Apple’s latest tablet, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro may have debuted last year, but it is still being spoken about across the world, mainly because folks are finally figuring out just why Apple made this move. Tablets, in every sense of the word, or great alternatives, or accompaniments shall I say, to having a smartphone or a PC, as they provide a nice laid back feel by being just the right size, with a lot of the same function a laptop may have (i.e. sitting in your PJs typing a word document or watching a late night episode of Scandal). However, they have dropped in popularity levels, and sales have drastically plummeted. As of late, tech companies are racing to win the gold star of having the best tablet that can replace your laptop, yet, the key in that momentum is giving these tablets a detachable keyboard.

Consumers are loving 2-in-1 hybrids and convertibles, and as the niche is growing large enough, there is no wonder so many folks are saying “sayonara” to the tablet. But that mentality might not be set in stone. I don’t think we can call Apple’s new iPad Pro a 2-in-1 per se, but I can tell you it’s being touted as “the ultimate PC replacement”, and when Tim Cook has anything to say about it, “the iPad is the perfect expression of the future of personal computing”.

True, it certainly seems like one of the best tablets Apple has ever created. It’s kinda like mixing the 12.9-inch iPad Pro’s specs with the iPad Air 2’s tiny frame. The new iPad Pro has enough configurations for you to decide how “Pro” you want it. There are six models, in fact. The base Wi-Fi-only tablet starts at $599 for the 32GB model, $749 for the 128GB model, and $899 for the 256GB; and for cellular models, the prices range from $749 for the 32GB, $879 for the 128GB, and $1,029 for the 256GB model.

Measuring 9.40 x 6.60 x .24 inches, and weighing .96 pounds makes the new iPad Pro’s frame exactly the same as its cousin, the iPad Air 2. The device is fit with a new True Tone display (there to adjust well to surrounding lighting), the same pixel count as the iPad Air 2 (2,048 x 1,536), and apparently has a better color gamut. Performance-wise, it houses a 2.26GHz Apple A9x processor, 2GB of RAM, with “Geekbench scores of 3,081 single-core and 5,294 dual-core”. It also features a 12MP rear-facing camera with 4K video, a 5MP front-facing with 720p video, and an average battery performance of 5 ½ hours on full brightness, and double that with half the brightness. Those are pretty incredible specs (PC Mag).

So it has become apparent that even though the tablet market is slandering a bit, there is a definite way to revamp the appeal of these devices, and that’s by making its function as near to limitless as possible. Besides the best tablet from Apple, ever, the cherry on top in this story is the detachable keyboard, providing the laptop functionality people crave. But, to answer the question everyone has been asking since last year, no, it’s not a laptop replacement, per say. Face it, you couldn’t completely run all of your operations on a tablet (even an Apple tablet) the way your PC could. Further, Apple’s device isn’t going to be as capable as most of the Windows 2-in-1s you see in the $800 price range; its apps aren’t going to feasibly take on your more serious workloads. Either way, we can surely expect the best of the best out of the iPad 9.7- best processor, best display, best camera. So, if what you’re looking for is an iPad that does pretty much everything you could expect out of a tablet (not a PC), the 9.7-inch iPad Pro is what you want.