{"id":343400,"date":"2017-06-12T19:00:53","date_gmt":"2017-06-12T11:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1502286"},"modified":"2017-06-12T19:00:53","modified_gmt":"2017-06-12T11:00:53","slug":"apple-pays-off-its-future-of-computing-promise-with-ipad-pro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/apple-pays-off-its-future-of-computing-promise-with-ipad-pro\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple pays off its future-of-computing promise with iPad Pro"},"content":{"rendered":"

After playing with the new iPad Pro 10.5\u2033 for a few days, I am convinced that it\u2019s fairly impossible to do a detailed review of it in its current state.<\/p>\n

Not because there is some sort of flaw, but because it was clearly designed top to bottom as an empty vessel in which to pour iOS 11.<\/p>\n

Every feature, every hardware advancement, every piece of understated technical acrobatics is in the service of making Apple\u2019s next-generation software shine.<\/p>\n

I know this isn\u2019t really helpful to those of you who have or wish to buy the device when it drops on Tuesday, but don\u2019t worry, I can save you all of that flim flam. This is an amazing iPad. It pays off years of setup in ways that come home when you see how well iOS 11 works.<\/p>\n

Last year, Apple\u2019s Tim Cook said that \u201cwe believe that iPad is the perfect expression of the future of computing.\u201d This year, that claim seems more logical than ever.<\/p>\n

Think of every iPad up to this point as a glass of water set on a shelf \u2014 in wait for some future moment of need. This iPad is Apple\u2019s \u201cswing away\u201d<\/a> moment. It executes on the years of insistence that the iPad is the future of light work computers. But that moment is only telegraphed, shadowed, until you see it through the lens of iOS 11.<\/p>\n

So instead of a full review today, I\u2019m going to talk about some of the marquee features of the iPad and how Apple was able to execute on them. And yes, whether they live up to the marketing blitz hype. Then, we\u2019re going to install iOS 11 on it and work it hard until we can talk about how the two halves of this whole play out.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve been following the way I write about Apple releases over the past couple of years, you also know that I\u2019m leery of delivering a full-on \u201creview\u201d just a few days in.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

First things first, the size is great. With a 20 percent larger screen but an increase in physical size of only 7 percent, the sweet spot has been well and hit. The larger 12.9-inch size will stick around, but I\u2019d expect to see all iPads at 10.5 inches at some point. It\u2019s just the right size.<\/p>\n

The bezels are small but not invisible, which is important for a device that you need leverage to hold in your hand. At this point, Apple has pretty much given up on the \u201climited screen sizes for developers to build to\u201d approach. It gave people building for iPad about three years to start thinking in this new resolution-independent way that allowed apps to scale to any size, and now it\u2019s stepping off the ledge.<\/p>\n

There are currently a bunch of screen sizes in Apple\u2019s lineup and the message is clear: however big or small it needs to be, that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to do.<\/p>\n

Of course the bigger size means you get some more physical space. So rather than stretching out the pixels on the display, Apple just increased the number of them, resulting in a lower density. Basically, this looks as sharp as the 9.7-inch iPad Pro \u2014 just bigger. This means a larger work area for drawing or editing apps, but, in my experience, isn\u2019t a big enough change to have a significant impact on the experience of working on apps like Paper or Final Cut from the smaller iPad. If you want that feeling of expansive work area and access to more hidden pallets directly, then go all the way to the 12.9 inches.<\/p>\n

The big gem here is the quality of the screen. Apple has bundled together its\u00a0P3 color gamut and True Tone technology into a single category called Promotion. You can take a look here<\/a><\/span>; they really are fantastic. But this generation adds a significant enhancement into the same group \u2014 the ability to scale the refresh rate from 24Hz on the low end to 120Hz on the high end.<\/p>\n

This allows the screen to refresh up to 120 times per second if you\u2019re looking at fast-moving content, or down to 24 times per second if you\u2019re staring at a static page. Obviously when it\u2019s cranked up to the max it uses a ton more battery, but when it\u2019s down low, while reading for instance, it\u2019s sipping power by comparison.<\/p>\n

This makes an enormous difference while scrolling, as it refreshes as fast as you can possibly scroll it, making for a smoother look with less stutter. iOS has always had a leg up when it comes to buttery scrolling, but Promotion takes it beyond. Content feels like it sticks to your finger or flies by when you fling it.<\/p>\n

There is also a massive bonus when it comes to the Pencil. Because it\u2019s sampling 120 times per second, it\u2019s able to make the Pencil appear even smoother, with the tip following the draw point precisely. Apple says that the latency (delay) of the pencil is down to 20 milliseconds, but with the higher refresh and some additional behind-the-scenes predictive magic, it can actually get down as low as a perceived 8ms, which is insane. The Pencil quite simply offers as close to a paper experience as you\u2019ll see on any commercial tablet anywhere.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The supporting silicon of the A10X chip allows Apple to deliver not just the best tablet screen, but one of the best displays in all of computing at the moment. It really is a cut above.<\/p>\n

This variable refresh rate makes it rather hard to measure battery accurately \u2014 about the best you can do is to try to run tests on a single kind of content and then average them out. I was only able to do some cursory testing but so far the measure of 10 hours seems super conservative unless you\u2019re watching a ton of high frame rate video. I regularly got 12-15 hours out of it in normal, mixed, use.<\/p>\n