Apple iPad Pro gets its first batch of reviews

The Apple iPad Pro is now on sale and the first batch of reviews are already in. Our colleagues have shared their thoughts on the 12.9" tablet and, naturally, have compared it how it competes with modern laptops.

The iPad Pro starts at $799 for the 32GB option, but if you want more storage as well as the Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard, you're looking at a nudge over $1200.

Over at ArsTechnica, Andrew Cunningham summarizes the iPad Pro experience like so:

Even with a bigger screen and new accessories, the iPad still feels like a “sometimes computer.” I can take it with me on vacation instead of a MacBook and do pretty much everything I want, and I can even get quite a bit of work done on one (the majority of this review was written on an iPad Pro, usually while also chatting in Slack or Messages or firing off e-mails). But what really does it in for me are the many small ways in which the iPad Pro is not quite a traditional computer and iOS is not quite OS X.

Walt Mossberg from TheVerge isn't quite happy with Apple's Smart Keyboard for the iPad Pro, but confirms it's killer for graphics use, especially with the Apple Pencil:

But, for me — a person already using his laptop a lot less in favor of the iPad — the Pro is just not likely to eliminate my laptop use entirely. And I say that knowing that, for instance, there will be better keyboard covers and cases. There already is one: I prefer the the Logitech Create I used to write part of this column. But it still doesn’t work nearly as well in my lap as a MacBook Air, partly because, like Apple’s keyboard, it only has one angle.
But, even if the iPad Pro doesn’t fully replace a laptop, it does have a killer app: graphics, in all its forms, when used with the optional $99 Apple Pencil.

Daring Fireball's Jon Gruber concedes with Mossberg that the iPad Pro is suitable for graphics professionals:

The iPad Pro is “pro” in the way MacBook Pros are. Genuine professionals with a professional need — visual artists in particular — are going to line up for them. But it’s also a perfectly reasonable choice for casual iPad users who just want a bigger display, louder (and now stereo) speakers, and faster performance.

Overall, reviewers agree that the iPad Pro has an amazing display, a great battery life and the Apple A9x chipset is devilishly fast, but it inexplicably lacks 3D Touch and it's way too expensive for a casual user to pick for couch entertainment.

Apple however have done a great job with the stylus, especially for their first attempt and direct comparison to the Surface 4 stylus are well in its favor.

Interested to know more? Here's a list of nice reviews of the device:

-CNET iPad Pro review
-TheVerge iPad Pro review
-DaringFireball iPad Pro review
-ArsTechnica iPad Pro review
-StuffTV iPad Pro review
-Wired iPad Pro video review
-9to5Mac unboxing and impressions

Our own review might take a while longer, but rest assured, we're more than eager to put the biggest and baddest of them iPads through its paces.