Apple once again offers an excellent product with the iPad Pro 9.7, which convinces with familiar virtues and suffers from old quirks. We get a great display, good battery runtimes, best cameras in a tablet, eSIM support, optional support for the Apple Pencil or a Smart Keyboard.

very good display; stable Wi-Fi; Apple SIM (eSIM; great GPS module; good speakers; good battery runtimes; fast SoC

NFC only for Apple Pay; power adapter is too weak and gets hot under load; storage of the 32 GB version is slower; no quick-charge; long loading times; high price

The 9.7-inch iPad Pro is the most powerful tablet Apple has ever produced and it has the credentials to hold its own against many laptops. For creativity and productivity on the go, the iPad Pro offers a lot more than any other tablet on the market.

Tablets haven't had a great time lately. In the last two years, sales have plummeted and production has slowed to a crawl. While a lot of that is due to the fact they don't have the manic upgrade calendar of traditional computers or smartphones, it's also because they're really all about consuming...

If you've got your heart set on a new iPad, the 9.7" Pro isn't as clear a choice as you'd imagine, despite being the latest iPad. There's a lot to consider, from a number of angles.

Great form factor is easier to hold than larger Pro; Less expensive than larger Pro; Technology represents a step up from iPad Air 2 at same size; A very fast tablet; Great, bright display with True Tone; The best cameras ever seen on iPad; Very good battery life.

Expensive compared to current iPad Air 2 price, and extra features may not be worth it to a fair number of prospective users; Smaller screen makes for a slightly diminished drawing/typing experience compared to larger Pro; Audio not as good as larger Pro; Just a tad slower than larger Pro.

Apple raised a few eyebrows when it launched the iPad Pro at the end of last year. After spurning hybrid devices such as Microsoft's popular Surface range for years, the arrival of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro -- complete with keyboard and stylus accessories -- was the sort of screeching U-turn that a...

A9X processor delivers impressive performance; Brighter; more colourful display; 12MP front camera; with 4K video recording; 10 hour+ battery life

Expensive; Lacks USB port and SD card slot; Requires expensive accessories to function as a laptop; Only 2GB of RAM

Immensely powerful, attractive, capable, but above all else, expensive.

The 9.7 inch iPad Pro offers the same high performance as the full-size Pro, but in a more affordable and portable form. It's more capable than an iPad Air 2, with the new A9X processor, 32GB of RAM, and the 12 megapixel iSight camera borrowed from the iPhone 6s.

What makes an iPad "Pro"? Not long ago, you might have included a larger screen in the list of characteristics that turns an ordinary iPad into a Pro device, but not anymore. With the iPad Pro 9.7, Apple has turned that idea on its head.

Apple is targeting the iPad Pro device category at people that it wants to rescue from the trauma of using PCs. With the iPad Pro 9.7in, it achieves this in some respects, but not all.

The iPad Pro 9.7 isn't just a slightly smaller version of the original Pro tablet. It's a more portable tab that boasts the same great performance in a much more comfortable-to-use form, at a much lower price.

Super portable; Crazy power; Great accessories; Sharp; gorgeous screen; Strong battery life