iPad Pro? Give up already...
You'd think, based on the kind of product that the iPad Pro is, that Apple were itself not a massive enterprise itself. The only place the iPad Pro would pass as enterprise tablet is in a non-enterprise. Maybe a trendy startup with no IT.
I had my doubts before the unveiling revolving around things like iOS and the very premise of how viable a tablet is as an enterprise grade product. But, I would have admitted that if they could nail down hardware quality and support contracts that they had a chance. As I mentioned before, many execs bring personal iPads into the office, or even buy them on the company dime. But they almost never get issued formally to the broad base of employees.
In other words. It isn't execs Apple needs to sell to. Even if those people buy the damn things, it won't amount to even 1% of total annual sales. Apple needs to build a device that can pass a sniff test with IT and stand a chance of broad adoption in the workplace as primary computers for employees.
So what did Apple do? Build a consumer focused product that even fewer enterprises would ever want, make it more expensive and then advertise it to EXACTLY that audience. Also guaranteeing that fewer consumers will have interest in the device.
I feel like there should be a tiny voice in the device screaming "DON'T BUY ME".
Again I'm going to point this out. Even the Surface Pro 3 which runs the #1 enterprise OS doesn't really cut it as enterprise device. It is actually feasible from a performance and capabilities perspective. But they aren't as durable as business grade laptops, most major damage results in a total replacement and there aren't really any service contracts out there to supply guarantees on cost of ownership.
So allow me to re-iterate; the biggest failure isn't the already astronomically non-productive OS running on these things (iOS rather than OS X). Somehow, the company renowned for its hardware has produced actually managed do THAT worse.
GO LOOK AT THE iPAD PRO AND READ THE REVIEWS AND SPECS!!!!
This is a giant consumer tablet with an optional keyboard and stylus. End of story.
Enterprises don't give a FLYING F*** about thinner and lighter. They don't care about smooth edges or beautiful devices. Aesthetics don't sell enterprise hardware. Thinner and lighter don't sell enterprise hardware. Battery life barely makes it to the decision table. And all of this at a time when tablets in general (Apple's included) are on the decline. Around the iPad 2 launch when they had insane momentum in tablets, maybe Apple could have pulled this off and gotten doe-eyed young IT managers to adopt their silly product. But we are years beyond that.
Enterprises want service contracts first and foremost and products built to last secondly. Most IT departments are willing to pay through the ass for service contracts so that they KNOW what the cost of ownership is up front. Without that, it means worrying about getting financing approved every time something goes wrong. And reliability... well as much as they want to know the device is covered for damages, they don't want them being damaged in the first place. A damaged machine means downed productivity. I heard nothing about service contracts today, and everything seen and mentioned about the design seems to cater to consumers with a focus on aesthetics rather than build quality in the industrial sense.
Then you can look to the artificially inflated costs. The screen is supposed to have the best resolution of any iOS device. Wait? What? Why do enterprise employees regularly need even retina class displays, let alone better than retina class displays? They don't.
How about the keyboard and stand? The keyboard is still key to any productivity based work and ideal viewing angle varies by person height, desk and chair height and personal preference. Another barrier for entry for IT departments will be usability. Surely, with Microsoft's Surface Pro having been on the market for several years now they managed to AT LEAST deliver the same quality or beat them at their own game?
Nope. They barely rival many of the worst. Single angle, propped up by the keyboard cover with a keyboard that isn't as wide the screen when laid out making it yet smaller and less functional than other keyboards and only lays flat. It really reminds me of the tacky 3rd party solutions many vendors make for the existing iPads, and many of those are vastly superior.
Read this review... which incidentally paints it in glorious light while missing the point entirely. They basically say that the keyboard would work in a pinch if you weren't near your regular computer. Or, in other words, that this isn't viable as a replacement for a real computer. So, is the enterprise strategy to assume that every enterprise will purchase, on scale, both a "real" computer for every employee and a "fake" one in the form of an iPad Pro?
Also, amusingly, the reviewers favorite app to use with the Apple Pencil? Microsoft Office! I kid you not. Apple can't even create a better first party experience for their own hardware than their primary competition in this segment.
To put the nail in the coffin. Ports anyone? Seems they forgot. Even the companies which do use devices like the Surface Pro, pretty much use them exclusively with external monitors, projectors, wired keyboards and mice and external drives. Hell, many of the laptop users I know use these things in their work place. Number of ports on the iPad Pro? 1. The lightning port. Which, if you're using this a primary enterprise computing device will be the thing keeping it charged. Nothing else. So, effectively zero ports.
A lot of reviewers seem to giving this good reviews when looking at it as a replacement for how iPads are used today in the workplace. But, iPads are not used as enterprise devices and this was supposed to be Apple's push into that segment.
But hey! Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they REALLY care about that tiny fraction of enterprise users. I struggle to believe that this will end up being replaced by many execs over even their current iPads. I've talked with execs where I worked while travelling before and the general consensus is that they bring their iPads along when they travel only, and rarely into the office.
And only for the following reasons: the smaller size makes it better for reading and working with on cramped flights, just big enough to crank out an email in a hurry, fast boot times and it replaces other devices they would have had otherwise, like e-readers.
Effectively, this device is worse on all accounts. The new size makes it a pain by comparison to get out in cramped travel situations, which incidentally also makes it harder to type quick emails on, the cover is shit for both travel and desk environments so it won't ever get used, the screen is too big for an e-reader and the battery life would be better were it not for the comically massive screen and resolution. The regular iPad lineup including the iPad Air still seem to be a better fit.
I've also covered the reasons why it won't replace any corporate users daily computer above and in my prior article.
I wager that this device will see more consumer sales than "pro" sales. But even then, it won't make a dent. Being the most expensive iPad and by a wide margin from a company that saw the iPad Mini cannibalize the heck of regular iPad sales... I wouldn't count on this being an accidental consumer success either.
So, to sum up. For regular consumers, it is too big and too expensive. Especially for use as just a tablet and its proximity to MacBook costs makes it an unlikely choice for productivity centric Apple consumers. Also, WAY too expensive as a secondary device, even for most Apple users.
For business execs, maintaining iOS over OSX and delivering on a poorer solution than Surface Pro for keyboard and kickstand do more than negate the benefits than the larger size, they actually make it a worse device overall than every other iPad model available. And again, the Pro is more expensive.
And lastly, for broad enterprise adoption, it doesn't address any existing problems. At all. Again, the increased cost just make it an even poorer decision.
What am I missing? Where is the market for this device? Tell me where this would succeed over other iPad products! Tell me where this would succeed over something like a Surface Pro. Someone just please explain to me WHY THIS THING EVEN EXISTS!
I had my doubts before the unveiling revolving around things like iOS and the very premise of how viable a tablet is as an enterprise grade product. But, I would have admitted that if they could nail down hardware quality and support contracts that they had a chance. As I mentioned before, many execs bring personal iPads into the office, or even buy them on the company dime. But they almost never get issued formally to the broad base of employees.
In other words. It isn't execs Apple needs to sell to. Even if those people buy the damn things, it won't amount to even 1% of total annual sales. Apple needs to build a device that can pass a sniff test with IT and stand a chance of broad adoption in the workplace as primary computers for employees.
So what did Apple do? Build a consumer focused product that even fewer enterprises would ever want, make it more expensive and then advertise it to EXACTLY that audience. Also guaranteeing that fewer consumers will have interest in the device.
I feel like there should be a tiny voice in the device screaming "DON'T BUY ME".
Again I'm going to point this out. Even the Surface Pro 3 which runs the #1 enterprise OS doesn't really cut it as enterprise device. It is actually feasible from a performance and capabilities perspective. But they aren't as durable as business grade laptops, most major damage results in a total replacement and there aren't really any service contracts out there to supply guarantees on cost of ownership.
So allow me to re-iterate; the biggest failure isn't the already astronomically non-productive OS running on these things (iOS rather than OS X). Somehow, the company renowned for its hardware has produced actually managed do THAT worse.
GO LOOK AT THE iPAD PRO AND READ THE REVIEWS AND SPECS!!!!
This is a giant consumer tablet with an optional keyboard and stylus. End of story.
Enterprises don't give a FLYING F*** about thinner and lighter. They don't care about smooth edges or beautiful devices. Aesthetics don't sell enterprise hardware. Thinner and lighter don't sell enterprise hardware. Battery life barely makes it to the decision table. And all of this at a time when tablets in general (Apple's included) are on the decline. Around the iPad 2 launch when they had insane momentum in tablets, maybe Apple could have pulled this off and gotten doe-eyed young IT managers to adopt their silly product. But we are years beyond that.
Enterprises want service contracts first and foremost and products built to last secondly. Most IT departments are willing to pay through the ass for service contracts so that they KNOW what the cost of ownership is up front. Without that, it means worrying about getting financing approved every time something goes wrong. And reliability... well as much as they want to know the device is covered for damages, they don't want them being damaged in the first place. A damaged machine means downed productivity. I heard nothing about service contracts today, and everything seen and mentioned about the design seems to cater to consumers with a focus on aesthetics rather than build quality in the industrial sense.
Then you can look to the artificially inflated costs. The screen is supposed to have the best resolution of any iOS device. Wait? What? Why do enterprise employees regularly need even retina class displays, let alone better than retina class displays? They don't.
How about the keyboard and stand? The keyboard is still key to any productivity based work and ideal viewing angle varies by person height, desk and chair height and personal preference. Another barrier for entry for IT departments will be usability. Surely, with Microsoft's Surface Pro having been on the market for several years now they managed to AT LEAST deliver the same quality or beat them at their own game?
Nope. They barely rival many of the worst. Single angle, propped up by the keyboard cover with a keyboard that isn't as wide the screen when laid out making it yet smaller and less functional than other keyboards and only lays flat. It really reminds me of the tacky 3rd party solutions many vendors make for the existing iPads, and many of those are vastly superior.
Read this review... which incidentally paints it in glorious light while missing the point entirely. They basically say that the keyboard would work in a pinch if you weren't near your regular computer. Or, in other words, that this isn't viable as a replacement for a real computer. So, is the enterprise strategy to assume that every enterprise will purchase, on scale, both a "real" computer for every employee and a "fake" one in the form of an iPad Pro?
Also, amusingly, the reviewers favorite app to use with the Apple Pencil? Microsoft Office! I kid you not. Apple can't even create a better first party experience for their own hardware than their primary competition in this segment.
To put the nail in the coffin. Ports anyone? Seems they forgot. Even the companies which do use devices like the Surface Pro, pretty much use them exclusively with external monitors, projectors, wired keyboards and mice and external drives. Hell, many of the laptop users I know use these things in their work place. Number of ports on the iPad Pro? 1. The lightning port. Which, if you're using this a primary enterprise computing device will be the thing keeping it charged. Nothing else. So, effectively zero ports.
A lot of reviewers seem to giving this good reviews when looking at it as a replacement for how iPads are used today in the workplace. But, iPads are not used as enterprise devices and this was supposed to be Apple's push into that segment.
But hey! Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they REALLY care about that tiny fraction of enterprise users. I struggle to believe that this will end up being replaced by many execs over even their current iPads. I've talked with execs where I worked while travelling before and the general consensus is that they bring their iPads along when they travel only, and rarely into the office.
And only for the following reasons: the smaller size makes it better for reading and working with on cramped flights, just big enough to crank out an email in a hurry, fast boot times and it replaces other devices they would have had otherwise, like e-readers.
Effectively, this device is worse on all accounts. The new size makes it a pain by comparison to get out in cramped travel situations, which incidentally also makes it harder to type quick emails on, the cover is shit for both travel and desk environments so it won't ever get used, the screen is too big for an e-reader and the battery life would be better were it not for the comically massive screen and resolution. The regular iPad lineup including the iPad Air still seem to be a better fit.
I've also covered the reasons why it won't replace any corporate users daily computer above and in my prior article.
I wager that this device will see more consumer sales than "pro" sales. But even then, it won't make a dent. Being the most expensive iPad and by a wide margin from a company that saw the iPad Mini cannibalize the heck of regular iPad sales... I wouldn't count on this being an accidental consumer success either.
So, to sum up. For regular consumers, it is too big and too expensive. Especially for use as just a tablet and its proximity to MacBook costs makes it an unlikely choice for productivity centric Apple consumers. Also, WAY too expensive as a secondary device, even for most Apple users.
For business execs, maintaining iOS over OSX and delivering on a poorer solution than Surface Pro for keyboard and kickstand do more than negate the benefits than the larger size, they actually make it a worse device overall than every other iPad model available. And again, the Pro is more expensive.
And lastly, for broad enterprise adoption, it doesn't address any existing problems. At all. Again, the increased cost just make it an even poorer decision.
What am I missing? Where is the market for this device? Tell me where this would succeed over other iPad products! Tell me where this would succeed over something like a Surface Pro. Someone just please explain to me WHY THIS THING EVEN EXISTS!
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