Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2020) review
This iPad cannot dazzle with newness, unlike in 2018, but still wows in all the right ways: the lovely screen; quality materials; the notion everything has been carefully considered. But can it replace your laptop? That question misses the point. Sure, you can now probably do everything you’d do on a laptop on an iPad Pro with a Magic Keyboard — sometimes with a little more effort, and sometimes less. But iPad Pro points somewhere better — to an era of modular computing, with a device that’s equally good as a tablet and a laptop (and a desktop, if Apple gets its act together regarding external display support). Whether you should buy one depends on various factors. If you don’t need its sheer power, the vanilla iPad might suffice. If you live in G Suite, decide if you can stomach using it in Safari until Google makes its native iPad apps not-awful. And you’ll need to decide whether you want a better ‘laptop’ (12.9in) or a superior and more manageable handheld device (11in). What hasn’t changed in two years is nothing else on the market comes close. And although that quality comes at a price — even more so if you factor in a 300-quid keyboard accessory — the iPad Pro remains the best tablet around.
Excellent screen and beautifully realised design; Superb speaker system and surprisingly good mics; Peerless and versatile app and accessories ecosystem; Revamped camera is a meaningful improvement;
Pricey — not least when you add accessories; 12.9in model weighty for long tablet sessions; Screen remains a fingerprint magnet and borderline unusable outdoors;