PC Mag reviews Apple’s new 12.9-inch iPad Pro: ‘Very pretty, very fast, and massively expensive’

“Apple’s 2018 iPad Pro is stuck in the middle again, now more than ever,” Sascha Segan writes for PC Magazine.
 
“The tablet sports powerful hardware begging for software that hasn’t been written for it yet,” Segan writes.
 
“It’s very pretty, and very fast, but starting at $999 for the 12.9-inch model we tested,” Segan opines, “it’s too expensive for the operating system and applications it runs.”
 
MacDailyNews Take: SOS, yet again:
PC Magazine has an annoying habit of using prices against Apple products in reviews… Let your readers know the price and determine for themselves if they think it’s too expensive or not. That is not for reviewers to judge. One man’s “expensive” is another’s pocket change… top dinging Apple products on price, PC Magazine. The world is not composed only of cheapskate Windows ignorati – and thank Jobs for that! — MacDailyNews, October 24, 2015
“The iPad Pro is massively expensive for a tablet. The 11-inch model starts at $799 and the 12.9-inch model starts at $999. That’s for a 64GB, Wi-Fi unit, though. There are also 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB units. Adding an LTE modem is an extra $150. A 12.9-inch, 1TB unit with cellular costs $1,899, without a keyboard or stylus. The Smart Keyboard Folio costs $199 for the 12.9-inch model, or $179 for the 11-inch one. The Apple Pencil costs $129,” Segan writes. “In other words, it is now possible to pay more than $2,000 for an iPad.”
MacDailyNews Take: PC Rag ought to pay their writers more. Or stop hiring cheapskates.
How many tablets on the market are faster than 92% of portable PCs on the market today? Only Apple’s iPad Pro.
Performance costs money, Sascha. Yes, BMWs cost more than Kias.
Segan writes, “I can’t conceive of this tablet being used without Apple’s Smart Keyboard Folio, a magnetic keyboard case/cover.”
MacDailyNews Take: Then you obviously shouldn’t have been assigned this review.
“The new Pencil is one of the strongest reasons to buy a new iPad,” Segan writes. “If you’re a regular Pencil user, you’re probably irritated by its two major structural flaws: Its cap is easy to lose and its perfectly cylindrical shape will roll off of anything.”
MacDailyNews Take: Hey, lookie here, we agree on something!
“The new Pencil has a matte finish and a flat side. If you put it on the table and push, it will come to a stop,” Segan writes. “The back end isn’t removable, and the Pencil securely, magnetically docks to the top of the iPad, where it also charges. This is such a big improvement. It means you always know where your Pencil is, and it’s always charged.”
All-new designs push 11-inch and 12.9-inch Liquid Retina displays to the edges of iPad Pro.
 
“Apple’s A12X processor benchmarks as well as a pro laptop,” Segan writes. “It’s stunning what this thing can do.”
MacDailyNews Take: But I don’t want to pay for it. I want it for to cost of a POS from a South Korean dishwasher maker or free with my Prime subscription or something.
“The iPad Pro runs iOS 12. According to a poll we ran, about a third of people say they’ll be able to use the iPad Pro as their primary computer,” Segan writes. “This is important because the price is just so darn high.”
MacDailyNews Take: Did Sasha bet the house on the Carolina Panthers last night?
“The standard $329 iPad, which is really $600 to $800 once you add the keyboard, Pencil, and storage options you want, is a great little computer at the right price,” Segan writes. “For drawing, word processing, web browsing, a bit of photo editing, some content consumption, and gaming, an iPad turned into a 2-in-1 is efficient, no-nonsense, and virus-free.”
MacDailyNews Take: The lack of imagination and pigheadedness required to forever try to turn iPads into a laptops (and fail) is pitiable.
We find that there are many older users longing to make iPad work like a laptop, because that’s what they know… The answer isn’t to try to make the iPad into a MacBook. The answer is to provide all the tools possible in iOS for developers to make robust apps that can take advantage of the multi-touch paradigm. — MacDailyNews, May 16, 2017
If you want a laptop, buy a laptop, dummy.
Segan writes, “It beats a Wacom Cintiq, and it can be a useful tool for photographers on the go who want the best possible representation of their work.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: For some weird reason the price-obsessed-to-distraction Segan neglects to mention the price of a 13-inch Wacom Cintiq Pro. It’s $799.99. But the iPad Pro is too much, even though it does far more than a Wacom tablet. Alrighty then.
Logic is not Sascha’s strong suit. Neither are basic shopping skills or, obviously, the ability to set moths free from one’s wallet.
SEE ALSO:
Already in love with Apple’s new compact 12.9-inch iPad Pro – November 7, 2018
What Apple’s iPad Pro enables matters more than what it replaces – November 7, 2018
The Independent reviews Apple’s new iPad Pro: ‘The most powerful, most beautiful tablet you can find anywhere’ – November 6, 2018
The Verge reviews the new iPad Pro: Apple’s approach to iOS is holding back powerful hardware in serious ways – November 5, 2018
John Gruber reviews Apple’s new iPad Pro: ‘A better value than any MacBook Apple has ever made’ – November 5, 2018