Share

Apple Pencil, Smart Keyboard accessories in short supply following iPad Pro launch

John Gruber, one of the most influential Apple bloggers around, described the launch of the iPad Pro as “sort of… joyless” because of the 4-5 week wait times.

Advertisement

The 12.9-inch iPad Pro – 78% larger and at $799, 60% more expensive than the iPad Air 2 – is aimed squarely at this demographic. “But if Apple tried to fuse the two together, the CEO believes it might not be in the best interests of users: “…So we want to make the best tablet in the world and the best Mac in the world.

The confirmation that the new iPad Pro tablet comes with a USB 3.0-compatible Lightning port is noteworthy. And for design jobs or people who like using a stylus, there is an Apple Pencil accessory.

According to the official iPad Pro page, if a buyer preorders the 32 GB variant today in any of the color variants like silver, gold and space gray, it will be delivered by November 19 for free. The pressure-sensitive stylus was built to work with the Pro, and it is central to the most exciting apps on the device.

With such a large screen, the iPad Pro seems to be obviously gunning for another market – laptops. The desktop version of both apps can do far more, including keeping multiple documents open at once. Toward that end, Apple offers something called a Smart Keyboard, a cover for the device that turns it into a quasi-notebook computer.

Until recently, the iPad was largely positioned as an in-between device – a tool that blended numerous capabilities of a PC with the versatility and mobility of a smartphone.

The Surface Pro 4, they say, is a welcome upgrade from the Surface Pro 3.

Unfortunately, at $100, Pencil is pricey, and there’s not a lot you can do with it just yet. Focused on one thing at a time, two max. This will allow the user to utilize the iPad Pro as a laptop. You can purchase the device for a staggering $800. That isn’t the case with what is available in the App Store right now.

The initial reviews of the iPad Pro were lukewarm.

Advertisement

There are a few areas where the device doesn’t quite make the leap from tablet to laptop: the premature death of the mouse, lack of full-featured software, and multitasking.

C Spire offer wireless plans for iPad Pro