally ...
Some common sense.
Have a beer --->
O.
The one accessory the new iPad is missing is a mounting adapter for the (£950) Pro Stand.
My, my ...
What big cameras you have!
- All the better to see you with...
What big microphones you have!
- All the better to hear you with...
What a big stylus you have!
- All the better to gouge with!!!
"you get 128GB of storage"
I'm sorry, Apple is touting a laptop for video editing and the basic version only has 128GB of storage ?
If you're editing video, you know full well that a terabyte these days is not too much. Yet, the terabyte version is the priciest.
That's like Renault selling you a Twingo named Ferrari. It's cheating, pure and simple.
Re: "you get 128GB of storage"
Another one who starts a post with an apology for the rest of it.
Rightly so. I don't think the amount of storage is the whole story about this. You'd get more seats and luggage space in a Twingo after all.
Re: "you get 128GB of storage"
"That's like Renault selling you a Twingo named Ferrari. It's cheating, pure and simple."
You mean my Aston Martin Cygnet is little more than a reskined Toyota IQ? Lies!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA
[GGGAAAAAASSSSPPPP]
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
OH don't mind me, I have a condition, I start laughing when I hear the most absurd things... That's why I got my coa....
PFFFTTTT
HAHAHAHAHAHAH
Nah . . .
. . . still Fisher Price.
Re: Nah . . .
Isn't that what they called Windows XP?
Re: Nah . . .
Thought it was Tellytubbies.
Still not a real computer.
Unless you can totally control every partition of that flash storage.
Until you can change out the operating system for anything you might see fit.
[1]Until you can swap out parts, because thin 'n' light != not repairable. They don't make them the same way nowadays.
Until it runs a real operating system, not a mobile operating system wearing a T-shirt five sizes too big.
[1] https://www.ifixit.com/News/8135/hats-off-to-hps-repairable-tablet
Trackpad is a misunderstanding
1) one a touchscreen device – THE SCREEN IS THE TRACKPAD.
2) Apple has insisted that apps are specifically developed for iOS, not just lazily ported from Mac or elsewhere. That means apps must use the touch facilities and USE THE SCREEN AS THE TRACKPAD.
3) Microsoft has taken the lazy approach to just put Windows on its pads. Yes that suits developers – no rework for a new form factor, but the user pays for that in device not being as easy to use. Then you get this nonsense about “no trackpad – it is not a real computer”. That is garbage thinking, misleading the masses. THE SCREEN IS THE TRACKPAD.
4) When using a device you should not think of it as a computer or even be aware it is a computer. The whole criticism of iOS devices not being a computer is pure ignorance on the part of those who say it. The fundamental lesson of computer science is abstraction – making one machine look like something else (a Universal Turing Machine can emulate any Turing machine). Don’t buy a computer, buy a device that will run useful applications for you. Users should not have to do those computer-type things like set IP addresses, etc. Doing computer things on the device makes it less useful – NOT MORE USEFUL.
I hope Apple aren’t losing focus on this and making things easy for lazy developers and not standing up for the end user. The computer industry is NOT for computer people but for the end user who should need to know very little about the workings of a computer. If we insist on that, we computer specialists have failed.
Re: Trackpad is a misunderstanding
4. This is computing utopianism. Beautiful ... as long as everything works as planned. Thing is, life isn't idyllic bliss. Screens break. Wi-Fi connections drop. Batteries die. People run out of money. All of these happen in the Real World, and all of them would throw a spanner in Apple's utopian plan.
Re: Trackpad is a misunderstanding
"Doing computer things on the device makes it less useful – NOT MORE USEFUL."
Huh?
Re: Trackpad is a misunderstanding
The idea is you put it on a plinth and marvel at its wonderful design language. Anything else like running software detracts from that.
Professionals?
And who are these professionals? Many professionals have no idea. If it were up to them, the GUI developed in Silicon Valley, Xerox, and then brought to us by Apple would not exist and we’d still be doing things on the command line. Computer professionals more-often-than-not stand in the way of progress. They have been taught – a computer looks like this. Processor architectures are supposed to be ... RISC, CISC or whatever. They can’t stand anything that is different. They used to be IBM people (even when IBM had really inferior products), then they went to Microsoft – all with the same single-vendor-supporting prejudices.
Take with a grain of salt what a lot of computing professionals say – that have been fed and taught a lot of false notions. Computers should really be imagining what could be, not stuck in the past of what is or was.
Re: Professionals?
And who are these professionals? Many professionals have no idea.
Professionals are, in abstract terms, anybody whose profession is related to computers. Since they use computers daily, perhaps even looking at a computer more than looking at their loved ones, they might have a slight clue. You never know.
If it were up to them, the GUI developed in Silicon Valley, Xerox, and then brought to us by Apple would not exist and we’d still be doing things on the command line.
So? The command line is a superior interface. More raw power.
There are people who drive cars with automatic transmissions. That doesn't make manual transmissions worse for driving "professionals".
Computer professionals more-often-than-not stand in the way of progress.
Institutionalised people do. More often than not, they are the users themselves. But sometimes, they are the "professionals" indeed. This is because we are creatures of habit.
They used to be IBM people (even when IBM had really inferior products), then they went to Microsoft – all with the same single-vendor-supporting prejudices.
Arbitrarily ignoring a whole wave of FOSS enthusiasts - the "hippies" to the "authority" of IBM/Microsoft/...
Computers should really be imagining what could be, not stuck in the past of what is or was.
Pretty much everything should be. Your fight is against institutionalisation, not "computing professionals", especially not the "professionals" that the article refers to.
Re: Professionals?
as has been made clear in this thread, people often conflate “professional” with the “highest level of skill” or “highest demand”
But A professional is really nothing more than a person who makes money from what they do. If they are able to make a living from applying their skills to the real world, and they do this as a significant source of their income, then we could arguably call them a professional regardless of absolute skill level.
I’m a photographer But there are countless hobbyists and amateur photographers who are able to take far more artistic and creative shots than I do for my clients. Why? Because time, money, repeatability, reliability are not important to them. However skilled they are, they’re still amateurs: they don’t shoot for money.
Professionals usually just need to get the job done, pronto.. with minimum hassle and minimum cost.
But the rest can often take more Leisurely approach knowing that their lunch is not on the line.
Thus, I would say that the top iPad is really no longer a professional device as such, it is clearly moved into the lifestyle device with specifications, cost, critical function limitations and arguably unnecessary design flair that are generally unnecessary to the typical IT/information/office/video worker.
Yeah, sure.
"...more powerful than most Windows PC Laptops."
As an ardent tinkerer of Premiere Pro and Photoshop I can put my hand on my heart (and the other on the wallet in my pocket) and say that 128GB storage duth not a serious laptop make.
Yes, I'm sure it's a case of *Terms and conditions apply, enter all the extras you need before that is actually the case.
Yep, my wallet's still there ----->
I think they're great products, but this isn't a competition to see how much they can price-gouge users. You spend £1200 on a tablet because it's good. Bloody good. But an extra £349 for a keyboard is eye-wateringly expensive. That's more than cheap laptops. And a further £119 for a pencil? That's £469 extra to spend on peripherals that you can take for granted on other platforms. There's got to be a point where the most die-hard Apple fan (yes I love apple products) has to say "you know, this is a tool, and I can get almost the same functionality from a lesser platform". Yes, iPads are nice, they're fast, but I'm sorry Apple, I can probably spend less than half that on a device that isn't anywhere near as nice, but as a tool for doing my job, it'll be MORE than adequate.