The New MatePad Pro Is Huawei’s iPad Competitor for China
Huawei is still struggling to get out from under a crushing US trade ban, but it’s still releasing products like nothing is wrong. After finally launching the long-delayed Mate X foldable phone earlier this month, Huawei has rolled out a new tablet to rival the iPad Pro. Like the Mate X, the new MatePad Pro is only launching in China for the time being. That’s a bummer because aside from the lack of Google apps, this looks like an excellent Android slate.
It might be hard to tell the MatePad from an iPad at a glance — it has the same general form factor with a rounded screen and slim bezels. Huawei says it actually has a slightly better screen-to-body ratio than the iPad Pro at 90 percent. The iPad Pro is about 85 percent. One reason for that is Huawei’s decision to put the front-facing 8MP front-facing camera inside a hole punch in the top left corner. The MatePad Pro’s 10.8-inch display clocks in at 2560×1600, which is a 16:10 widescreen ratio instead of the iPad’s square-ish 4:3.
This device ships with Android 10, which launched just a few months ago on Google devices. Some phones are still launching with the year-old Pie build of Android, but Huawei has been quick to move to Android 10. However, this isn’t the Android you know and love. Huawei can’t get any new devices certified by Google until the trade ban ends or Google gets a special license from the Commerce Department. So, the MatePad Pro doesn’t support Google apps like Gmail or the Play Store.
Huawei has only announced the MatePad Pro for China, where it can’t use Google services anyway. Thus, the MatePad Pro might be a reasonable iPad alternative for Chinese consumers. It’s priced at 3,299 yuan (about $468), which is about 20 percent lower than the iPad Pro’s price in China.
Continue reading
Review: The Oculus Quest 2 Could Be the Tipping Point for VR Mass Adoption
The Oculus Quest 2 is now available, and it's an improvement over the original in every way that matters. And yet, it's $100 less expensive than the last release. Having spent some time with the Quest 2, I believe we might look back on it as the headset that finally made VR accessible to mainstream consumers.
Why Apple’s M1 Chip Threatens Intel and AMD
Intel's own history suggests it and AMD should take Apple's new M1 SoC very seriously.
Why Apple’s M1 Chip Could be a Real Threat to Intel and AMD
Intel's own history suggests it and AMD should take Apple's new M1 SoC very seriously.
How L1 and L2 CPU Caches Work, and Why They’re an Essential Part of Modern Chips
Ever been curious how L1 and L2 cache work? We're glad you asked. Here, we deep dive into the structure and nature of one of computing's most fundamental designs and innovations.