Yes, the Surface range of devices, while initially heavily pushed, including by IT departments (one OS instead of two to support I guess and...IT love for Microsoft) seem to have had their day. Most people seem to go for ‘two in one’ laptops by HP, Lenovo and Dell when they want tablet functionality. I guess MS isn’t heartbroken by that though, they all use Windows 10, although it would like Surface to be a success. But no one should pretend that any of these Win10 devices approaches anywhere within cooey the tablet performance of an iPad, and I expect they mostly get used as a laptop and the touch function is limited to scrolling and initial point to place the cursor.
But Kita’s point stands, iPadOS does hold the iPad Pro back. The file system, MS Server integration, multi user support, multitasking, multi screens, printer control functionality are software functionality improvements that come right off the top of my head that have been improved over the years, but are still not “there” yet.
Yes, especially once you get out of the budget PC range, 2 in 1's seem to be where its headed. And that makes sense. Take a student; he needs to be able to type a term paper (which is best done on a laptop) but then be able to take notes on PowerPoint slides (which is best done on a tablet with a pencil). From a hardware perspective, the only real difference between them is the input method: one uses a keyboard and mouse the other uses a touch screen and pencil -- the rest is largely the same (CPU, GPU, Ram, storage, power supply, etc...).
For that kind of workflow Microsoft and Dell, Lenovo, etc... have nailed it.
Apple needs to catch up.
It's nice that they maintain the purity of their products. But that doesn't get the job done.
Apple's updated iPad Pro has enjoyed a number of changes for 2021, including the use of mini LED backlighting to create the Liquid Retina XDR display in the 12.9-inch model, and a change in processor to the M1. In a follow-up interview about the changes, Greg Joswiak and John Ternus discussed why Apple made those changes.
Too bad they didn't explain why they made the change that made the current Magic Keyboard incompatible, effectively making upgraders to spend another $349. Yes, I understand that the case of the new iPad Pro is thicker, but no one could figure out to compensate for A HALF-MILLIMETER difference?
I would imagine it has to do with the new screen. Thicker screen, thicker iPad... not much can be done when it is so thin already.
Several years before the release they know that iPad 2021 (and corresponding Magic Keyboard) wold be thicker than just a year before. But they didn't consider it in the Keyboard design. Sure they will sell them well anyway. Maybe it wouldn't have been such a good design for Magic Keyboard that it needs to accommodate a thiner version of iPad Pro 2020. But it is just maybe...
Apple's updated iPad Pro has enjoyed a number of changes for 2021, including the use of mini LED backlighting to create the Liquid Retina XDR display in the 12.9-inch model, and a change in processor to the M1. In a follow-up interview about the changes, Greg Joswiak and John Ternus discussed why Apple made those changes.
Too bad they didn't explain why they made the change that made the current Magic Keyboard incompatible, effectively making upgraders to spend another $349. Yes, I understand that the case of the new iPad Pro is thicker, but no one could figure out to compensate for A HALF-MILLIMETER difference?
It’s thinker AND heavier. Also, no authoritative source has said the old keyboard is incomparable.
I wonder how Apple will differentiate the M1 iPadOS that is guaranteed a minimum of 8G memory with all the older iPads that they still need to support? Software wise it could be done but it will be interesting to see how Apple will communicate the differences between iPadOS on the entry level iPad vs the iPadOS on the new iPad Pro. That’s assuming there will be different features available only on the M1 and/or 8G iPads.
Apple's updated iPad Pro has enjoyed a number of changes for 2021, including the use of mini LED backlighting to create the Liquid Retina XDR display in the 12.9-inch model, and a change in processor to the M1. In a follow-up interview about the changes, Greg Joswiak and John Ternus discussed why Apple made those changes.
Too bad they didn't explain why they made the change that made the current Magic Keyboard incompatible, effectively making upgraders to spend another $349. Yes, I understand that the case of the new iPad Pro is thicker, but no one could figure out to compensate for A HALF-MILLIMETER difference?
I would imagine it has to do with the new screen. Thicker screen, thicker iPad... not much can be done when it is so thin already.
Several years before the release they know that iPad 2021 (and corresponding Magic Keyboard) wold be thicker than just a year before. But they didn't consider it in the Keyboard design. Sure they will sell them well anyway. Maybe it wouldn't have been such a good design for Magic Keyboard that it needs to accommodate a thiner version of iPad Pro 2020. But it is just maybe...
That is not how things work! First of all the previous iPad Pro design appeared 2 and half years ago, long before the new iPad Pro features were even established. Secondly the old keyboard is an accessory for the previous iPad, it would make no sense to design it for some other future product. Thirdly, you have no idea what were the timetables for Apple’s designs, they are certainly not completely locked years in advanced because planned features can change. And if you are speculating about timings you should also remember that the old keyboard design also had to be made long before launch... so quite probably before the new iPad Pro design was locked.
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Sure they will sell them well anyway. Maybe it wouldn't have been such a good design for Magic Keyboard that it needs to accommodate a thiner version of iPad Pro 2020. But it is just maybe...