iPad Pro 12.9 - a failed experiment?

[RickTaylor]

I'm satisfied with my iPad pro. I'm a teacher and I use it primarily attached to a projector as an electronic white board. I also use it as a math notebook. It's a bit large, but that's not a problem when I set it on a podium, and the larger size makes it easier to write on. I also use it as a digital notebook for writing about math.

It does not replace my laptop, which I use for writing including technical documents, mathematical software, and databases for my classes.

It does not replace my iPad mini, which I use on the go for checking the Internet or e-mail, reading books and PDF's, and for GPS.

 

[bensisko]

Incorrect on all 3 points:

1) iOS was conceived (and first released) for the iPhone. Period. Years later, the iPad simply inherited it.

2) incorrect again: no app can grant me file access if the OS doesnt allow it. No app can grant me mouse support if the OS doesnt allow it. Etc. The only way is to voilate Apple's terms and conditions and jailbreak the device.

3) and again, you are wrong: the surface is not a laptop but a hybrid: a tablet with an optional strap-on keyboard. Basically, what the iPad Pro is, so they pretty much swim in the same waters.

Actually, you're incorrect on all three points.

(1) The iPad was actually conceived of before the iPhone and was in the works while the iPhone was in development. The iPad may have come out later, but it was designed in conjunction with the iPad.

(2) Actually, there are several apps that allow you to manage files (both local and cloud). True, you don't have direct access to the file system, but I seriously have a hard time thinking that people's MAIN issue in the iPad replacing a PC is File Management. Mouse support? I understand you can get that through VM apps.

(3) The Surface is a Desktop machine - it runs a desktop OS, not a mobile OS. Even Microsoft says it's a Laptop. Okay, I'll give you that it's classified as a 'hybrid' but it's still a desktop machine.

 

[AVBeatMan]

I'm fortunate enough to have all 3 iPads, mini 4, Pro 9.7 and Pro 12.9. Love them all. I take the mini to the office with me, use the 9.7 whilst watching tv and the 12.9 for media, you tube etc.

I had the 12.9 at first but thought it was too big so sold it and bought the 9.7. Then I found I missed the bigger device and stumbled on a great deal so but another 12.9.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I think they should go even bigger and nix the 12.9", as even at that size it's best in desktop/house/office use (vs on the go) and thus might as well get an even bigger canvas I'd say.

 

[xraydoc]

Incorrect on all 3 points:

1) iOS was conceived (and first released) for the iPhone. Period. Years later, the iPad simply inherited it.

2) incorrect again: no app can grant me file access if the OS doesnt allow it. No app can grant me mouse support if the OS doesnt allow it. Etc. The only way is to voilate Apple's terms and conditions and jailbreak the device.

3) and again, you are wrong: the surface is not a laptop but a hybrid: a tablet with an optional strap-on keyboard. Basically, what the iPad Pro is, so they pretty much swim in the same waters.

While there is no mouse support in iOS for iOS itself, there are several apps remote desktop apps that give mouse support. I use Citrix for work all the time and it has Bluetooth mouse support. Citrix even sells their own special BT mouse (which I own) just for use in the Citrix iPad app. There's a couple of remote desktop apps for iPad that also work with the same mouse for remote Mac access.

May not have been what you meant with your post, but just thought I'd clarify in case it was.

 

[Omega Mac]

I'm throughly looking forward to a 12.9 with True Tone screen and processor bump. That's when I join the next phase of the experiment. Happy days!

 

[subjonas]

I think they should go even bigger and nix the 12.9", as even at that size it's best in desktop/house/office use (vs on the go) and thus might as well get an even bigger canvas I'd say.

Looking at laptops, tablets, and hybrids, 12-13" seems to be the standard size for devices designed first and foremost for productivity, then to be as mobile as possible. So while I think it's entirely possible that an iOS device larger than 12.9" could happen in the future (depending on how well the iOS ecosystem matures), I don't think it would ever replace the 12.9 (or something within an inch). It would be in addition.

 

[macgeek18]

I love it. It's an in between device for me. Have a 5" phone, 7.9" iPad Mini, 12.9" Pro, two 15" Laptops, dual screened home setup and dual screened work setup. It's a nice fit when I want a tablet but not one of my laptops.

 

[Swisspo]

I'm throughly looking forward to a 12.9 with True Tone screen and processor bump. That's when I join the next phase of the experiment. Happy days!

While I'm sure it's safe to assume the 12.9'' will receive an internal upgrade, such as processing power. Does it really need it? I've had mine since release, and it'd handled everything I have tried to throw at it. Honestly, the hardware inside is already underutilized as is

 

[Saturn1217]

I really hated the idea of a 12.9" iPad when it was first released. But I ended up getting one for work. I work from home most of the time so the iPad never leaves my desk. I use it mostly for handwritten notes. For these purposes I really like the larger screen size. I tend to write very large anyway (and sloppy), and with the smaller screen I don't think I'd have enough space to write legibly for meetings. I used to own a 9.7" iPad Air so I'm very familiar with that size.

I've also recently had the need to use split screen mode during a meeting (live in person meeting). I would have been screwed with the 9.7" iPad. The 12.9" was just large enough to view a document and take meeting notes at the same time.

There are times when I'm using the iPad Pro for non-work related activities, such as reading ebooks, where I wish it was smaller or more accurately, I wish I could fold it in half (so it would feel like a book). But having a digital legal pad has been a dream come true so I'll stick with this size until my needs change significantly.

I can definitely understand if others find 12.9" too big though, especially if you need the iPad to be very portable.

 

[bufffilm]

While I'm sure it's safe to assume the 12.9'' will receive an internal upgrade, such as processing power. Does it really need it? I've had mine since release, and it'd handled everything I have tried to throw at it. Honestly, the hardware inside is already underutilized as is

Actually, didn't someone post here saying it needed more ram to do enhanced graphics editing?

For more ordinary tasks, the hardware is plenty. But you know they will give it a processor bump.

But we really need even more is for Apple to come thru with more iOS functionality, more battery life, and other things.

 

[dingclancy23]

For me, the spec bump is needed to drive faster web browsing especially for complex web apps used for work. For me while browsing on the iPad feel better, my Macbook Air renders pages much faster. This should allow better support for the most used web apps like Google Docs.

 

[dogslobber]

I think it's always been a niche product.

Somewhat. Steve wouldn't have allowed it.

 

[prospervic]

Say I needed to download a song from mymp3pool.com or whatever on the fly (being a DJ) and transfer it my Mac...I couldn't access the mp3 file.

Documents by Readdle solves this problem (with the assistance of iTunes in transferring the file to the Mac).

 

[joeblow7777]

Somewhat. Steve wouldn't have allowed it.

Are we still bringing up what Steve Jobs would or wouldn't have done?

 

[KohPhiPhi]

While I'm sure it's safe to assume the 12.9'' will receive an internal upgrade, such as processing power. Does it really need it? I've had mine since release, and it'd handled everything I have tried to throw at it. Honestly, the hardware inside is already underutilized as is

I totally agree.

As it is, the 12.9 is a hardware BEAST: it chews through everything I throw at it. Now a days, the iPad Pro's limitations come from the software side, not the hardware side.

 

[dogslobber]

Are we still bringing up what Steve Jobs would or wouldn't have done?

Are we still bringing up the point about bringing up the point about what Steve would have done?

 

[joeblow7777]

Are we still bringing up the point about bringing up the point about what Steve would have done?

Yes, we are, because apparently it still bears mentioning. Jobs has been dead for years. I respect his vision, but it was based on the reality of 2011. No one really knows what his thoughts would be if he was still alive today, or that his ideas would still be good ones.

 

[Donka]

I have all three iPad sizes and they all have their specific usage scenarios for me but I feel more productive on the 12.9 purely because the larger screen makes working easier. iOS for the iPads still has a lot of evolving to do though.
Multitasking works well enough but it irritates me that when I slide over from the right, instead of giving me the list of apps to select, it goes straight into the last used app. Fine if that is what I wanted to use but if not, I now have another app running in the background that I don't need and I still need to pull down from the top to go back into the app switcher. I would prefer if it went straight into the app switcher each time and that was a list of apps instead of the large screen icons making scrolling through a large list of apps a more convoluted process than it needs to be.

As for the file system, yes there are various ways around this but I would love to see a documents folder on iOS that all apps can access - much like how the photo library works with photo apps. Lets say I have a PDF file but have two PDF apps, one I prefer for annotating and the other that I prefer for reading files. I would need to load that PDF into say the reader app when reading through it. Now if I wanted to annotate that, I would need to use the share feature, open it in the other app and annotate there i.e. I now have two copies of the file in separate apps. Having a central document repository for all files types would allow me to store files I would want multiple apps to access without the need for each app to store it's own copy. The apps themselves would still be sand boxed and unable to touch other apps data. It works for for photos, why not expand it for all file types at the user's discretion?

 

[Dave245]

Yes, we are, because apparently it still bears mentioning. Jobs has been dead for years. I respect his vision, but it was based on the reality of 2011. No one really knows what his thoughts would be if he was still alive today, or that his ideas would still be good ones.

This, you are 100% right. I've seen so many comments and even people in conversations talking about Steve Jobs and how he wouldn't of done the bigger screens iPhone's, bigger iPad's and so on, when in fact not only has the guy been dead for over 5 years (which in tech is a long time) but (and i think this is a bigger point) he was always changing his mind on things, people would present him with ideas and he would call them stupid and so on, a week later Job's would accept the idea and in some cases he would even make it seem like he came up with the idea.

Tim Cook is the C.E.O who was hand picked by jobs himself, personally i think Tim Cook is doing a great job, regardless of all the "Apple is doomed" "Cook should be fired" "Tim Cook is destroying Apple" and so on.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

I totally agree.

As it is, the 12.9 is a hardware BEAST: it chews through everything I throw at it. Now a days, the iPad Pro's limitations come from the software side, not the hardware side.

It is definitely a beast, I have mine hooked up to a USB hub which connects to a mixer and a MIDI keyboard. Multitrack into GarageBand without any issues (2 in 2 out audio, 1 in MIDI). Haven't noticed latency either; the audio I hear has all been output by my iPad.

For laughs, I hooked all this up to my iPhone 7 running GarageBand and that had no issues with multitracking either.

It seems like RAM/lack of scratch space mostly affects graphics applications as the number of editable layers in Procreate is determined by RAM and canvas size, for example.

 

[MH01]

I love my iPad Pro 12.9 though I tend to go for my iPad Air 2 more and more, it's the perfect size when it comes to usability . The iPad Pro 12.9 is great for watching movies

 

[bensisko]

It seems like RAM/lack of scratch space mostly affects graphics applications as the number of editable layers in Procreate is determined by RAM and canvas size, for example.

And even that can be solved by a workflow adjustment.

 

[pesos]

I think the size is great for certain things. I would have bought a "standard" ipad in this form factor if it was possible. My intention was to use it for app testing, client demos, and as a second screen via Duet for my SP4. Unfortunately the latter didn't pan out due to Duet being a poor-performing unstable piece of crap, and the first two things can be done on a mini if necessary.

Will probably replace it with the 10.5 assuming it's all its cracked up to be (and who knows, maybe Duet won't suck by then or there will be a better option from someone else) and will make the 12.9 a permanent piano/sheet music accessory. The bluetooth pedal integration with our Roland piano is great.

 

[dogslobber]

Yes, we are, because apparently it still bears mentioning. Jobs has been dead for years. I respect his vision, but it was based on the reality of 2011. No one really knows what his thoughts would be if he was still alive today, or that his ideas would still be good ones.

It's a tired cliche. Move on.

Btw, anybody who doubts Steve Jobs would still be a brilliant visionary today as he was 5 years ago has a lot to learn. Maybe if Apple had followed Steve's guidance to the letter then they might actually be in a better position than they are today. Everybody at Apple owes everything they have, or will have to that man.