Built for work, but better for play

IT’S built for some serious work but I must admit I’ve spent more time having fun on Apple’s iPad Pro.

This is one serious bit of kit. Faster than your average laptop, now with a keyboard and mouse set-up ready for work with more processing and graphics grunt.

It’s even got some cool augmented reality gear that NASA is using for planning its trip to the moon.

For photo and video enthusiasts it has pro cameras similar to that on the top of the range iPhones as well as studio quality mics.

But with its stunning Liquid Retina display and lightweight layback feel, I have to confess I’ve probably spent more time on it watching Apple TV and Netflix and playing Asphalt 9: Legends.

For work stuff, the typing is not as smooth as on the big iMac or my Windows laptop but it’s more than adequate for when you’re out on the kitchen table because your teenager has stolen your office.

We’ve been testing the 12.9 inch iPad Pro for the past few months and I can honestly say it’s probably the most loved piece of tech in my home right now, apart from my phone.

After a day in the office (at home of course), I retreat to the lounge and kick back to watch some streams or go virtual car racing incessantly. It’s also great for checking out photos and videos I’ve shot

IMPRESSIVE: Apple has launched a new iPad Pro with a second rear camera, LiDAR, and new Magic Keyboard. during the day.

The iPad Pro has an 8-core graphics processor as well as the A12Z Bionic chip.

In the camera department, the Ultra Wide configuration is a welcome addition while Apple’s excellent Portrait modes featuring bokeh or blurred backgrounds are available.

Most people don’t use their iPad to take a photo but this device may change that for travellers or video bloggers.

Like your phone, you can do Live Photos, 63MP panoramas and 4K video at 60 frames per second.

Being able to shoot and edit on the same device while in a comfortable lounge chair feels less like work than on a desktop.

As a well as the 12MP Wide camera, for the first time the iPad Pro has a second camera on the back that lets you zoom out two times and capture a much wider field of view for photos or 4K video.

That feature is particularly handy for landscapes or when you’re in a tight spot.

One of the cool features in photos is that it stitches together your photos and videos to create Memories, similar to what you get on your iPhone.

For Face ID, there’s a 7MP TrueDepth camera which also offers Portrait Mode, Selfie Scenes in Clips and Animoji and Memoji in Messages and Group FaceTime.

Apple was particularly spruiking its LiDAR Scanner which measures distances to surrounding objects from reflected light up to 5m away.

Existing augmented reality apps are even more realistic while the LiDAR Scanner will allow developers to offer even more realistic AR experiences.

The keyboard we tested it with has generous-size keys and it now supports a mouse or trackpad, which will be welcomed by those wanting to use it more like a laptop.

The display features P3 wide colour while ProMotion offers a refresh rate of up to 120Mz for smoother scrolling.

The processing power means this is a device that can easily handle advanced photo and video editing as well as professional applications needing some firepower.

The A12Z Bionic has four performance cores to tackle heavy computational tasks and four high-efficiency cores to take on everyday tasks.

The graphics processor is 2.6 times faster than the A10X Fusion offering.

For sound, there’s a fourspeaker system which adjusts depending on whether you are holding the iPad Pro in portrait or landscape orientation.

Bass goes to all four speakers and the mid and high frequencies come from the topmost speakers.

The iPad Pro also captures stereo audio when recording video in either orientation. It has five microphones.

With a price starting at $1329, or $1649 for the 12.9 inch version, it’s a serious laptop alternative.