The 2018 iPad Pro - Where does it fit?
After using the iPad Pro for 3 months now, I’ve finally come to an opinion about where this latest iteration fits into my life. Here is my configuration:
12.9” Silver
512GB Storage
Wi-Fi + 4G LTE (Cellular)
Apple Smart Keyboard
Apple Pencil 2
Let’s not kid ourselves, this setup is not cheap. The iPad base price in this configuration is $1,499. Add in the $129 Apple Pencil 2 and the $200 Smart Keyboard and you’re in for $2,000. As a point of comparison, the new entry-level 2018 MacBook Air with the 1.6GHz processor and 256GB of storage comes in at $1,399, and already has a keyboard (although some would consider that a huge downside). But effectively, you could still bump up that MacBook Air to 16GB of RAM (8GB is standard) and match the 512GB of SSD storage, and still be at $1,800.
So to most, Apple’s iPad Pro seems like a far over-priced media consumption device, but once again, technology is all about ‘context’ - where does it fit in your life, and how much value do you put to that place? For me, the iPad has always been exactly where Steve Jobs wanted it - somewhere between my iPhone and my laptop. Although I’ve compared its pricing to a laptop, it’s utility is far higher to me. I don’t need to duplicate what I already have. I’ve always found myself yearning for that product that fills a void and the iPad Pro continues to be ‘that product’. Whether it’s the battery life, the seamless integration with Apple’s “ecosystem”, or just the shear convenience of having such a powerhouse (A12X Bionic SOC is a beast), the iPad Pro is a must-have no matter where I go.
The naysayers will continue to point to Apple’s inability to move iOS forward in a meaningful way to fully unleash the power of the A12X SOC (which is, by all measures, a laptop-level CPU), but for me, not having all the legacy issues of a laptop is what makes this device continue to be special. Apple has come a long way with its file system and iCloud platform, which makes sharing content easier and provides some semblance of a PC-style folder system.
There are many that want Apple to merge iOS and MacOS to expose the true computing power of the tablet. I am not one of them - it would completely defeat the context of the tablet and the void it fills. More to come on this…