Which Apple iPad do you take to work?

While Apple has indeed been trimming the fat amongst its product lines, there is still quite a choice to make in regard to what Apple iPad is best at work, at school, at home, or on the go.

Currently there are as many as five different iPad models available: starting at the bottom with the iPad Mini 2 and 4, followed by the iPad Air 2, and finally the 9.7 inch and 12.9 inch iPad Pro.

Apple iPad in the cubicle

While laptops and desktops have traditionally held field advantage within a stationary setting like a desktop, the 12.9 inch iPad Pro has been proven quite resourceful, and certainly powerful enough to take on nearly every task traditionally fit for a laptop, or even your typical office desktop. By sheer size alone, the largest iPad Pro in it’s category is a rather hefty tablet, and one that can’t definitely be used with one hand. The good news is that the iPad Pro can be snapped onto a range of keyboard covers and stands, that turn it into an effective desktop device, especially since the apps available include the full Microsoft Office suite, with Apple Pencil support. Apple Pencil support make the iPad Pro an excellent tool for creatives too, even when comparing it to more targeted accessories like a comparably priced Wacom Cintiq tablet, which still has to be tethered to a computer.

The typing experience on the Apple iPad’s own Smart Keyboard cover has been proven just as good, of not better than most laptops, and for those who are a bit more picky about their typing, the range of third party options is also quite impressive, and includes mechanical keyboards as well, such as the iPad keyboard cover by gaming accessories manufacturer Razer.

Apple iPad for the home-office

For those who work at home, keeping the focus can be a challenge, especially when it comes to attention-span intensive tasks like writing, drafting or creating art. Writing can be particularly stressful especially for those who lose focus easily at the slightest noise.

Typically, listening to instrumental music helps regain concentration. Fortunately, nearly every iPad model comes with excellent speakers, from the dual systems present in the iPad Mini and iPad Air, to the dynamic high-resolution quad speakers built into the iPad Pro.

Sometimes noise can be a slightly more problematic issue, and a set of great speakers may not be enough to drown out background noise, especially in an active household like a dorm or a family home. While Apple has indeed done away with the 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone 7, all current iPad models still retain the legacy connector, along with support for all kinds of affordable analog audio accessories, including third-party noise-canceling headphones, and Apple’s own wired EarPods.

For those who like a more flexible, albeit pricey solution, the upcoming wireless Apple AirPods, when available, will be a wise investment, not only in regard to sound quality, but also as a productivity device, with Siri support, high-quality beam-forming dual microphones, and automatic pairing configurable directly from the owner’s Apple account.

AirPods allows to switch from a phone call to a FaceTime call, and back to music, automatically, without fidgeting with switches and buttons. On top of that, the upcoming accessory will feature a 24 hours battery life, with a rapid-charging case.

Field work with Apple iPad

You may canvas passer-by’s in a busy downtown area, or get your hands dirty in a construction zone, but one thing is certain: the iPad you choose must be not only powerful, but portable and easy to operate, even without a keyboard or Apple Pencil. Depending on the processing power required, the 9.7 inch iPad Pro and the iPad Air are the two most popular choices for field work, because they are both light enough and small enough to be held with one hand, and they both support a keyboard case when the virtual keyboard in iOS is not enough.

With that said, the iPad Mini 4 is certainly something to consider when the job requires a more pocket-size form factor, for instance when needing to take and edit pictures on the fly, and using a phone is not an option.

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