[IkmoIkmo]

Same here. But it seems I'm the weird one, or we. The Pro actually sold quite nicely, generating a billion in sales pretty quickly. Meanwhile the Surface line lags behind it in sales, despite the fact I think they're more capable devices and have superior value. I just don't get the appeal of the iPad Pro, and that's coming from an owner of a rMBP and iPad, both of which I use, not anti-apple or anti-iOS or even anti-iPad.

It feels like it gives me the hardware of an awesome machine, with the software of a phone, at a steep price. If you want to use it as a video screen or something, you don't need LTE, storage or a keyboard, but then you don't need a pro either. If you need a pro for on the road, you need LTE, keyboard and storage, and then the price approaches machines that have far nicer software for professional usecases, e.g. os x or windows.

Yet it's selling quite nicely, in a market that wasn't showing any signs of growth any more. Remarkable.

[ssmoot]

If you're an all-Mac home, what's the appeal of buying outside that ecosystem? I'd have to get used to Windows again. I would have a very non "native" experience to the content the rest of my devices share naturally.

The one plus is: I could run IntelliJ (I assume). But on a platform I don't normally use, having to jump through hoops (I assume) to get some of my toolchain (ffmpeg, exiftool, graphics-magic) working, with a different keyboard. And then hope it actually works on my main development and deployment environments.

I bought the Pro for games mostly. Love my Kindle Voyage for reading, so I didn't need that. The screen and speakers are awesome for games. I never touch my PS4 because I don't have 2 hours to "get a feel" or "settle into" a game. I've got 20 minutes maybe. So bite sized semi-casual gaming is really the only gaming that's convenient for me these days. I actively do not want a PC for gaming.

It can pull off the duties of all my non-work stuff easily. Photos, videos, web-surfing for a new cooktop. Budgeting and paying bills. Recipes hunting. Grocery app. Sitting on the counter while I'm cooking. It's actually better than a full laptop for most of those things.

I never update drivers. I don't have to configure anything. iOS could definitely do with some sort of multi-user sign-on experience, but it's not a hindrance for me personally.

For a home machine, if you don't want to play full PC games, it's about the best thing going (for a Mac user) IMO.

I picked the Pro (a few weeks ago), for three reasons:

1. Microcenter had it for $100 off MSRP. 2. For every great iPad keyboard, there's 3 or 4 mediocre ones. A first party keyboard is a big deal. 3. I like comics/graphic novels. Reading a full panel the way it was intended is really nice.

I would very much recommend this device to my older in-laws. It's everything they're used to, and more, and not missing anything they need. Price aside, there's really not much to complain about.

[IkmoIkmo]

May I ask what games you play? There's a couple I really like, like XCOM, but... man, I've scoured the app store for hours every 5 months, pick 5 games, install m, and get frustrated with all the shit. Just inapp this and that left and right, no gameplay, lots of multiplayer games with 0 strategic component and they're either massive time sinks in grinding or pay to win...

Other than an occasional racing game, they's just nothing there I'd play. And even racing games get old fairly quickly, tilting a screen as a way of controlling a car isn't exactly the type of coordination challenge that keeps me enticed for long.

I totally hear you on little time to settle into a PS4 game, life with family, work etc... it's tricky to get a good session in like the old teenager days!

Anyway I get the appeal of a tablet to some extent for non-work stuff, for sure. I have a tablet. But the pro-element I don't get, especially when paring it with e.g. a keyboard etc, then I'd prefer a laptop. But I just can't imagine doing actual work on that thing, over e.g. a Macbook!

Anyway let me know if you have game recommendations on iOS!

[ssmoot]

This is what I've got installed at the moment:

Games I play:

  * Carcassonne
  * Angry Birds
  * Monument Valley
  * Kingdom Rush (plus Frontiers, plus Origins sequels)
  * Creeps
  * Rebuild 2 & 3
  * Strategery
  * Mahjong
  * Solitaire
  * Sudoku
  * Civilization Revolution
  * XCOM
  * Battle Hearts
  * Battle Hearts: Legacy
  * rymdkapsel

Games I’ve downloaded:

  * Riven
  * Ocean horn (I have a Nimbus controllers for my AppleTV I figured I’d use for this one)
  * DOOM
  * SpaceMarshals: Turn based team shooter games can be fun
  * Space Age: The graphics remind me of the original XCOM games
  * Legend of Grimrock: Looks like old "Lands of Lore" games?

Occasionally I'll see something on the App Store that strikes my fancy. But usually I just check out TouchArcade every month or so and see what the top rated stuff is and go from there. I end up with a lot of older games that way, but it's all NewToMe™ So that works.

The one routinely annoying thing on the iPad Pro: When it wants to capitalize something, it's gonna do it, like it or not. Back-spacing, holding SHIFT and typing the letter again has no effect. See the "So" up there. The only way to get around it I've found is to type the letter twice, then cursor back and remove the capitalized one.

I'm not sure if it's an option in auto-correct settings I can disable but it's not enough of a nuisance to bother to check yet so there's that.