What makes a Computer a Computer? It is the form factor, so the combination of screen, mouse and keyboard? It is the fact that he can get things done faster and better than a human ever could? The question of what constitutes the product category, since some time Apple.

Last week, the company unveiled under much fanfare in New York, his most notable Computer is that It is thinner than the predecessor, has a better Display and has one of the fastest processors in the world. The speech, however, is not from the new Macbook Air. The future, the group made more than clear, is characterized by a different device: the new iPad Pro.

It is Apple’s best – and most expensive – Tablet. Wherein, it is still a Tablet, or a replacement for the Laptop, as Tim Cook asserts? For the head of Apple, the end of the Personal computer, we collapse after work, seems to be already a done deal. But are we really so far? I had to use the new iPad Pro four days in duration and have tried to find out the areas in which the Tablet is already equal or even superior. What is the new professional Tablet, can, for whom it is worth and where the air is to the top, reveals this Test.

The most important innovations at a Glance:

new Displays with a narrower edge face ID instead of Home-ButtonUSB-Cschnellerer processor magnetic Apple pencil no headphone Jack more Fullscreen

The Look of the iPad Pro has changed significantly.

the star online Apple shows a clear edge

The new iPad Pro is available in two sizes: Large and huge. Or expressed in Figures: 11 and 12.9 inches. I tested the larger of the two models. You take the device out of the bright white carton, has to keep the feeling, at the same time a piece of the past and the future is in your hands. The Design looks like a return to earlier years because the 5.9 mm-thin case is no longer dominated by soft curves, but angular edges. An elegant, but unusual Look that is a little reminiscent of the iPhone 5.

Otherwise, the 633 grams heavy, flat man acts like a futuristic Version of his brothers. Up on a black, nearly an inch measured edge he is completely out of screen. This is not only impressive, but the giant iPad also makes handy. It can now hold even longer, without the fall asleep to one of the Arm. This is possible because Apple replaced the Home Button with the face unlock, Face ID, however, without the notch, you know from the iPhone.

Face ID itself works in both portrait and landscape orientation and works on the skimmed iPad is just as fast and reliable. Detours can be a member of an additional face saving, for example, for a family. For that you selected in the iPhone settings to the point of “alternative appearance”. Clever: Touches you during the unlock process, inadvertently on the Face-ID Sensor, an animated arrow on the faux pas to your attention.

Face ID advanced gesture control goes hand in hand. To get used up quickly, especially if you have already used an iPhone with a X in the name.

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The Display is bright and offers lots of space for content.

star-online is A Display, such as a sheet of paper

The screen itself is not only due to the size of a stunner – the diagonal measures the XXL-model 32,76 centimeters, as much as in the case of a DIN-A4-sheet, but can also convince otherwise. The pixel density of 265 pixels-per-inch: Individual pixels are not visible to the naked eye, not even in the rounded corners. The screen (4:3-Format) is very bright and represents the entire DCI-P3 color space, which is used for Video and image editing is important.

As a sheet of paper, the iPad represents the color temperature depending on the ambient light otherwise. Apple calls this technology, True Tone, it improves the readability in dim light. Who doesn’t like it, can disable it in the settings. Thanks to Pro-Motion technology, the Display provides up to 120 frames per second. The “up to” in this case is crucial, because the iPad adjusts the refresh rate dynamically to the content. You scroll through the Browser, the image is cleaner. Because it is not needed but at each point in time as many frames per second – for example, when reading a E-Books, throttles the iPad automatically the frequency to conserve the battery.

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The camera can be connected via USB directly to the iPad. So you can edit images directly in Software such as Lightroom.

star-online Photoshop on the iPad

Impressive performance. The built-in A12X-Chip is one of the fastest in the world. I’ve been trying to get him into a sweat, but failed miserably. I filmed for two hours in 4K, the iPad was only slightly warmer than my body temperature. I have started to test several of the approximately 25 megabytes of large RAW photo files in Adobe Lightroom CC open (with a detour via the photos App), and automatic image enhancement. My Macbook Pro (built in 2015) treats itself for a few seconds thinking time. On the iPad Per the calculation with the fingers is a complete tip.

The Numbers confirm my impression: Geekbench, the iPad Pro in the Single-Core Test is minimally faster than the iPhone XS, and about 25 percent faster than last year’s iPad Pro. Even the current, more than 3200 Euro expensive Macbook Pro (15-inch) with i9 processor and 2.9 GHz is in this discipline, only slightly faster. On the right is the Chip in the Multi-Core Test may be disclosed, if multiple cores are maxed. Here is the A12X with about 18.200 points in the iPhone XS (11.100 points) or the old iPad Pro 10.5 (with 9,300 points) far behind. And here, too, the distance to the Macbook Pro is not too large, depending on the configuration between the 21,000 and 22,500 points.