The iPad Pro 9.7. I had to laugh a little when I saw it on the Apple event stream. Pen, keyboard, ultramobile and ‘the future of PCs.’ Maybe. Maybe not. Over the years of writing at UMPCPortal there’s one thing that’s for certain – 10-inch screen sizes don’t work well for keyboards and therefore don’t fulfill the full set of user requirements for a PC.Despite that, the iPad Pro 9.7 is one pretty impressive UMPC. At 437 grams it’s potentially one of the most powerful ‘PCs’ per kilo you can buy.

Read the full story

I went into the Apple keynote and an expected iPad Pro yesterday via Microsoft Edge on a Surface Pro 3. It was fun to take screenshots of the live stream, annotate them and share them via Universal apps. Connected via Gigabit Ethernet I was sure of a smooth Internet experience and I even had a webcam connected in case I wanted to dive into a Google hangout. The flexibility of the Surface Pro 3 just can’t be beaten.

Annotation via Edge on Surface Pro 3!

Read the full story

It’s just minutes after Apple have announced the iPad Pro and I have a feeling that most of you will have heard the news already, but here’s a lot more detail. A 12.9-inch 2732 x 2048 screen with an A9X CPU inside. The iPad Pro has ‘desktop class’ performance. Clearly the Surface Pro 4 has competition.

We have the iPad Pro specifications in our database.

Available in November from $799. Image set below and more information being updated after the gallery. (That’s a 38.5 Wh battery configuration in the image above.)

We have the iPad Pro specifications, including detailed images and videos, in our database.

The 12.9-inch screen has a 4:3 ratio and variable refresh rate to save battery life. 2732 x 2048 5.6 million pixels

The new A9X CPU (ARM architecture) has “desktop class” performance although Apple also say that it’s faster than 80% of small laptops. (Quote: Faster than 80% of portable PCs.)

Battery life: 10 hours (Apple: Web, video and music usage.)

4 speakers give 3x the audio volume as the iPad air 2.

The iPad Pro is 6.9mm thick and weighs just 1.57 pounds which is an impressive 712 grams.

iPad Pro Keyboard accessory:

iPad Pro Smart Keyboard mechanics.

Apple also announced the Apple Pencil which is a digitizer pen with angle and pressure sensitivity. Charging is via the lightning port on the iPad Pro.

Update: Apple have more information on the Apple Pencil here.

Annotation during the live event via Windows Edge on Surface Pro 3.

iPad Pro Pricing and availability.

The starting price is $799 for a 32 GB WiFi version. A 128 GB version will be available for $949 and there’s an LTE 128 GB version for $130 more. [That sounds a lot to pay for LTE – Ed.] There’s no 64GB version.

The iPad Pencil costs a shocking $99 and the keyboard, a critical part of the iPad Pro that needs lots of testing before it’s recommended, costs $169.

At the high-end the iPad Pro with keyboard and pen costs $1347.

The iPad Pro will be available in November. (USA and other regions.)

More iPad Pro specs. (Full specs here.)

• Battery capacity: 38.5 Wh
• Ports: Lightning connector.
• Dimensions: 305.7 mm x 220.6 mm x 6.9 mm (12 inches x 8.68 inches x 0.27 inches.)
• WiFi / BT / Wireless display: a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz) dual antennas. Bluetooth 4.2.
• Sensors: Touch ID, Three-axis gyro, Accelerometer, Barometer, Ambient light sensor, Digital compass, GPS (A-GPS and Glonass support.)
• Rear camera: 8MP iSight camera with F2.4, 5-element lens. 1080p video recording.

We’re now updating on our new iPad Pro specs page here. (Images, links, videos.)