Nota bene: This review was originally written in September 2017 and I was reviewing the 2017 10.5 iPad Pro accessories, in view of uploading it in a blog that I was supposed to launch. That blog is now EllaLand.blog launched in 2020!
Yes and no.
The iPad Pro is essentially a tablet. You can most definitely use it without its add-on accessories such as the Apple Pencil and the Apple Smart Keyboard. However, I am also of the opinion that if you do not plan to get the Apple Pencil and the Apple Smart Keyboard, you are better off buying the beefed-up yet significantly cheaper iPad or the iPad mini.
Sure, the iPad Pro’s internals are more powerful than the regular iPad lineup, however, as an average consumer, i do not believe you will see or feel a significant difference in the internals of Apple’s tablet offerings.
When I first got the iPad Pro, i have originally made the executive decision to pick up its add-on accessories, namely, the Apple Pencil and the Apple Smart Keyboard. However, as I ordered my units online, i had a slight problem with the Apple Smart Keyboard, had to return the same and it took me another three weeks before I was finally able to pick up the Apple Smart Keyboard.
In that time, I was already playing around with my iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. I did not notice a significant need for me to really have the Smart Keyboard. I was doing fine with just the Apple Pencil, and I was able to take advantage of the “pro” features I needed with just the Apple Pencil. However, in the first three weeks, I did not really do any heavy typing, (or any typing at all), and as a matter of coincidence, i did not really have any typing-intensive requirement or time to type on the iPad Pro.
The first three weeks, I used the iPad Pro heavily and intensively with the app, GoodNotes (which, i might add, is that despite the hype and the popularity, i was pleasantly surprised to be significantly better than its competitor, review coming up soon. the only annoyance i have is that i purchased both apps, when all i needed was the GoodNotes app), paired with the Apple Pencil. In that first three weeks, I created a notebook in the app, imported a PDF book inside the notebook (which by the way, was one of my dream to do back when i was in high school and university, way before the time of tablets and ebooks!), and highlighted and annotated away using the Apple Pencil. This was such a joyful experience for me that justified my iPad Pro’s hefty price tag. Side note, i had a minor moment of buyer’s remorse when i figured out that i can download the same GoodNotes app that i bought to my iPad Mini, and along with my Pencil by FiftyThree, which was also supported by GoodNotes, i can duplicate the same experience, however, I so enjoy my iPad Pro that i just shrugged off that moment. Teehee. At the time, i also heavily used the iPad Pro as a YouTube consumption device. I also have the intent of using the iPad Pro as a video editing device, but I have no idea how to edit videos as of yet, so i just bought the app and parked it in my device until such time when i get the time to learn how to use it. The first three weeks i had the iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil, i did not really miss the Apple Smart Keyboard.
That said, after i have picked up the Smart Keyboard, i do not regret it as immediately, i noticed the joy of typing with the Smart Keyboard. I have tried the Apple Smart Keyboard several times in the Apple Store prior to my purchasing the iPad Pro, however, you can never really tell until you have actually taken the thing home and test-driven it in your own surroundings. When i did, i looooooovvvvvveeeeeeeddddddd iiiittt! You have no idea. It actually made me really enjoy typing and creating word-based content. I have found myself actually sneaking in time to blog privately (as this has not been uploaded yet) even though i have dedicated such time to more important matters. Also, contrary to the popular reviews that typing on the Apple Smart Keyboard is akin to typing on a 12-inch MacBook, coming from a 12-inch MacBook owner, i can tell you right now that the experience of typing is so much better in the Apple Smart Keyboard than it is on the 12-inch MacBook. Don’t get me wrong, i have never complained about my 12-inch MacBook’s keyboard, in fact, i found it a joy to type with. I was in love with it, but such love has been replaced ever since i got this lovely magical Apple Smart Keyboard. In fact this entire review was written using the Apple Smart Keyboard and the iPad Pro, and i cannot stop raving about the experience. I just have to find myself decent apps for blogging as Blogsy for iPad is no longer available in the App Store and do not know of any suitable replacement yet. I am using the iPad Pro’s built-in Notes app right now. It has a lot to be desired, especially for blogging purposes, but right now, it’s all i got.
There is nothing i hate about this device, except the fact that Apple did not offer a back protection or a back case for the 10.5-inch iPad Pro lineup. It is so unlike apple to not think about this, as they are offering Smart Covers and the Apple Smart Keyboard is essentially a beefed up Smart Cover as well, i do not understand why they left the back unprotected. And because i am an early adapter, there is no available third-party back cover here in the UAE yet. I know i can buy some in Amazon, but not everything that is sold in the US Amazon store is available in the UAE Amazon store. I’m hoping that I will be able to chance upon a compatible back case in the Philippines or China, when i go next month. Still, it is, as of right now, the bane of my existence that i do not have a compatible back cover for the iPad Pro. Currently, I’m stuck with using third-party smart cases (front and back protection) and switch it out every time i need to use the keyboard.
Final verdict:
I give the iPad Pro and its add-on accessories, the Apple Pencil and the Apple Smart Keyboard, a 10 out of 10 for my purposes! I love it and it is very useful to me. It does not replace my MacBook (yet, but I’m hoping iOS 11 will drop soon and i will be able to say that) but i cannot really make the comparison and then complain or say one is better than the other. Right now, i am using my iPad Pro, my MacBook and my iPad Mini for different purposes and neither one of the three devices is a surplus, or a replacement of the other.
Caveat, i give Apple the company a score of 2 out of 10 for releasing smartcovers and sleeves for the iPad Pro and even the pencil, and yet, not releasing a back cover compatible with the iPad Pro. If Steve Jobs were alive, he will not allow this (okay, so he did in 2011 when he released the iPad 2 Smart Covers, but he learned his mistake, as consumers, like me at the time, after purchasing and being disenfranchised at having half a protection for the shiny new expensive device, opted to garb the iPad 2 in third-party cases that offered full protection).
Do you have the iPad Pro, or are you planning on purchasing one? What is/are your favourite feature/s? Do you love it as much as i do? I sure hope so!
EllaLand 