iPad Pro Critics Are Very Skeptical: Is Apple Losing Touch?

Apple has always been thought of as a company that’s far ahead of the curve. Even when they didn’t invent technology, they took things that didn’t quite make it in the market (early MP3 players, Windows Tablet) and made them marketable. But judging from early impressions, Apple may have a difficult time making the iPad Pro a huge hit.

Perhaps realizing that the iPad Pro isn’t causing the excitement of Apple’s other products, CEO Tim Cook made a special proclamation on Apple’s latest device. The Telegraph has the news.

“Yes, the iPad Pro is a replacement for a notebook or a desktop for many, many people. They will start using it and conclude they no longer need to use anything else, other than their phones,” Cook claims.

Mr. Cook goes on to add that artists who sketch on a regular pad of paper will no longer want to after they use the iPad Pro. He also talks about the iPad Pro’s four speakers and thinks it is way ahead of other devices when it comes to multimedia use. However, The Verge believes Tim Cook is overselling the iPad Pro.

“There’s also the unavoidable truth that tablets aren’t replacing PCs yet. The stats don’t lie, and Apple’s latest financial results show that Mac sales are up 3 percent and iPad sales are down a staggering 20 percent. Tim Cook can drum up interest in the iPad Pro all day long, but Apple’s giant tablet does very little to create a tablet that truly replaces a laptop.”

The Verge basically believes that Apple has learned nothing from Microsoft, a company that tried to sell the original Surface, which failed because it ran a severely watered-down version of Windows. Once Microsoft started selling the Surface Pro with the full version of Windows, they had a hit — although it did take nearly three generations for this to happen. TechInsider also thinks Tim Cook is making a questionable claim about the iPad Pro as a PC replacement.

“But the iPad Pro is actually more limited than the Surface. It runs iOS, which isn’t compatible with desktop programs. And developers have been slow to make innovative apps for the iPad. There’s little indication that they’ll suddenly gravitate towards the iPad Pro just because it has a big screen and a keyboard.”

TechInsider notes that the iPad Pro will continue to act as just a huge iPad unless developers work to develop desktop-quality software titles. So far, it’s not happening. However, not everybody is all gloom-and-doom when it comes to the iPad Pro. Edward Baig of USA Today argues that the iPad Pro is the first large tablet that matters.

“Apple isn’t the first company to come out with a relatively ginormous tablet but given the company’s dominance in the slate space, the iPad Pro is the first one that matters.”

Baig adds that despite the excellent hardware, Apple is making a big push into the business market with the latest iPad. He admits, however, that until one uses this tablet every day, you won’t know how comfortable it will be to use.

The iPad Pro comes out during a time of growing suspicion among Apple. The Apple Watch, released earlier this year, had failed to make the smartwatch mainstream. The 12-inch MacBook has yet to take off in a major way. However, these are all first-generation products. Apple has been building tablets since 2010 and the iPad Pro may just surprise critics and take off.

[Photo by Stephen Lam/Getty Images]