Apple iPad Pro 9.7 review: The ultimate tablet

Apple iPad Pro 9.7 review: The ultimate tablet

What is it that puts the "Pro" in iPad Pro? Not so long ago, you would have included a larger screen in the list of characteristics that turns an ordinary iPad into a Pro device. The more cynical of us might even have wondered whether iOS was even capable of doing proper work. With the iPad Pro 9.7, Apple has cast such qualms to one side. This is the iPad that really can do it all. 

Visually, you's struggle to tell the iPad Pro 9.7in apart from the iPad Air. It’s the same size and weight, and the main clues that it’s not an Air are on the back, where the camera bulges out, iPhone 6-style, and – if you have a 4G-equipped version – the former black stripe at the top is now silver. There’s also the telltale three black dots on the side that indicate the presence of Apple’s Smart Connector, for hooking up compatible keyboards.
The main changes are all internal, where you’ll find an Apple A9X processor and up to 256GB of storage. The screen, too, is entirely changed and now supports the Apple Pencil. More power, more storage, and a stylus: the question is whether all this adds up to a genuinely “Pro” device.

iPad Pro 9.7 review: Pencil and Smart keyboard

If you’ve used the Apple Pencil on the larger iPad Pro, you know what to expect from it on the smaller one. As we said in that review, the Pencil is the closest experience you’ll get to writing with a real pencil on paper. Yes, you don’t get the actual feel of pencil on paper, the slight drag, the physicality of leaving a trail of actual atoms on top of something. But the way Apple reflects a change in the pressure you're applying, and the angle of the Pencil itself, is somehow, magically, reflected in what appears onscreen. It's an excellent experience.

Arguably, the Pencil is a better fit for a smaller iPad. The 12.9in version is a pretty big thing to write or draw on, more like an artist’s sketchbook than a business notepad. That’s great if you’re an artist – you can certainly see how the designers in Apple’s design studio would love the larger size – but for an average person, the smaller device feels more familiar and natural than its big brother.

If you’re the kind of person who routinely carries around something like a Moleskine notebook, you’ll love the combination of the iPad Pro 9.7in and the Pencil. If you regularly use an app such as Apple Notes or Microsoft OneNote, you’ll love it even more. The combination of Pencil and iPad Pro 9.7in is possibly the ultimate OneNote machine. It’s portable, light, and a great writing and drawing experience.

Where the smaller iPad Pro compares much more poorly to the larger one is as a machine for typing. First, the good bit: Apple has done an excellent job of shrinking the Smart Keyboard cover to smaller iPad proportions and retaining a decent typing feel. However, even Cupertino is subject to the laws of physics and biomechanics, and a smaller keyboard is more tiring and less comfortable to type on than the more spacious one. I’ve found that I can happily type on the iPad Pro 12.9in’s Smart Keyboard for an entire day with no ill effects. The smaller version left me feeling cramps in the hands after only 500 words.

In a pinch, or when travelling, the Smart Keyboard is fine. However, if you’re serious about writing a lot, you’ll do yourself a favour if you buy an Apple Bluetooth keyboard instead.

iPad Pro 9.7 review: The screen

You’re going to love the screen on the iPad Pro 9.7in. It’s so good that I spent time just staring at the serried ranks of icons on the homescreen, admiring the colours on it. It’s not just pleasant to use: it’s an actual, real pleasure.

Apple’s done several things to make the screen better. The first is that it’s brighter – Apple claims 25% – and this, coupled with lower reflectivity, makes it much easier to read outside. But the biggest improvement is what Apple’s calling True Tone. True Tone is an active adjustment of the onscreen colour temperature based on the ambient light, measured by a tiny light sensor on the iPad.

Executed poorly, this kind of system would be terrible. Get the calibration between screen temperature and ambient lighting wrong, and your screen would be oversaturated, or dull, or washed out. There are so many potential lighting conditions that creating an algorithm for optimising the screen is a very tough proposition.

But Apple hasn’t done it badly. In fact, True Tone looked fantastic in every lighting condition I used it in. I turned it off for a while and quickly wanted it back on. It just looks better – you’re going to love it and want it on every other screen you use.

iPad Pro 9.7 review: Camera

Tablet cameras are something you either use a lot or think are a complete waste of time. The camera on your tablet, if you own one, has always been a generation behind the camera on your phone – often, multiple generations behind.

The iPad Pro 9.7in changes this. It uses the same 12-megapixel camera as on Apple’s current flagship phones, and it takes good pictures. In fact, the pictures are so good that when I look at them in the Photos app, I struggle to remember whether I took them with the iPad or my iPhone.

You get all the bells and whistles you’re used to from the iPhone, too, including Live Photos. Whether you think that these are gimmicks or not, it’s good that Apple is taking tablet photography seriously enough to make sure it’s not a second-class citizen.

Apple Pencil review: Much sharper than the average smart stylus

Apple Pencil review: Much sharper than the average smart stylus

Apple's pressure-sensitive writing tool is at once completely sophisticated and totally easy to use.

Apple’s pressure-sensitive Pencil is a home run, exhibiting remarkable performance on the new iPad Pro, but that should not come as a shock: The two were engineered from the ground up to work together and only with each other.

The iPad screen recognizes when you are using the Pencil, and in response, dynamically boosts its scan rate to 240 times per second (twice the speed it scans for your finger) to minimize latency, the time between the Pencil’s point touching the glass and a mark appearing on the canvas. Simultaneously, the Pencil’s sensors work with the display to detect its position, force, and tilt via APIs in iOS 9.1 that not only register current location but predict future movement.

The Notes app has a drawing screen, complete with a ruler for drawing straight lines.

Press lightly to get a thin stroke, press harder to get a thicker stroke, and rub lightly with the side of the Pencil’s tip to get shading action, just like using a regular pencil, though the quality of that shading depends on the app and the brush you choose.

Sketching and writing

Straight out of the box, Apple’s Pencil is a joy to use. You don’t need to do any elaborate pairing or visit the Settings app—just plug the Pencil in to the iPad Pro’s Lightning port to pair it, then go to town. It works as a stylus with any app, letting you launch, navigate, scroll, and complete basic operations. You can even trace over a regular sheet of paper.

So what if you think you can't draw? The Pencil even lets you trace through a regular sheet of paper. 

But Pencil doesn’t do everything. Edge gestures to access Notifications or the Control Center don’t work, and you can’t use it to open a second app in Slide Over or resize apps in Split View. You must still use your finger for those functions, and I’m good with that because it’s not necessary, and you don’t want to accidentally invoke functions with Pencil.

I tested the Pencil with Evernote, Notability, Adobe Photoshop Mix, Fix and Sketch, Complete Anatomy, LiquidText, Pixelmator, Procreate, Paper, Notes, Apple Photos, and iMovie, along with the iPad’s built-in apps. Remarkably, each app performed as advertised, and in accordance with its own conventions, including Notes’ nifty onscreen ruler that helps you draw a straight line. The only anomaly was the reference app Complete Anatomy, aimed at medical students, which suffered from a slight lag time when I used the Pencil to annotate the text.

Handwriting feels fluid and looks great too.

Cursive handwriting and printing can be a heartbreak with many styluses, and performance varies widely. However, I have yet to see a handwriting function that works quite as well as Pencil. (It reproduces my poor penmanship flawlessly.) Pencil is a totally natural notetaker and such a pleasure to use, that I’m almost tempted to lug the iPad Pro around for the sheer joy of writing with it. And just for the record, I thoroughly enjoyed sketching with it too, though I’m far from a freehand artist.

Use and handling

Styluses are a personal thing. What feels right to one paw doesn’t necessarily translate to another. Apple’s Pencil has just the right amount of balance and heft so that I can use it for long periods of time without feeling hand strain, just like a traditional pencil. That’s actually a bigger deal than it sounds. Only one other stylus I’ve used competes, and that’s Adobe’s Ink. Most other styluses wear out my hand in a surprisingly short period of time.

That said, I would have appreciated the instrument to have more of a matte feel, as opposed to the slick plastic surface. It was not hard to grip, nor did it slip from my fingers, but it would feel even better with an ever-so-slight degree of velvety friction on the surface.

The Pencil isn't just for drawing. Complete Anatomy, an interactive medical textbook, supports the Pencil for taking notes and marking up drawings. 

That’s also related to the diameter. Being a pencil, it’s thin. And for drawing, that’s great. But when I’m taking notes with it, I’m reminded of how I tend to go for pens with a bit of a thicker barrel to ease the strain on my hand as the words fly from by brain to my fingertips. I’m not advocating Apple make the Pencil barrel thicker, but rather expressing that the variety of tasks the Pencil affords will offer different experiences.

The Pencil is pencil-like in length, so my small hand was just about able to handle it in a natural way. It edges toward being a bit too long, and I’m glad Apple decided not to use the end tip as an eraser, like traditional pencils, because at that length, it might feel awkward.

Most styluses are an either-or affair: You’re using your finger or you’re using the stylus. Thanks to a new touch subsystem in the tablet, the iPad Pro can recognize both inputs simultaneously and accurately differentiate between the two.

The Pencil feels like a pencil, only more slippery since it's finished with smooth, shiny white plastic.

Automatic and accurate palm rejection makes the Pencil convenient because I can actually park my fist directly on the iPad’s glass while writing, drawing, or painting without having to worry about errant marks showing up on the canvas.

And that brings me to the screw-on tip. Most high-quality styluses advertise their presence with a clicky little sound that gets old really fast. When I’m stressed or frustrated with a project, the last thing I want to hear is a clickety-clack. The Pencil has a point, but its materials make a very muted sound, which is much more agreeable. Apple thoughtfully includes a replacement tip in the box, just in case.

The only problem is losing tiny things. The second tip can stay in the box until you need it, but take care not to lose the adapter that connects the Pencil to your Mac or an AC power adapter for charging, or the little cap that covers the Lightning connector, as you cannot park both on the Pencil at the same time.

Limited use cases

To use the Pencil, which at $99 I consider reasonably priced, though on the high end of the spectrum, you also need the iPad Pro, which starts at $799 and goes over $1,000. The Pencil is totally useless on any other iOS device.

It’s a little disappointing that Apple limits the Pencil to iPad Pro users, when it could potentially engage a larger audience of late-model iPad users. Apple appears intent on creating a uniquely superior experience with the Pencil, so that a different kind of interaction, with perhaps more latency and less pressure sensitivity and tilt awareness, would defeat the purpose. Nonetheless, some people will stick with their laptops and smaller iPads and never need the iPad Pro. Depriving them of the Pencil doesn’t seem quite fair.

Yes, kitty, just plug the Pencil in to the Lightning port to give it a quick battery boost. 

Both the Pencil and the iPad Pro hold up well in terms of battery life, and the when the Pencil’s charge does drain, it takes almost no time to get it up and running again. The initial charge lasts about 12 hours, but 15 seconds plugged into the Lightning connector of the iPad Pro gets you back to work for another half hour before you can even lose your train of thought.

Getting a quick battery boost directly from the host device—without having to get up out of your chair to hunt for a cord or charger—is the way we all should work. Charging the Pencil is easier and faster than sharpening a regular pencil.

To check the Pencil's battery life, just add the Batteries widget to your Notification Center. 

Battery life, in this case, is academic, and the Pencil has no onboard battery indicator. However, you can check the battery level by enabling a Batteries widget in Notification Center; plus, an onscreen alert flashes when the battery hits 5 percent.

Bottom line

If you’re an iPad Pro owner, should you buy the Pencil? That’s a no-brainer—Apple hit it out of the ballpark in terms of ease of use and performance. Even those who feel they have no specific use for it right now will likely find it makes life easier in various, unexpected ways.

If you are an iPad owner that does not need an iPad Pro, it’s OK to be annoyed that you can’t use the Pencil with the rest of the iPad lineup—but that might not be the case forever. I think Apple should democratize the Pencil, upgrading the next generation of iPads to take advantage of at least some of the Pencil’s charms.

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                                                                                                                    Abdellah slaoui