Full disclosure, writing this on my 2020 iPad Pro 12.9” + Magic Keyboard.
I 100% expected this to be a Linus missing the mark extravaganza as the other iPad reviews of late have been. However, i think he basically got it.
I am, by trade, a device repair technician at a business that I own. The device i use to get business is basically irrelevant to how much money I will make. All I need is something that turns on every time with no major weird quirks, and a good battery. So, I bought an MacBook Air. And while it was CERTIANLY an upgrade from my slowly dying Thinpad X201T, it still felt... slow? Not slow as in the sense of things took to long to open, that was fine. It was a very quick device every day. But it kind of felt like I was doing around a race track in a Rolls Royce Phantom, while everybody else were in Katerham’s. Like a massive vessel being lazily thrown around by a rough tide. Trying to fight an MMA champion with a sledge hammer. You get the point.
Switching from my MacBook Air to my iPad made everything feel faster. While I have no hard proof that switching made me make more money, every action feels sharper.
By hobby I am a writer and video editor, and by education I am a student majoring in law. As a writer, I love the keyboard. These new switches feel fantastic, and the key caps have this soft coating on them that just feel excellent. The adjustment of the display also helps with neck pain, an issue i was having with my MacBook Air. I would either tilt the display back enough to solve that and strain my eyes, or bring the display close enough to see comfortably and strain my neck. As a video editor, truth be told I haven’t actually had anything to edit as of yet. But, I know the power is there. And finally, as a student, the extra snap compared to even a quick laptop just makes me more productive. The ONLY thing that sucks, and this isn’t Apple’s fault, is that I cant have 2 instances of chrome running side by side. I have to use chrome and safari if i want 2 browsers open. I don’t mind it, but it was an adjustment.
I have already written quite a bit on this keyboard between school and my hobby, and can 100% say that this is only a quarter-step down from the full fledged magic keyboard on the new MacBooks. But, everything else i gain over those device 100% makes up for it.
Overall, the iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard feels like what the Surface Pro wishes it was. A way to use a device that can adapt to any situation that comes to mind, yet is not conventional in any of them. A sort of Swiss Army knife device. If you can only carry one knife with you for every situation, you pick up a Swiss Army knife. If you can only carry one productivity device with you for every situation, you pick an iPad Pro. While it is a bit unconventional in the way that you interact with it, it is quite possibly the most well rounded “laptop” we have offered to us at the moment. Plenty of power, a fantastic display, lots of battery life, a massive suite of software, and a way to interface with it that allows options that will fit almost everybody. While it isn’t the best at any one thing, I don’t feel like that’s ever been the spirit of the iPad.