iPad Pro Review: great display, A9X chip has no real competition in the ARM SoC space, Apple Pencil is the best tablet stylus but Smart Keyboard is a letdown
The Apple iPad Pro Review — At this point it probably isn't a secret that tablet sales have leveled off, and in some cases they have declined.
Context & Ripple Effects
AnandTech's verdict lands five weeks after [[a:836317|AppleInsider flagged the same top-tier display but noted the iPad Pro falling behind the Surface Pro 4]], so this review is the deeper technical counterweight in an already-contested launch window. The finding that matters most is silicon: the A9X has, in AnandTech's judgment, no real competitor in the ARM SoC space, which reframes the tablet slowdown — unit demand is flattening, but Apple's performance lead is widening.
First-order effects
- Android and Windows tablet makers face a performance gap with no ARM-side answer, pushing them to compete on price and form factor rather than raw SoC capability.
- Buyers weighing the iPad Pro as a laptop replacement hit the accessory wall immediately: the Apple Pencil is judged the best tablet stylus available, but the Smart Keyboard is called a letdown, weakening the productivity pitch at the point of sale.
Second-order effects
- Apple's own iteration confirms the keyboard critique had teeth — by the 2018 redesign the Smart Keyboard was reworked for stable lap use and the Pencil got a second-generation overhaul, turning both accessories into annual upgrade levers.
- The accessory economics become a recurring price story: The Verge's 10.5-inch iPad Pro review repeats the complaint that the device gets expensive once Smart Keyboard and Pencil are added, making attach-rate pricing a durable competitive vulnerability.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, the tablet market stratifies into Apple's custom-silicon high end — still 'unbeaten' hardware in The Verge's 2025 M5 review — and a commoditized rest, with Apple competing mainly against its own upgrade cycles in a market whose unit sales have leveled off or declined since this review.
- The decade-long review trail also shows software catching up to hardware last: iPadOS only turns Mac-like years after the A9X established the performance ceiling, suggesting custom silicon leads set in 2015-2016 became the foundation for platform convergence rather than tablet-only gains.
The trend: Across a decade of iPad Pro reviews, Apple's custom ARM silicon keeps widening a lead no rival closes, even as the tablet market itself stagnates around it.