The best flagship iPad you can buy is now the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. Apple’s 9.7-inch iPad Pro is a familiar and excellent product. While a smaller version of the large 12.9-inch iPad Pro Apple just launched last fall may seem like a quick solution to iPad sales problems (it more or less peaked in 2014 and has been flat-to-falling ever since), it would be foolish to think that the company developed the 9.7 edition quickly. It’s safe to assume that it was on the drawing board when Apple was developing the first iPad Pro.
On the other hand, the somewhat unwieldy $799, 12.9-inch iPad Pro has probably not been a big consumer hit (no one expected it to be), and Apple desperately needed a fresh start for its flagship iPad. The 9.7-inch iPad Pro is it.
Apple has not discontinued the iPad Air 2 (or iPad minis, for that matter), but there’s so much more power and utility in the new tablet that it’s hard to imagine why anyone would opt for an Air 2. And if you think the price is a reason, keep in mind that $100 more not only gets you double the storage space of the base model iPad Air 2, but it also significantly ramps up the processing power and gets you Apple’s best iSight camera with 4K video recording.
A little body work
As I mentioned earlier, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro looks almost exactly like the iPad Air 2. The dimensions are identical and both weigh an incredibly light 0.96 pounds.
The Touch ID-enabled home button is the same and supports Apple Pay for in-app purchases. Design cues like the chamfered edges on the top (it’s the tiniest bit wider) and curves leading to the flat bottom are the same. The Power/Sleep button and the volume rocker are also unchanged. Apple finally did away with the black (or white) plastic strip on the iPad back and clad the antenna in the same aluminum as the rest of the body. It’s a nice touch.
There are bigger differences and similarities to the much larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Like the larger iPad Pro, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro has four powerful speakers — two grills along each short edge — along the top and bottom (in portrait mode).
And then there’s the camera.
Image: Brittany Herbert/Mashable
The 9.7-inch iPad Pro is the first iPad with a camera that sticks out about a millimeter from the back of the device. It’s a familiar look, one we’ve seen on the iPhone 6 and 6S devices. In this instance, the extra space accommodates a powerful 12-megapixel iSight camera. There are clear benefits to having this powerful shooter in an iPad, but I do wonder why Apple is getting so comfortable discarding its commitment to smooth lines and clean surfaces. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing about the 9.7-inch iPad Pro that’s sloppy, but it no longer sits perfectly flat on a table.
The other difference is the introduction of the Smart Connector (yes, just like the one on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro). Apple has done an excellent job of making these three copper connectors barely noticeable.
See it
While the 9.7-inch iPad Pro’s 2,048 x 1,536 screen resolution is the same as the iPad Air 2, the display is actually an upgrade from both the iPad Air 2 and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro (leaving aside the latter’s higher 2,732 x 2,048 resolution).
Image: Brittany Herbert/Mashable
The 9.7-inch iPad Pro introduces a much brighter (500 nits, as measured by Apple) screen that’s noticeable to the naked eye, reduced reflectivity that doesn’t kill reflectivity all together, a wider color gamut and True Tone.
The merits of these last two screen features will depend largely on your point of view. Colors certainly pop on the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, but they look good on the iPad Air and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, too. People who work on art, design and photography will probably appreciate the color prowess the most.
True Tone’s impact is far more noticeable. It uses the tablet’s ambient light sensors to adjust the screen color for a more simpatico hue that may help reduce eye strain. You can turn True Tone on and off in the Display & Brightness setting. The effect is, essentially, a warming of screen colors. I’m not a fan. I like the iPad’s default, crisp-near-blue screen hue.
Formidable power
For as much as the 9.7-inch iPad Pro looks like the iPad Air 2, it takes all its power and performance cues from the larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
The processor is Apple’s top-of-the-line A9X. For comparison, the iPad Air 2 still runs the A8X chip. Benchmark numbers are just as good as the ones I saw on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, despite the fact that the 9.7-inch iPad Pro has half as much RAM (2GB versus 4 GB on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro).
The tablet also starts with twice as much storage space as the base model iPad Air (32GB instead of 16GB).
And, of course, there’s the 12-megapixel iSight camera, which not only shoots sharper images and 64-megapixel panoramas, but also records videos in 4K resolution.
The big picture
I will never be a fan of shooting photos and videos with an iPad. Even at 9.7 inches, it’s virtually impossible to hold it and shoot pictures with one hand. That said, the camera takes gorgeous shots (as crisp as the iPhone 6S does), along with super-sharp 4K video. There’s also a dual-LED flash accompanying the back camera — a first on an iPad.
With such a large device, though, you would think Apple could’ve squeezed in optical image stabilization (as it does on the iPhone 6S Plus). I bet it does that on the next one. While it shoots animation-style Live Photos, there’s no 3D touch for enabling them on the screen. Instead, you hold your finger on the photo for a moment and it starts playing back (complete with sound). The effect on the larger screen is even better than it is on the iPhone 6S Plus.
Image: Mashable, Lance Ulanoff
Apple also gave the FaceTime camera a nice bump up to 5 megapixels (compared to 1.2 megapixels on the iPad Air 2) and it even uses the Retina Flash, where the screen flashes bright white (3x brighter than normal) for more natural looking selfies. The images I took on the 9.7-inch iPad Pro looked a lot more natural than the ones I got from the old iPad Air 2.
As with most powerful systems, it’s hard to stress the 9.7-inch iPad Pro with everyday operations like word processing, video streaming and web browsing. It is a roughly 2.2GHz processor, after all. But you can see some of the power in the 9.7-inch iPad Pro’s ability to handle smooth, console-level gaming and 4K video editing in iMovie. I pulled in 4K video I shot with both the iPad Pro and with a DJI Phantom 4 drone. I edited and combined two streams into the video below. There was no lag or hiccups during the editing process. The slowest part was exporting the final video.
It’s kind of mind-blowing how much power there is in this lightweight tablet.
Making it a system
Apple’s larger goal with the 9.7-inch iPad Pro is for consumers to use it as a laptop replacement. The system certainly has the power (if not the storage space: 128GB will run you $749 and 256GB costs $899 for the Wi-Fi only models). However, for true productivity, you’ll want to add the $149 Smart Keyboard and $99 Apple Pencil.
Image: Brittany Herbert/Mashable
The keyboard is a mini-me version of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro’s Smart Keyboard. It doubles as a cover that attaches magnetically to the Smart Connector. It folds up to support the tablet and the keyboard has the same gray mesh fabric covering, which keeps the nicely spaced keys sealed and protected from crumbs.
Wondering how the 9.7-inch iPad Pro Smart Keyboard stacks up against the 12.9 version? Here’s your answer: Cramped but OK pic.twitter.com/AFYATuA9bb
— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) March 23, 2016
There’s no getting around the fact that this is not a full-sized keyboard. Made to match the 9.4-inch width of the iPad Pro, it’s better-than-usable, but also a little cramped. Those with smaller fingers may love it. I’m still wishing Apple would introduce one more flap that folds out and becomes a little trackpad. Sure, I can touch the screen, but I can do that on a Surface Pro 4, too, and I still use the trackpad all the time.
Speaking of cramped: The 9.7-inch iPad Pro is just as able a multi-tasker as the 12.9-inch model. Both run iOS 9 (9.3, actually) and I truly love working in split screen. But let’s face it, halving 12.9-inches is a lot different than halving 9.7 inches. In split-screen mode, the 9.7-inch’s screen size is a little bit of a liability. You may get used to it, though, if you don’t keep switching back and forth between the iPad Pro and a full-sized laptop.
Image: Brittany Herbert/Mashable
Unlike the iPad Air 2, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro works with the Apple Pencil. This elegantly styled Bluetooth pen is not just a great drawing tool. Apple’s done an excellent job of pairing the on-screen result with the Pencil tip. As a result, even upon close examination, it’s hard to believe the digital ink isn’t flowing right out of the Apple Pencil. It’s an attribute that will come in handy not only for drawing (on apps like Procreate), but in CAD apps like Formit 360 and anatomy apps like Essential Anatomy.
Like most other iPads, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro is great for reading, web browsing, video and gaming. I did all this and more over the course of six hours of continuous use and drained the battery down to 5%. Not a full day of battery life (nor the nine hours I got with the 12.9-inch model) but not bad, either.
The iPad you want
Did Apple just raise the price of the best iPad? Yes, it did. Is it worth it? When you consider the components and storage in the $599, 9.7-inch iPad Pro, absolutely.
I don’t know if this new Pro model will revitalize the iPad market, b