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Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch 4th Gen Wi-Fi + Cellular (A2232) with Magic Keyboard, Pencil review

Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch 4th Gen Wi-Fi + Cellular (A2232) with Magic Keyboard, Pencil

CHOICE Expert Rating

73%
What is the CHOICE Expert Rating?
Good points

Good Points

  • Very good sound quality
  • Very good screen quality
  • Magic Keyboard is very good to type on
  • Has a SIM card slot for mobile broadband
  • Silent operation
  • Very good screen luminance
Bad points

Bad Points

  • Magic Keyboard lacks function keys for changing settings such as brightness and volume
  • Very long time to charge
  • Apple Pencil only held by a magnet to the long side of the tablet; a more secure attachment method would be preferred
  • Lacks a microSD card slot
  • Very short power cord
  • Lack of a lip or notch on the keyboard cover makes opening the lid very difficult

Type

Ultraportable
Ultrabook
Tablet mode
Operating system
iPadOS

Recommended products

Recommended
Not recommended
Recommended for tablet use

Test results

CHOICE Expert Rating
73%
Performance score
56%
Tablet use score
81%
Ease of use score
74%
Battery life score
75%
Display score
86%
Audio score
80%
Wi-Fi score
78%
Storage write-speed (MBps)
655
Storage read-speed (MBps)
1187
Wi-Fi speed (MBps)
41
Average battery life – heavy usage (hours)
5:15
Charging time to 80% full (h:min)
4:00
Expert tester comments
The high-end configuration of this Apple iPad Pro (12.9in screen, 1TB storage, 6GB RAM, Wi-Fi and cellular) makes it one of the most high-end tablets on offer; and with the Magic keyboard and Pencil accessories included, so that you can use it like a laptop, its price is not for the faint of heart. The Magic Keyboard makes it a bit cumbersome, and the lack of a proper slot for the Pencil means it can be lost easily, but the tablet on its own is a stellar piece of work. The thin and light slate houses a very good screen, very good speakers, and it's highly responsive. The latest operating system features for Mac OS and iOS even allow it to be used as a supplemental screen for improving workflows (the Sidecar feature). Indeed, this is one to consider only if you need it in your toolbox for design or development work. For casual usage, a smaller and less expensive tablet should be sought.

Sustainability

Shop Ethical rating
D
Warranty (years)
1
Replaceable battery
Not collected
Replace/upgrade RAM
Not collected
Slots for additional RAM
Not collected
Replace/upgrade storage
Not collected
Slot for additional storage
Not collected
Replace/upgrade Wi-Fi
Not collected
Country of origin
China

Related products

Availability
Discontinued model

Cost

Price
$3,557.00

Specifications

Screen size (inches)
12.9
Native screen resolution (pixels)
2732 x 2048
Processor (CPU) type
Apple A12Z Bionic
CPU frequency (GHz)
2.4
RAM (GB)
6
Video graphics type
Apple A12Z Bionic
Storage capacity (GB)
1024
Available user space (GB)
1016
Storage type
SSD
Wi-Fi version
6
Weight of laptop (kg)
1.4
Weight of power supply (kg)
0.1
Size (mm, H x D x W)
15 x 230 x 281

Features

Screen finish
Glossy
Touchscreen
USB-C
USB 2.0 ports
0
USB 3.0 ports
0
USB 4 as USB-C port
0
USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 1 or 2, not Thunderbolt 3 or 4) ports
1
Thunderbolt 3 or 4 (as USB-C) ports
0
SD card slot (full-size)
SD card slot (micro)
HDMI port
Gigabit ethernet port
Rear camera
Backlit keyboard levels of brightness
1

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