Apple Really Messed Up the iPad Pro Launch

This is a daily opinion column written by Lowell Heddings, the founder of How-To Geek, featuring his take on the latest in the world of technology.

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I ordered the iPad Pro a few hours after they started accepting orders, and when I went to check out I noticed a huge problem — the iPad Pro itself was actually available on launch day… but the Smart Keyboard and Pencil won’t ship for 3-4 weeks. That’s completely ridiculous.

The entire point of the iPad Pro is that it’s a tablet that supposedly can replace your PC — just like Microsoft’s Surface Pro. The biggest selling points are the keyboard that actually connects directly to the iPad so you don’t get annoying lag like Bluetooth keyboards have, and the Pencil that is supposed to be a huge step forward in stylus technology.

But I don’t get to try any of that. For 3-4 weeks. It’s not like we’ll ever get a review unit from Apple here at HTG (and especially not after I write this). Sure, I get to use a giant iPad, but without the accessories, it’s just that — a giant iPad. I’ve already got an iPad Air 2 that doesn’t get used all that much, and this is just a bigger, faster version of that.

Luckily there’s an alternative, the Logitech keyboard case, which is due to arrive in the morning. But that doesn’t excuse Apple for failing to coordinate things so that you can get the accessories at the same time as the computer, especially when those accessories are such a huge part of the appeal of the device in the first place.

So, How’s the iPad Pro?

It’s huge. It’s fast. And without the accessories, it’s nothing but a bigger faster iPad. And most apps are not yet updated to work with all the multi-tasking features, much less the big screen. Sure, apps that aren’t updated still work, but they look stretched out and blurry.

I’m sure in a month or two, there will be a lot of apps that fully support it, we’ll finally have the accessories that actually make the iPad Pro interesting, and it will all be fine. For artists and anybody that likes to sketch things out, the Pencil will be a big step forward, and the keyboard will enable (some) people to really use it as a desktop replacement.

But for now, you’re probably better off waiting a little longer to bother getting one.