Apple's been claiming this new Second Generation iPad Pro makes for a good laptop when paired
with the Magic Keyboard. The Magic Keyboard is the little keyboard case combo thing that
allows the iPad to be magically suspended in midair while you're typing – kind of
interesting. Today, we're going to see how durable each of these are together, since,
you know, last time around things didn't work out too well for the iPad Pro when it was
all alone.
Let's get started.
[Intro]
So the iPad Pro starts at $800 and the keyboard itself costs about $300. So we're definitely
already in the laptop price range. Not a whole lot has changed since the 2018 version of
the iPad Pro. When compared to the First Generation, there is one additional camera lens on the
back, but other than that, these two tablets are exactly the same. Same dimensions and
same thickness. And same microphone hole location on the side.
This new Second Generation tablet is three grams heavier though. Three grams is about
the weight equivalent of an American penny...which doesn't give me a whole lot of hope that the
iPad will survive this time around either. The First Generation iPad cracked along the
microphone hole in the side. And Apple, well, didn't move that microphone hole in the new
version. It's still there, exactly in the center. About 17 million people watched my
last video. I guess Apple just wasn't one of them. They probably forgot to subscribe
or something.
The Apple pencil docking station was another weak point, which is also still in the exact
same location. You know what they say about people who don't learn from their mistakes
though. They'll probably still be wearing a red hat this November.
Inside the box we get our USB-C cord and our 18 watt charger. Pretty standard. Taking a
closer look at the Magic case, it's actually a rather impressive piece of technology. Magnets,
which are definitely magical as far as I'm concerned, hold the iPad in place very securely.
And then the dock itself holds the iPad upright as if it were floating on air. I'm impressed.
The individual keys are made from plastic, which is good since they'll be touching the
display every time the case closes. The softer we get on Mohs scale means the less wear and
tear we'll have on the glass screen. The palm rests have more of a rubber coating, and the
trackpad is unscratched.
Speaking of the Mohs scale of hardness, let's take a closer look at the screen. The top
surface is incredibly thin. You can see the display underneath distort a little bit as
I press down with my tools. A plastic screen would scratch at a level 2 or 3. Glass would
scratch at a 5 or 6. And sapphire should start scratching at a level 8 or 9. And judging
by the scratches we see at a level 6, with deeper grooves at a level 7, the 11 inch iPad
Pro screen is made from glass...thin glass, but still glass.
There is a 7 megapixel front facing selfie camera also protected under that same slab.
Making our way to the right side of the tablet. The whole thing is made from aluminum, except
for the plastic docking station for the Apple pencil. The plastic allows the pencil to charge,
and the built-in magnets on the side are what hold the Apple pencil in place.
Down at the bottom of the iPad we have more metal, along with the dual bottom speakers
and USB-C charging port. The left side is empty, except for the fatal microphone hole
just chilling there like the exhaust port on the Death Star. The top has two more speaker
slots, two microphones, and a metal power button. All of the buttons on the iPad Pro
are made from metal. The little golden circles on the back are for transmitting power and
information between the dock attachments.
The cameras over here on the back are rather interesting. There are two main cameras this
time around: a 12 megapixel normal camera, and a 10 megapixel ultra wide camera, joined
off to the side with a 3D lidar depth sensing camera. Apple is still yet again claiming
to use sapphire on their camera lenses, but as we can see there is still damage at level
6, 7, and 8, where pure sapphire would not incur these grievances until levels 8 or 9.
Apple does like to call this a laptop replacement...even though not all apps can multitask. And the
mobile file management is rather underwhelming. It does now allow for third party mouse and
keyboards to connect though, which is a step in the right direction, and pretty cool. Another
thing that's pretty cool is the American Bald Eagle. These guys used to be endangered here
in the United States, but not anymore. They can live for 25 years in the wild, and there
are an estimated 150,000 now living in North America. Anyway, I think the iPad is pretty
great for drawing stuff. It's been a while since we've had an Art Class with Jerry. Some
people might not appreciate fine art like we do though. And these some people might
want to protect against scratches, or hide scratches altogether. The nice thing about
my Teardown Skin is that you can protect the outside of the iPad Pro with what's on the
inside. This is an exact representation of the iPad's internals, with a couple little
Easter eggs...like the no-bend test warning here on the battery, which I'll be disregarding
in just a minute. It's also got the a12z processor location and the 4 speaker audio system. And
it even still works with the Magic Keyboard. I'll leave a link for my Teardown Skin with
dbrand down in the video description.
Now the screen of the iPad Pro is the exact same as the one from two years ago. A massive
11 inch 1668x2388 pixel display, with a 120 hertz refresh rate. Kind of like the 4K NanoCell
TV I talked about in my last video. After 11 seconds the IPS LCD that Apple calls “liquid
retina” goes black, but does eventually recover. I'll go ahead and peel off the Skin
since we want the test to be fair and I'm sure my Skin adds a few hit points.
There's our bald eagle again. [Eagle shriek] America.
We'll start by bending the Second Generation iPad Pro inside the Magic Keyboard case just
to see what kind of structural protection it offers. This case weighs twice as much
as the iPad itself, tripling the iPad's overall weight when it's attached. And it already
feels more sturdy. When bending from the back and the front, the iPad inside its Magic case
is solid and very well protected in a cocoon of comfort. Speaking of cocoons, which are
magical all by themselves, I want to see what the Magic inside the Magic case looks like.
I can peel back the leathery feeling folio cover to reveal a bunch of white plastic.
The exterior is much more difficult to peel away. Apple's glue is pretty intense. I guess
I could always just buy one of MKBHD's cool little green magnet paper things, but finding
the magnets manually is a bit more exciting. It's interesting to see that the magnets in
the case are actually tiny little squares instead of one big magnet. They are all laid
out in the four corners of the case and all work together to hold the iPad in place. Kind
of cool.
The keys on the keyboard are made from scissor switches and do have travel and click to them.
No complaints here. But what happens when the 2020 iPad Pro is removed from its protective
case? Can it withstand a backpack, or maybe someone accidentally sitting on it? Even our
swooping eagle probably can't protect the iPad from its own little microphone hole.
It really is in the worst spot. The design flaw is still a design flaw. Who would have
thought. With just one bend, the iPad Pro Second Generation also snaps in half just
like the first one. Probably because Apple changed nothing. To be fair though, the iPad
Pro does cost less than an iPhone with 4x the real estate. So durability just probably
isn't one of Apple's main focuses with this thing. At least now we know it is fragile
though, and we can take the necessary steps to protect it.
You're probably asking, 'Hey Jerry, did you make this entire video just so the eagle would
flap it's wings?'
Maybe. The liquid crystals are going nuts inside of the screen as I flex it back. It
looks pretty cool. The aluminum of the iPad is soft and wavy. It's interesting that this
time around the microphone hole poured open as expected, but the Apple pencil dock remained
intact. Last time it crinkled as well. The lightning show from the leaking liquid crystals
looks pretty cool. Let's pop off the psychedelic screen and even when it's completely removed,
the iPad is still going nuts. We can see the battery pouches and the speakers just like
they were laid out with the Teardown Skin.
When compared to other Apple products, I feel like the iPad Pro is pretty fairly priced.
I had hoped that they would make it more durable this time around, but inexpensive cases do
exist, and in this particular instance I would highly recommend getting one. Not necessarily
the $300 Magic case, but it is nice to know that the Magic can't hold its own.
Do you think it's important for the iPad Pro to be durable? Let me know down in the comments.
Anyway, I'm going to go wash the glass out of my fingers. So make sure to hit that subscribe
button if you haven't already. Come hang out with me on Instagram and Twitter. The link
to the iPad Teardown Skin is in the video description down below. And thanks a ton for
watching, I'll see you around.