When Apple made the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, it was definitely a more professional tablet but it wasn't exactly a laptop replacement. Though when Apple introduced the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, I'm not exactly sure what they're trying to prove or solve because it's basically the same thing as an iPad Air 3. But anyway, let's go ahead and unbox this 9.7-inch iPad Pro in Rose Gold.
Before w e unbox the iPad Pro, let's go ahead and compare it to the 12.9-inch box. You can clearly see the 9.7-inch box is a whole lot smaller. It's basically the rebranded box of an iPad Air 2 with that slim profile of the iPad. And yes, you can clearly see the camera hump. It seems like Apple isn't shy at all about the hump on the back.
The unboxing experience of the iPad Pro 9.7-inch is basically Apple-esque. It's very Apple. You have your iPad sitting up on top and beneath that you have your charger, documentation and your lightning cable. The iPad Pro 9.7-inch does come in four colors: Space Gray, Silver, Gold and Rose Gold; the color you see in this video. The fit and finish of the iPad Pro 9.7-inch basically reminds me of my old iPad Air 2-- it has the same 9.7-inch display, same resolution, same weight; basically the same everything. The only thing that gives it away for an iPad Pro is the four speakers on its side and that camera hump which is really disgusting. Though for the most part, the iPad Pro 9.7-inch adopts basically everything found on the iPad Pro 12.9 with a couple of improvements but also a couple setbacks.
Powering the iPad Pro 9.7-inch is a less powerful A9X processor and only 2GB of RAM compared to the 4GB found on the 12.9. A new addition to the iPad Pro is that 12MP camera on the back, that means it has the same camera found on the iPhone 6S and the iPhone SE. It shoots 4K video, which is absolutely ridiculous for a tablet but it is there. One huge improvement is the 5MP front-facing camera that's not found on the iPad Pro 12.9-inch. One big thing the iPad Pro 12.9-inch does not have compared to the 9.7-inch is the True Tone Display. Basically, the iPad Pro 9.7-inch has different types of ambient light sensors that actually measure the incoming light and compensates that with color temperature on the display. So that means if you're in a yellow room, it's going to be pushing out more natural whites and brighter colors compared to where you are relative in the room. But when you're outside, it's definitely going to be pushing out all those whites and making it as bright as possible.
Overall, I'm not exactly thrilled with the iPad Pro 9.7-inch because basically to me, it feels like an iPad Air 3 that's just an extra $100 more expensive just because it has that “Pro” moniker. Though over the next few days, I'm definitely going to be using the iPad Pro 9.7-inch in conjunction with my 12.9-inch and see if it's actually worth the investment.
