I swung by my neighborhood Apple Store this morning to pick up an iPad. That alone was a novel experience; picking up an Apple iDevice on launch day without having to wait in line or preorder was… unusual. Nonetheless, off I went to see what the hulabaloo was about.
First, context. I’ve been using an iPad Pro 12.9” as part of a test at my day job and I’ve got some very definite observations about this device and what it can do, is good for, etc. Peppered in this review are many of those thoughts and notions, both good and bad. That’s the lens through which I looked at what the Baby Pro (props to the folks at iMore for coming up with that) can do.
Size Matters
The size differential is substantial, as is the weight. The Baby Pro knocks off a full third of the Big Pro’s heft, putting it right in line with the old (okay, not so old) iPad Air 2. The body looks pretty similar in size too, though I didn’t try putting it in an Air case.
That said, the size differential is actually a plus point in the Big Pro’s favor. In just a few days, I’ve become used to having the increased screen real estate. I’ve tried to work on the iPad Air 2 before, to get real work done (mostly writing) but it’s always been a bit of a struggle. At first it was just coping with the limitations of iOS, then with the fact that system-wide file storage was nonexistent. A lot of those issues have been fixed, but even now, I have some difficulties dealing with the 9.7” screen.
In the end, I came to the conclusion that an 11” screen was the bare minimum for me to get work done. I had an 11” MacBook Air for a time, then moved to a 12” MacBook Retina, which was my sweet spot. The 12.9” iPad air is a similar form factor for me; it has a much bigger screen and I appreciate the increased real estate.
The increased size comes at a cost, of course. I can’t stuff this into my little portable case that houses my iPad Air or my MacBook (or both, in a pinch), so it has to go into my laptop sleeve. Going to bed with this iPad is laughable; fortunately, I have an old iPad Mini I can use for nighttime reading and TV watching.
On that note, watching videos on the Big pro is amazeballs. It’s pretty cool on the Baby Pro too; the newly improved screen has the DCI P3 color space intended for digital cinema projectors and the 4K and 5K iMacs, plus is 25% brighter. Neither is a slouch at displaying video, but the Big Pro’s screen size just makes it a lot cooler.
A side note about iOS: For some reason, many of the limitations that rendered iOS unsuitable for work for me have now been negated. It’s not a replacement for macOS for me; I do too much sysadmin work to _not_ have a local BASH shell, for example, and there are still some apps on the macOS side that I like to use (Lightpaper comes to mind, as do Mailplane, Atom editor, CodeRunner, and Paw). Yet there are some tasks - writing comes to mind - that I am more productive in on an iOS device like the iPad Pro. With Box serving as the back-end storage for all my files and other stuff stored in Github and accessed via awesome apps like Working Copy Enterprise, Textastic, and Copied, working a lot more in iOS has become a much more feasible - and pleasurable - option.
Keyboards
The keyboards for the Big and Baby Pros are identical in layout, but obviously different in size. I typed for a while on the Baby Pro, and it’s totally tolerable. The laser-etched fabric keyboard that Apple uses for its Smart Keyboard Cover is kinda cool, I prefer it to the Logitech Create keyboard that everyone raves about. I do miss backlighting sometimes, but I’m getting increasingly used to the shallower travel I first found on the MacBook Retina, then on the Magic Keyboard, which is now my full-time typing device on my desktop at work. The Smart Keyboard Cover is, I think, one the best keyboard for iPads I’ve ever used.
Typing on the Baby Pro’s keyboard is… interesting. You do get used to it after a while, but I wonder if I could type on it for hours like I can and have on the Big Pro’s keyboard. The distance between keys on the two keyboards is similar (there looks like maybe a 1-2mm difference between them), but the keys on the Baby Pro are smaller to accomodate the reduced surface area. All said, I prefer the Big Pro’s larger surface area.
Side note about the Logitech Create keyboard: This thing is a monster of a case. It adds significant bulk and weight to the iPad, but gives back a lot in return. You get backlit keys and a row of function keys that let you control media, screen and keyboard brightness, volume, and a few other things. These are super-useful, and I miss not having them on the Apple keyboard.
Ultimately, I prefer the Big Pro’s keyboard. It’s the one I’m typing all this on and even having to punch in different symbol keys for Markdown syntax is as comfortable as the Magic Keyboard I use daily.
Handwriting
If you use Apple’s Notes.app, you’re good; writing with the Apple Pencil is error-free on either iPad. The dealbreaker for me was what happened in OneNote (and yes, this is not Apple’s fault, but if I chose the Baby Pro, I’d have to wait for Microsoft to update it).
Here’s what happened on the Baby Pro with OneNote.
Ostensibly, this just means that Microsoft has to issue the aforementioned update and all should be well. But right now, the Big Pro works just fine without the update.
There’s another added benefit of the Big Pro: space. Handwriting on the Baby Pro feels a bit like jotting down notes in a small notebook. I think I could get used to it, but right now, I’m digging the expansive space the Big Pro gives me. Whereas with the Baby Pro I feel like I’m just jotting notes, the Big Pro lets me actually write, as in write continuosly and in large amounts. I still like doing this for many things, from sketching out ideas that live in my head, to outlining something where a keyboard and an unordered list aren’t enough.
Conclusion
I’m going to go with the large iPad for now. My iPad Air 2 is up for sale on Craigslist (http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/ele/5517433667.html if either one of the two of you who read this blog are interested), and I’m going to eventually get the Big Pro when it’s time to hand in this one I have from work. I have the iPad Mini for in-bed reading, or a Kindle Paperwhite if I want an even more book-focused experience.
Now, if only Texture would update their app so my magazines show up in glorious full-rez, instead of upscaled like they normally do…