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T-Mobile is extending its popular Music Freedom service, which allows unlimited use of Apple Music and other streaming music services without eating into your data allowance, to MetroPCS prepaid customers – albeit under a slightly different name. T-Mobile said that its Music Unlimited service would be available on a range of plans, starting from just $40/month.

Music Unlimited includes more than 30 music streaming services, including Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify, Slacker, iHeart Radio, and Google Play Music. Music Unlimited is available to new and existing MetroPCS customers on Metro’s new $40, $50, and $60 unlimited plans.

The company is also offering a Binge On equivalent, known as Data Maximizer. This compresses streaming video streams down to DVD quality to allow customers to stream three times as much video content for the same data usage … 

All MetroPCS plans get Data Maximizer, while Music Unlimited is offered on single line plans from $40 and family plans from $35/line. You can find details of the qualifying plans here, and the full list of 33 supported streaming music services here.

Back in the summer, T-Mobile said that its customers were streaming up to 131M songs a day. The revised MetroPCS plans come into effect on Thursday 19th November.

Filed under: Apple Music Tagged: Apple Music, MetroPCS, Spotify, Streaming media, T-Mobile

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Canaccord Genuity estimated back in July that Apple was taking home 92% of the profits in the entire smartphone industry, and now says the figure climbed even higher last quarter, hitting 94%. Samsung was the only other company to make a profit, says the report, with 11% – the somewhat odd math explained by the fact that everyone else is losing money.

Investors Business Daily quotes analyst Michael Walkley predicting continued strong performance by Apple.

“Apple dominated the premium-tier global smartphone market during calendar Q3, with record share of industry profits,” Walkley said in the report. “We believe the iPhone 6 and 6S products should continue to post strong sales and high-end smartphone market share gains.

“With only 31% of the iPhone installed base having upgraded to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus devices by Apple’s fiscal Q4 2015 (ended Sept. 26), we anticipate continued strong replacement sales through calendar 2016 and beyond.”

Tim Cook said last month that Apple was expecting big things from the holiday quarter.

We are heading into the holidays with our strongest product lineup yet, including iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, Apple Watch with an expanded lineup of cases and bands, the new iPad Pro and the all-new Apple TV.

The company reported record earnings in its fiscal 2015 year, which ended in September.

Photo: Ryan Emberley/Invision for Apple/AP Images.

Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: AAPL, AAPL profit, Apple Inc, Apple profit, iPhone, Samsung

For more information about AAPL Company, iPhone, and Samsung continue reading at 9to5Mac.

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As expected, Apple Pay is now available in Canada. You can use use eligible American Express bank cards to make mobile payments at a whole host of retailers that support the NFC technology across Canada. Apple Pay retailer mobile payments works with iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. Some had suggested that Apple may need to push out an iOS software update but iOS 9.2 remains in beta — this all works from within the Wallet setup on iOS 9.1.

To add cards in Apple Pay, open Wallet app and click on the ‘Add Debit/Credit Card’ option. Unlike the launch in US and UK, which supported many regional banks, the Canadian Apple Pay launch is limited to just American Express cards. It’s not known if Apple intends to continue expansion into other Canadian banks. Apple also has announced a similar deal in Australia: using American Express as the conduit to launch Apple Pay there. Apple Pay with American Express is coming to Spain, Singapore and Hong Kong in 2016.

For Canada, Apple Pay is supported a wide variety of big retailers like McDonald’s, Walmart and of course Apple Stores. Look for the normal contactless logo in store to see if Apple Pay is supported.

Filed under: AAPL Company, Apple Pay, iOS, iOS Devices Tagged: Apple pay, Canada, mobile payments

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iPad Pro officially launched last week to the public after initially being announced back in September. The device launched in Apple’s standard trio of color choices, as well: silver, gold, and Space Gray. As with all Apple products, the Touch ID ring found on the Space Gray model is black, while the ring is gold on the gold model and silver on the silver model, just like you’d expect. At least one user, however, has received an iPad Pro with a different color combination…

A 9to5Mac reader has shared the above image and the video blow that both clearly show a silver iPad Pro featuring a gold Touch ID ring. The reader purchased his iPad Pro through AT&T with LTE and 128GB of storage. Everything else about the iPad is correct – the back is silver, the edges are silver, and the iPad Pro shown on the box is silver with a silver Touch ID ring.

When our reader contacted Apple about the problem, they told him it’s an “extremely rare” manufacturing error, but that he would need to go through AT&T to get a replacement. Likewise, AT&T also claimed it was a rare production issue and even told him that he could get a lot of money for it on eBay.

We’ve yet to see any other instances of this issue, making it all the more interesting as to how this could have happened in the first place. In the end, our reader, Nick, decided to hold onto his unique silver iPad Pro with a gold Touch ID ring. If you ask me, it’s a pretty cool “manufacturing error” for a device to feature and actually looks really nice.

Below is a video of Nick’s iPad Pro:

Thanks Nick!

Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: gallery, images, iPad Pro, Touch ID

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Third-party keyboards have been supported on iOS since version 8 shipped last year, but even today they’re still often plagued by poor performance and other issues related to Apple’s implementation. Today, Google has released a Chrome for iOS update that disables support for third-party keyboards entirely because of such issues.

It’s not clear which issues exactly were behind this decision, as the company only lists a very broad description of the problem: “Third-party keyboards have been disabled due to crashes caused by a bug in iOS 9.”

The update, which brings the app to version 46.0.2490.85, also includes a fix for a display bug with the app’s location/search bar.

We’ve reached out to Google for a comment on when this feature might be available again. We’ll update this post when they respond.

Filed under: Apps Tagged: Google Chrome

Continue reading more about Apps and Google Chrome at 9to5Mac.

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Pandora announced today that it’s acquiring Rdio for $75 million with plans to integrate the competitive music streaming service’s technology into its own service pending the usual government approvals.

In addition to acquiring technology and intellectual property from Rdio, many members of Rdio’s team will be offered roles with Pandora, subject to close of the agreement. The company expects to offer an expanded Pandora listening experience by late 2016

Pandora isn’t planning on continuing the Rdio service or even purchasing the company itself, but rather buying Rdio’s technology and some of its talent as Rdio goes bankrupt and begins to shut down its service.

What exactly this means for Rdio customers, which offers unlimited music streaming across platforms with both paid and free ad-supported memberships, remains to be seen. One feature that Pandora executives mentioned will likely come as a result of the acquisition is an expansion of subscription options including a new “on-demand paid subscription”.

Pandora currently offers a radio-style streaming experience with an ad-free, monthly paid subscription, while Rdio has a free ad-supported tier and two paid subscriptions that remove ads, song skip limits, and add on-demand content, downloads and other features.

It’s likely Pandora will attempt to transition Rdio listeners over as the service shuts down and it implements the technology, but it will also be a key opportunity for Apple to pick up new subscribers from Rdio users that might not be interested in Pandora’s offering.

Filed under: Apps Tagged: $75 million, 2016, acquisition, Apple Music, Music, Pandora, Rdio, streaming, subscriptions

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When I reviewed the 12-inch MacBook with Retina display earlier this year, my one question was this: could I possibly use such a low power machine reliably for work? For blog posting and editing, switching between chat apps and email, and keeping up with a few Twitter accounts, the single-port MacBook is totally fine, and the Retina display was an upgrade over the dated one on my old MacBook Air.

While I’d like to apply that same question to the iPad Pro, which has a slightly larger display and effectively twice the battery life of my MacBook, the difference in how iOS and OS X handle multitasking and window management currently limit my ability to apply my same workflows from the Mac to the iPad. That didn’t stop me from lusting after the iPad Pro when it hit stores last week. Despite the Pro in its name, I think the new iPad is the best content consumption tablet on the planet. 

iOS 9 on the iPad added new multitasking features that let you use two apps at the same time. Slide Over lets you peek into new apps without leaving your current app: open Messages to send a quick message while browsing in Safari then dismiss it. Split View lets you actively use two apps side-by-side: parse your inbox on Mail on the left and view your Calendar on the right. And Picture in Picture, which I find completely brilliant, lets you overlay video from supported apps like Safari and Hulu over the Home screen and other apps including during Split View: browse online in Safari on the left, keep up with Tweetbot streaming on the right, and watch a TV show from HBO in any of the corners.

Here’s that same setup on my Retina MacBook. The Mac also gained Split View this year with OS X El Capitan, although Tweetbot doesn’t yet support it. Still, the Mac offers window management that lets you recreate similar arrangements as the iPad. The two displays both show about the same amount of content and I could hide both the dock and menu bar to gain a little more real estate if I wanted, but out of the box the Mac has no Picture in Picture feature and I’m not aware of any third-party software to emulate it without researching. While I could try resizing a window to fit below Tweetbot on the right, the convenience of real PIP just isn’t there yet. One more important thing to note in this example: when I view HBO NOW on my Retina MacBook, the site offers a ‘playbackTechError’ and warns that Flash Player version 17 or high is required. No thanks.

Battery life between the two devices is also a huge deal. Apple rather generously rates the Retina MacBook for up to 9 hours of wireless web usage, up to 10 hours of iTunes movie playback, and up to 30 days of standby time, but I never do any of those single tasks to achieve those numbers. Switching between at least Safari, Mail, Tweetbot, TweetDeck, Byword, iTunes, Reeder, Wunderlist, and Preview lasts for about 4.5 hours, then recharging in full during work takes another 2.5 hours. Not quite all day battery life, and that’s using the lowest-powered configuration.

It’s a totally different story on the iPad. Like every iPad since the original model introduced in 2010, Apple promises up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music, or up to 9 hours of surfing the web using cellular data on cellular models. I’ve owned the iPad 2, iPad mini, fourth-gen iPad, iPad Air, iPad Air 2, and now iPad Pro (these get sold or passed down to family, I’m not hoarding, I swear) and I’ve always found that Apple’s battery claims for iPad are accurate. When using any iPad on Wi-Fi, every 10% of battery remaining is roughly an hour of usage.

That’s not a totally fair comparison between the Retina MacBook and iPad Pro, though, because I’m not recreating my Mac workflow on the iPad yet. Another point to note: the iPad Pro takes roughly twice as long to recharge from empty to full at about 5 hours. iPad Pro uses a 12 watt power adapter with Lightning compared to the Retina MacBook’s 29 watt power adapter with USB-C. (This might have been dangerous and/or a bad idea, but using a USB-C adapter to try recharging the iPad Pro with the 29 watt adapter made no difference.

Storage is also a big difference. iPad Pro tops out at 128GB and the Retina MacBook starts at 256GB. I haven’t thought much about why, but I can live with a 32GB iPad Pro (the entry-level $800 model) and wouldn’t seriously consider a Mac with twice that storage. RAM is the same story, 4GB versus 8GB, although the difference here is less obvious considering iOS limits how many apps iPad Pro can run in the foreground.

Then there’s benchmark scores. These speak more to what the devices could possibly ever do rather than describe what they’re able to do today. Running Geekbench on both the entry-level Retina MacBook OS X 10.11.2 beta and iPad Pro running iOS 9.2 beta, the iPad outscored the Mac on both single- and multi-core scores. On paper, the iPad Pro is better with its 3234 single-core score and 5483 multi-core score compared to the Retina MacBook’s 2381 single-core score and 4495 multi-core score, but in practice the two platforms are too different for that to be fair.

The bottom line here for me is that I’m hiring the Retina MacBook and iPad Pro for totally different jobs. There may be some cross-over for which workflows I can have on both devices, especially if iOS 10 continues what iOS 9 started and focuses heavily on catching the iPad’s software up with its hardware capabilities, but for now their roles are distinctly defined for me and there’s no temptation to replace one with the other.

I would love to see the Mac learn how to do Picture in Picture just like the iPad does. But I’d really be impressed if the iPad had free floating windows and an improved iCloud Drive app for moving files around. iOS has made a lot of progress in the last two or three years in this area, but there’s still some work to be done before the iPad Pro (or any iPad) become viable laptop alternatives for me.

Tempted to replace a MacBook with an iPad Pro today? Here’s an easy test: could an iPad Air 2 also replace a MacBook for you? If so, you’ll be fine and the larger display will make using side-by-side apps a better experience. If not, the iPad Pro isn’t different enough yet from an iPad Air 2 in terms of what software can do to tempt that challenge and that’s okay.

For me, the Retina MacBook is like a sleek motorcycle that gets me to and from work in style without sacrificing my ability to use the same roads as someone driving a MacBook Pro and iMac. iPad Pro for me isn’t in the same category; it’s more like a portable home theater with a big screen and killer sound system where I can lounge and be entertained. Everyone will use these devices differently, but that’s where I’m at with the Retina MacBook and iPad Pro in their current form.

I’ll wrap this up with a couple of observations about the iPad Pro with the Retina MacBook in mind. First, the Retina MacBook feels way more portable. It’s physically smaller, only slightly thicker than the iPad Pro, and includes a physical keyboard and trackpad. iPad Pro takes up noticeably more space, but there’s something just plain cool about a really big touch screen to me.

Next is the Apple logo on the back of the iPad Pro and Protective Case. It’s the same position and orientation as the iPad mini and iPad Pro, positioned correctly when holding the iPad in portrait orientation. There’s really not a lot of times when portrait feels like the right orientation for a 12.9-inch tablet in my opinion. Add that the promoted Smart Keyboard puts the Apple logo totally sideways when used and it starts to feel a lot like when Apple notebooks had upside-down logos when in use.

So for me the iPad Pro isn’t a laptop replacement even though I had no problem using a single-port MacBook for work, but I’m still really glad the iPad Pro exists. The massive Retina touch screen takes some getting used to if you’ve spent a lot of time with smaller iPads, but it’s an awesome portable home theater.

Filed under: iOS Devices, Mac, Opinion

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Last month the popular Waze navigation app on iPhone got a major update with a new design and improvements to reporting traffic issues and sharing arrival times with others. Now Waze is out with its next new version which brings 3D Touch shortcuts to the Home screen icon for iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users. Firmly press on the updated icon to quickly look up an address, share your location with other users, or get directions to your work or home address from your current location. Waze also says the update includes the usual bug fixes and improvements.

Fantastical already features 3D Touch shortcuts from its Home screen icon, and today the calendar and reminders app is adding more 3D Touch features for iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users…

Fantastical now supports Peek and Pop on the latest iPhones, so you can firmly press an event or reminders entry to see the details screen in an instant, and push further to open it completely or swipe up for a set of actions like edit, duplicate, move, share, and delete. For all iPhone users, Fantastical’s Today widget in Notification Center, which presents a full month calendar plus upcoming events and reminders, now respects system font size settings for making text appear larger or smaller.

Fantastical also works with Apple Watch and has a native watchOS 2 app, glance, and watch face complication. These all let you see a streamlined view of your calendar as well as iCloud Reminders which aren’t otherwise available on Apple Watch. The latest version of Fantastical lets you change how its Apple Watch complication works. Using the settings within the iPhone app, users can choose whether the complication opens the next item on your calendar or a list view. Users can also now customize the small complication to display total number of appointments, how many items are remaining, or the date. Similarly, the large complication can now display either the next appointment or the date.

Waze for iPhone is available for free on the App Store. Fantastical for iPhone and Apple Watch is $4.99 on the App Store and a free update for existing Fantastical 2 for iPhone customers.

Filed under: Apps Tagged: 3D Touch, Apple watch, calendar, Fantastical, Google, iPhone 6s, navigation, Peek, Pop, Reminders, Waze

For more information about Apps, Apple watch, and Google continue reading at 9to5Mac.

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Apple has quietly confirmed that it’s adding business listing information from Foursquare to Apple Maps. The addition was spotted on Apple’s acknowledgements page for Maps listing the various contributors of data for Apple’s mapping service (via Apple Maps Marketing).

It’s unclear exactly how Apple is using Foursquare data, but it’s likely users will begin to notice points of interest related data from the service appearing soon. Apple already partners with various companies for the data and other features it uses in Maps including TomTom, booking.com, TripAdvisor, Yelp and others.

Apple uses Yelp and booking.com, for example, to show reviews for local points of interest like restaurants and hotels, and it’s possible Apple will be tapping into Foursquare for similar features.

Foursquare claims to have over 2 million businesses using the service and over 70 million tips, which are essentially reviews and comments for local businesses, submitted by users.

Filed under: Apps, iOS Tagged: acknowledgements, Apple Maps, business listings, Foursquare, iOS, Mac, maps, point of interest, update

For more information about Apps, iOS, and iOS continue reading at 9to5Mac.

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It’s no secret that Anker’s power accessories are some of the very best options available in their respective categories: its affordable, powerful wall chargers, car chargers, and battery packs have become sensations over the last couple of years. Heading into the holidays, Anker has debuted a fantastic option for both iPad and Retina MacBook users — the new PowerCore+ 20100 ($70).

Redesigned and improved from an earlier model, PowerCore+ 20100 uses even better materials and more powerful charging circuitry to expand its appeal. This time, PowerCore+ sports a USB-C port, enough amperage to recharge Apple’s latest 12″ MacBooks and iPad Pros, and notably faster recharging speeds. Having tested it with an iPad Pro, I was able to take the 12.9″ tablet from 0% to 100% power with plenty of juice left over, and the Retina MacBook is in the same camp. iPad Air and iPad mini owners can expect around two recharges, while iPhone users can get four or more recharges…

PowerCore+ 20100 is a big battery pack, but by going with a narrower, taller, and thicker shape, Anker manages to make it feel markedly smaller than the ultra-high-capacity Astro E7 I reviewed early this year. It’s still an extruded pill, but at 7.2″ by 2.4″ by 0.9″, it has a more bag-friendly footprint than the 6.5″ by 3″ wide by 0.75″ thick Astro, and feels nicer in the hand. Compared with the prior PowerCore, it’s a hint thicker, a little wider, and around 0.7″ taller — not enough to make a major difference, but PowerCore+ does look and feel a bit bigger. Anker bundles PowerCore+ with a slightly larger version of its prior, great mesh drawstring bag.

Most of Anker’s batteries are made from plastic, but PowerCore+ 20100 is clad in jet black aluminum — the color and texture Apple abandoned after making a few memorably stealthy iPods and iPhones. As a result, the battery feels cool to the touch when it’s not in use, and its edges have just a hint of the chamfered shine of recent Apple products. I really liked the matte plastic finish of the prior PowerCore more than the glossy plastic Astro E7, but the PowerCore+ feels premium compared with both of them.

One of PowerCore+’s best features is on the top: a deluxe 10-light remaining power indicator, with white dots arranged in a circle. These lights provide a granular sense of how much energy’s remaining, and how much additional recharging time PowerCore+ needs, versus the common four-light indicators on batteries such as the prior PowerCore and Astro E7. Here, power is indicated in clear 10% increments rather than big 25% steps, so you can easily judge how filled or empty PowerCore+ really is. Additionally, thanks to a 2.4A input, PowerCore+ can recharge itself faster than most batteries: 8 hours if paired with a 12W wall adapter such as the one that comes with the iPad Pro, or as Anker recommends, one of its own PowerPort USB recharging hubs. The speed is a major improvement over the prior PowerCore, which would only be 3/4 filled after 8 hours.

PowerCore+’s other key benefit is enhanced power output. Anker promises up to 6 Amps of total output from the two full-sized USB ports, though iPad users will tap out at 2.4A per port, as that’s the top recharging speed supported by iOS devices — notably including the brand new iPad Pro. Also new to this model are USB-C and 12″ MacBook support: unlike the micro-USB-based PowerCore, PowerCore+ comes with a USB-to-USB-C cable and a USB-C port. You can flip the included cable, connecting PowerCore+ to a USB-C device such as the 12″ MacBook, or to a standard USB port for recharging.

In my testing, PowerCore+ was able to fully recharge a dead iPad Pro (with a 38.5Wh battery) to 100%, with over 30% of PowerCore’s capacity remaining for another device — enough to give an iPad Air 2 an additional 45% charge. Since the 12″ MacBook’s battery is only slightly larger (39.7Wh), you can similarly expect a full recharge with extra power to spare — expect enough for a full iPhone 6/6s Plus recharge. That’s a great level of capacity for a single “connect it to everything” battery that’s you can carry around anywhere.

Given the range of capacities, prices, and sizes Anker’s batteries now cover, the only remaining question is which one is right for your personal needs. I still have a soft spot for Astro E7 (currently $60) due to its incredible combination of battery capacity and pricing, but as I noted when testing the original PowerCore, Astro’s size is just a little too large, and its inclusion of triple USB ports wasn’t needed. The first PowerCore (currently $40) has a great size, capacity, and price point, but the $70 PowerCore+ offers faster recharging, MacBook support, a better remaining power indicator, and superior cladding for a premium. Go with whichever one best suits your Apple devices, but regardless of the one you choose, you’ll be impressed by the quality and performance for the price.

Filed under: AAPL Company, Reviews Tagged: Anker, PowerCore+

For more news on AAPL Company, Reviews, and Anker continue reading at 9to5Mac.

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With the accessory in short supply at Apple Stores, the new Apple Pencil stylus for the iPad Pro is listed for as high as $400 on eBay, four times the $99 sticker price through Apple.

Most models of Apple’s new 12.9-inch iPad Pro launched last week are available at Apple Stores and shipping for online orders in 1-7 days, but accessories for the device are harder to find. Despite Apple’s new Smart Keyboard case and Apple Pencil stylus being among the the standout new features alongside the iPad Pro’s larger display, they appear to be in shorter supply with both backordered 4-5 weeks online and hard to find in stores after hardly being available on day one.

The short supply of the accessories frustrated early adopters of the new iPad Pro enough that Apple offered a comment last week, noting that it has “limited supply of Apple Pencil and the Smart Keyboard” and that it will continue “regular shipments” of the accessories to Apple Stores.

We, however, managed to get our hands on the new Apple Pencil for an unboxing over the weekend, while Ben has been logging his day-to-day experience with the iPad Pro.

If you’re absolutely desperate for an Apple Pencil, can’t wait a month or more for Apple to catch up with demand, and want to pay a little higher than retail price, you can find a handful of listings on eBay here.

Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: 4-5 weeks, 400, Apple Pencil, Apple Store, delay, eBay, iPad Pro, preorder, resale, shipment, shipping time

Check out 9to5Mac for more breaking coverage of iOS Devices, Apple Store, and iPad Pro.

What do you think? Discuss “Apple’s iPad Pro Pencil delays lead scalpers to seek $400 eBay payouts” with our community.

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

Apple Watch sale at Best Buy, $50 off across the board, starting at $299 shipped (Open box $278)

20% off iTunes Gift Cards: $100 for $80, $50 for $40, $25 for $20

Amazon Gold Box – PNY storage up to 60% off: 128GB microSD $40, 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive $16, more

Best of Black Friday – HDTVs: 40-inch from $149, Samsung 55-inch Smart $580 (Reg. $1,200), more

Best of Black Friday – iPads, Tablets and e-readers: iPad Air 2 from $360, Amazon Fire $35 (Reg. $50), more

Best of Black Friday – Games: Xbox One/PS4 console bundles, deep discounts on games, more

Best of Black Friday – wearables: Fitbit Flex $59/Charge $90/more, $100 off Apple Watch, Android smartwatches, more

Giveaway: mophie juice pack reserve battery case for iPhone 6/s (multiple winners)

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Daily Deals: Seiki 39-inch 120Hz 4K 2160p HDTV $250, Aukey 3-Port USB Hub w/ ethernet $16, more

LG 43-inch HDTVs: Smart 4K + $150 Dell Gift Card $600 (Reg. $800+), 1080p $300 (Reg. $350), more

• Enjoy music anywhere in your home w/ SONOS PLAY:1 Starter Set: $349 ($400 value)
• ZeroLemon SolarJuice 10,000mAh Fast Power Bank: $14 Prime shipped (Reg. $50)
• Games/Apps: NHL 16 $40, FIFA 16 $40, iOS freebies, more
• Sony 7.2-ch. 4K AV Receiver w/ AirPlay and Bluetooth: $298 shipped (Reg. $400)
• Apple MFi Certified 3.1A 4ft Coiled Lightning Car Charger $12 (Reg. $20)
• Adobe Elements 14 w/ download: Photoshop as low as $40, Premiere $60
• Mackie CR4 4-inch Multimedia Monitor Speakers (Pair) $120 shipped (Reg. $150)
• Hitman Sniper for iOS hits its lowest price yet: $2 (Reg. $5)
• GoPro HERO4: Silver (Prime only): $329 (Reg. $400), Black $395 (Reg. $500)
• Bluetooth: Venstart 10W Speaker $20 (Reg. $33), SoundPEATS In-ears $25 (Reg. $50)
• TEKTON Precision Bit & Driver Kit: $7.49 Prime shipped add-on (Reg. $12)
• Shoe-up with with casual shoes and Boots 85%+ off at Amazon’s MyHabit
• Amazon Buy Two, Get One Free board games: Monopoly, Jenga, Uno, more

BLACK FRIDAY AD LEAKS & NEWS:

Best Buy’s Black Friday ad brings deals on Apple Watch, Macs, HDTVs, games & more!

• Walmart’s Black Friday ad leak hits with 4K UHDTV deals, iPad Air 2 $100 off, more
• Target previews its top Black Friday deals, launches surprise one-day sale
• Staples Black Friday Ad Revealed: iPad Air 2 from $374, mini 4 $300, more
• Amazon plans dramatic Black Friday discounts for its Kindle, Fire TV Stick & Fire tablet
• Amazon’s Black Friday Deals store is now open for business
• eBay’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday will deliver deals on MacBooks, iPhone, iPad Air 2
• GameStop Black Friday ad leak: PS4/Xbox One bundles $300, new Nintendo 3DS XL $180
• Costco’s Black Friday ad includes deals on Chromecast (2nd gen), Fitbit Flex, more
• Toys R Us Black Friday ad leak: Xbox One/PS4 bundles $300, more
• Sam’s Club Black Friday ad leak: iPad Air 2 Cellular $175 off, Google Play $100 GC $80
• Kohl’s Black Friday ad leak: more PS4/Xbox One $300 bundles, home goods, clothing
• Sam’s Club One-Day Sale: iPhone 6s/Plus $100 off, iPad Air 2 64GB/128GB $150 off
• HHGregg Black Friday: Beats Powerbeats2 Wireless Headphones $100, more
• Sports Authority Black Friday Ad: Free gift cards w/ footwear, FitBit Charge HR $120
• eBay calls on Black Friday shoppers to decide which products will get discounted this year
• BJ’s Warehouse Black Friday ad hits with Samsung 4K UHDTV deals, fitness trackers
• Sears Black Friday Ad: deals on Samsung 4K UHDTV’s, more
• Grab 2 free ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ tickets during Black Friday at Kohl’s
• The Office Depot & OfficeMax Black Friday ad doesn’t bring much to the table

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

Add 3100mAh of battery life to your iPhone 6/s with this MFi Apple-certified case: $21 Prime shipped (Reg. $43)

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Things have moved on rather a lot since I gave my first impressions and highlighted my core questions in choosing between my existing iPad Air 2 and the iPad Pro. Further usage of it has made it abundantly clear that the iPad Pro cannot replace a standard iPad. It’s ridiculously over-sized for reading or watching Netflix in bed, and there are other times when the smaller version was simply more convenient.

But I do still love that screen! It’s great for casual web-browsing – better than either my MacBooks or iPad Air 2. It’s fantastic for viewing photos. It’s great for ebooks so long as you’re not trying to read them in bed. Magazines are amazing. Netflix is great with the huge screen and really loud speakers. Split View makes it a genuine multi-tasking device.

So, the question now is: send the iPad Pro back, or keep both devices? I said last time that I really couldn’t see a justification for having that much cash invested in iOS devices. One commentator responded to this with “Ah, just do it” – which I have to confess is a well-argued position.

I’d certainly find that easier to justify if it could earn its keep as a mobile writing device, so that was my next experiment … 

I’d like to have tested Apple’s own Smart Keyboard, but those appear to be made from unobtainium. Apple was thus pushing the Logitech Create keyboard, made specifically for the iPad Pro. Jeremy has written an excellent full review, but I’ll throw in my thoughts too in commenting on the overall experience of using the combination as a writing tool.

The arrival of the iPad Pro was well-timed for a writing test. It’s not really practical to use it for my work here, as I need too many apps open at once, but I’m currently taking part in National Novel Writing Month – something I do every 2-3 years. I’m thus spending a couple of hours a day when my 9to5Mac duties are complete to work on a book.

That book was supposed to be the sequel to The Billion Dollar Heist, but I hadn’t managed to come up with a plan that matched the scale, spectacle and audacity of the original. I plan my novels all the way down to a scene-by-scene level before I write a word of them, so without a viable plan, I couldn’t start work on the book. I decided to give my brain a rest by writing a short-ish non-fiction book I’d had in the back of my mind for some years.

I do most of my writing on my MacBook Pro, but on Friday set that aside to write on the iPad Pro. I was out for dinner in the evening, so part of the writing was done in the office, part of it on the train there, which allowed me to kill two birds with one stone: assessing the portability of the device, and finding out how well the keyboard worked when used on a lap rather than a desk.

Open, the keyboard looks pretty nice, if nothing special. The shade is yet another variation on Space Gray, and the keys themselves are very MacBook-like in appearance. One advantage of the Logitech keyboard over the Apple one is that it’s backlit, something I’ve come to view as near-essential these days.

In case mode, with the unit closed, it really looks very ordinary. The stylishness of the iPad is completely disguised. It’s smart enough, but that’s about as much as you can say for it. The side views look a little random, though they do keep the speakers exposed and allow access for the Lightning cable.

One thing that’s very welcome is no Bluetooth pairing and no need to charge the keyboard. The Smart Connector does that most Apple-like of things, and Just Works – automatically switching on the keyboard, and keeping it powered.

Snapping the iPad Pro in and out of the casing feels frankly nasty, and I also did find it slipped out a couple of times when I first got it. That hasn’t happened since, despite lots of use, so I suspect there’s just a bit of a knack to it which I’ve now picked up. Similarly, opening the case is a little awkward, lacking a MacBook-style cutout for your fingers – but it does slot very easily into its groove.

The keyboard itself is full size and has a decent amount of movement, but is definitely not MacBook Air/Pro standard – though has a lot more movement than the 12-inch MacBook.

Used on a desk, it’s an ok but not great typing experience. The screen angle is good, but the keys are a little on the spongy side, and I found myself making more mistakes than usual. Given that this is a full-size keyboard, it really should feel a lot better than an equivalent iPad Air 2 keyboard, but it doesn’t.

It’s significantly worse on your lap. The angle of the screen is too steep when you’re looking down at it, and the base is too flimsy: the whole thing wobbles as you type. This is honestly not the experience I expected from Logitech, whose keyboards I normally like.

However, the backlighting works well – I did some writing in the back of a cab in the dark without any difficulty.

One strange omission: there is no apparent way to do a forward delete. The dedicated function keys are also a little on the small side.

Both volume and power buttons are difficult to use through the case, requiring a lot of pressure. It’s actually really hard to take screengrabs, for example, without switching the device off.

In theory, you can use the iPad as a tablet without removing it from its case. In practice, this doesn’t work well. It makes for an extremely thick device, it doesn’t fully sit flat and it wobbles. Either tablet mode was an afterthought when Logitech was designing this, or someone messed up badly. I can’t see that anyone would want to use it in that mode – it’s far better to remove it from the case.

I do most of my mobile writing on my MacBook Air 11. The size and weight is similar to the iPad Pro with Logitech keyboard, and the price is comparable, so it’s reasonable to compare the two.

The MacBook Air keyboard is a lot better, and the trackpad feels more convenient for edits than the touchscreen of the iPad Pro. The Logitech keyboard does offer the standard OS X-style CMD-C/X/V for copying and pasting, but selecting text in the first place is more awkward.

Oddly, I actually found it more annoying than on my iPad Air 2. That may be partly the size – more distance for my hand to move – but also I think the Pro looks and feels like a MacBook, so psychologically I felt it should act like one.

Overall, then, I found the iPad Pro with Logitech keyboard a disappointing writing tool: I’ll definitely be sticking to my MBA for that.

I mentioned the bag problem last time. The iPad Pro doesn’t fit my small bag – the one I take out most of the time – and needs the same bags I’d use for my MacBook Air. But the case does feel robust, and I had nothing else to carry when heading out to dinner on Friday evening, so I decided to just carry it under my arm.

I wasn’t remotely nervous about scratching it. The iPad is extremely well-protected. The rather mundane look of the casing meant I also wasn’t concerned about it attracting unwanted attention.

But even on its own, without a bag, it felt heavy. I think it suffers from the fact that we’ve all become used to iPads being featherweight devices now, and this one definitely isn’t.

Conclusions

It’s interesting how much can change in the space of a few days. On day one, I was really thinking it quite likely that I’d keep the iPad Pro in preference to my iPad Air. On day two, it was looking like a closer call. But five days in, that much of the decision was made: it can’t replace the smaller iPad. The question has now become whether I can justify keeping both.

If if had won me over with its performance as a mobile writing tool, I’d have likely decided yes. But it really hasn’t: I’ve found it significantly inferior to my MacBook Air in that role.

So the obvious call at this point would be to reject the iPad Pro as neither one thing nor the other. Not as convenient as its smaller brother for most tasks, and not as good as a MacBook for writing.

But I do still love that large screen for all the things I mentioned in the introduction, and a significant part of what I’d be rejecting is not the iPad Pro itself, but the combo with the Logitech keyboard. Other keyboards will follow (Brydge is working on one, for example). Could I hold out in the hope that a better keyboard will win me round?

That’s the decision I’m mulling now. I’m veering toward not, but I said I’d give it a week, and I will: I’ll make my final decision on Wednesday.

Filed under: iOS Devices, Opinion Tagged: iPad Pro, iPad Pro diary, iPad Pro keyboard, iPad Pro keyboards, iPad Pro review, Logitech Create, Logitech CREATE Keyboard

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