Support NeoGAF

[freenudemacusers]

Futuremark’s 3DMark is available on all platforms, although when throwing Windows into the mix we always have to take a bit more caution as the level of rendering precision is not always equal. This is due to the fact that lower precision rendering modes - widely available and regularly used on Android and iOS to boost performance and save on power consumption - are not commonly available on Windows PCs, which forces them to use high (full) precision rendering most of the time.

On the tablet comparisons, I’ve installed the OpenGL version of GFXBench. Once again the Surface Pro 4 outperforms everything, although in this test the margin is not quite as high. As with 3DMark, on Windows PCs, GFXBench runs at high precision only due to limitations in OpenGL versus OpenGL ES.

These are kind of vague statements, especially the first. I'm curious if gfxbench controls for the difference in gl and gl es in any manner, and I haven't found anything conclusive.

I do see gfxbench has a metal api version, and I wonder if that would be a truer comparison.

 

[Guess Who]

Read Anandtech review. They mentioned in reviews of SP4 and similar devices.

This is not GFXBench using lower precision, it's the GPU itself using lower-precision floating points.

 

[nicoga3000]

Comics pushed me to 128. It's possible to just download the latest issue that you're on, but I started buying in volume when theire is a sale and it downloads issues immediately. You can cancel that, but it's a hassle. You can also buy from web page and just selectively download. In fact web buying is convenient, but I usually have my iTunes account charged up with discount gift cards, so need to use those funds.

Assuming Comixology, but it also helps that most of the apps let you archive what you've read, and they'll now track where you are in each issue so that works for management.

What about non-app comics? Like if you download indie or non-commercial comics, how does the iPad (in genereal) do?

 

[freenudemacusers]

This is not GFXBench using lower precision, it's the GPU itself using lower-precision floating points.

Does iris do that as well?

https://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/performance-benefits-of-half-precision-floats

Is this what the article is talking about?

 

[commish]

Curious why the pencil availability is so far away. Won't buy an iPad pro if I can't get the pencil right away.

It's curious to me why the pencil isn't included from the jump. I know it's just for $$$$, which is the same reason the start with an unusable 32 gigs, but it's really obnoxious. I have the same issue with SP's lack of keyboard.

 

[Future]

It's curious to me why the pencil isn't included from the jump. I know it's just for $$$$, which is the same reason the start with an unusable 32 gigs, but it's really obnoxious. I have the same issue with SP's lack of keyboard.

In both cases you can get by without those accessories. Especially that pencil. I know if bought one I'd skip he pencil.

32 gigs is the true punch in the face

 

[freenudemacusers]

Yeah I want the pencil for annotating and etc but I've been enjoying the pro so far without it. Probably give it a b/b+. Needs a stronger software proposition but that will likely come over time.

 

[Chittagong]

Played with one in Apple Store Covent Garden and Regent Street today. Would have bought one, but my model of choice was sold out. Quick impressions:

- Holy jesus it's big. I expected big, but not this big. It's like holding a McDonalds tray
- Films look fantastic, seems like a great web platform
- Browsing and mails are ok ish but not mindblowing
- Apple Pencil drawing is really very, very good
- What really sold me is Calendar. Finally a spacious, big enough all-week view
- Holding it is a bit weird. It's just so very big
- Keyboard in portrait is thumbable, landscape not

Once they do folder drag-and-drop in Mail this will be killer. Will get one I think.

 

[freenudemacusers]

The other big plus is that I'm finally free of apple's shitty overpriced MacBook chargers 🙌🏻

 

[Lima]

Regarding chargers I thought Apple could have put in a more powerful charger tbh. Takes almost 5 hours to charge this.

 

[MercuryLS]

The other big plus is that I'm finally free of apple's shitty overpriced MacBook chargers 🙌🏻

You could have been free of them if you got the new MacBook, it uses a standard USB-C cable with a iPad-like brick.

 

[freenudemacusers]

You could have been free of them if you got the new MacBook, it uses a standard USB-C cable with a iPad-like brick.

Yeah but this is cooler

 

[Rion]

These are kind of vague statements, especially the first. I'm curious if gfxbench controls for the difference in gl and gl es in any manner, and I haven't found anything conclusive.

I do see gfxbench has a metal api version, and I wonder if that would be a truer comparison.

I think a truer benchmark would be one that can take full advantage of each platform capabilities.
For GPU: metal vs dx12.
For CPU: both CPU take full advantage of the instructions and extensions they possessed.

All workload should be the same and be processed in full precision.
I am pretty sure in this kind benchmark, SP4 i5 would outperform iPro by a significant margin.

 

[btrboyev]

You could have been free of them if you got the new MacBook, it uses a standard USB-C cable with a iPad-like brick.

The new MacBook is garbage in almost every way imaginable.

 

[Future]

It always amuses me when people complain about the size of things like this. People said the same of the 6 plus..."how am I supposed to even hold this thing" lol. Guess I'm just an size queen. More screen means more stuff, and I'm sure this thing still fits everywhere I'd need it too

Honestly all this surprise about how big it actually is, is putting me over the edge to actually by the thing ha

 

[TheLaughingStock]

This is a full 100% down to 0% battery report. My iPad Pro was last plugged in on Thursday morning:

Mostly light usage (browsing, music, podcasts...)

Nice!

 

[freenudemacusers]

It always amuses me when people complain about the size of things like this. People said the same of the 6 plus..."how am I supposed to even hold this thing" lol. Guess I'm just an size queen. More screen means more stuff, and I'm sure this thing still fits everywhere I'd need it too

Honestly all this surprise about how big it actually is, is putting me over the edge to actually by the thing ha

It's not that big at all imo, it's like an interactive piece of paper. I was laying on bed watching vids and browsing comfortably part night. Was actually nicer than a laptop cuz it anchored on my stomach with one hand vs having a warm laptop bottom and a (situationally) unnecessary keyboard.

 

[Tendo]

I had asked the other day about comixology and some people chimed in wondering how comics look. Amazing. Makes the purchase so worth it for me.

 

[Servbot24]

I've never used a comic app, is comixology the best one? It has terrible reviews on the App store.

 

[nicoga3000]

I had asked the other day about comixology and some people chimed in wondering how comics look. Amazing. Makes the purchase so worth it for me.

Do you happen to use any other comic apps as well? Curious how those look.

Also, ipad apps...How do they scale up?

 

[MercuryLS]

The new MacBook is garbage in almost every way imaginable.

Outside of the weird low travel keyboard and 480p cam, it's pretty sweet for a thin and light laptop. I know people hate the lack of I/O but for people like me that do light work and media usage, with heavy reliance on the cloud for music, photos, video and files. The one port is perfectly fine.

The iPad Pro looks cool, but tablets still drive me nuts when it comes to typing. It's fine on a table where I can use a full size software keyboard. It sucks in bed where you have to use the software keyboard or a keyboard dock and constantly go back and forth between the keyboard and the touchscreen. Until they can figure that out, I still prefer the pure laptop form factor as my main computing platform. Right now I'm using an Air 2 as my main computer (for the last 6 months) and I'm counting down the days until the macbook 2016 comes out.

I absolutely see the appeal of tablets, especially something like the iPad Pro that can morph into so many cool things. But for me, I still can't get used to the form factor for typing/tracking in many positions away from a tabletop.

 

[Bgamer90]

I'd like to manage with a 32GB but when apps like word and excel are 500MB each, that space goes quickly. Plus I have a bunch of podcasts store for offline use. I'm used to 64GB on my current iPad and iPhone, so it'd feel weird to drop and have to fridge manage on a pro

Are you still keeping a regular iPad around the house or switching to this?

No, the Pro will replace my iPad 4 that I'm giving to my dad (so he can replace his old, crusty, non-retina, 1st Gen iPad Mini haha).

It's funny since my iPad 4 is only 16 GB. It has lasted this long though since I mainly use my iPad around the house so most of the media I play on it is streaming through WiFi. I will say though that it's running out of space (less than 2 GB left). The 32 GB Pro will be enough for me since I can't see myself using it for more than what I already do with my iPad 4 -- web browsing, social media, streaming music and video, making word documents, and playing an occasional iOS game.

My iPhone 6 Plus is 128 GB. All of my media is on the device since I don't want to rely on internet connections when I'm on the go. It being a smaller device makes it better for gaming in my opinion so I have a ton of games on it in comparison to my iPad.

 

[MercuryLS]

No, the Pro will replace my iPad 4 that I'm giving to my dad (so he can replace his old, crusty, non-retina, 1st Gen iPad Mini haha).

It's funny since my iPad 4 is only 16 GB. It has lasted this long though since I (again) mainly use my iPad around the house so most of the media I play on it is streaming through WiFi. I will say though that it's running out of space (less than 2 GB left). The 32 GB Pro will be enough for me since I can't see myself using it for more than what I already do with my iPad 4.

The best thing about the iPad is that it made me stop hoarding files, I use the cloud for my media now and it's so easy to get access to media/files on any new device. I only save what I need on every device too. I used to only but laptops with 256+gb of space, now I'd be ok with 64-128gb at most.

 

[Hatty]

I've never used a comic app, is comixology the best one? It has terrible reviews on the App store.

I use Comiczeal, it's already pro ready and works great. I use it to read manga but Comixology is probably better for western stuff

 

[Zeyphersan]

I've never used a comic app, is comixology the best one? It has terrible reviews on the App store.

Comixology is great as a place to actually buy digital comics from. I don't know if the app lets you load your own

 

[SmackCrackleNPop]

I've never used a comic app, is comixology the best one? It has terrible reviews on the App store.

I think it's one of the best. It gets a lot of bad reviews from when Amazon bought the company and stopped using in all purchases (so you have you use a website to purchase new comics) and customer service not being great.

 

[mrklaw]

In both cases you can get by without those accessories. Especially that pencil. I know if bought one I'd skip he pencil.

32 gigs is the true punch in the face

its a lot more difficult to get by on the SP3/4 without a keyboard. MS don't even offer a cover for it without the keyboard. If they did I could possibly live without it.

 

[mrklaw]

No, the Pro will replace my iPad 4 that I'm giving to my dad (so he can replace his old, crusty, non-retina, 1st Gen iPad Mini haha).

It's funny since my iPad 4 is only 16 GB. It has lasted this long though since I mainly use my iPad around the house so most of the media I play on it is streaming through WiFi. I will say though that it's running out of space (less than 2 GB left). The 32 GB Pro will be enough for me since I can't see myself using it for more than what I already do with my iPad 4 -- web browsing, social media, streaming music and video, making word documents, and playing an occasional iOS game.

My iPhone 6 Plus is 128 GB. All of my media is on the device since I don't want to rely on internet connections when I'm on the go. It being a smaller device makes it better for gaming in my opinion so I have a ton of games on it in comparison to my iPad.

sounds like how I'd use it. But I have more apps installed and I'm at about 40GB used on my 64GB air 2. A lot of that is cached podcasts (about 6GB) but I could cut those right back.

Played with one in Apple Store Covent Garden and Regent Street today. Would have bought one, but my model of choice was sold out. Quick impressions:

- Holy jesus it's big. I expected big, but not this big. It's like holding a McDonalds tray
- Films look fantastic, seems like a great web platform
- Browsing and mails are ok ish but not mindblowing
- Apple Pencil drawing is really very, very good
- What really sold me is Calendar. Finally a spacious, big enough all-week view
- Holding it is a bit weird. It's just so very big
- Keyboard in portrait is thumbable, landscape not

Once they do folder drag-and-drop in Mail this will be killer. Will get one I think.

I figured that might be the case. Its like the screen is too large for the content you're browsing. On a laptop you'd maybe have safari/chrome in a window with other things alongside it. But on ipad although you can use side-by-side mode, you don't always have an app you need there, and you can't just leave it empty.

 

[Weevilone]

What about non-app comics? Like if you download indie or non-commercial comics, how does the iPad (in genereal) do?

I've never tried it. I can't live without guided view, though that should be better on the Pro due to size.

 

[Weevilone]

I've never used a comic app, is comixology the best one? It has terrible reviews on the App store.

Comixology is a great app... really great. People got pissed off when Amazon bought them and removed the ability to buy your comics directly via in-app purchase. That's what drove all of the negatives.

You can still use the Image, Marvel, and DC apps to make your purchases if you don't want to use the website. They're still integrated with your Comixology account. I can honestly say that I wouldn't be reading comics at all now if it wasn't for their superb experience on tablets. The individual apps offer the same reading experience as well.

Edit: sorry for not consolidating those replies.

 

[Jill Sandwich]

The new MacBook is garbage in almost every way imaginable.

I feel the MacBook is in exactly the same place the MB Air was when it was launched - overpriced, underpowered and lacking connectivity. The Air came into its own in its second wedge iteration, and I hope the new MacBook will too.

 

[mrklaw]

I feel the MacBook is in exactly the same place the MB Air was when it was launched - overpriced, underpowered and lacking connectivity. The Air came into its own in its second wedge iteration, and I hope the new MacBook will too.

skylake core m is a big jump over the previous gen so that should help a lot - but assuming Apple stick to the single USB-C then the connectivity may not improve.

 

[Guess Who]

I don't see Apple shying away from the single USB-C port.

I do see them upgrading it to Thunderbolt 3 to make it more versatile and powerful, and I see them improving battery life on the device so that you'll basically never have to charge it and have something plugged in at the same time. Plus as USB-C becomes more widespread you'll start seeing a lot more hubs and adapters for less than Apple's pretty pricey ones.

 

[eyeball_kid]

It's not that big at all imo, it's like an interactive piece of paper.

I'd say it's more like the size of a bigger fashion magazine than an 8x11 sheet. The News app looks fantastic on it, more like reading a real newspaper.

But I have more apps installed and I'm at about 40GB used on my 64GB air 2. A lot of that is cached podcasts (about 6GB) but I could cut those right back.

I got the 32 because $300 and if I need cellular access I can just tether to my phone. I don't need to load a bunch of music or photos on it; I plan for the Pro to be a mostly-cloud device, so the 32 feels very spacious to me so far.

 

[Tendo]

Do you happen to use any other comic apps as well? Curious how those look.

Also, ipad apps...How do they scale up?

Just marvel unlimited, which also looks as good as that app can.

 

[artsi]

I was on the fence between SP4 and this for drawing / painting purposes, but not anymore with the Pencil absolutely destroying SP4 in draw quality. Just waiting until I can buy my own, just one retailer here has the iPad but not the Pencil yet.

I'm very glad that Apple took the leap and invested in / engineered their own tech for the pen, I feel it's really made for artists and not just a tool for taking notes. Wacom always has needed some serious opponents in the game.

 

[TheChewyWaffles]

Mine is coming on Monday -128GB LTE space grey. I don't think it will come into its own until I have a pencil, though.

 

[sc0la]

This is a full 100% down to 0% battery report. My iPad Pro was last plugged in on Thursday morning:

Mostly light usage (browsing, music, podcasts...)

Bubububu 50% loss of battery space due to speaker chambers *grumble grumble* /s

The battery life on this thing is fine/great. If they had filled it up with battery people would have complained about the weight instead.

 

[Dreamwriter]

I just traded in my iPad Air at Best Buy for a 128GB iPad Pro, along with a smart cover (no keyboard) and a Logitech 480 bluetooth keyboard (not a case, just a separate keyboard). I chose that keyboard because not only were the iPad Pro keyboard cases sold out, but I really didn't want to add that much weight/clunkiness to my iPad. The keyboard I got, Logitech 480 has a groove to hold the tablet - iPad Pro fits fine in portrait mode, even with the Smart Cover on (I use the normal Smart Cover to keep the iPad upright in landscape while typing).

This is going to merge the functionalities of my laptop and my iPad - I mainly used my laptop for basic things that are much easier with a big screen and a keyboard (with some multitasking), like figuring my budget, responding to emails, browsing the web while watching TV. Every once in a while using Paint.net to do some simple image editing. For anything more involved I have a desktop gaming PC. So the iPad Pro (with bluetooth keyboard) is the perfect replacement for the laptop, and of course I can still use it like a normal iPad, lying in bed playing games, taking it to work and stuff.

I've only had the Pro for a few hours, but I'm liking it so far. Typing this message is about the same as posting from my laptop (hooray for highlight, cut and paste from keyboard!), and I've got Skype chat open on the other half of the screen. Carcasonne on the iPad Pro is awesome, it feels like a real boardgame at this size In the Pinball Arcade, on the other hand, the large screen size makes the lower-resolution textures and aliasing obvious. I've watched a couple videos, really like the larger screen and improved sound for them.

 

[GWX]

Guys, how good is the speaker system? Is it good enough so that you don't miss a portable Bluetooth speaker?

 

[Union Carbine]

Guys, how good is the speaker system? Is it good enough so that you don't miss a portable Bluetooth speaker?

I just was about to post about this. The speakers work really well-- I was very pleasantly surprised by them. Just finished watching some Netflix on it and the sound was great.

 

[Lima]

Guys, how good is the speaker system? Is it good enough so that you don't miss a portable Bluetooth speaker?

Like someone else mentioned it's kinda like a $50 bluetooth speaker. Still lacks bass but I wouldn't expect that from such a thin device anyway.

I'm pretty critical when it comes to sound and it's definitely good enough to watch comedies etc. on it.

 

[GWX]

I just was about to post about this. The speakers work really well-- I was very pleasantly surprised by them. Just finished watching some Netflix on it and the sound was great.

Like someone else mentioned it's kinda like a $50 bluetooth speaker. Still lacks bass but I wouldn't expect that from such a thin device anyway.

I'm pretty critical when it comes to sound and it's definitely good enough to watch comedies etc. on it.

Thanks for the impressions, which are very good to hear, by the way. I'm currently deciding if I need OS X enough to get a Macbook or if an iPad Pro will suffice.

 

[.hacked]

Made a iPad cake for a wedding today, it was much bigger than the pro and weighed more too.

 

[Majine]

Made a iPad cake for a wedding today, it was much bigger than the pro and weighed more too.

It even has 3D touch, which the real iPad doesn't. Nice.

 

[Hoo-doo]

Made a iPad cake for a wedding today, it was much bigger than the pro and weighed more too.

What's the Harry Potter app?

 

[.hacked]

What's the Harry Potter app?

Grooms request, he is a big fan. It was lots of fun to do, people at the venue loved it. Chocolate cake with Nutella buttercream filling.

 

[Zeyphersan]

Made a iPad cake for a wedding today, it was much bigger than the pro and weighed more too.

So unrealistic. iPad doesn't have a calculator app

 

[nicoga3000]

I just traded in my iPad Air at Best Buy for a 128GB iPad Pro, along with a smart cover (no keyboard) and a Logitech 480 bluetooth keyboard (not a case, just a separate keyboard). I chose that keyboard because not only were the iPad Pro keyboard cases sold out, but I really didn't want to add that much weight/clunkiness to my iPad. The keyboard I got, Logitech 480 has a groove to hold the tablet - iPad Pro fits fine in portrait mode, even with the Smart Cover on (I use the normal Smart Cover to keep the iPad upright in landscape while typing).

This is going to merge the functionalities of my laptop and my iPad - I mainly used my laptop for basic things that are much easier with a big screen and a keyboard (with some multitasking), like figuring my budget, responding to emails, browsing the web while watching TV. Every once in a while using Paint.net to do some simple image editing. For anything more involved I have a desktop gaming PC. So the iPad Pro (with bluetooth keyboard) is the perfect replacement for the laptop, and of course I can still use it like a normal iPad, lying in bed playing games, taking it to work and stuff.

I've only had the Pro for a few hours, but I'm liking it so far. Typing this message is about the same as posting from my laptop (hooray for highlight, cut and paste from keyboard!), and I've got Skype chat open on the other half of the screen. Carcasonne on the iPad Pro is awesome, it feels like a real boardgame at this size In the Pinball Arcade, on the other hand, the large screen size makes the lower-resolution textures and aliasing obvious. I've watched a couple videos, really like the larger screen and improved sound for them.

The apps that haven't been optimized for the Pro are one of my big concerns. I play Warhammer Quest on my iPad 2 all the time still, and would hate to have it not work or be even less optimized graphically on a Pro.

 

[Chao]

Typing from my 128gb wifi space grey iPad Pro. It's awesome so far and it's lighter than what I expected. It sucks there's no way to get the Apple Pencil anywhere, because it was the thing I wanted to try the most.