iPad Pro 2020- The Trackpad is Here!
The new iPad Pro has a couple of minor new features, but there is a new theme to the iPad this year, and it’s bringing the laptop feel to an iPad.
What are the new Features?
- New LiDAR Scanner
- Ultra-Wide Camera Lens
- Trackpad and Mouse Support
- Magic Keyboard
- A12Z Bionic Chip (Very Minor Upgrade)
- Mouse Cursor Support
New LiDAR Scanner
The new LiDAR scanner on the 2020 iPad Pro is a cool added feature, but at the moment it is more of a gimmick compared to a true feature right now. Some apps, like IKEA, it’s pretty useful to have this to see your furniture in your room. In the future, more apps will be able to create apps for this LiDAR scanner, and there will probably be more functionality in the future with the inclusion of third-party apps.
There are also some games that take advantage of this new LiDAR scanner, and I think that this is a great feature of this new scanner. You can play some games like Angry Birds in your living room instead of on a screen, which is definitely going to be a major part of gaming in the future. There are many different situations that we could some games in, especially card games.
Ultra-Wide Camera Lens
The LiDAR scanner is cool and all, but that’s all hypothetical thinking of what could happen in the future. It could turn out to be not so liked by developers like the Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro. The Ultra-Wide lens is a really great feature that I loved when Apple introduced it on the iPhone 11 lineup, but I honestly think that the concept of having the latest and greatest cameras on an iPad isn’t the best. Most people have a smartphone to take pictures with, and they usually come out great.
Nonetheless, the new ultra-wide camera is really nice on this new iPad Pro, and to take picture of a larger group of people, or to take a super wide angle shot of a nice piece of scenery, the ultra-wide lens is really useful. The reality of this however, is that not many people will be using that amazing camera lens that the iPad Pro has.
Trackpad and Mouse Support
Apple has now added trackpad and mouse support with the new iPad Pro, and this feature will come to all iPads running iPadOS 13.4. The cursor that you see on the screen now comes with a circle, and it changes into different types of shapes depending on what you’re doing. I really like the User Interface of this new cursor support, as if you hover over the icons then the iPad hovers a bubble over the icon. In typical Apple fashion, the UI of this new cursor support feature is really nice.
Magic Keyboard
The Magic Keyboard is a great accessory that Apple created for the iPad Pro, and the design of it is really nice. The iPad floating off of the bottom is really cool, and it looks futuristic. Here are all the features it has:
- Floating Display off of the Keyboard
- New Magic Keyboard, Same as the MacBook lineup
- Strong and Heavy Hinge
- USB-C Port to Charge the Keyboard Case
- Work with the 2018 iPad Pro’s as well
These features are pretty groundbreaking, and we really haven’t seen a peripheral for the iPad Pro this great and useful mainly. However, there are some drawbacks to this Magic Keyboard, and lets start off with the weight. The iPad Pro is known to be thin and light, but this Magic Keyboard adds a LOT of weight onto it.
The 2020 MacBook Air, a full fledged laptop weighs 2.8lb, and the 12.9" iPad Pro weighs 1.41lb, and combined with the Magic Keyboard, it weighs 3lb. This is heavier than the MacBook Air, which is a big drawback, since the iPad Pro is meant to be thin and light. The Magic Keyboard is also really expensive, at $300 for the smaller one, and $350 for the larger one. This is the cost of the 10.2" iPad! Wow.
Should you buy the 2018 one instead?
The 2018 iPad Pro is a great buy right now. In the refurbished store on apples website, you can find this amazing iPad for $550! This new 2020 one starts at $800, which is still a hefty amount for an iPad that can’t run a lot of laptop apps. If you are a student, you should buy the 2020 iPad Pro because of the education discount Apple is offering. You can get one for $750, plus free AirPods, which is a $160 value. It’s like getting the 2020 iPad Pro, BRAND NEW, for $590. Really great deal.
The accessories on top of it is the problem with the iPad Pro. The Apple Pencil and the Magic Keyboard are both pretty essential accessories for the iPad Pro for the whole experience. The Apple Pencil costs $130, and the Magic Keyboard costs $300/$350 depending on the size. Just to buy the add-ons for the iPad Pro, you have to pay $430-$480 depending on the size of your iPad Pro. As you start adding up these prices, a Quad-Core MacBook Air makes MUCH more sense, since you can actually do some work on it, instead of just content consumption.
The 2020 iPad Pro is a great device, but the expensive price tag will lead some users away to the MacBook Air, which is a full-fledged laptop at the same price!
