Apple iPad Pro (2022) - The Uber Tablet

I’ve used a lot of iPads over the years, in fact, so many I’m not even sure how many.

And that’s not counting the ones you use by accident. For example, when I checked in at a hotel the other day, that was on an iPad. Often when you’re signing your consent for a medical procedure, that’s on an iPad. Actually, the more I think of it, these days if there’s a form to be filled out, it’s usually on an iPad.

The sheer penetration of iPad into almost every walk of life, from schools, to mechanics, to building sites, to farms, to retail - even rest homes - proves Apple probably won the tablet wars before they even begun. Especially given this year’s 10th-generation “entry-level” iPad I reviewed last week not only looks fantastic but is powerful enough to edit video, play demanding games on and be used as a multi-media streaming device.

But the one iPad I’ve only ever admired from afar is the iPad Pro.

I’ve got as close as my daughter’s iPad Pro - a couple of generations old now - an indispensable tool for her professional music career. She loads her scores into it, makes any necessary annotations using Apple Pencil, then plays from the sheet music as displayed on her iPad Pro, using a bluetooth-connected foot pedal to turn the “pages”. Of course, that’s not all she uses it for but it’s a pretty clear illustration of exactly how useful a device like this can be.

The 6th-generation 2022 model is a genuine computing powerhouse. Not only does the 12.9-inch version I’m reviewing sport a truly sumptuous Liquid Retina XDR display, capable of unparalleled brightness, contrast and even a new Reference Mode for true-colour editing, the iPad Pro now runs on Apple’s M2 chip; the very latest and greatest in Apple silicon, which makes it very great indeed.

Without listing off facts and stats about “cores” the main benefit of the M2 chip is speed and power - the CPU is up to 15% faster than the previous iPad Pro, graphics performance makes a whopping 35% jump and thanks to an unbelievable 50% increase in memory bandwidth, this year’s iPad Pro can literally do everything at once. Forwards and backwards and round and round.

Another breathtaking stat is storage capacity - if you have the budget, you can choose the 2TB iPad Pro - that’s space enough for all your holiday snaps… along with those of every other person you know.

In real life terms, what does all this mean?

Well, once again, as often happens when I’m using a high-powered Apple device like this, the line between the operating system and the hardware blurs. For example, something both MacOS and iPadOS have in common these days is Stage Manager - a shortcut quickly accessible from the Control Panel. When activated, Stage Manager makes swapping from app to app more fluid by stacking other open windows on the left side of the screen for easy access. This is ostensibly a software feature, yet without the iPad Pro’s daunting processsing power and its spectacular display, this instant app-swapping experience wouldn’t be half as fun or effective.

Only the iPad Pro let’s you resize and move multiple windows around the screen just as you would on a desktop or laptop device - in some ways this action is even more intuitive on the touch-screen of a tablet.

Gaming is another area that has leapt forward immensely, thanks to the upgrade in processing and graphics. Many critics take potshots at the relatively limited Apple Arcade games library but it’s expanding exponentially all the time and I’ve had no trouble finding something to keep me amused and challenged. After pairing a bluetooth controller I’ve wasted quite a bit of time embarking on various Modern Combat 5 missions - the app loads quickly and gameplay is fluid and immersive, thanks in no small part to the enormous 12.9-inch display and the surprisingly effective quad-speaker audio array.

In fact, whether you’re gaming, streaming or editing, the audio-visual experience on offer is unrivalled by any other tablet I’ve tried.

This is my main problem with the iPad Pro, it’s so good, it’s addictive. I just want to keep using it. For everything.

This is made even more pleasurable with the addition of some of the best accessories I’ve ever come across. Although the all-new, two-piece Magic Keyboard Folio I featured in last week’s iPad (10th-gen) review is not yet available for iPad Pro, there’s a fine selection of other cases, including the basic Smart Folio, the more useful Smart Keyboard Folio and my ultimate favourite accessory of all-time; the Magic Keyboard.

I first encountered this absolutely genius bit of kit while reviewing the iPad Air - by simply magnetising the iPad Pro onto the Magic Keyboard, the transformation from tablet into unstoppable laptop is complete. A trackpad, a floating display, USB-C pass-through charging and a full-sized keyboard (almost identical to the one on my iMac) instantly at your disposal.

Bleeding-edge tech like this doesn’t come cheap, unfortunately. The matching Magic Keyboard for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is an eye-watering NZ$709.00. Worth it though, as it completely eliminates the need for owning a laptop as well as the tablet.

The other almost-essential add-on is the Apple Pencil (2nd-generation). I’ve used this a bit before but pairing it with the iPad Pro adds a whole other dimension - literally. Using 3D modelling apps like SketchUp becomes so much more precise when controlled with Apple Pencil. More and more apps are introducing more and more Apple Pencil-optimised features to the table - to be honest, the options on offer in Adobe Fresco are so comprehensive and diverse, it’s a bit daunting. You can even import your favourite brushes from other painting apps.

What I’m learning fast is iPad Pro is a gateway to infinite creativity - certainly I was able to film, import and edit media for the video at the end of this review effortlessly and quickly.

Because the iPad Pro feels so limitless in its powers, any small frustration seems magnified - even more annoying than it would be on a lesser machine. Case in point; the position of the front-facing camera. As I’ve made clear, my preference with a tablet has always been to use it in landscape mode. Now even more so, thanks to the incredible addition of accessories like the Magic Keyboard. So it seems truly bizarre Apple has elected to leave the selfie-cam on the short side, instead of moving it to the top edge (in landscape mode) like it has with the recently launched iPad (10th-generation).

I have two major issues with the camera being left where it is; firstly, you simply never look into it when you’re on a video call or you’re recording a selfie-movie. This problem is exacerbated even further on the larger, 12.9-inch model I’m reviewing - with a display that big it’s a hell of a long way from the middle of the screen over to the left-hand side. Even utilising the clever AI effects of Centre Stage to keep my face in the middle of the shot, everyone I’m meeting with must think I’ve got something far more interesting to look at over their shoulders. 

The second issue I could never have predicted; because that wrongly-placed selfie-cam can do Face ID, you’re saved the inconvenience of typing in your password every time you install an app from the App Store… except… to confirm your app download or purchase you must double-click the power button which, in landscape mode, is on the top left-hand side - meaning your hand covers the camera to click it - meaning the camera is obscured - meaning Face ID won’t work. Either the button or the camera is in the wrong place. Let’s be real here; it’s the camera.

Other than that, the technical camera performance is pretty standout - especially for a tablet. There’s a full phone-like camera array on the back, featuring a 12MP wide-angle primary shooter, a 10MP ultra-wide lens and even a True Tone flash to enhance low-light performance. This hardware, combined with the awesome power of the M2 chip means ProRes imagery is now at your fingertips. Now you can snap off very high-quality footage and edit on the fly - zooming, cutting and clipping post-shooting without losing the amazing colour and sharpness on offer. There are five (yes, five) built-in mics available too - giving you the ability to record in genuine theatre-like surround sound.

I think you get the idea. The iPad Pro is one of those power tools that gives you the freedom to say, “Right, this is what I want to make,” without having to worry if it’s technically possible. Thanks to the iPad Pro’s unique combination of industry-leading chip technology, truly innovative accessories, increasingly user-friendly OS experience and just exquisitely engineered hardware, I’ve yet to find a task it can’t perform. Sort that camera position out and it’d be a perfect 10.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the iPad Pro (2022).