As I mentioned in a previous post, when Apple announced the new iPad Pro (there is a 10″ version) they also announced the same updates to the 12.9″ model.
I have been putting off the purchase of a new iPad for some time–and it was time to upgrade. This was facilitated with 0% financing from Apple for 18 months.
That iPad arrived on Tuesday, and I have been using the iPad Pro in my daily life for the past three days. I have been reading a lot about the iPad Pro models on all of the technology news outlets. The general consensus is that the iPad Pro is wonderful, but it costs a lot. This sounds like typical Apple to me. That said, my 2008 MacBook (which I am still using) was pretty expensive ($1500 if memory serves), but it is still working for me nearly 9 years later.
I have been integrating the iPad Pro into my life, and for the most part, what I have to say is this: it is a big iPad that does what iPads do. I am able to do some more split screen activities as the size better allows for it, and it is wonderful for reading music. I have now attended two ukulele functions with my iPad Pro, my PageFlip Dragonfly, and my AirTurn GoStand/Manos Mount. Music reading on a digital device doesn’t get any better (although I would recommend Michelle Mastin’s thoughts on using Samsung Chromebook Plus as a music reader...she prefers the Chromebook–which can run Android Apps–to a Windows Surface!).
My iPad is used as a tool to run my class (everything is organized in Keynote), as well as a music reader. The primary reason that I wanted the 12.9″ iPad was to read music, so it is doing exactly what I want it to do. Did I need the latest version of the 12.9″ iPad to read music? No! I could buy a used model for that task. But when buying an iPad or iPhone, I do believe in buying the latest version so as to give it the longest possible shelf life.
The pencil is a fantastic tool…I love it. I hope they make the iPhone a pencil-friendly device this fall. I don’t have an Apple keyboard…I just have the keyboard from a very inexpensive New Trent iPad case (previous model) that I use, and that works for what I need. My iPad/Tablet stand is from IKEA and cost $3. I will say that I have spent some time with drawing music into the iPad, and I am amazed at how well Notion’s handwriting works for a $7 in-app purchase. I don’t see handwriting as a great way to enter a lot of music into an iPad, but if you need to write something quickly and have an iPad Pro–and are not overly familiar with technology–handwriting is an amazing solution.
The limitations of the 12.9″ are its size and weight…which aren’t really limitations. They are the reality of the device. The limitations of the iPad Pro are found in the operating system and the available apps. Don’t get me wrong…and iPad can do more things than a computer used to be able to do. Apple is addressing the operating system with new iPad features this fall; and chances are that apps will continue to develop as the operating system changes.
For example, I have been doing a lot of work on my MacBook creating ukulele play along videos. I use these videos in my classes, and they are fun to make. I also know that some ukulele groups use these videos. Here is my latest effort:
I simply can’t do all of the steps to make these videos on an iPad. Currently, I cannot save a YouTube video from iOS (Even the Workflow App is broken in that regard), I cannot open that video as an audio file and make changes to it, and I cannot use the timeline to make a “Picture-In-Picture” bouncing ball icon to follow chords. In regards to the initial creation in Keynote, I cannot attach an audio recording to the entire document, record timings, and export as a video file.
In the long run, I CAN do some of this on the iPad, but I cannot do all of it. I might be able to do some hacked things, such as opening a video in Explain Everything and using the “pointer” to show chords…this last part might be easier, but one of the fun things to do is to make the “bouncing ball” into something that relates to the song. One of my favorite such icons was using a VW Beetle for the Beatles’ “All My Loving.”
All that said, my new iPad Pro has a much faster processor and a much more advanced graphics processor than my old 2008 MacBook. It could handle everything that my MacBook could do…but the apps have to allow for it. Hopefully that will come!
As for the speed on the iPad…the iPad Pro runs everything that I ran before at the same perceptible speed…so I wouldn’t upgrade for that reason. I would say that if you have an iPad older than the original iPad Air, it is probably time to upgrade. There are three new iPads…the $329 9.7″ iPad, the new 10″ iPad Pro, and the updated 12.9″ iPad. You really can’t go wrong with any of them.
Technology in Music Education 