After playing with the new iPad Pro 10.5″ for a few days, I am convinced that it’s fairly impossible to do a detailed review of it in its current state.
Not because there is some sort of flaw, but because it was clearly designed top to bottom as an empty vessel in which to pour iOS 11.Every feature, every hardware advancement, every piece of understated technical acrobatics is in the service of making Apple’s next-generation software shine.
I know this isn’t really helpful to those of you who have or wish to buy the device when it drops on Tuesday, but don’t worry, I can save you all of that flim flam. This is an amazing iPad. It pays off years of setup in ways that come home when you see how well iOS 11 works.
Last year, Apple’s Tim Cook said that “we believe that iPad is the perfect expression of the future of computing.” This year, that claim seems more logical than ever.
Think of every iPad up to this point as a glass of water set on a shelf — in wait for some future moment of need. This iPad is Apple’s “swing away”[1] moment. It executes on the years of insistence that the iPad is the future of light work computers. But that moment is only telegraphed, shadowed, until you see it through the lens of iOS 11.
So instead of a full review today, I’m going to talk about some of the marquee features of the iPad and how Apple was able to execute on them. And yes, whether they live up to the marketing blitz hype. Then, we’re going to install iOS 11 on it and work it hard until we can talk...