Putting disposable income into my hands, no matter how meager the amount, will see said cash being spent in less time that it takes the Road Runner to pull off a glute bridge. I have too much love for technology (and clearly, a lack of self control) to stop my fingers clicking that “add to basket” icon.
I’ve been particularly regretting my most recent splurges after reading my terrific computing colleague Tony Polanco’s recent experiment of using the iPad Pro 2024 as a laptop for a week. Spoiler: it didn’t go well.
This really was the wake up call I needed. Tony, the first time we meet up in NYC, the beers are on me! I’ve simply been using my iPad wrong for so many years now, and it’s only by upgrading to the stunning new 13-inch model (with its incredible Tandem OLED display) that I’ve realized the full extent of my errors.
I bought my first iPad Pro all the way back in ye olden days of 2018. Ah, what a simpler time. When I first picked up the Gen 3 version of Apple’s iconic prosumer slab back then, I immediately fell in love with that added screen real estate compared to an original iPad. Three years later, I was begging the Crew at Cupertino to “SHUT UP AND TAKE MY CASH”, as I upgraded to the iPad Pro 2021 (12.9-inch).
Up until about two weeks ago that incredible tablet and its impressive mini-LED display had a decent claim for being the piece of technology I’ve used most in my entire life. Then the new iPad Pro 2024 got an OLED screen, and I could only hold out for less than 7 days before selling my 2021 model on eBay to partially fund the tablet upgrade I’d been dreaming about for years.
Y’know the one thing I didn’t upgrade, though? The Magic Keyboard. In the three short years I owned my Gen 3 iPad Pro, I went through exactly 5 different keyboard cases. Two first-party Apple Magic Keyboards — the first was white and got visibly grubby to look at after 18 months of being forced to touch my clumsy mitts; its successor (a black model), was doing better, until the “B and “V” keys suddenly stopped working out of nowhere. Who needs those “owerrated” letters, though? Oh.
Then there was the knock-off version of Apple’s official peripheral I deeply regret turning to.
I’ve also owned the excellent Logitech Slim Folio Pro Keyboard Case that is on sale for $124 at Amazon. Sure, that’s only 5 bucks off from the regular listing price of $130. Still, a saving is a saving, and this is a top-class case I dearly wish fitted my new OLED iPad.
Dracool yourself
By all means protect the delicious “Liquid Retina Display” of your tablet. Just don’t give Apple $399 for the privilege of bolting a snappy yet exorbitantly priced board onto your stylish slab.
Don’t get me wrong, the Magic Keyboard looks completely classy. As Tony so aptly stated in the piece I linked to before, though, the best iPad in the world isn’t going to replace one of the best laptops or best gaming laptops, anytime soon. iPadOS has some serious downsides that’s going to prevent even the mightiest OLED iPad from replacing your portable PC anytime soon.
You know what the new iPad 2024 is capable of if you simply use it as a machine to devour the best Netflix movies, though? It can shine. Pair this tablet with the company’s Apple AirPods Max and the first OLED iPad provides an unbeatable A/V experience.
Want to make Apple's incredible tablet even better (and crucially, more secure) at very little cost? Then the ZtotopCases New iPad Pro 13-inch Leather Smart Folio Cover is on sale for $18.99 at Amazon. Normally it retails at $21.99, so that's a small but not unpprecatied saving on an iPad cover I personally vouch for.
That's a decent little drop on a budget cover that has reliably protected my new tablet since I cradled it into my apaprtment like a newborne baby.
The new iPad Pro’s Tandem OLED screen automatically makes it one of the greatest pieces of screen technology in existence. Do the smart thing. Use it as the best iPad ever made and not a substitute for your laptop.
To double down, you definitely don’t need to buy an expensive keyboard to squeeze the maximum enjoyment out of Apple’s peerless touchpad tablet.
