Highlights

• New Home-screen
• Dark Mode
• New Multitasking features
• 3rd Party Storage compatibility
• Sidecar with Mac OS Catalina

Apple announced a separate OS dedicated to iPads in this year’s WWDC. Till last year the iPad used to run on the same iOS that also powered iPhone. However, it did limit the growth of what iPad is capable of doing. This was one of the primary reason why Apple decided to create an OS specifically dedicated to the iPad. This all-new iPad OS adds many new features to the iPad such as new multitasking options, updated home screen, 3rd part storage compatibility and many more.

1. New Home-screen

With iPad OS the widgets now live on the side next to all of your apps. Moreover, your favourite widgets can now also be pinned to the front page which is a pretty handy feature. Furthermore, now you can get more apps on the main screen as apple has added 1 more row and a column to the app’s grid. This was made possible by shrinking the icons and making the dock available for further app additions.

2. Dark Mode

Perhaps the most anticipated feature of the iPad is the dark mode. Combined with the new home-screen, this looks stunning in the night. Moreover, you also have the option to automatically enable dark mode after sunset with just a single click. This is quite useful as it means your iPad won’t glare at you when you decide you’re going to binge-watch something at 11 pm when you actually should be in bed.

3. New Multitasking Features

This is one of the biggest feature that sets the iPad OS apart from IOS. Though for the novice user this can be seen as a bit overwhelming, However, when you get the gist of it, then you can realise how easy they make our lives while multitasking. Apple calls it “Slide Over” which enables you to drag an app from the dock and float it on your screen. Though this isn’t a new feature it has several new improvements compared to the existing multitasking on the iPad. Basically now, you can have multiple apps at once in Slide Over. It’s a collection of apps you can overlay over the main app you’re working in – or over two apps you’re using in Split View. You can now also open two simultaneous tabs of the same app as well, For eg. you can open a mail on one side while composing another one.

4. 3rd Party Compatibility

Finally, you can now connect your iPad with pen-drive, external hard drives or even sync with a DSLR camera directly from your device. There’s also a new column view that’s reminiscent to the approach used in macOS

5. SideCar (iPad as a second screen)

With sidecar, you will be able to use your iPad with your MacBook as a second screen. This is quite a handy feature that lets you use your iPad as a basic display, but also as a drawing tablet when combined with Apple Pencil, which is bound to appeal to users who use their iPads creatively.

Image Source: mspoweruser.com

What’s New

• Completely Redesigned iPad
• Comes in 12.9 and 11-inch variant
• A12x Bionic Octa-core processor
• Edge to Edge display
• 2388 x 1668 pixels, 264ppi Retina LCD display
• Face ID
• USB Type C port
• Up to 1 TB internal storage

Apple released two very interesting tablets last year, that could be one of the best tablets ever made. With its all-new design, edge to edge display, Face ID, 4 speakers, USB type C Port it packs quite a lot of features. From specs, impression and design. Here’s everything you need to know about the iPad Pro 2018 model.

Price

In India, the 11-inch iPad Pro (non-cellular version) starts at around ₹ 71,900 with 64 GB storage and crosses 1 Lakh mark for 1 TB storage at ₹ 1,39,900. While the bigger model (12.9 inch) retails at Rs. 85,900 for the base 64 GB storage option.

Design

Since its release, the iPad has looked pretty much the same. However, I am glad that 2018 was the year of change for the iPad for its biggest makeover yet. Following the design of the iPhone X, the iPad no longer features a physical home button nor a 3.5 mm headphone jack. This was indeed replaced by a seamless liquid retina edge to edge display which in my opinion looks much better. This also makes the previous generations iPad look outdated in terms of design. Though the bezels aren’t overly small this gives you a little bit extra room to hold the tablet without touching the screen accidentally. The iPad Pro also comes in 2 sizes (11 and 12.9 inches) along with 2 beautiful variants – silver and space grey.

Display

The iPad Pro features a 264ppi “Liquid Retina Display”, which quoting from apple, allows the screen to “follow the curves of the device, while a new backlight design allows the display to extend into the corners.”. Moreover, the iPad also packs in apple’s ProMotion display allowing a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz, thus allowing gamers and designers to experience a much faster refresh rate while using iPad Pro. At the same time, the viewing angles are also very wide and colour reproduction is excellent. Overall the edge to edge display is outstanding and accounts for much better user experience.

Camera

On the backside, the iPad pro has a 12 MP camera (which I find slightly more protruding ) whereas there is a 7MP true depth camera on the front. Though I think the back camera in comparison, gained only minor improvements, retaining the same 12 megapixels as the previous generations iPads. Apart from that the camera is equipped with Smart HDR and is also capable of recording 4K video at up to 60fps which is double the frame rate from last year.

Features

Powered by A12X bionic chip and a 7-core GPU, the graphics performance of the iPad Pro has been 2x than the last year’s iPad. The iPad Pro also comes with Face ID which Apple says is more fast and secure than the Touch ID used in its predecessors model. Moreover, the Face ID is also capable of recognizing the face in both portrait and landscape mode which I find pretty handy. Furthermore, the introduction of USB type C which allows iPad Pro to connect to an external monitor, transfer images from memory cards into Photos, use a wired keyboard or even connect to an Ethernet network. As for audio, the new iPad Pro models come with a four-speaker setup that houses two woofers and two tweeters offering wider stereo sound.

Overall, all the aspects of the 2018 iPad pro are pretty good. Liquid Retina display, 120 Hz refresh rate, the cameras, Face ID, Stereo Speakers all makes it one of the best tablet out there. Though the only downside is its pricing which as mentioned earlier crosses the ₹ 1 Lakh + mark thus making it accessible to only people with a high-end budget.

Key Specifications –

• Display – 12.9 inches (2048 x 2732 pixels)
• Processor – Apple A12X Bionic Processor
• Front Camera – 7MP
• Rear Camera – 12MP, HDR
• Storage and RAM – 1 TB, 6 GB RAM or 64/256/512 GB, 4 GB RAM
• iOS 12
• Colours – Silver, Space Grey
• Price – Starting from ₹99,900