iOS 11 brings new meaning to the iPad Pro line

We have already given you the full rundown on the boatload of new features landing in iOS 11, but now we are going to dive deep into what this software update brings to the iPad. With iOS 11 the iPad Pro truly becomes a Pro device– The core reasoning is a full system and true split screen capabilities.

If you have ever wanted to drag’n drop across an application on the iPad, your wish is Apple’s command. Come this fall you can easily drag images, links, texts, videos, and more between applications. Imagine doing research in Safari and then dragging content directly into a message in Mail. It is as simple as selecting and holding what you want to bring over and then just dragging it over. This is made possible through a new split screen mode that is enabled by a dock.

Yes, Apple has brought the dock to the iPad Pro with iOS 11 and the ability of opening applications is gloriously simple and intuitive. The new slide over and app switcher functionalities will allow you to take advantage of the tremendous processing power. As your spaces with the different applications you have paired together, get saved in the background. This allows you tom complete a task or a set of tasks with multiple application spaces.

To increase productivity and general capabilities further, Apple created the “Flick Keyboard” which eliminates the need to switch the keyboard to punctuation and numbers. Instead simply hold down on the key, and the punctuation or numbers will appear and be typed.

While all of these small features make a big difference, the real excitement comes from Files a new application which is a dream come true for iPad Pro users. You can easily view and organize all the files that are on the iPad, plus the ones that are in iCloud Drive and other selected services. Yes, you can access files from Box, Google Drive, and other services at launch.

So last but not least, Apple has updated Notes and in turn added many new features to the Apple Pencil. Similar to the Markup functionality on the Mac and what is found with the S-Pen on Samsung devices, the Pencil is more powerful. You can truly markup screenshots, which can now be edited in a jiffy. Plus, the Apple Pencil can easily access the Notes application from the lock screen. Even better Notes will now recognize and analyze handwriting, thus making it searchable. Moreover, you can now intelligently scan documents into Notes with a new scanner tool.

It is hard to adequately describe what iOS 11 means for the iPad Pro, we have a hands-on video coming very soon. However, the main point here is that this software update makes the device a real PC competitor and should make Microsoft quite worried.