Apple iPad Pro (2020) Review: The Definitive Tablet
"The iPad Pro 2020 is the best version of the best tablet you can buy, and no task will impress you."
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Amazing screen
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Versatile, easy-to-use software
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Packed app store with tablet-specific apps
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Neat, comfortable and light design
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Good performance
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Perfect for work or leisure
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Important accessories increase costs
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The LiDAR sensor currently has no advantage
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Expensive against competitors
The Apple iPad is the most popular tablet in the world and that we would recommend to anyone buying a new tablet. There's a brand new version of the top iPad Pro for 2020 now, but does that mean you should buy it?
Oh well. Of course. The iPad Pro has dominated the tablet market since its launch. The 2020 iPad Pro is a small update, but it's still way ahead of its rivals.
design
I purchased the 11-inch iPad Pro for review. The only difference from the 12.9-inch version is the screen size. Even the pixel density is the same for both models at 265 pixels per inch. Quite simply, one is bigger than the other and you have to decide which one best suits your needs. The larger model is probably better for artists and anyone who is serious about working with the iPad, but it may also feel a bit too big to watch videos in bed or for general home use, which I think is great for 11- works better. Inch version.
Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends
The tablet is super slim at 5.9 mm and light at 471 grams, and I've never felt tired when I propped it up or put it on my lap. The weight and dimensions are exactly the same as the iPad Pro 2018, and the overall design is similar. The back of the tablet is flat, as are the sides, which are only interrupted by perforations for the quad speakers, the USB charging port type C and three buttons. It's all very industrial, especially in space gray. It cannot be called beautiful, but there is no doubt that much has been thought about doing it just right.
For example, you would think that the flat edges would feel sharp after a while. You don't. The slightly beveled edge provides comfort and the curved corners fit exactly in the palm of your hand, so you can hold the iPad Pro for hours without digging into your hands. The matte metal case has a lot of grip and doesn't draw many fingerprints, which spoils the screen and puts it in a terrible state. The narrow 6mm bezels are just the right size to hold the tablet without accidentally touching the screen.
Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends
The camera with two lenses on the back separates it from the 2018 model and brings it stylishly closer to the iPhone 11. It gives the design of the tablet character, does not protrude too much from the surface and means that the camera is more powerful here than on anyone iPad previously. Since the selfie camera is very well hidden in the thin screen bezels and the buttons are almost flush on the sides, the feeling for the camera shock is the best way to determine which end was "up".
An ergonomic problem related to Face Unlock occurs occasionally. The camera setup is in the narrow bezels. If you hold the tablet in landscape format, you can easily hide it. It is not uncommon for the tablet to accidentally go to sleep by pressing the button. You may also need to use Face Unlock to make purchases, and you'll need to readjust your grip for the cameras to work. Fortunately, there is an arrow on the screen that points to the camera location. Like the 2018 model, the iPad Pro 2020 unfortunately does not have a 3.5 mm headphone jack.
Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends
I haven't updated my iPad since the first generation iPad Pro 12.9 released in 2015. It is a tablet that I liked very much, but was often perceived as unwieldy. Switching to the 11-inch iPad Pro 2020 is like traveling back in time, as the tiny victim of 1.9-inch screen space is nothing compared to the benefits of improved design, weight reduction, and reduced space requirements. By comparing like this, you understand how slim and user-friendly the new iPad really is and how far Apple has gotten in design in a few years.
display
The iPad Pro's Liquid Retina IPS screen measures 11 inches and has a resolution of 2388 x 1668 pixels, Apple's ProMotion 120Hz technology, true tone colors and 600 nits of brightness. The iPad Pro was the ideal video partner not only thanks to the wonderfully calibrated screen, but also thanks to the abundance of available media apps.
Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends
Although the iPad Pro doesn't show 4K video, the quality above 1080p is absolutely wonderful. The colors are perfectly coordinated – lively, bright and dynamic in equal measure, but never exaggerated or too saturated. Of course, the quality varies with the video content itself, but provided it has been filmed competently, it looks great.
The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime usually looked stunning – crisp, sharp, and full of detail. Watching Wheeler dealers via the Dplay app is not quite as nice, but not with the iPad. However, this doesn't make it any less pleasant. In contrast to a foldable smartphone like the Samsung Galaxy Fold or the Huawei Mate Xs, the aspect ratio of 4: 3 is better for watching videos, as the black bars are minimized. I preferred to watch videos on the 11-inch iPad Pro over my older 12.9-inch iPad Pro. It's just easier to use without compromising the screen size.
Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends
One of the most striking aspects is the ProMotion 120Hz screen. If you're like me and you're from a first-generation iPad Pro or other tablet without a high-refresh screen, it's amazing to look at. There is no blurring at all, and this makes viewing menus about surfing the Internet and playing games more enjoyable. It is a wonderful addition to this stunning screen.
Disadvantage? It's a shame that the screen gets pretty greasy and doesn't clean very effectively even with special cloths. If you don't buy a case or stand for the tablet, you have to hold it or pry it against things to watch videos for extended periods of time. The compatibility of video files can also be incomplete, especially if they are run from external drives. Otherwise it is error-free.
Software and productivity
IPadOS 13.4 is installed on the iPad Pro 2020. This brings with it various improvements for iOS 13, which were published at the end of 2019 and brought the tablet closer to a laptop alternative for the first time. When used normally, it feels like the iOS it is based on, and is more suitable for the larger screen with the slide-up dock menu and other improvements. Multitasking has been significantly improved, and there are now two ways to use more than one app.
Split view
Slide over floating apps Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends
Slide over exposure Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends
dock Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends
Both are easy to use and logically set up. The first is split view, where two apps, or in some cases two views of the same app, appear on the screen at the same time. Once you've learned the swipe and tap combination to make it work, it's easy, but it's a shame that not all apps work with it. For example, you cannot open a browser window next to Autotrader. If you are swiping too fast to access the dock, you can simply exit the app instead.
Slide Over fixes the problem that not all apps work with Split View and instead hovers other app windows over a main full screen app. This is helpful because you can open many windows at the same time and then switch between them in the synopsis view. This is very helpful. I have found that using pages to write an article with a research browser window open has speeded up my workflow.
The new software also introduces USB device management. The iPad has a single USB Type-C port to which I connected a hub to provide USB Type-A ports and an SD card reader. It worked fine, read and played compatible video files from a USB stick and imported pictures and videos from an SD card. However, I found that the hub – a Vava multiport model – was drawing a lot of power from the tablet. Therefore, please note that the battery will discharge faster if you use it to work or play videos.
I like typing on the glass screen of the iPad during work. The size is correct so I can still touch the guy quickly, and the software's automatic fix is activated when I make mistakes. I use Pages anyway and the quick sharing between the tablet and my Mac is very helpful. At the time of writing, I hadn't tried the new Magic Keyboard with the trackpad, which promises to really improve productivity. Without a case, the iPad Pro must be on your lap to type, which is not the most ergonomic solution. If you want to use the iPad this way, invest in a case or stand that tilts the tablet toward you.
Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends
What else? Having widgets on the home screen is nice, rather than swiping in the left view as is required on iPhone. This leads to an excellent Apple News experience on the iPad. Here too, the 11-inch model is more suitable for reading in bed than the 12.9-inch tablet due to the space requirement. Books and comics can also be read excellently on the tablet. I could keep talking about iPadOS 13.5 and all the things I like about using the iPad Pro 2020. It's quick and easy to use, animations are nifty without being intrusive, and the app store is packed with apps optimized for tablets.
The iPad Pro 2020 without a keyboard case is a fabulous all-rounder that can play beautiful videos in one minute and is suitable for some quick e-mails and basic work tasks in the next. You can later read or play games. To use it seriously for work, you need a keyboard, but even without it, the way it is recorded and used for everything is appealing and practical, supported by the clever software and this amazing screen.
Performance and games
One of the most important changes compared to the 2018 version is the new Apple A12Z bionic processor with octa-core graphics, which focuses on hardcore work tasks such as 4K video editing. Apple claims it is faster than most PC laptops. We ran a benchmark test to see how it works:
The latest Samsung tablet, the Galaxy S6, does not even come close to this score and underlines the incredible performance of the new iPad Pro. Perhaps the least pleasing thing about the iPad is that holding the tablet is painful compared to a phone or console controller. How this affects you depends on the games you enjoy. Games that rely on swiping, like Asphalt 9 Legends, Minecraft, and Bullet Hell Monday, are better than others. Asphalt 9 also looks fantastic and the performance is undoubtedly excellent.
There's not much else to say, and that's proof of the iPad Pro's flawless performance. It undeniably beats any other tablet and is not even close. If you need a device that is faster than an iPad Pro, you need something that is not a tablet.
camera
There is a double camera on the back of the iPad Pro 2020, which is one of the most important hardware updates compared to previous models. The main lens is a 12 megapixel sensor with an aperture of 1: 1.8 and the other is a 10 megapixel wide angle lens. You get the Smart HDR function, 4K video recording at up to 60 frames per second in standard and wide angle, and five microphones. In addition, the iPad Pro has a lidar sensor for measuring distances, which currently has only limited functionality. On the front is a 7 megapixel TrueDepth front camera with face unlock.
Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends
The lidar sensor is not much help at the moment. There's no obvious advantage to using the main camera, and Apple doesn't go into great detail outside of the Measure app for what you should use it for. In this way, you can quickly measure objects in the real world with the camera on the iPad. Basic shapes and elements can be recognized quickly. I think it's great that the closer you move the camera, the more detailed measurement data you can see. However, I'm not sure how often I would use it.
The camera is acceptable for a tablet and takes decent photos, but can't keep up with the iPhone 11 Pro or similarly powerful Android camera phones. The color balance is pleasant, the blue sky appears natural, the definition is good in cloudy conditions and the level of detail in close-ups. I felt that the tablet was too big to use as a camera on a regular basis. Since many tablets don't leave the house, the camera of the iPad Pro is perfectly acceptable, especially the video camera for taking quick pictures of your children or pets. However, don't be too excited about the wide-angle camera as the field of view is narrower than that of the iPhone 11 Pro and is only slightly different from the main lens.
battery
The battery in the iPad Pro lasted approximately five days with moderate daily use of approximately two hours. Charging with the included 18-watt charger took an hour to reach 47% and reached 100% in about two and a half hours. With Apple's 29W fast charger, which has to be purchased separately, the battery reached 68% in one hour and it took another hour to reach 100%.
Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends
How quickly the battery drains depends on what you do. Of course, video requires a lot of power, and at least 35% of the battery energy is used for two and a half hours. This corresponds to about seven to seven and a half hours of total video playback, which is less than the 10 hours of video usage Apple has specified. Otherwise, after two hours of general use a day, the tablet lasted five days before it needed to be recharged.
Like the last iPad Pro, the charging port is a USB Type-C port, so the Lightning cable used for the iPhone doesn't work. The included charging cable has a USB Type-C connector at both ends and not a USB Type-A connector, which may limit the wall charging blocks you use. This means you may have to carry multiple chargers around or invest in a single new charging block.
Price, guarantee and availability
The iPad Pro we spent time with is the 11-inch version with 128 GB of internal storage. It costs $ 800. If you want the same version with a 12-9 inch screen, it costs $ 1,000. Choosing more storage increases the price to a maximum of $ 1,500 for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with 1 TB. If you want a cellular connection, the total cost of your new tablet will increase by $ 150.
Apple grants a 1-year basic warranty against manufacturing and material defects. You can also pay for the extended AppleCare warranty, which also covers accidental damage and the battery, and provides technical support for two years. The prices vary depending on the coverage and product. The iPad Pro 2020 is available from Apple's own online shop and retailers such as Best Buy, as well as from mobile operators.
Our opinion
It's not often that a product meets the criteria for being "expensive but worth it", but the Apple iPad Pro 2020 does just that. It's the best version of the best tablet you can buy. If you already have version 2018, you don't really need to update it. This underscores the fact that there is nothing drastically new here, other than more power and the promise of augmented reality functions that will be activated with the lidar sensor in the future version.
Is there a better alternative?
Yes, but it depends on how you imagine using your iPad in the next few years. There's no question that the iPad Pro 2020 is the best tablet you can buy today because it's so versatile – but it's expensive. If you want a very similar experience at a lower price, you might want to look around for an iPad Pro 2018. which can still be found for less money. The simple 10.2-inch iPad only costs $ 330 and is also ideal if you don't expect a lot of work.
However, if you want to switch from a laptop to an iPad, the extra performance is worth it in the long run. If you want an Android tablet, we are fans of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 worth $ 650 and the media-oriented Galaxy Tab S5e worth $ 400. Although we haven't tested it for a long time, the Huawei MatePad Pro 5G impressed during our practical time and certainly has an enormous amount of technology, including wireless charging and a 5G connection.
You can find more recommendations in our favorite tablets from 2020.
How long it will take?
The replacement of your tablet is not carried out as regularly as with your smartphone. Depending on how often you use your tablet and what you use it for, up to five years are roughly correct. If you plan to use the iPad Pro for work, it may need to be replaced earlier, depending on your needs. If you buy a model with more internal storage, it will last longer.
The iPad Pro 2020 is not waterproof and although it has a metal back cover, the screen is still made of glass, so it can easily break when dropped. As iPad tablets focus more on productivity, they spend more time outdoors making a case and Apple's extended warranty investments. Apple regularly delivers software updates and the iPad will be supported for a few more years. For example, iPadOS 13.4.1 is also running on my original iPad Pro 12.9 2015.
Should you buy it
Yes absolutely. It is difficult to find a common entertainment or productivity task. The iPad Pro 2020 doesn't work very well, but you'll need to buy a few accessories to get the most out of its talents, and there's little reason for last-generation owners to upgrade to it.
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