iPad Pro 2018: Professional Amateur

---

iPad Pro 2018

The little girl in the film took her iPad Pro to go down the street, write and draw, take pictures, talk to friends FaceTime , send iMessage , read comics ... When she finally returned to her backyard, kneeling on the grass with the keyboard When typing on the iPad , her mother asked, what are you doing on the computer? She used a question to ask her mother's question and also threw out the theme of the advertisement. She said, What's a computer ?

This last question instantly angered the entire technology circle. Today, this video has been "tread" on YouTube more than "Like" (Apple deleted this video in the process of writing this article), people have jumped up and accused Apple of arrogance, actually dare to use The iPad replaces the computer.

The reason I bought the iPad Pro is very simple. I want to use it to replace my MacBook Pro 13' . I need a portable computer that is fast enough and thin enough to help me with writing and content processing in a mobile scene, and I also need a tablet that can do light web browsing, reading, and multimedia entertainment. I replaced the iPhone a little before .

I know very well what I need an iPad Pro to do, so I can also give this conclusion directly. Today's iPad Pro is not professional at all, and it is even more impossible to replace the Mac with the "computer". It can only help you with some light work requirements. I buy it and use it to meet this demand.

All the new features of the iPad Pro today exude a strong sense of amateur temperament and even consumption, not "professional."

Liquid Retina Screen & Face ID

More than a year ago, I was thinking about "using the iPad Pro to solve the mobile work needs."

At that time, I was thinking about buying a recently released iPad Pro 10.5 . Compared to the previous 9.7 or 12.9 iPad Pro , the 10.5 frame is narrower and fits my needs in terms of size and weight. But the iPhone X that was exposed at the time used the message of Face ID and I finally chose to wait. Because I really like the Smart Cover "clamshell that is unlocked" product design, and Face ID is the ability to design once again return to this technology, the idea has always supported me, and today we start buying the iPad Pro .

The iPad Pro 2018 has a "rounded" Liquid Retina screen, which is Apple 's exclusive name for the " LCD Full Screen." On the iPhone X , Apple Watch Series 4 and iPad Pro 2018 , I got a complete and coherent "full screen experience."

The change in screen form is not that significant for the iPad Pro . On the one hand , the screen share of the iPad Pro 10.5 is already very high; on the other hand, because the edge of the screen is there, the interaction with the iPad does not change radically. When the previous iPad is in landscape mode, you can slide from the bottom to multitasking. You can switch apps by keyboard shortcuts , and you can call out the second app from the side . As Home disappearance key, in fact, from 6 years ago, you would be able to do Home key, but by "four fingers gather" this gesture to return to Home of.

The larger size of the iPad determines that it is not a device that interacts around the Home button. The things we do most on the iPad are tap, swipe, gesture, Drag & Drop... all this interaction in the iPad Pro 2018 piece of Liquid Retina screen, there will be no change in the nature.

The fundamental difference is still the Face ID .

Even after using the Face ID for a year on the iPhone X , I was amazed when I experienced the Face ID of the iPad Pro 2018 .

Face ID on iPhone X , after a long period of use, I formed some kind of muscle memory. Whether standing, sitting, walking on the road or lying in bed, when I lift the iPhone , the head and hands will perform a subconscious rapid coordination, so that the distance and angle of the phone to the face are in a relatively appropriate position. To improve the success rate of Face ID unlocking. Because of the existence of "bangs" on the top of the iPhone , I was able to clearly recognize when I used Face ID that there was "a pair of eyes" watching me. And I need to cooperate with this kind of "gaze" to complete the test.

But on the iPad Pro 2018 , this thing has become completely different. First of all, because there is no "bang" and the design of the whole body is very symmetrical, when you pick up the tablet, you often don't know where the Face ID sensor is, so you can't make some kind of advance adjustment. Since the iPad Pro is farther away from the face, and Apple has been optimized by the algorithm, the actual effect is that as long as your hand does not block the camera, it rarely needs to be adjusted twice (regardless of hand adjustment or head adjustment). ) to make the Face ID correctly recognize your face. At some point, I picked up the iPad Pro from the bed , and didn't even realize that I needed Face ID recognition, and I was unlocked with a single stroke.

In [ last year's iPhone X review ] , I said Face ID "With the iteration of product technology, there is a complete condition in the working mechanism to bring about a further revolution." Today, this technology has evolved even faster than I thought. On the iPad Pro , Face ID is very close to my ideal way of working, and the future development path is also clearer.

102 magnets

Before the release of the iPad Pro 2018 , my source told me that the internal structure complexity of the iPad Pro has increased several times compared with the previous one, and the price increase is almost inevitable. For the price increase, I have been psychologically prepared. What I care about is that Apple pushes the product to some extreme from the dual dimensions of technology and price. What can it bring to us?

Everything starts with the look of the iPad Pro 2018 . When the original drawing leaked out, the iPad Pro 2018 seemed to be somehow unified with the MacBook Pro in the design language (someone ridiculed that this is a tribute to the iPhone 5 design language). This is very reasonable, because the iPad and the iPhone have a dream of being in the same day and two days. Whether in the market positioning or the arrangement of the product line, the iPad has long been developing towards the Mac . The pace of business performance of both companies is also very approximate.

After the product was released, I realized that the "change" is not a visual issue at all. Under the characterization of shape changes, Apple has completely refactored the experience of the full set of iPad Pro accessories.Specifically, Apple put 102 magnets in the iPad Pro 2018. The 102 magnets have been carefully designed so that the Smart (Keyboard) Folio can be perfectly attached to both sides of the iPad , so the new keyboard has more Simple use of logic, unlike the previous generation, is quite complicated to fold. The connection keys of the new keyboard have also been changed from the side of the iPad to the back side, but the logic of the "side suction" has not changed. Only when the side of the iPad Pro is firmly attached to the keyboard will the system recognize that the keyboard has entered the "Usage state" and enable the keyboard. At other times, whether you fold the keyboard to the back of the iPad , or just open the keyboard cover, iOS will still use the soft keyboard by default, disable the physical keyboard to prevent accidental touch.

The trouble with Apple Pencil and the ugly charging method are also solved by this "magnet system". The new Apple Pencil can be attached to the side of the iPad Pro 2018 while charging wirelessly. It has a better texture, from the smooth finish to the current matte texture. The cylinder has a flat surface on the pen that allows the pen to fit over the iPad body. Based on this plane, the new Apple Pencil also has a "double-click" interaction (like AirPods ), in the system's own Notes you can double-click the pen to switch between "pen" and "rubber". Third-party apps can also call this interaction to implement some functionality.

The new iPad Pro has undergone a transformation from the inside out at the product level, so that the fruit powder can not help but praise. But in this layer of appearance, whether it is a keyboard or a pen, from the perspective of use, there is no fundamental difference from the previous generation.

One way of saying this is that for "professional users", it is not expensive to buy a set of iPad Pro for 10,000 yuan , because you can use this system to create more value. I certainly agree with this statement, which is why I will spend 10,000 yuan to buy an iPad Pro . But the mistake of this kind of discourse is that the more professional the field, the more "cost-effective" is a key factor. "Professional" is about input and output. "Doing a good job" is still a very useful word in the professional field. Even if you are engaged in creative work, it can make a professional value really sustainable.

I have seen a burden from today's Apple product line, a burden of "it must be upgraded to promote product sales." This burden led to two negative outcomes, one similar to the "full embrace of Thunderbolt 3 , the elimination of 3.5mm headphone jacks, and the result of our trip to bring a bunch of messy adapters" product experience retrogression, and the other is I found the ideal product evolution direction, but the cost is high, so the price of the product will rise. The 102 magnets are the most typical embodiment.

I won't go to judge Apple's product to make a correct decision, but I think today's Apple has come to a "cliff edge." If you do not control this burden, you may end up with a heavy accumulation.

Mobile production: interactive splitting

Before I bought the iPad Pro , I thought about doing a lot of complicated things with the iPad .

For example, use it to post a blog; color the photo, do some simple post-processing; use it to cut the podcast ... This is the reason I convinced myself to buy the iPad Pro , and it is also an excuse.

To become a professional device, the iPad Pro needs to evolve a complete and effective professional interaction paradigm. But so far, Apple has not completely thought about how this paradigm should be designed.

The iPad Pro that Jobs thinks about is a content consumer device. It has a larger screen for better presentation of content. Whether it's photos, web pages, games, e-books, iPads are excellent carriers. It has a strong battery life and a slim body, so it was so popular at the beginning of its life that it became a family entertainment. Equipment selection.

But when the iPad Pro wants to be a "productivity" tool, it inevitably faces a pair of contradictions. What does the iPad Pro inherit? Is it a full set of touch interactions under the iOS system, or is the Mac's decades of mouse and keyboard interaction in the professional field?

When I started trying to use the iPad Pro for "professional work," the biggest contradiction I encountered was the conflict between different ways of interacting. I sometimes need to iPad like a MacBook as typing stand on the table from time to time he raised his arm " Drag & Drop " sometimes needs to iPad flat on a table with Apple Pencil to paint, while they need to Smart Keyboard Folio take Down, holding the iPad to read (because the keyboard is too heavy), and then need to find a way to put the iPad to a suitable angle to watch the video. Needless to say, the iPad , which naturally has two "directions" (rather than the default vertical screen in 99% of mobile phones ) , has never fundamentally solved the problem of the same app in different directions.

All contradictions and fragmentation have determined that the iPad Pro is not an "efficient" device.

iPad Pro makes users feel a bit "witter" from time to time, but this is not the biggest problem. Even more troublesome is that for developers, the separation of this interaction makes software design and development quite difficult. The third-party software adaptation on the iPad has a variety of problems, and there are very few apps that really do well at the product design level . The best experience you can get on the iPad Pro is still the set of e-books, videos, and pictures. After eight years of development , the iPad is now able to meet the best needs, still content consumption.

But that doesn't mean the iPad Pro can't be a good "tool."

From the first day of the iPad Pro , everyone has been discussing how it "replaces" MacBook . But how can a mobile device that has been around for 8 years be more capable and efficient than a device that has more than 30 years of history? iPad Pro has never been born to replace the MacBook . It's essentially a mobile device, and the ultimate value is to extend your creative work into more scenarios.

After using the iPad Pro for a month , I found that I want to "take full advantage of the iPad Pro " is not so complicated, I can use it to read RSS while waiting in the car , you can write on the train, what is important is its The volume and weight allow me to take it out without any worries, put it in the most carry-on bag, and use it at any time; even take it to every corner of the room and use it in any position.As an article about writing iPad , most of this article was written with the iPad Pro . But I didn't get too entangled in the form, or entangled some of the "smart skills" using the iPad . When I was able to use the Mac , I also did a lot of data collection and editing proofreading work on the Mac .

Although the way I use the iPad Pro is simple, it doesn't prevent me from integrating it into my workflow, making it an important part of my workflow and using it quite heavily.

New "professional"

Nilay Patel said in the verge 's iPad Pro review, "The device should be adapted to the user, and the user should not adapt the device." For professional users, this sentence is naturally the supreme truth. Professional users don't need to be thin, beautiful, and elegant. They need a variety of interfaces, durable shells, excellent heat dissipation, and reasonable price to suit their diverse work environments. They often even need to prepare two sets of equipment that can be replaced each other to prevent accidents. Only amateur consumers will adapt to the device, even if they have learned to use Nokia to quickly play text messages in their pockets, they can't help but seduce the iPhone and actively adapt to the touch keyboard.

If we are to explore the essence of the concept of "professionalism", the first words I think of are "efficiency" and "stability." Therefore, real professional users will not use the iPad Pro to carry out the main work. Compared with the keyboard-based computer, the iPad Pro is neither efficient nor stable today.

Real professional users are never bothered and hard. They have been trained for many years, so that they can take advantage of the cumbersome camera to fly, use two huge 4K screens to get information efficiently, and then write the contents on the mechanical keyboard. come out. You talk to professional users about the portable advantages of the iPad Pro compared to the MacBook Pro . They will lose a camera, three lenses, a tripod, four batteries, three memory cards to your face, and teach you what is real. profession.

Professionalism is equal to "efficiency + stability". With these two characteristics, everything is complicated and cumbersome. If you're thinking about buying an iPad Pro for work, you have to realize that iPad Pro is far from real "professional work", and we can repeat it for 5-10 years. Today, I want to adapt the iPad Pro to the work stack of a professional team, which has great difficulties in interaction and software ecology. What it can do is more of the "pre-work" of professional work. You can use it to write something and draw something. Its extremely mobile nature allows you to do simple creative work almost anywhere, anytime. And using it to learn would be a good choice, because for students, you don't need to adapt yourself to any technology stack.

But one thing I can't help thinking about is that 30 years ago, the first creators who embraced the Mac and embraced the computer gave up paper and pen, abandoned traditional instruments, and gave up analog electronic devices. Is it a "professional user"?

I know that the answer here is by no means simple "yes" or "no". The Mac was not a "professional device", but it was just a part of professional users. In the amateur, with some kind of curiosity, and embracing the Mac with some unprofessional attitude , it was the change of computer history in the past 30 years. . Today's iPad Pro , perhaps with a similar "chemical reaction" with our generation. It has become an excellent device because of its many excellent features, allowing us to create in a new perspective. Its thinness, power saving, touch interaction, connectivity, Apple Pencil , and AR make it a different device. And this difference is inspiring a generation. As well as a less positive example, today there are a lot of video authors who use mobile phones to shoot, and also reflect the change of the concept of "professional" from one angle. Along with the development and evolution of the iPad Pro itself, Apple’s shocking question, What’s a computer?, will become a reality.

The so-called "amateur" will eventually become a new "professional".

First iPad

I had the opportunity to own an iPad for the first time , when I graduated from high school. The third-generation iPad , which was called the new iPad , had a Retina screen for the first time . At the time, some critics predicted that the name " the new iPad " might mean that Apple is positioning the iPad from the perspective of the Mac . Sure enough, since then, the iPad has become more and more like a Mac on the product line until the iPad Pro comes out, and it is today.

At the time, I chose the latter between the iPad and the iPod classic + Hi-Fi headset, because I was a more fanatical music fan at the time. More importantly, as a college student, I spend most of my time sitting in front of my computer. I don't feel that I need an iPad to fill the gap between " iPhone " and "laptop." Two years later, I bought an iPad mini 2 to play mobile games. It was also taken to the gym by me, watching animations and episodes while running. Later, this iPad mini 2 was also left on the bed for a long time because I changed my new iPhone and gym.

One of the words that people often use when evaluating iPads. The size of the iPhone XS Max can be displayed no smaller than the iPad mini ; the iPad Pro 12.9 plus the keyboard is even heavier than the 12 -inch MacBook . My biggest concern about the iPad was here. If the meaning of the iPad as a "professional device" has been only on the two aspects of portability and battery life, when the MacBook of the ARM chip comes out, the MacBook can also have a strong energy consumption ratio. , the iPad turn go from here? Or, the soul of the iPad should belong to iOS ? Or macOS ?

Strictly speaking, this iPad Pro 2018 is a bit like my first iPad . For the first time in the past 20 days, I have really used the iPad for the first time . I don't dare to say what the future of the iPad will be, but I at least think that iOS or touch-based interactions make the iPad have some unique charm and value.

I am such a poor person from the youngest to the big art, I also began to try to paint something with Apple Pencil . In the past week, I read the 8- hour book with the iPad ; the ARKit- based document scanning system allows me to Easily electronically file ... All of this is the unique features and capabilities of the iPad , with a broad space for development.

Jobs separated three requirements on KeyNote when introducing the first generation of iPad . The iPhone allows you to stay connected to the world at all times. The iPad allows you to better consume content and provide light productivity. The Mac is the best personal computer.

Perhaps they all have a bright future.