The Shift
MATT BOLTO N looks at the incredible new iPad Pro hardware, and wonders if Apple is solving the wrong problems
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For me the new iPad Pros are as odd as they are desirable, and they are very desirable. The rounded corners follow the lead of the iPhone X, but the flat look of the sides is more like the iPhone 5S, so you get this odd mix of old and new. The 11–inch model has a new shape and, therefore, is the first ever iPad that doesn’t have a 4:3 screen, yet this was barely discussed in the event. And dropping the 3.5mm headphone jack is surprising given that Apple kept it on the MacBook Pros, and these are ‘pro’ too.
None of that matters, of course, because I’m desperate to get my hands on them still, despite my 10.5–inch model working perfectly. The difference in size and weight is welcome and the speed of the A12X chip makes me need a trip to the swooning couch.
But. I’ve got this nagging voice in my head asking me: ‘Why?’ What problem with the iPad Pro is this refresh solving? Lighter is nice, but the iPad was already the most portable computer I own by some margin. The speed of the A12X is astonishing, but I’m not sure that people were hitting the limits of what the last models could do performance–wise.
Granted, I do think people incur productivity bottlenecks on iPad, but it’s not the hardware that’s the hold–up: it’s the slow pace of software changes. In iOS 11, we got to have multiple apps side by side, which was a dream! But actually working between them is much clunkier and less precise than on macOS, with its mouse, multiple windows, file system, and many visible menus. Yes, I can do most things on the iPad if I set up all the workarounds I need, but the moment something goes off– piste, it’s back to being limiting.
I now have the ability to plug in a USB–C hub and various kinds of add–on but, even if Apple allowed the Files app to browse a hard drive, I still won’t have a slick way to actually work with files. I can plug in an external display, but I have to use the iPad Pro’s touchscreen to control things, so I’m not looking at it.
A new 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a Smart Keyboard Folio costs about the same as the new MacBook Air. If you asked 100 people which option would help them get more work done, what percentage do you think would pick the iPad Pro? And yet its processor has more power.
I think Apple needs to disconnect the iPad’s operating system from iOS on iPhone. We seem to be on a tick–tock schedule, where we only get significant improvements in the iPad’s software productivity every other year. If it’s really going to be an alternative to the Mac, that’s not fast enough. We need the iPad’s operating system to keep pace with its hardware. Now that would be a revolution.