As of right now, not very much. I bought it to replace two of my iPad Air 2's, the idea was I would be able to run two music creation apps at once. As it turned out though it isn't possible as of yet, not even GargageBand supports dual app view. In fact there aren't really all that many apps that do support it, only about 120 the last time I checked. Also, over half of the apps that I've installed, including most of my music creation apps, do not support the iPad Pro's resolution yet, they look as if they were just zoomed into to make them fit the display, thus offering little to no advantage in using them on the iPad Pro. These unsupported apps are also using a different keyboard than the default. One that frankly doesn't look very nice and is missing a lot of the keys. The whole experience just feels so inconsistent and unfinished, I'm sure this will improve over time but I'm not going to hold my breathe waiting in anticipation.
I also tried to use the iPad Pro as a laptop replacement or I should say a productivity device. However O quickly lost interest in trying as It was just too frustrating to use it in that manner, especially when I have other devices better suited for this. At first I really didn't agree with Tim Cooks assessment about laptops with touchscreen's being a failed concept, partially do to ergonomics as the user has to constantly reach over the keyboard to navigate the UI. However, ironically after using the iPad Pro, I now agree with him. When used in conjunction with the keybard there are just no buts about it, I want/need mouse support. Yes, I know the iPad is meant as a touch only device but that strict paradigm went out the window once Apple released the Pro with keyboard and stylus. Especially when the iPad Pro is constantly being compared to the Surface Pro 4 and is supposedly able to replace a MacBook for a lot of tasks.
Another issue, when I wanted to use the iPad Pro as a development machine by using an online IDE and a terminal app, every time I started a compile job and than put the terminal app in the background, iOS would terminate it's connection after only 3 minutes. IOS is still the same, over 98% of the apps in the App Store still cannot run in the background. Now with 4GB of memory I would have assumed Apple had fixed this, apparently not. They just need to add a user controlled switch to turn this feature on and off for when we're out and about and need the extra battery.
Then there is still the problem with document management, which frankly still sucks. Apps should not manage their own files and should be stored in a central location, with a common UI in which all apps have to use for accesing them. iCloud should not be the solution for this as dealing with local files is extremely important for a lot of us, why even offer 128GB of space locally than, just give us all 100GB of iCloud storage instead.
Another problem I have is with charging the unit, while being used the iPad Pro just doesn't want to charge. Not unless I shutdown every single opened app except one, than it will start to trickle charge. I think the supplied charger is way to small for the unit.
The Pencil, it's a wonderful stylus however since the iPad Pro is such a finger magnet I really wanted a stylus that I could use everywhere and not just supported apps, so I never really use the Pencil all that much. Instead I use either my Jot Touch or Adobe Ink, both are Bluetooth stylus's with palm rejection and pressure sensitivity. Their both really good stylus's, especially the Jot and I honestly can not see the difference between them. I don't really draw all that much, mostly notes, photo editing and the Jot/Ink can be used through out the system and apps. I might break out the Pencil if I do draw or color with my children but really guys, besides the shading feature where you can use the side tip of the Pencil, the other stylus's, again, especially the Jot are pretty darn close or at least I can't tell the difference, nor could anyone else that I've let try.
Overall I'm extremely dissapointed with my purchase as I haven't been able to use it for what I bought it for and haven't found any substantial alternative use for it yet that has convinced me it was worth the $1600 I paid for it and it's accessories. iPad Pro 128GB LTE $1080, Pencil $99, keyboard $169, silicone case $79, Apple Care $99. I'm still using my iPad Air's for music creation and I still prefer using either my Samsung Tab S2 8" (yes a Samsung but it's actually a really nice tablet" or Pixel C (which is now my new favorite tablet of all time) for my other tablet needs as the iPad Pro is just to big to be used as a portable device or hold for any long periods of time So as of right now my son is using it the most as he likes playing games on it do to it's size. I do like to read magazines on it though, Issuu is one of the few apps that I really like and supports the iPad Pro's resolution.
^^^ I'll only comment on your charging issue. Have you done a hard reboot (press and hold the Home button and the Lock button, the one on the right-hand side, for about ten seconds)? If that doesn't solve it try a different socket. I've no problems charging mine, although you shouldn't expect such a massive battery to charge as fast as the much smaller iPhone battery.
Comments
I also tried to use the iPad Pro as a laptop replacement or I should say a productivity device. However O quickly lost interest in trying as It was just too frustrating to use it in that manner, especially when I have other devices better suited for this. At first I really didn't agree with Tim Cooks assessment about laptops with touchscreen's being a failed concept, partially do to ergonomics as the user has to constantly reach over the keyboard to navigate the UI. However, ironically after using the iPad Pro, I now agree with him. When used in conjunction with the keybard there are just no buts about it, I want/need mouse support. Yes, I know the iPad is meant as a touch only device but that strict paradigm went out the window once Apple released the Pro with keyboard and stylus. Especially when the iPad Pro is constantly being compared to the Surface Pro 4 and is supposedly able to replace a MacBook for a lot of tasks.
Another issue, when I wanted to use the iPad Pro as a development machine by using an online IDE and a terminal app, every time I started a compile job and than put the terminal app in the background, iOS would terminate it's connection after only 3 minutes. IOS is still the same, over 98% of the apps in the App Store still cannot run in the background. Now with 4GB of memory I would have assumed Apple had fixed this, apparently not. They just need to add a user controlled switch to turn this feature on and off for when we're out and about and need the extra battery.
Then there is still the problem with document management, which frankly still sucks. Apps should not manage their own files and should be stored in a central location, with a common UI in which all apps have to use for accesing them. iCloud should not be the solution for this as dealing with local files is extremely important for a lot of us, why even offer 128GB of space locally than, just give us all 100GB of iCloud storage instead.
Another problem I have is with charging the unit, while being used the iPad Pro just doesn't want to charge. Not unless I shutdown every single opened app except one, than it will start to trickle charge. I think the supplied charger is way to small for the unit.
The Pencil, it's a wonderful stylus however since the iPad Pro is such a finger magnet I really wanted a stylus that I could use everywhere and not just supported apps, so I never really use the Pencil all that much. Instead I use either my Jot Touch or Adobe Ink, both are Bluetooth stylus's with palm rejection and pressure sensitivity. Their both really good stylus's, especially the Jot and I honestly can not see the difference between them. I don't really draw all that much, mostly notes, photo editing and the Jot/Ink can be used through out the system and apps. I might break out the Pencil if I do draw or color with my children but really guys, besides the shading feature where you can use the side tip of the Pencil, the other stylus's, again, especially the Jot are pretty darn close or at least I can't tell the difference, nor could anyone else that I've let try.
Overall I'm extremely dissapointed with my purchase as I haven't been able to use it for what I bought it for and haven't found any substantial alternative use for it yet that has convinced me it was worth the $1600 I paid for it and it's accessories. iPad Pro 128GB LTE $1080, Pencil $99, keyboard $169, silicone case $79, Apple Care $99. I'm still using my iPad Air's for music creation and I still prefer using either my Samsung Tab S2 8" (yes a Samsung but it's actually a really nice tablet" or Pixel C (which is now my new favorite tablet of all time) for my other tablet needs as the iPad Pro is just to big to be used as a portable device or hold for any long periods of time So as of right now my son is using it the most as he likes playing games on it do to it's size. I do like to read magazines on it though, Issuu is one of the few apps that I really like and supports the iPad Pro's resolution.