Review: The 10.5-inch iPad Pro is much more “pro” than what it replaces | Ars Technica

From a extensive review; tl;dr: great hardware that's optimized for iOS 11 (expected in the fall)

"So we’re left to evaluate the improved hardware without the virtue of the improved software that Apple announced with it. And it is very good hardware! I mean, it’s still an iPad. It’s still a big slab that’s mostly screen. It does all the regular iPad stuff, a little faster and a little better. It’s a noticeable improvement over both last year’s 9.7-inch iPad Pro and the cheaper, more basic $329 iPad. And now that Apple has synced up the core hardware features of the 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch iPads Pro (same A10X, same RAM, same camera, same screen tech), you can now pick the size and weight you want without making any other compromises.

Those improved specs, the better keyboard, and all of iOS 11’s new features (most notably the file manager and the new multitasking features) also earn these tablets more right to the “Pro” name than their predecessors had. The new hardware won’t change your mind if you already think iPads have no business being “Pro,” but in the fall when iOS 11 comes out these tablets are going to be more computer-y than they have been at any point in their seven-year history. There are still things that you really just can’t do with them, software development chief among them, but for writers or artists or even video editors the combination of hardware and software is increasingly convincing."

Review: The 10.5-inch iPad Pro is much more “pro” than what it replaces | Ars Technica