There’s a long-standing urban myth that Apple designs products with planned obsolescence in mind—intentionally engineering them so that you’ll grow dissatisfied over time and want to replace them with something newer and shinier. Don’t you believe it. The company actually has a pretty impressive track record of building products that remain useful for the long haul, even well after they’ve been discontinued and replaced. One of the best recent examples is the iPad Pro that arrived back in November 2018 . Now theoretically two generations out of date, it belies its age by feeling just about as fast, fresh, stylish, and capable as it did on day one. It’s even compatible with Apple’s Magic Keyboard, which shipped 16 months later and took the iPad Pro to new heights as a laptop replacement. That 2018 iPad Pro was so good, in fact, that it hasn’t cried out for reinvention. Last year’s iPad Pro acknowledged that by focusing on improvements to the rear camera system, including some aimed at making augmented-reality apps work better. For most iPad Pro users, it was the kind of update you could sensibly skip, biding your time to see what came next. That time has arrived. Apple is about to release another new iPad Pro that, like last year’s model, retains the industrial design and basic feature set of the 2018 version. (It officially arrives in stores on Friday, though it’s already in enough demand that Apple is quoting availability dates for new preorders in late June and July.) I’ve spent more than a week with a prerelease 12.9-inch unit provided by Apple, along with a Magic Keyboard case and Pencil stylus. (The keyboard is the new white version , which looks mighty sharp—and, unlike any previous iPad keyboard, is color-coordinated with the Pencil.) Finally, an iPad keyboard case that matches Apple’s Pencil. [Photo: Harry McCracken] In terms of sheer technical excellence, this new iPad Pro is a good-size leap beyond its 2018 and 2020 predecessors.
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New iPad Pro: Amazing hardware in search of equally amazing software
