iPAD PRO (2020) REVIEW: A MODEST IMPROVEMENT ON A GREAT TABLET

APPLE AUGMENTED A FEW KEY SPECS FOR THIS MODEL, BUT ITS AUGMENTED REALITY-FOCUSED LIDAR SCANNER SEEMS LIKE A POOR FIT FOR THE iPAD.

- LEIF JOHNSON

In 2018 the new iPad Pro was bold and sleek, and just what Apple needed to shake up a product line that was starting to show its age. Unlike its predecessors, it featured Face ID, a new and improved Apple Pencil, a USB-C port, thin bezels, and a blazing fast processor.

The 2020 model looks and performs much the same, but now much of the initial excitement has settled. Instead of going for a new design, Apple used this updated model to test-drive some technology that may become more important to other Apple products down the line, although it’s not particularly exciting or even well-suited for this particular device. This is unquestionably the best iPad ever made, but the real question is whether all of its flashy features make it the best iPad for you.

AUGMENTED SPECS

This review is based on the 12.9-inch model, which is identical to the 11-inch model in virtually every respect aside from screen size and weight. (The 12.9inch model with cellular weighs 1.42 pounds; its 11-inch counterpart weighs just over a pound.)

From the front, the 2020 iPad Pro could pass for a clone of the 2018 model. The 11.05-by-8.46-inch dimensions for the 12.9-inch model are the same, it still has a USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 port, and it still charges the second-generation Apple Pencil (go.macworld.com/apg2) through a magnetic strip on the side. Were it not for the new square camera bump accommodating the extra lenses in this model, even the backside would look identical. Unfortunately, because of that bump, you won’t be able to reuse a 2018 Smart Keyboard Folio with this case, unless you don’t mind the back cover awkwardly jutting out because of the poor fit.