- Gadgets.Apple launches a new iPad Pro with a keyboard of 399 euros with trackpad
- First impressions.We tried the new Macbook Air: it returns to its essence
For a good part of the last year the iPad Pro has been my main computer; the machine that I use the most throughout the day and in all kinds of tasks, from editing podcasts and photographs to most of the things that can be done online. It is not a surprise or a sudden change: since the iPad was released in 2010, the different versions have gradually taken over many of the tasks for which it used a conventional laptop.
The changes in the Safari browser in version 13 of the iPad operating system ended up solving many of the friction points that were still present. Some remain, of course, but they are minor. Now, when I have to go on a trip three or four days, I don't even think about it. The iPad is the only thing that comes with me. At home there is still a laptop connected to a good monitor and I use it a lot throughout the day, but it has been a while since the passage from one machine to another is quite smooth.
My situation, however, is not that of everyone and this is where the main problem is when it comes to the debate on whether or not an iPad can be a substitute for a computer. For the vast majority it may be, but there will always be cases for which it is not. With each generation, Apple tries to reach a broader market, and the 2020 iPad Pro, announced last week, is no exception. I have been able to prove it during the last days and the best news is that, although there are some exclusive news, the best of the tablet is also available for the 2018 model and even for many iPads that do not carry the Pro surname . We go in parts.
The new Pro
There are few differences in the new tablet, which replaces the model announced at the end of 2018 in the catalog. Basically it is a refreshment of the range with an eye to augmented reality.
Seen from the front, it is exactly the same. Same 11 or 12.8-inch screen, same thickness and weight. The screen is fantastic and reaches 120 Hz refresh rate, which contributes to a very smooth user experience, for example, when browsing a web.
Inside there is some change. All models now boot with 128GB of memory in the base configuration and all have 6GB of RAM (in the 2018 version only 1TB models had that memory capacity).
The big difference is the processor. In place of the A12X Bionic there is now an A12Z Bionic . Be careful, not an A13X Bionic, which is what would correspond if Apple continued with the tradition of using the same processor architecture as in the iPhone, but an evolution of the A12X that already had the 2018 iPad Pro.
It is somewhat faster, although the difference is hardly noticeable in performance tests. It handles the workload and heat somewhat better and the integrated graphics card has an additional core (8 instead of 7), but the A12X was already a beast comparable to many conventional laptops and this A12Z only raises that bar a bit more. In single-core processing power, last year's iPhone A13 is a bit more powerful, but with more cores, the iPad's continues to take the lead.
LiDAR and cameras
The great difference of this iPad with the model of a year and a half ago, therefore, is in the back. Instead of a camera, it now has two and a new LiDAR sensor is added to the party, in charge of accurately measuring the distance to objects up to five meters from the tablet.
The cameras are quite similar to those of the iPhone 11, but similar does not mean the same. There is a 12 megapixel wide angle, as in the iPhone, and a wide angle but in this case it has slightly less resolution, 10 megapixels. Another difference: the main camera cannot capture photography in night mode , a slightly strange decision but that may be associated with the chosen processor.
What is important in the camera module is therefore the new LiDAR sensor, which measures the distance to different objects in a scene several times per second and with a high degree of precision calculating how long it takes for light to make a round trip. turn towards them.
What is it for? Initially, the Measurements application integrated into the operating system, which allows measuring distances and surfaces by marking points on the image captured by the camera, is much more precise and faster. No need to calibrate it by moving the phone while trying to guess the geometry of the room.
But the sensor will be key in designing better augmented reality applications (in which the synthetic image is mixed with the real image), one of the fields in which Apple is moving forward with more determination. Many applications focused on medicine and architecture - and of course many games - will now be able to offer a better augmented reality experience, freeing the processor from the task of calculating the geometry of the room using artificial vision techniques.
Hi cursor
That's roughly the new iPad Pro. An update to the late 2018 model at the same price point with more memory, a new sensor that promises much more satisfying augmented reality experiences (but that developers are going to have than learning to squeeze) and better cameras.
It costs the same as the previous one (879 euros for the 11-inch model and 1,099 euros for the 12.8-inch model) and is aimed at the same type of advanced and creative audience. Apple sells a keyboard case and its Apple Pencil (a pencil with which to write and draw with great precision on the screen) as accessories.
But there is, as Steve Jobs used to say, "one more thing." And it is really important. Today Apple releases version 13.4 of the iPadOS operating system and includes a feature that greatly expands the tablet's capacity: a cursor and compatibility with mice and trackpads .
This feature is not exclusive to the iPad Pro. Any iPad that can be upgraded to the new version will have it available, but for the new iPad Pro, Apple will be selling a case with a backlit keyboard and integrated trackpad in May this year.
I have not been able to test this case with a trackpad, but I did test the new function on the iPad using both a third-party mouse (Logitech) and the external trackpad from Apple itself. It works very well but it is not a cursor to use, it is an adaptation of the old paradigm to the needs of a device designed to be used with the fingers as an interaction mechanism.
The cursor is usually hidden and only appears when you move the mouse or trackpad. By going through the different elements that can be clicked, it transforms to embrace the entire element and applications can modify the appearance of the cursor if they need greater precision.
Since the iPad interface is supported by many gestures that are done with several fingers, the system is more intuitive when using a trackpad than when using a mouse, but in general it is very well resolved and makes certain applications that were still difficult use on the tablet, as spreadsheets, are now more friendly.
Although it is easy to find parallels with Microsoft Surface devices, the experience is somewhat different because the iPadOS operating system is still conceived with the idea of the touch interface as the basis.
For iPad users, it's a major leap. For those of iPad Pro, of course, too, but the best will come in spring with the new cover with keyboard and integrated trackpad, which will complete the experience (other manufacturers, such as Logitech, will have alternatives before).
This case, by the way, will also be compatible with the 2018 iPad Pro model, so for users, like me, of this previous version, the need to upgrade to the new tablet is not very high, except that augmented reality be an important factor. For the rest, the iPad Pro is still an amazing tablet. Powerful, with a huge collection of applications, and now with mouse and trackpad support, should anyone need it.
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