iPad Pro

iPad Pro vs MacBook Pro 13 (2020) - Which One's the Real Laptop?

Over the past few months, there have been two devices that I’ve been using a ton. The iPad Pro with the brand new Magic Keyboard, which has actually now become my home computer and a full Laptop replacement for when I’m on the go. Also, I’ve also been using the new 13” 2020 MacBook Pro, which has now replaced my 15” MacBook Pro from 2019.

The Full In-Depth Review of the 13” 2020 MacBook Pro is coming out the week following this video but until then, here’s the answer to the question that a lot of you have been asking. Should you buy an iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard, which is finally a true Laptop replacement now, or should you get the MacBook Pro 13”?

Well, get all those snacks ready and buckle up because this is going to be a very detailed comparison. We’ll be covering everything from the Design, Display, Keyboard, Trackpad, Camera, Microphones, Speakers, Performance, Battery Life and the Value! 

Design

Starting off with the Design, these two devices couldn’t be any more different. The MacBook Pro was born to be a Laptop, while the iPad Pro was born to be a Tablet, which then became a Laptop.

In terms of which one looks better, this is very subjective because if you’re looking for a more traditional Laptop, the MacBook Pro is the winner here. You get a full Aluminium and Glass Unibody build, which is extremely sturdy and premium. But, if you’re looking for something that’s a bit more versatile, the iPad Pro is indeed the winner here. With that floating design, the iPad Pro definitely looks more futuristic. But with the Magic Keyboard itself, it doesn’t feel as premium as the MacBook Pro does. I’m not referring to the actual Keys, but the material that surrounds them. 

On the iPad Pro we have this Silicone/Rubber material, while it does indeed protect the iPad, you don’t get that ultra-premium feel that the MacBook Pro gives you. Also, this material gets smudged extremely easy, after even just a few hours of use. So, the iPad Pro will look very used, in a matter of hours, while the MacBook Pro will keep on looking brand new for years as it has a full metal body. So overall, the MacBook Pro does look and feel like a more premium device.

The iPad Pro 12.9” weighs roughly the same, and is slightly thicker than the MacBook Pro 13”. But it is much more versatile.

The iPad Pro 12.9” weighs roughly the same, and is slightly thicker than the MacBook Pro 13”. But it is much more versatile.

But which one is more usable? Well, the iPad Pro has a significant advantage here. You see, not only does the iPad Pro support Touch Input, but you can easily remove it from the Keyboard Case and use it just like a Tablet in Landscape or even Portrait mode, whenever you wish. You can use the iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil as well, you can use it as an External Monitor for your MacBook Pro, none of which you can do with a Mac. You also have FaceID, compared to the TouchID unlock on the MacBook Pro and I have to say, FaceID is significantly superior. The moment you tap the screen or even a Key on the Keyboard, the iPad instantly unlocks.

Same goes for when you’re filling in passwords or using Apple Pay, the iPad Pro is a massive improvement over a MacBook Pro. The MacBook Pro is just a traditional Laptop, whereas the iPad Pro is this brand new modular device that you can use in any shape or form you want, it’s a magical device.

When it comes to the Portability, the iPad Pro comes in two sizes, the 11” and 12.9”. The MacBook Pro comes in 13” and 16”. So, if we compare both 13” sizes of both devices, the iPad Pro on its own weighs 641g, while the MacBook Pro 13” weighs 1.4kg. However, if we add in the Magic Keyboard to the 12.9” iPad Pro, it ends up being 1.35kg, almost as heavy as the MacBook Pro is. The 11” iPad Pro, with the Magic Keyboard, weighs 1.07kg, so that’s much lighter. However, both iPad Pro’s are actually slightly thicker than the 13” MacBook Pro. So, just because of how much more versatile and flexible the iPad is to use, I have to give the design award to the iPad Pro. 

Display

So now, what about the Display? Well, both the iPad Pro and the MacBook Pro have an outstanding Display Panel. 

They’re both LCD displays, but they’re IPS Panels, meaning that they have an almost 180 Degree viewing angle. They both have a DCI P3 Panel, which can display around 25% more colours, when compared to a standard sRGB Display. They’re very good Displays, the best LCD Displays that you can find on a Laptop or a Tablet. But, the iPad Pro’s Display is actually superior in three ways.

The iPad Pro’s biggest advantage, with the Display, is definitely that Dynamic Refresh Rate.

The iPad Pro’s biggest advantage, with the Display, is definitely that Dynamic Refresh Rate.

Firstly, the Bezels are much thinner on the iPad Pro. This means that the iPad Pro’s Display not only looks better and more futuristic, but if you get the 12.9” iPad Pro, it would be noticeably smaller than the Display on the MacBook Pro 13”, even-though they’re almost the same physical size.

Secondly, the iPad Pro’s Display is actually brighter, with a peak brightness of 600 Nits, compared to around 500 Nits on the MacBook Pro. This means that if you plan on using either of these outdoors, the iPad Pro is a much better option.

Lastly, the iPad Pro also has a ProMotion Display, which can adjust its Refresh Rate from 24Hz, 30Hz, 60Hz and all the way up to 120Hz, depending on the content that you’re watching. The MacBook Pro has a fixed 60Hz Refresh Rate Display. I have to say, this is by far the biggest advantage of the iPad Pro. Everything that you do on the iPad Pro feels so smooth. The thing is, my MacBook Pro does drop a lot of frames when scrolling and navigating through the UI. The animations don’t always run at 60FPS, so when they drop to 50FPS or even 40FPS and then you compare that to the iPad Pro, which always runs at 120FPS in the UI, the difference is just gigantic. Because of this, I have to give the Display win to the iPad Pro.

Keyboard & Trackpad

Next up, we have the Keyboard and the Trackpad.

When it comes to the Keyboard, both of these devices now feature Apple’s brand new Magic Keyboard. Long gone is the disastrous Magic Keyboard that had almost no Key Travel and Apple refused to replace over a period of five years, even-though it constantly broke. This Magic Keyboard is very similar to the one that we get on the iMac Keyboards, which is also called…the Magic Keyboard.  They’re also very similar to the amazing Keyboards that we used to get on all the MacBooks up until 2015.

The difference is some areas is not quite as black & white as it might seem.

The difference is some areas is not quite as black & white as it might seem.

The difference here is that we do get larger Key-Caps and a more stable Keyboard. Both of these Keyboards are actually much better than on the 2015 MacBook Pro and even better than the current Magic Keyboards on the iMacs. But which one of these is better?

Well, the MacBook Pro definitely has a better Keyboard, which you probably expected, as this is..you know…an actual Laptop. But the thing is, it’s not actually that much better. If the MacBook Pro has a 10/10  Keyboard, the iPad Pro probably has around an 8.8/10. At least when it comes to the 11” iPad Pro, which does indeed have a much smaller Keyboard overall. I do find it to be a bit too crammed and some of the Keys also have a much smaller size in order to fit in this footprint.

The 12.9” iPad Pro has a full-size Keyboard, just like the MacBook Pro and that one’s much more comfortable to type on. But, aside from the size difference, the typing experience is almost identical between the two sizes of the iPad Pro and the MacBook Pro. You get the same 1mm of Key Travel, I actually ended up scripting almost all of my videos off of the iPad Pro, until I got this 13” MacBook Pro. The moment I started scripting on the iPad Pro, I couldn’t go back to my 2019 15” MacBook Pro, which still comes with that Butterfly Keyboard. So, the typing experience is excellent! 

One advantage that the MacBook Pro has over the iPad Pro’s Keyboard is that we do get a function row of keys. We have the Escape Key as well as the TouchBar, which gives you virtual controls based on the App that you’re using. The iPad Pro however, has none of that. If you want to adjust the volume or the brightness, you have to go into the Control Centre, which takes noticeably longer, compared to the MacBook Pro.

Both Keyboards are Backlit but the iPad Pro does not have a Key, or even a software toggle in the Control Centre, to adjust its brightness. In order to do that, you have to go all the way into the Settings and adjust it from there, which is very inconvenient. On the MacBook Pro, you just have a toggle for the Backlight built into the TouchBar, it’s very quick and convenient to adjust it.

Interestingly enough, I do find typing on the iPad Pro do be somewhat more comfortable. This is mostly because, since it is a much thinner device when open, the Chassis doesn’t hurt on your Wrists as much as they hurt on the MacBook Pro. We also have a soft rubber Chassis, compared to a full metal Chassis on the MacBook Pro, so the iPad’s Magic Keyboard is much easier on the Wrists. 

The MacBook Pro does win in both departments, but that doesn’t make the Keyboard & Trackpad on the iPad Pro bad by any means.

The MacBook Pro does win in both departments, but that doesn’t make the Keyboard & Trackpad on the iPad Pro bad by any means.

The tilt is greater on the MacBook Pro, so you can lean the Display further down, compared to the iPad Pro. The MacBook Pro is also more stable, compared to the iPad Pro, which when tilted all the way backwards, does have a tendency to tip over. Overall, the MacBook Pro does have a better Keyboard. So, what about the Trackpad?

Well, the MacBook Pro takes this one as well. Not only is the Trackpad on the MacBook Pro much bigger, but it also doesn’t physically click. Instead, there’s a Vibration Motor inside it that gives you the impression that you’ve clicked the Trackpad. This way, you have two levels of pressure, with the second one being used for the Force Click, which gives you more options when pressing on an item.

The iPad Pro uses a much smaller Trackpad, which does indeed physically click. However, unlike the Trackpad on most Windows Laptops, you can press the iPad’s Trackpad anywhere, even on the top. So, this is not a diving board mechanism but instead, the entire Trackpad can click. The Gestures are very similar on both of these, however, the iPad does have a few that are different, such as taking you Home or displaying the Notification Centre. 

Overall, the MacBook Pro has a better Keyboard, as well as a better Trackpad. But, the iPad Pro still has a better Keyboard and Trackpad than most other Laptops on the market, so they’re still very, very good. 

Camera, Microphones & Speakers

In terms of Cameras, the iPad is the clear choice.

In terms of Cameras, the iPad is the clear choice.

Moving on to the Camera, Microphones & Speakers. Firstly, the Camera is a massive win for the iPad. Not only do we have a 1080p, 60FPS Front Camera, compared to the 720p, 60FPS Camera on the MacBook Pro, but the iPad Pro also comes with an actual Camera on the back. This Camera is capable of taking some breath-taking photos, 4K60 video and overall, images and videos that are pretty much just as good as on the iPhone.  Not only that, but we also have an Ultra-Wide Angle Module as well as a LiDAR Scanner for AR Apps, on the 2020 iPad Pro. 

In case you’re wondering what the Microphones sound like, be sure to check out the test in the video. In terms of the Speakers, they’re both very good. The MacBook Pro is better as it is a larger device, but we also tested both in the full video linked at the top.

Performance

Moving on to the Performance, this is probably going to be shocking for most of you. On paper, the MacBook Pro smokes the iPad Pro. My model has an Intel 10th Generation, Quad-Core Processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of Storage. The iPad Pro, on the other hand, has Apple’s A12Z Processor, 6GB of RAM and 128GB of Storage. Also, the MacBook Pro has two Cooling Fans and some pretty big Air Intake and Outtake Vents, whereas the iPad Pro has no Fans, or Vents, at all. 

In a lot of ways, the iPad can go toe-to-toe with the MacBook Pro.

In a lot of ways, the iPad can go toe-to-toe with the MacBook Pro.

So, you would expect the MacBook Pro to just murder the iPad Pro when it comes to performance. But, to my surprise, it was actually the other way around! In GeekBench 5, the iPad Pro scored 1114SC and 4654MC, while the MacBook Pro 13”, with the i5 10th Generation Intel Processor, scored 1128SC and 4370MC, quite a bit lower on the Multi-Core side. Interesting, so what about the GPU?

Well, the iPad Pro 2020 scores 9547 points, while the MacBook Pro scores around 8374 points, sometimes as high as 9960 points. Long story short, it seems like they’re both pretty much identical when it comes to raw performance. In fact, the iPad Pro even appears to be slightly more powerful. If you compare it to the baseline 13” MacBook Pro, the iPad Pro is clearly more powerful when it comes to both the CPU and GPU. 

How does this translate to some real world usage? Well, in our video we had the same 4K video timeline, with the same exact 4K60 shots taken from our Panasonic GH5, and they’re pretty demanding on both of these machines, I also added some transitions and titles. This five minute timeline took 2:53 to export on the iPad and 7:27 to export on the MacBook Pro, which is a significant difference. The iPad Pro was more than 2.5x times faster than the MacBook Pro. Obviously, if you have longer and more complex projects, the iPad Pro would have an even bigger advantage. 

Now, if you’re into Gaming, and you’re wondering which of these machines is better, the iPad Pro, strangely enough, is a significantly better option. Most of the games on the App Store are Mobile Games, but you do get millions of those and they’re extremely well optimised to run on the iPad. On the MacBook Pro, there are barely any games available. This is because Apple now prefers games to use Metal instead of openGL, macOS Catalina and 32-bit games have been dropped as well. Meaning that those very few games that we had on Steam are now barely even supported, as most games were dropped.

Let’s take a look at Fortnite for example. A game that runs on both platforms. Which machine can run it better? The iPad Pro can run Fortnite in Native Resolution at 2388x1668, on EPIC settings and we’re getting just about 30FPS. That’s extremely impressive because this is literally fully maxed out. If we drop the graphics to Medium, we’re now getting around 76FPS, if we drop them all the way to Low, we’re getting 120FPS. Since the iPad has a 120Hz Display, it means that we can actually see all those individual Frames. The experience running this game on the iPad is just unbelievable, everything is crazy fluid and smooth. Even on Low Settings, I still have the 3D Resolution scaling set to 100%, so this is still running in Native Resolution.

Now, taking a look at the MacBook Pro, I’m running the game in Native Resolution again, so 2560x1600 in this case, which is slightly higher than on the iPad Pro, but not by a lot. It seems like even on Medium Settings, we’re only getting around 17FPS. The game is fully unplayable and even if we drop to Low, we’re only getting 25FPS compared to the 120FPS that the iPad Pro was getting. That’s extremely impressive for the iPad Pro, a Tablet that’s miles thinner than the MacBook Pro and also has no Cooling Fans at all. All the Cooling is done passively and we get significantly better performance for both Video-Editing and Gaming, on the iPad Pro. 

But, probably the biggest advantage to the iPad Pro is that it can run both Mobile as well as some Desktop Apps too. These include iMovie, GarageBand, Microsoft Office, Photoshop, Lightroom and more, while the MacBook Pro can only run Desktop Apps. There are a few iOS Apps that have been ported to macOS, thanks to Apple’s Catalyst Tool. So, we do have Apps such as the Home App, News, Apple TV, and more, but the UI still sucks, they’re not that easy to control as they were designed for Touch Input first. The iPad does a much better job at running Desktop Apps such as Photoshop, especially now that we have full Keyboard and Trackpad support.

The iPad Pro is not capable of properly running External Displays.

The iPad Pro is not capable of properly running External Displays.

In this case, the iPad Pro is a much better Computer, and it has replaced my MacBook Pro, right? Well...not really.

You see, there are things that the iPad Pro still cannot do. For example, if you plan on connecting multiple Monitors, the iPad Pro is just a mess, the video output doesn’t scale properly and you can only connect one Monitor. With my MacBook Pro, I have a 5K Monitor, a 4K monitor and I’m also running its internal 2K Display, all through a single Thunderbolt 3 Cable, which the iPad does not support at all. Not only that, but I can directly connect to our Thunderbolt NAS and get some insane 1-2GB/s transfer speeds, wheres the iPad is limited to using a wireless connection, via SMB, with significantly lower speeds of just around 10MB/s. 

If you want to do any App Development, there is no XCode on the iPad. Same goes for Video-Editing. Whilst LumaFusion is very good, FCP X on the Mac is still better. Plus, you can run a lot more Pro tools on the Mac, such as LogicProX, Ableton, DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Premiere and Adobe After Effects, all alongside a ton of their plugins. So, if you need any of those, the MacBook Pro is the way to go.

Now, remember when I said that I felt that my MacBook Pro 13” dropped Frames when scrolling through the UI? Well, I can use a tool called Quatrz Debug, which allows me to measure the drops. The iPad Pro on the other hand, has no way to actually measure that unless you open up the Xcode Viewer, but I couldn’t notice any lag or any slow-down whatsoever.

Battery Life

Next up, when it comes to the Battery Life, they both claim up to 10 hours of usage, which neither of these machines can achieve, unfortunately. With my usage, my MacBook Pro gets around 5-6 hours, while my iPad Pro gets around 6 hours. So, pretty much the same.You can detach the Magic Keyboard from the iPad Pro and actually get a better Battery Life that way.

Value 

Finally, having said all of this, which one is worth it the most?

The MacBook Pro starts at $1300 and for that you get a 1.4GHz Intel Core i5 Processor (8th Generation). You also get 8GB of RAM and 256GB of Storage. My MacBook Pro model is the higher-end $ 1800 model, which gets you the more powerful 2.0GHz Intel Core i5 Processor (10th Generation). With this, you get 16GB of RAM and 512GB of Storage.

The iPad Pro could end up costing you more than a baseline MacBook Pro 13”, but it could be just as good, for a lot of people.

The iPad Pro could end up costing you more than a baseline MacBook Pro 13”, but it could be just as good, for a lot of people.

The iPad Pro 11” starts from $800 for the 11” model or $1000 for the 12.9” model. If you add the Keyboard, which I’m assuming most of you will, that would bring the price of the 11” to $1100 and the 12.9” to $1350. So, the 12.9” iPad Pro, with the Keyboard, is actually more expensive than the baseline 13” MacBook Pro. Unfortunately, you only get 128GB of Storage. If you need 256GB, that would make the 13” $1200 and the 12.9” $1450.

Is the iPad Pro really worth it over a MacBook Pro? Especially considering that it is even more expensive? Well, for 90% of people, it actually is. If you don’t need to do any App Development or any high-end Video-Editing, the iPad Pro is actually a much better device than a MacBook Pro. You get a much more versatile device that supports Touch Input and Vertical or Landscape Orientation. It’s great for reading books, it’s great for browsing the web and it’s perfect for Photo-Editing and Graphic Design, thanks to the Apple Pencil.

On top of all this, it will feel way more fluid than the MacBook Pro does. I strongly believe that the iPad Pro is indeed the future. It seems like Microsoft was right from the very start! 

iPad Pro (2020) - The Future of Computing?

Apple has finally updated the iPad Pro, their highest end iPad, which hasn’t seen an update since 2018. So, without any further ado, here are our initial impressions with Apple’s highest end iPad for 2020! 

Apple released the iPad Pro Third Generation back in October 2018 and this was the biggest change the iPad had since the iPad itself launched in 2010. The home button finally went away, we got FaceID and on-screen gestures, so this iPad was essentially the equivalent to the iPhone X. It was that big of a change.

Now, Apple has usually updated their iPad every year, but for whatever reason, we didn’t get a new iPad in 2019. This was quite strange because we got an iPad Pro Fourth Generation mock-up from our friend Sonny Dickson, we even did a full video on that back in September 2019. It featured a larger, Triple Lens Camera Module but no other visual changes apart from that. But, fast-forward six months and we finally got that iPad Pro.

Unboxing

When we take a look at the box, we get a very similar style on the front with just the screen of the iPad, like we did with the 2018 model. They did change the wallpaper this time, although we actually prefer the way the previous box looked as it made the iPad’s Bezels look thinner, since the wallpaper was black. They do look quite thick on this one. On the top and bottom, we get an Apple logo which matches the colour of the iPad that’s inside. On the sides we get iPad Pro branding, which also matches the colour of the iPad.

When it comes to stickers, there’s a stark contrast in Apple’s approach.

When it comes to stickers, there’s a stark contrast in Apple’s approach.

On the back, we get a listing of everything that’s inside, plus the capacity, which in our case is 128GB. It also makes note of the fact that this is the second generation of the 11” iPad Pro. For whatever reason, Apple isn’t calling this the Fourth Generation iPad Pro, even though they were following this trend with previous iPad Pro releases.

When we open up the box and we get the iPad itself. We then get a booklet, which contains the Apple stickers that don’t seem to match the colour of the iPad. Apple is honestly so inconsistent with these stickers. Not all of their products include them, like the Apple Watch for example, and some do match the colour of your device, like with the MacBook Air and Mac Pro. However, some don’t, such as with the MacBook Pro and even the iPhone.

Aside from this, we get the Warranty & Safety Guide as well as the Quick Start Guide, which includes some tips on how to navigate the iPad (button placement and so on). We get a USB-C to USB-C Cable because the iPad Pro, unlike the iPhones, do have a USB-C Port, just like the MacBooks. We also get a Fast Charger, which is the same 18W USB C Charger that we get with the iPhones. What we really like about this Charger is just how compact it is. The UK plug has these collapsible feet, which makes it perfect for traveling, so good job Apple! That’s pretty much all we get inside the box, quite a straight-forward experience so now, here’s what you need to know about this iPad. 

Weight & Camera

In terms of design, it looks pretty much identical to the 2018 model. We have the same Bezel sizes, the same colour options, the same exact thickness, the same everything actually, aside from two things.

The first being the weight. The 2018 11” iPad Pro was 468 Grams, while this new one is 471 Grams. The WiFi & Cellular model is 473 Grams. Definitely not something that you’ll be able to tell but it is there. The second visual difference is the Camera Module. We now get a much larger Camera Module compared to before, which now houses a second Camera Module. These modules are very similar to the Cameras that we get on the iPhone 11. Not the 11 Pro, but the regular iPhone 11. 

Spot the difference?

Spot the difference?

The Main Module is basically identical, while the second module is an Ultra-Wide Angle Module. However, unlike the iPhone 11 & 11 Pro, both of which have a 12MP 120 degree Field of View Module, the iPad Pro 2020 has a 10MP 125 degree Field of View Module. So, the Resolution is a bit lower but with a higher Field of View. We also get a brighter True Tone flash but that’s pretty much it. The module itself is actually smaller than on the iPhone 11 Pro but it is a bit bigger than the mock-up that we showed to you in September 2019. On that mock-up, we had three Camera modules, wheres here we only (sort of) have two.

There is actually a third module, which is this almost invisible black circle and is what is called a ToF Camera. Apple is calling this a LiDAR Sensor but it’s essentially the exact same thing. This Sensor emits laser beams which get bounced around the environment and then get picked up again by the Sensor. Then, based on the time it takes for the beams to get reflected back and the angle at which they get reflected, the iPad can essentially create a 3D map of the environment. The FaceID Camera on the iPhone X and newer, even the FaceID camera on the 2018 & 2020 iPad Pro, already have this functionality. It’s just that now we have it on the back as well. 

So, you might be wondering why do we have it on the back? Well, it’s not for scanning faces but for scanning and mapping in the environment in 3D. The biggest difference between this and FaceID, is that unlike FaceID, which works at about 30cm-40cm max, the LiDAR Module on the back of the iPad works at up to 5m, which is a huge difference. This is how it can map the environment in 3D so accurately. Apple even went as far as calling this the best device for AR, in the world!

Unfortunately, there aren’t that many AR apps in the first place and even the ones that we do have, do not yet take advantage of this yet. They need to use ARKit 3.5, which just got released, to take full advantage of the new LiDAR sensor. Until then, we still get improved Object Tracking in apps such as Ikea Place, but when it comes to object and people Occlusion, that would require an update. 

The only place where the LiDAR sensor is taken use of accordingly, is in Apple’s own Measure App. Now, when you measure something, not only will it instantly allow you to measure an object without having to calibrate the app first, but the circle that you use to measure will actually follow an object’s shape. So, if you have a table or a wall, it would automatically detect those and sit flat on them, whereas on the iPhone, this circle would actually go through objects, it would not detect them. Definitely stay tuned for our full in-depth review, a few weeks from now, after we get to spend more time with this and hopefully by then, we’ll also get some updates to the current AR apps.

Specifications

Aside from the weight and the new Camera, something else that’s different on this new iPad is the Processor and the RAM.

In terms of the RAM, we now get 6GB all across the board. Before, we got 4GB on all models except for the 1TB model, which did indeed come with 6GB of RAM. We’ve never really had any RAM management issues on our 2018 iPad Pro. Interesting enough, the iPhone 11 Pro Max has been a completely different story, even though they both have 4GB of RAM.  6GB of RAM should make this iPad a bit more future proof than the last model. 

A breakdown of the Processors that we’ve had in past releases.

A breakdown of the Processors that we’ve had in past releases.

With the CPU, we get the brand new Apple A12Z Processor. Now, this is interesting because this is the first time since 2010, when Apple launched their first A-series Processor (the A4 on the iPhone) that they’ve added a new name into the mix. Previous iPads have had the A8X, the A9X, A10X, and the A12X. The addition of ‘X’ signifies a more powerful version of the regular CPU models that we got inside the iPhones. Long story short, the only difference between the A12X , which is was what we got in 2018 iPad Pro, and the A12Z, is that the ‘Z’ has eight GPU Cores, while the X from the 2018 model has seven GPU Cores.

Fun fact, the A12X was also manufactured with eight Cores but had one of the Cores disabled. This is how CPU manufacturing works. Only about 60% of the CPU’s manufactured are even usable. From this 60% batch, very few have all of the Cores working perfectly. So, the ones that have issues get rebranded into different Processors, with some of the Cores disabled. The same thing applies to GPU’s. If you buy an RTX 2060, that’s actually a 2080 that had a few manufacturing issues and they disabled some of the Cores.

It seems to us that Apple is just using the exact same A12X CPU, but they’re using a higher quality version of it, that has all the Cores working perfectly. Aside from this, we do get improved microphones. Apple’s calling these ‘studio quality’ microphones. We get WiFi 6 but aside from this, this is still pretty much the exact same iPad.

One thing that we do get which is actually a pretty nice thing to have, is higher base Storage. We go from 64GB ,up to 128GB for the same price, which is nice. For most people, 128GB is generally good enough, however this is definitely not the case with 64GB, especially when you consider that Apple’s calling this a “Pro” device. 

The Magic Keyboard

New device, same old 1:1 pricing for US & UK consumers.

New device, same old 1:1 pricing for US & UK consumers.

Probably the biggest upgrade by far, is this new Magic Keyboard. It not only gives you a similar typing experience to the 16” MacBook Pro, but you also get a Trackpad, which is now fully supported in iPadOS.

But, this keyboard costs $300 (£300 in the UK), so it’s crazy expensive. For the price of this Keyboard and an iPad Pro, you actually end up spending more than you would for a MacBook Air. We would say the MacBook Air is just so much more worth it since you get macOS, which is still far superior to iPadOS in terms of what you can do with it.

Also, this keyboard does work on the previous model as well, which is great. If you have an older iPad Pro or a non-Pro iPad, Logitech released some new Keyboards for those iPads, which also have a Trackpad included, so you’re not really missing out on anything here. 

Conclusion

We would say that the best thing about this iPad, is that it made the 2018 model cheaper! You can find it extremely cheap online now.

But, there is said to be a second iPad Pro coming out around November or so. This will feature the brand new Apple A14X Processor, which will be based on a 5nm process and it should give us some major performance improvements. We’ve even seen reports that Apple will be including a miniLED display into this iPad, or at least the high-end 12.9” version, which will give us Black Levels similar to an OLED Display. Apple’s Pro Display XDR is using miniLED. We have 576 Dimming Zones, but the iPad Pro is said to have thousands. So we’re really looking forward to that.

iPad Pro (2020) & MacBook Air (2020) – 25 Things You NEED to KNOW!

Apple has unveiled two new products. A brand new iPad Pro and a new MacBook Air. It would technically be three if you included the storage bump on the Mac Mini, but we’re not counting that. In this article we want to cover some interesting facts that you should know about both of these new Apple releases.

1) We Had It!

We actually made this video back in September 2019, showing you a mockup of the 2020 iPad Pro. We showed you the Triple Lens Camera Module on the back. It was smaller than what it ended up being on the 2020 Model, but the main idea was indeed there. That iPad was supposed to be released in October or November 2019 but for reasons that we’re not aware of, it did end up getting delayed. But we do have it now, so here’s a few more interesting facts! 

2) 16” MacBook Pro Keyboard 

The Smart Keyboard on the previous model left a lot to be desired

The Smart Keyboard on the previous model left a lot to be desired

The biggest update that we got, by far, is this brand new Magic Keyboard. From the looks of it, this now replaces the existing Smart Keyboard for the iPad Pro and is pretty much what will bring the iPad Pro closer to an actual laptop. Also, it has actual keys. These are 16” MacBook Pro style keys, with a good key travel, unlike the current Smart Keyboard which have those mushy micro-fibre textured keys. So typing on this should be a significantly better experience. We’re really looking forward to that! 

3) Trackpad Support

This new Magic Keyboard also now has a trackpad which fully works in iPadOS! It supports gestures, just like in macOS, but more importantly, it is also a dynamic cursor. So, unlike on Mac or Windows where you have this arrow all the time, on iPadOS, the cursor will automatically adapt to what’s being displayed on the screen. So, if you have menu buttons, the cursor will turn into a selection box for those buttons. Pretty cool!

4) Floating iPad

We think that the coolest thing here is that the iPad attaches magnetically to this top portion of the keyboard. So it essentially floats.

5) Adjustable Angle

Something that we didn’t have with the previous Smart Keyboards were adjustable angles. The 1st gen had none, the 2nd gen had two but now with the new Magic Keyboard, it seems like we can adjust the iPad at almost any angle up to 130 degrees, which makes it way more similar to an actual MacBook.

6) Backlit Keys

Apple has released a TV ad for the iPad and the keyboard and it seems that the keyboard is even backlit. Again, just like on the Macs, you can see the keys at night!

7) USB-C 

Finally, the last thing that I want to mention regarding this keyboard, is that it also has a USB C Port for charging. Since this is on the side, it makes charging the iPad Pro much easier than attaching a cable to the floating iPad’s body. This USB C Port connects to the iPad, via the Smart Connector, which means that you still have the second USB C port on the actual iPad, free to use. Just as a bonus one, the keyboard case even has an horizontal Apple logo on it, that once again, makes it even more similar to the Macs. 

8) LiDAR

Now, aside from the Magic Keyboard, which will be sold separately and will only be available starting May. The second biggest upgrade that we got is the new LiDAR scanner. Long story short, this is indeed that 3D ToF camera that we’ve seen reported before. This heavily improves the AR experience.

Apple claims that AR objects will now appear instantly and that realistic object occlusion, where AR objects can pass in front of, or behind real objects is now further improved and that motion capture and people occlusion is now more accurate than ever.  We’ve made a recent video on the upcoming Apple Glasses so definitely do give that a watch, because this 3D Mapping technology will be used in the 2020 iPhones as well as Apple’s upcoming AR Glasses. 

9) Different Cameras

Screenshot 2020-03-27 at 16.37.40.png

You’ve probably noticed that on the back of this new iPad, we now have a triple lens camera module (Right). So one of those lenses is that LiDAR sensor that I mentioned. The second one is a 12MP f/1.8 module, which still has no Optical Image Stabilisation, while the third module is now an Ultra-Wide Module. However, unlike the Ultra-Wide Module on the iPhone 11 and the 11 Pro’s, this one is only a 10MP module, compared to 12MP and it has a 125 degree Field of View compared to 120, so it’s actually wider.

Interesting enough, Apple does claim that it does have 2x Optical Zoom and 5x Digital Zoom, however this would actually just be all digital, as there is no Telephoto Module.

10) A12Z

Something that I was very surprised to see is that instead of this iPad featuring Apple’s A13X processor, like it should’ve, it features a new A12Z chip. The A12X was introduced back in late 2018, a year and a half ago. So, from the looks of it, it seems that Apple didn’t get the chance to get the Apple A13X ready in time, for whatever reason, and decided to stick with pretty much the same chip as in 2018, just with some very small performance improvements. One of this improvements being that we now get 8 GPU cores, up from 7 that we had with the A12X. That chip however (the A12X), was still way more than most people needed, and it is still Apple’s most powerful mobile chip. So, no need to be worried that this will be slow.

11) RAM

Speaking of specs, we now have 6GB of RAM, up from the 4GB that we got with the previous model. With the 2018 iPad Pro, if you bought the highest capacity 1TB model, you would actually get 6GB of RAM, but the rest of the models only had 4GB. Now it’s 6GB all across the board. 

12) U1

On top of this, we also get the new U1 Chip, the Ultra-Wide Band Position Chip, that the new iPhones also got. This will be very useful for those new Apple tile-like trackers, which should launch at some point this year as well. Essentially, this Chip allows the iPad to very accurately locate other devices that also have that U1 hip. The tile-like trackers are also said to come with the U1. 

13) Studio Microphones

Apple has also improved the microphones in the new iPad. We now have five studio quality microphones, which should sound close to what we get with the new 16” MacBook Pro, when it comes to microphone quality. 

14) Expensive Keyboard

Now, if you want to buy that really cool keyboard that I was talking about before, it turns out that it will also be quite expensive. It will cost you $300 for the 11” iPad Pro or $350 for the 12.9” iPad Pro. Unfortunately, Apple is again applying a 1:1 conversion to the UK, so here it’s still £300 or £350. Apple is out ripping people off outside of the US again.

15) WiFi 6 

But hey, at least we do get WiFi 6, the next generation of WiFi standard. This is something that we don’t even get with the 16” MacBook Pro. The iPhone 11’s do at least have it. 

16) Wait until November!

Source: MacRumours

Source: MacRumours

If you need a new iPad Pro but you’re not fully sure about this one, I would suggest waiting until November because that’s when we would be getting…another iPad Pro! We’ve had many reports that Apple will be launching two iPad Pro’s this year, one in March and one in November.

The November one would actually be the bigger upgrade, as that will be adding 5G, the new Apple A14X processor with some very big performance gains as well as (possibly) that brand new miniLED display that Ming-Chi Kuo talked about. This would be a massive upgrade in terms of the display quality, thanks to local dimming, it will be similar to OLED when it comes to black levels. Not as good but much better than what we have now.

17) MacBook Air Keyboard

Aside from this iPad Pro, we also got a new MacBook Air which is actually a pretty nice upgrade over the previous 2018 model. The biggest upgrade being the keyboard, which is now the same scissor switch keyboard mechanism that we got with the 16” MacBook Pro, which had the same keyboard mechanism as the old pre 2016 MacBook Pro’s. 

18) Quad Core 

The second biggest upgrade is the performance. We now get Intel’s 10th Generation Processors, up from the 8th Gen and the biggest news here is that you can configure the Air with up to an i7 Quad-Core Processor. But, don’t get fooled! These are Intel’s Y series Processors, their most power efficient chips. So even though this is a 1.2GHz quad core CPU that can turbo boost to 3.8GHz, it still doesn’t compare to the U Series that we get in the MacBook Pro 13” or anything else. It’s quite a bit less powerful.  But at least we do get two extra cores, for double the performance compared to the previous model. 

19) Gen11 Graphics

The new MacBook Air also features Intel’s brand new Gen11 Graphics. Not only that, but we also get Intel Iris Plus Graphics as standard, up from the Intel UHD 617, which means that we get 80% faster graphical performance, a pretty massive jump in the GPU too.

20) Much faster RAM

RAM speed is also improved. We still get up to 16GB of RAM but, thanks to the 10th generation Intel processor, we now get LPDDR4X memory, up from LPDDR3. This means that we also get significantly faster speeds of 3733MHz, up from 2133MHz. This is a gigantic upgrade. 

21) 6K Support

If you randomly have Apple’s Pro Display XDR lying around, well the MacBook Air now supports it in Full Resolution, thanks to the new Thunderbolt Controller and the more powerful GPU. Ironically, if you have an iMac Pro 2017, that one does not support Apple’s 6K display.

22) Improved Speakers

The new MacBook Air also comes with improved speakers. Not only do they have Wider Stereo sound now, but they also support Dolby Atmos, so they should sound much closer to what we get in the 13” MacBook Pro.

23) Microphones

While we don’t get studio quality microphones, we do get a 3-microphone array now, with Directional Beamforming. 

24) No WiFi 6

Something that we don’t get unfortunately, is WiFi 6. We still have the old WiFi 5 standard, which is very odd because Intel’s 10th generation processors actually do support WiFI 6 natively. This means that Apple has intentionally told Intel to leave it out of their custom designed chips, those chips are specifically made for just Apple at this point as Apple likely wanted to promote WiFi 6 as just a feature that’s coming in the new MacBook Pro’s. 

25) Price Drop! 

A welcome bump in storage, an even more welcome drop in price.

A welcome bump in storage, an even more welcome drop in price.

However, something that I was very happy to see, what that in-spite of all of the upgrades that we got, Apple actually dropped the price for this MacBook Air. Previously, it used to start at $1100, but now it dropped to $1000. Not only that, but the baseline storage is now 256GB, up from 128GB, so you’re also getting double the storage for a lower price. 

26) Display vs Pro

Unfortunately, even though the MacBook Air seems like the perfect laptop, for me at least, it is not.  The main reason being the display. While this is indeed a Retina display, it is only a 300-400 nit display, compared to the 500 nit display of a MacBook Pro. It also lacks a DCI-P3 color gamut, which means that if you plan on doing any video or photo work, the MacBook Pro is still a much better choice!

iPad Pro 4 (2019) - Early Preview

So I got a pretty special package in the mail. This supposedly contains a preview of the next iPad Pro, the 2019 iPad Pro 4th generation, and without further adieu let’s open this up and see what we have inside! 

UNBOXING & FIRST IMPRESSIONS

So opening up this box and inside we get this iPad mock-up wrapped in bubble wrap. The one I have is the 12.9” mode, which is the same dimensions that we currently have now with that model. But taking a look at the front nothing really has changed, we get the same design style, the same bezel sizes. The side frame is once again appears to be identical to the one we have now, same thickness as well.

Like this years iPhone’s the iPad Pro 4 is expected to come with a triple camera module

Like this years iPhone’s the iPad Pro 4 is expected to come with a triple camera module

So really, the only new thing about this iPad, is on the back, which has a fairly massive triple lens camera module. This is coming from the single module camera that we’ve had so far on pretty much every single iPad model, including the recent 3rd generation iPad Pro.

Now something that I’ve noticed is that the camera module itself is a bit smaller than the camera module on the iPhone 11’s. This usually means a trade-off in some regard but to be honest I wouldn’t expect Apple to manufacture a separate triple lens camera module just for this 2019 iPad Pro.

So what’s likely the case here, is that they just managed to reduce the footprint of the camera unit, by spacing out the camera components better since an iPad does have significantly more space inside, compared to an iPhone.

Now having that triple lens module on an iPad Pro might seem like overkill, and it kinda is. However what this means is that if you’re the kind of person that edits photos taken with the iPhone on the iPad Pro, like I do a lot of the time when I’m travelling then you won’t need to use AirDrop to constantly transfer your photos, since you can just take them with the iPad Pro instead.


BATTERY & RAM PREDICTIONS

So although we get a pretty big upgrade in the camera module, there must be something else to warrant upgrading to this right? Well from what we know it would appear that the battery life is also getting a huge upgrade.

Its highly likely that the iPad will feature the A13X Processor that is also found in the iPhone 11s

Its highly likely that the iPad will feature the A13X Processor that is also found in the iPhone 11s

The new iPad Pro is will be getting the Apple A13 processor, the A13X even, which will be Apple’s most powerful mobile processor by far! For context, the 2018 iPad Pro with the A12X processor scored 5106 SC and 17156 MC in Geekbench 4, which is just nuts! The iPhone 11 Pro Max for example, with the Apple A13 processor, scores 5411 SC and 13883MC, again in Geekbench 4. So the SC is even higher than the iPad Pro 2018’s, it’s just that the multicore and the compute GPU scores are lower. It is very likely that this will be the case again. The A13X will have an even higher SC than the iPhone 11 Pro does, probably at around 5700 or so and the MC should be around 19000 or so, while the GPU will be further improved. 

But just like I said before, the biggest improvement that we are getting with the A13 processor isn’t necessarily the performance gains, but the battery life. The iPad Pro should be getting about 2 hours extra battery life, if not even more than that, thanks to this A13 processor.

Now, something that Apple has added to the new Apple Watch Series 5, is an LTPO display and a new display controller that can adjust the refresh rate from 60Hz down to even 1Hz. The iPad Pro can already do something similar. It has a Pro-Motion display which also adjusts the refresh rate from 120Hz to 24Hz, depending on the content that you’re watching but it cannot go lower than 24Hz. Apple could implement the same display technology and the new display controller from the Apple Watch to let the iPad go as low as 1Hz and improve the battery life thanks to that as well.

Now, with the iPhone 11 Pro’s, we still have 4GB of RAM unfortunately. I know that some of you will say that “oh, iOS doesn’t need more than that because it’s very well optimised”, and while that is true, my Note 10+ which has 12GB of RAM, can keep many more apps open in the background compared to my iPhone 11 Pro which does have to reload certain apps quite often.

So with the iPad Pro 2019 I am personally expecting 6GB of RAM as standard, just like we had in 2018 with the 1TB models.

 

SCREEN PREDICTIONS

The thing that I want to see the most on the iPad, is an OLED display. Same Super Retina XDR that we have on the iPhone 11 Pro’s. That would look insane on an iPad!

But don’t get your hopes up for 2019. We have seen a recent report from Ming-Chi-Kuo yesterday, who claims that Apple will be releasing Mini-LED displays for iPad & MacBooks in 2020 and 2021. Now Mini-LED should not be confused to Micro-LED, which is the next display innovation after OLED. MicroLED is the future of displays, but it won’t be coming out until a few years from now. 

Mini-LED is what Apple already uses on their Pro XDR Display for the Mac Pro, and that one uses 576 full array local dimming zones. So it’s in between LCD  and OLED. It’s an LCD technology with a lot of dimming zones so you can still get deep black levels and high brightness but you only have 576 dimmable zones rather than 20.4 million zones like you would have if the Pro XDR Display had an OLED panel. Kuo claims that the new iPad Pro’s with the Mini-LED displays will launch in Q4 2020, with the MacBook Pros following in Q1 and Q2 2021. So this year’s iPad will have the same display as in 2018 for the most part. 

A quick breakdown of the differences between LCD, Mini-LED, and OLED

A quick breakdown of the differences between LCD, Mini-LED, and OLED

THINGS THAT NEED FIXING

Well, the current iPad Pro 2018 model does have 2 issues, which Apple should be looking to fix.

Some previous models of iPads came bent out the box (Source: MacRumors)

Some previous models of iPads came bent out the box (Source: MacRumors)

The 1st one being Bend Gate. If you remember the iPad has the Apple Pencil connector on one side and the microphone port on the other, which greatly reduces the structural rigidity of the iPad itself. This means that not only will it easily bend when you put stress on that point, but more importantly if you’re carrying it in a tight backpack with lots of stuff in, there’s a high change that when you remove it from the backpack it will be bent. I’ve even seen some cases where this iPad Pro came bent out of the box brand new, and in a lot of those cases Apple even refused to replace or repair it, because they considered it to be something that the user has done.

Now on the mock-up I’ve noticed that it still has the microphone port in the middle of the frame. The Apple Pencil charging pad seems to be in the middle as well, maybe slightly off, but visually at least I cannot see any changes and improvements from the 2018 model. Now there is a chance that Apple alters the construction of the aluminium back to make it more durable and less prone to bending. Apple have done this in the past, like the move from the iPhone 6 to the 6S with 7000 series aluminium, which is the strongest aluminium on the market that manufacturers can use. But overall, I cant guarantee that this will be altered before the release.

Scuffgate occurred when the Apple Pencil was eroding the area around its place on the iPad

Scuffgate occurred when the Apple Pencil was eroding the area around its place on the iPad

Then the 2nd issue that we’ve had is the Scuff Gate issue. This is actually something that affects more users than the Bend Gate issue. Essentially if you have the new iPad and the 2nd generation Apple Pencil, after a few weeks or months of use, you’ll notice that the pencil has started scratching and eroding the actual aluminium frame of the iPad. The reason why this happens is because the magnets aren’t strong enough to hold the top and bottom portions of the pencil, they only hold the middle of it. This means that it will slightly move, either in your bag or when you’re carrying the iPad in your hand, and this slight movement of the pencil will cause the aluminium frame to be eroded. This is something else that Apple will not replace your iPad for. I did ask Apple about this and they’re classifying this as cosmetic damage, even though it’s a fault in the iPad itself. In my opinion, and I’m sure you’d agree, using the Apple Pencil which is a 1st party accessory, shouldn’t damage your iPad in any way.

So these 2 issues, the Bend Gate and the Scuff Gate are something that I do expect Apple to address with this new iPad Pro.

 

CONCLUSION

In terms of the release date for this 2019 iPad, it appears very likely to be the end of October, at a special Apple event where Apple will also unveil the new MacBook Pro 16” redesign. We’ve had some reports claiming this to be released in March, but personally since this will be a fairly small update, an October release it what looks to be the most likely scenario from my perspective as well. 

The Triple Lens camera module is really the only noticeable upgrade and we could kinda say the same about the iPhone 11 Pro’s. But then we got some pretty big upgrades that no one was expecting, such as the significantly improved battery life, the 4m water resistance, the speaker improvements and more.

So I do think that Apple will have some more exciting features to talk about, when it comes to this new iPad, we will just have to wait and see.