Apple has long said an iPad is not a computer but the iPad Pro 2020 is its best attempt yet to make a strong PC competitor of its flagship tablet. From a gorgeous display to more productivity-friendly iPad OS features, the latest iPad Pro knocks it out of the park.
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What we love – ProMotion perfection, stunning industrial design and the ever-improving iPadOS
ProMotion (120Hz) displays have been the talk of the town ahead of the iPhone 12 launch and its the display technology’s amazing performance on the iPad Pro that makes it a feature in such high-demand.
The ProMotion display is immensely bright, getting up to 600nits, while that glorious 120Hz adaptive refresh rate panel makes for an unbelievably smooth experience. At the time of launch the iPad Pro was the best of the best in this department but it does now have the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus as a strong competitor for the top tablet display.
While it hasn’t changed much from the 2018 iPad Pro, this year’s model still looks phenomenal and it makes perfect sense why this design philosophy appears to be heading to iPhone 12 this year. The edge-to-edge display and flat edges make for a device that is almost all screen – failing to look out of place in an office, coffee shop or when used for creative work.
Apple recently created iPadOS, an iOS fork of the phone software that could focus on more iPad-specific features – and it’s worked a treat. Far from just being a media machine, iPad Pro 2020 can now do intensive productivity with ease too.
The more desktop-like home screen makes moving between apps easier than ever while the presence of all your favourite widgets at a glance is super handy too. There’s also new support for cursor and trackpad, which works perfectly with the new premium Magic Keyboard accessory.
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What we don’t like – Not a big upgrade, Pro comes at a price and battery could be better
iPad Pro 2020 is impressive but it’s not actually much different to the 2018 version, making an upgrade from that model quite unnecessary – especially when the iPad Pro is such a pricey device.
The price is the next notable downside – yes, you can do a lot with an iPad Pro but it still has some desktop-related limitations that prevent the Pro from overtaking many laptops. iPad Pro is also very pricey if you’re mainly using it as high-performing media machine. You should definitely look further down the Apple line or to more modest devices like the Surface Go 2 to save some pennies.
Battery life on iPad Pro 2020 could also do with some improvement. The device is a remarkable feat of engineering, packing so much functionality and power into such a thin device, however, battery life appears to be one of the costs of this design. As Apple has done recently with the iPhone, a bit of added thickness to allow for more battery wouldn’t go amiss – hopefully allowing the iPad Pro to stretch beyond a single work day.
Verdict
iPad Pro 2020 is a breathtaking device for several reasons, from its industry-leading design to its… well, industry-leading performance. Despite some improvements from Samsung, Android tablets still fail to lay a glove on the Apple tablet champ. With the iPad Pro, you get a gorgeous media machine that can now provide an immense productivity experience in the same package.
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