Apple’s iPad Pro is now available in India. It’s a whole 12.9 inches of tablet – that’s a lot for anyone who’s accustomed to regular 9.7-inch iPads and the smaller almost pocketable iPad Minis.
But the tablet market has been going down lately, specially with smartphones becoming so large they stop just short of being tablets themselves. So why would Apple create such a giant tablet? If there’s one criticism the iPad has had it’s been that it hasn’t been a productivity device. While it’s wonderful to lean back with and look through beautiful pictures and read magazines etc, it isn’t the device of choice for someone who wants to use it equally for working hard, creating documents, editing spreadsheets, marking reports and so on.
That’s the formula Apple has tried to change with the iPad Pro. While the original iPad was actually more of a consumption device, the iPad Pro has moved into work territory because it’s no longer as portable as, say the Mini, nor as lean-back as either of the other two sizes. Instead, it looks like you should set it down and do something on it.
Which is why it has accessories that will make it more workable. There’s the pressure-sensitive Apple Pencil, and there’s a smart cover with a built-in keyboard.
But the entire iPad Pro will cost consumers a nice packet. There are three versions, varying in internal storage and connectivity.
32GB WiFi for Rs 67,900
128GB WiFi for Rs 79,900
128GB WiFi + Cellular for Rs 91,900
Apple Pencil for Rs 8,600
Smart Keyboard cover for Rs 14,900
The new accessories will not work with older iPads and are entirely customised for the iPad Pro. The Pencil gives artists, engineers, architects, designers and anyone who uses pen and paper a lot, the ability to create easily on a large canvas. The Smart Keyboard has folding parts that allow the user to stand the iPad up at different inclination angles and spread the keyboard flap out to use for typing.
The keyboard is especially flat and thin, with the weight kept at a minimum to allow it to double up as a cover. The material on the inner side of the keyboard flap is soft enough to protect the screen.
The iPad Pro also has split-screen multitasking, a feature shared with the newer iPads upgraded to the latest version of iOS, but this comes into its own on a large 2732 x 2048 Retina display. To power its smooth performance, the iPad Pro runs on a 64-bit A9X chip and uses the M9 Motion co-processor. The device is able to handle 3D rendering and graphics and processor-heavy tasks such as movie editing and lag-free drawing at high speed.
BW Reporters
Mala Bhargava has been writing on technology well before the advent of internet in Indians and before CDs made their way into computers. Mala writes on technology, social media, startups and fitness. A trained psychologist, she claims that her understanding of psychology helps her understand the human side of technology.
