2016 iPad Pro 12.9" 256GB GOLD Unlocked Wifi + 4G Tablet

iPad Pro 12.9" - Can it replace a laptop and should you get it?

iPad Pro 12.9" Gold 256GB Wifi + 4G Unlocked + White Smart Cover.

Hi guys, I recently purchased the new 2016 iPad Pro 12.9" with 256GB storage, 4G + Wifi capabilities with a white smart cover.

My mission was to find the best available laptops out there that could satisfy the "It's good in build, maximum functionality and it'll last!" and the iPad Pro 12.9" cannot replace a laptop.

Colour options available for the iPad Pro 9.6" (left) and 12.9" (right).

The iPad Pro satisfied the criteria of having a huge display. If you ever get a chance to play with one of these in the apple store, please give it a go, it's awesome. Being able to see everything in that one screen is excellent. Because it's a tablet, you will have the ability to hold the screen closer to you than you would with a laptop, which allows a significantly clearer view on everything you're working with. 

The battery life on this is great. Up to 10 hours on basic use. I tried to max out a non-stop use and managed to get about 7 hours with full brightness on just wifi.

Build quality: you can't really go wrong with Apple products, they are always aluminium unibodies and they are durable. 

Functionality: That's a no from me. This is still a tablet. I can do a lot more with a laptop hands down. Whatever you can do on a tablet i can do with my laptop, whatever you can do with a laptop, you can't do it on a tablet.

Oh, and if you don't get the keyboard and apple pencil along with the iPad Pro, it's basically an over glorified iPad only, so that being said, the cost comes into play.

Overall conclusion, the iPad Pro 12.9" is a bad investment as there aren't a lot of second hand buyers as well. I would recommend aiming for a laptop, either a MacBook Air or the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon. The Dell XPS 13 is also a good option.

Cheers

Apple 12” MacBook: An overview on living with the 12” MacBook

There are better options out there!

Alternatives

• Apple OS X

• MacBook Air

• Windows (Ranked)

1. Dell XPS 13
2. ASUS UX306
3. Razor Blade Stealth
4. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon
5. HP Envy 13
6. Lenovo Yoga 460
7. Acer Aspire S7
8. HP Spectre
9. ASUS Zenbook 3
10. Samsung Notebook 9

Summary 

The 12” MacBook is not a practical tool to possess. It’s not made with productivity in mind. It is solely made to fill a market gap for people who need a slightly better functioning iPad with a keyboard and a trackpad attached to it, oh and to look good and sophisticated as well.

It’s good for simple emailing, browsing and document writing taking into account that you have the criteria of a good portable laptop to fulfill. Should you do any more, I would advice you consider the alternative options mentioned above.

Cons

• Overall size (for use on your lap) is not ergonomic. It's too short in length. You still need a desk for it to be comfortable.
• Keystroke travel are too shallow, you’ll feel the strain on your fingers over time due to the lack of keystroke feedback.
• Smooth but slower performance when compared to the MacBook Air. There is no lag in terms of opening apps however I find that swapping back whilst browsing, the MacBook is less responsive as it has a longer time delay in registering your swipes.
• 1 port only. Apple does not include any adapters in the box and they are not easily available. 
• Holy crap its expensive, the base model is AU$1,999.00.
• Wifi is slow, even though Apple says it has AC.

Pros

• It can be charged by a battery pack for your phone :D
• Force touch trackpad. Apple is always #1.
• Retina display. Display is awesome and sharp.
• Damn! It’s light.
• It feels awesome to touch and very durable.
• PORTABLE!!! 8 hours battery life.
• There is no fan noise. Completely fan-less. Definitely good for a library.

The Long Story

The first thing I noticed when I got the new MacBook was that I could not sync my iPhone to it. As all lightning cables are USB Type A, there was just no way to connect them to the Mac without having to cough out another AU$100 or so to get an adapter.

I really wish apple would just enable a way for us to connect all our Mac devices wirelessly straight out of the box. I mean they are all tied to the same Apple ID and IP address in the same household, it shouldn’t really be too much of a security issue to enable that. 

Next up is the keyboard. Apple Senior Vice President, Philip W. Schiller emphasised the new butterfly mechanism that that allows the thin form factor of the MacBook by reducing the keystroke height. I found that after a week of using the new MacBook, I find myself typing a lot harder on the MacBook in order to get a better keystroke feedback.

As many reviewers mentioned, the MacBook is a little ahead of its time. We do often get plagued with useless hardware that comes with our laptops, so the idea of a universal port is great, leaving the adapter choice to the user.

Battery life, the MacBook could easily beat the MacBook Air in terms of battery life should they have kept the MacBook Air's display instead of a Retina. This would help Apple achieve a better vision of a truly wireless world rather than the air-pods. None the less, with the world all moving towards the world of USB-C ports, we now have the ability to charge the laptop with a battery pack rather than having to look for a wall plug when we are in dire need of a charge. As the idea is still ahead of its time, there aren't a lot of battery packs out there that are made for this.

So for the new Mac users, I would advice that you explore the alternative such as the MacBook Air. It’s the practical choice. MacBook Air is portable, gives you a much better performance, you have a better keystroke, comfortable, cheaper, i mean it just beats the MacBook hands down in all things.

For the Mac veterans, I believe I need not mention more. There’s the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 13” available. As this article is about the MacBook 12”, I’m writing with the mind set that you are looking for something portable, long battery life, comfortable and well looks good to boot. 

For those that are concerned about the price, windows based alternatives will happily fulfill your needs. I would recommend the Lenovo if cost is an issue. 

Charging MacBook 12" with a battery pack

Charging MacBook

Battery Pack charging via USB C 

The new MacBook 12” comes with a USB-C port that handles all processes of data transfer and charging.

I experimented with the XiaoMi 5200 mAH battery pack with a DC 5.1V/1.5A output. 

In order to charge the laptop with the above mentioned battery pack output, I found that the MacBook battery level has to be under 24%. Once the battery level hits 24% the battery will stop charging. 

This is due to the MacBook’s wattage. It will overpower that of the battery pack, causing a reverse charge instead. 

Should the battery pack remain connected to the MacBook at a battery level of above 25% I can confirm that a reverse charge will initiate and drain the MacBook's battery instead.

So battery packs are good to sustain the MacBook's battery life while in use but not enough to actually charge it completely unless you turn the MacBook off.

This method will only come into handy in the event that a wall plug is not within reach and you need to get more work done on the laptop. 

Technically speaking any work you can get done on the MacBook can be achieved on an iPhone as well as the MacBook is not really good or powerful enough to handle anything else, so I would actually save the battery pack's power to keep the iPhone charged up rather than charge the MacBook. This will give you a much better value in overall time to be online.