Interesting. My experience with the iPad Pro has been very different. I use it (without an external keyboard) as a compliment to my MacBook Pro — not as a replacement. And it has been a no compromise device for serious work as well as leisure.
My iPad Pro has virtually the same productivity software I use on my Mac (MS Word / Excel /Powerpoint / Teams, Slack, Pages, Keynote, NotesPlus, Affinity Designer, Pixelmator Pro, Transmit, BBEdit, GitHub Desktop, and a few more). This coupled with shared iCloud Documents allows me to do 80% of what I need to do on the iPad Pro. The 20% I can’t do on the iPad involves Xcode and related heavy development / large file tasks.
I am more productive with the combination because I am able to use the best device based on context. If the task is lean-forward production oriented I use my MacBook Pro at a desk with/without external monitor. If the work is lean-back ideation / cogitation I use my iPad leaning back on on the couch, chair, etc. The nature of my work involves both modes depending on the stage of the project/task and I am able to seamlessly shift from device to device and continue working on tasks in multiple contexts (at my desk, on the couch, in the car, etc.).
Net-net: The iPad Pro is suited to way more than just surfing the web .. and serious Professional work is being done every day on iPad Pros as well as non-Pro iPads. Your degree of success depends on your use cases and whether you use the iPad as it was designed or try to force it to do what you wish it could do.