 I will always own a gaming PC because PC is the master race. How else will I play the latest Battlefield game or revisit old classics like Starcraft 2 and Mass Effect? I'm also happily married to my Android Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra which I use to shoot 90% of all the content I produce for our channel. In fact, I'm shooting with it right now. In addition to a desktop and a cell phone, I found it very handy to always have a laptop in case I need to travel and take my work with me or if I want a change of scenery and ride at a coffee shop. That's why in 2015, I bought the Surface Pro 4 but which recently began a slow death due to a defect in its production. Hi, I'm Rafael from Hardware Sugar, I'm a lawyer, writer, and a PC store owner and I just made my best purchase for the year, the 2021 12.9 inch M1 iPad Pro. I've stayed away from Apple devices for the past five years or so because I find it infuriating that I am stonewalled from doing things as basic as moving pictures to and from my iPad using Windows Explorer with the album names identified and not just the dates by the way, or being unable to customize my home screen with independent Google spreadsheets like my S21. Android for mobile and Windows for desktop to me have been a perfect combination because they communicate so well with each other and promote the freedom to do a lot of things without being shackled by a user interface like iOS. Nevertheless, in spite of this, I believe most Windows and Android users looking for a laptop or tablet have more to gain by making their next device an M1 iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard. There are a lot of reviews out there expressing what an iPad experience in 2021 is like for those of us who either have never owned an iPad or who last owned one years ago. And so I don't find the statement, it's an iPad. Very helpful. If you want to see a more traditional review, you can check out the Verge and MKBHD's full review of the M1 iPad which I'll link in the video description. This video is meant for people who have yet to make the leap from Windows to iOS as their main or even secondary device. Plus, this won't be your typical iPad Pro first impressions video as it presupposes some things which a lot of iPad veteran jockeys already know. Nevertheless, even a seasoned iPad user might find some of my input useful especially if you are looking to jump away from iOS and into a Windows or Android tablet instead. Talking about the reliability of the M1 begins with a track record of what came before it. My first and last iPad before this was the second generation iPad way back in 2011. It was the single most important thing that helped me get through four years of law school and the bar examinations. Even a decade ago, the iPad was already a reliable and powerful piece of hardware which simulated pen on paper annotations long before the Apple Pencil through the use of the Goodreader application and a third-party stylus. Handwriting as we are taught in law school, and I can personally vouch for this, helps in memorization and most importantly helps in internalizing complex concepts. If I was already impressed with the handwriting experience 11 years ago, then I knew I was going to be in for a treat with the M1's 120Hz refresh rate screen and the Apple Pencil. The 2011 iPad had crazy battery life which allowed me to study 6 or 7 hours straight and yet still maintain enough juice before needing to plug in when I got home. I was a really liberating feeling knowing that I didn't need to bring the charger with me to school because I was always confident in its ability to keep going. Even after heavy years of use, I never felt the battery life changed all that much. In fact, before buying the M1, I borrowed my mom's 2015 iPad Pro and my dad's 2014 iPad Air 2 to test how well these devices have aged over the years and concluded the same findings which is that the amazing battery life and the lag-free user experience is consistent across my iPad's successors. Each product is an opportunity to win a customer over not just for the latest model but for its successors as well. Momentum is crucial when it comes to being productive. I love how with my M1 iPad Pro that there is zero lag and zero buffer when it comes to switching between apps you used the day prior or even those you haven't used in ages. If I'm typing a script late through the night, I can get right back to where I left off without having to turn on the iPad or even wait for the program to load. It is true that Windows boots up so much faster now in general with an SSD but even with an SSD, there is a boot up time and the occasional annoying pop-ups which you may or may not want and then there is the ever so slight time it takes to get the program you want going. In short, every little second stacks up over time and the M1 iPad Pro cuts through all of that loading time by being a device that never needs to be shut down, just top top like a cell phone. The battery life on laptops running Windows in my experience have been abysmal. If you choose to flip the laptop down for the night when it has a 90% charge, you should expect it to be 90% or 89% the next day. This has never been true for me regardless if I got an ASUS or a Microsoft laptop. Not everyone has the same problem as me. I assume there is a faulty driver in Windows or a program that I need to remove to fix the issue. However, the iPad never has this kind of issue partly because of the lack of freedom Apple imposes when it comes to user access and customization, which in this case is actually a pretty good idea. When it comes to file sharing between iOS and Windows and Android, it isn't as clunky as it was 10 years ago and you can see that Apple is trying to play well with others. I still want to be able to drag and drop Microsoft Word files or any other files for that matter straight from Windows Explorer into my iPad, something which Android has allowed me to do for the longest time. I dislike having to use iTunes very much. However, I am immensely impressed that you can now plug in an external hard drive into an iPad and be greeted with a Windows Explorer type of interface through iOS's files app. I feel a little ridiculous saying this because it should have been standard 10 years ago but which only became a reality in September 2019 with iOS 13. It is important to note that if your older iPad or iPhone doesn't support iOS 13, then this feature isn't available to you. Wireless file sharing through the FIM app, which is available across all three platforms, allows me to move files wirelessly for free between my PC, Android phone, and my M1 iPad Pro. Being occasionally gives me errors but for being a free application which allows me to transfer files quickly and with minimal iOS red tape, makes it a fantastic alternative to Apple's AirDrop which doesn't work with any of my other devices. Being able to receive files from different operating systems seamlessly back and forth with less restrictions and being able to organize them in a more desktop kind of way is proof enough to some that the iPad has become the laptop replacement they have been waiting for or at the very least that time is on the crooks of happening. Whether you fall within the former or the latter's group depends on your current needs. I have some friends who have to use software which just isn't compatible with an iPad. I always had this belief that most iPad apps were amazing and fun to use at first but were nevertheless programs I could live without in my professional life. They were these hollow shells which resemble the usefulness of Microsoft Office or Photoshop but which never match them on actual substance. This however doesn't seem to be true anymore and even my original belief that iPad apps need to be just as good as my PC programs is an unnecessary comparison. There is no program on my PC which can simulate the satisfaction I get from free thought outlining using the endless paper app nor can the iPad run of course the upcoming Battlefield 2042. Let me briefly go over just some of the apps which have made a big impact on me as a new iPad Pro member. Although not an app, I was very happy to find out that iOS can now natively make any document, screenshot or picture into a PDF by simply going into print, zooming in and then having it open in an app of choice as a PDF. 10 years ago, I either needed to download a sketchy application to do dock the PDF conversion which not always work or use my PC to convert it through Microsoft Office and then email it to my iPad. Endless paper allows you to handwrite and draw infinitely on the same canvas. You can quite literally zoom in as far and as close as you want and add anything you want along the way. It is extremely liberating especially coming from someone who has restricted himself to old-fashioned outlines on Microsoft Office for the past five years. Notion is the everything app of my dreams because it can simulate being my planner for all my upcoming videos, my checklist on the go or even a text sharing application from my PC to my Galaxy S21 or my iPad Pro. It is an extremely versatile application which can do so many things well that the only major defect of it is that it can be intimidating where and how to start. The best part is that it updates instantly via the cloud so if I encode something like a grocery list on my iPad or PC, it is immediately on my S21 and there are tons of videos about how Notion has changed the professional life of others on YouTube such as Thomas Frank and Cambridge doctor Ali Abdal. I'll link their videos down below as well. I think it is horrible that Microsoft Office requires a monthly subscription on iOS. Thankfully, Apple's free pages works well enough and it converts to Microsoft Word files with no problem. I'll come up with a separate video on the best productivity apps on iPad. The Magic Keyboard, especially the 2021 version, seems grossly overpriced which it truly is. It is nevertheless a necessary evil which should be obtained in order to get the full magic and enjoyment out of all recent iPads which support it. Gone are the medieval ages in which a keyboard and mouse needs to be paired via Bluetooth. Instead, it is quite literally as simple as angling it in until you hear the satisfying of metal on metal. It is dummy-proof, fast and requires no extra step that needs to be done in the settings area. It isn't however just a keyboard, it's also a protective case cover when it isn't in use and it turns into an extremely versatile monitor stand. Being able to adjust the tilt of the screen allows me to use the iPad Pro in numerous settings whether that would be typing on a desk, a sofa, watching Apple TV on my stomach or dare I say it using it in the bathroom. The Magic Keyboard adds a lot of value even when it isn't acting as a keyboard. Finally, the point of the accessory was never to shackle the iPad Pro to it. The fact that you can just take it out at will so that you can remind yourself of the convenience and also the danger of holding a thin slate of metal is an extremely satisfying experience. Especially when you want to relax on the couch with a good digital book or to catch up on the news both of which are things that I tried to enjoy with my Surface Pro but ultimately couldn't because the interface required too many steps before I could even get to the news. As a PC user all my life I never understood Mac users who would rave on about how productive it is using a Magic Trackpad. To me it just looked like more work because you were constantly using more fingers than necessary to execute one task which would only require one finger on a traditional mouse on a PC. I was honestly just going to ignore the gestures option altogether and just attach a third-party mouse but since day one I have been hooked on being able to switch between apps seamlessly through swiping left to right or swiping upwards in order to head back to the home screen with three fingers. I realized now that I wasn't willing to give gestures a chance because of a deep rooted prejudice in which I believe that for a system to be truly productive it must have the same kind of mouse functionality as that of Windows. And just because iOS looks and acts different from Windows doesn't mean that it is inferior to it on a productivity level. This is coming from someone who has hated using laptop trackpads all his life. After changing my command key to the globe button I felt right at home with similar Windows shortcuts like Ctrl plus C, Ctrl plus V to copy and paste, and Ctrl F to bring up the search bar. To be honest if you are on a tight budget you should really consider just getting the 2020 iPad Pro especially since you can accomplish most of the things that you want to do with the M1 there for the moment. However, I opted to go big because of the gaming PC builder in me who always whispers the need to future-proof my setup by investing in the best now so that it lasts me longer in the future. The M1 iPad Pro stands out from the previous new iPads not because it is obviously better since it is the most recent iteration but because of how large a quantum leap forward it has achieved with its new processor. It quite literally has the same processing power of Apple's desktop Mac and their most powerful MacBook Pro. Unfortunately, as we saw from WWDC a lot of this power will continue to remain untapped. But when Apple released iOS 13 back in 2019 it empowered older versions like the 2014 iPad Air 2 to have access to external storage, a sort of mini quantum leap for that iPad then. In short, I'm willing to take the gamble that we should expect Apple to release an update which will make use of the M1's power within the next 12 months. Besides, if you are in need of a laptop replacement and the programs you need already exist on the iPad then I highly recommend you just make the plunge and go for the M1 iPad already. The M1 iPad lacks competition. If you're looking for a tablet which is just as versatile when it comes to removing its keyboard, a responsive stainless and a powerful CPU then the only real contenders which come to mind are the Galaxy Tab S7 Plus and the Microsoft Surface Pro 7. I however swore I would never buy a Microsoft laptop or tablet again due to the three times that I needed to replace my Surface Pro 4. The first two times due to it being unable to boot up and the last one had a defective screen which shows up on and off. This defect is so well documented that Microsoft extended their warranty policy. Unfortunately for me my screen acted up after the expiration of the extended warranty and so now I'm stuck with a laptop that has a screen which works when it feels it is up to it. The worst of all however is that after the same amount of time of owning my old iPad I never felt confident with the battery life of my Surface Pro 4. Like most laptops I have used in the past the standby time and battery drain is nothing near as close to my robust 2011 iPad and so it was a given that I was always needed to have the charger with me which plus added bulk to my bag in short my bad experience over the years with Microsoft Surface and laptops in general had convinced me to steer clear of Microsoft products and to think very hard before buying another laptop. I was originally considering getting the Galaxy Tab S7 Plus but the M1 chip benchmarks leave almost the entire competition of tablets and productivity laptops to shame and even assuming the upcoming success of the Tab S7 Plus comes out with a processor which was just as good or even slightly better than the iPads the app ecosystem of Android just isn't as attractive as in the iOS. Editing videos is very important to me. I have been doing all my editing on my gaming PC through DaVinci Resolve so far but I've heard raves of people editing great content using LumaFusion on just their iPad Pros. I haven't done it myself but these guys have and their experience was enough to convince me that the M1 iPad Pro has the power I need for what I needed to do which is editing videos on the go and having a reliable piece of hardware I can write short scripts and short stories with. In conclusion if you have been waiting for a sign for when the best time to buy an iPad Pro which is more productive then this is probably the best time since the inception of the iPad to get it. If you are a Windows and Android user like me you'll be happy with the subtle increase in freedom yet still be occasionally flabbergasted at some backward missing features. Nevertheless the M1 iPad Pro is just the latest iteration of a device with a consistent history of power, reliability and a long life. We want to give an extremely special shout out to our top fans who helped pay for this new teleprompter. Liam Magnaje, Ian Meru, Richard Ongkinko, ITX Addict, John Rubinochia and Christian Aspinosa. Thanks a lot guys this is going to make producing content a lot faster. Stay safe everyone.