Apple yesterday made its biggest enterprise mobility push yet with the launch of the iPad Pro – a bigger, faster tablet that packs a bunch of improvements aimed at making it more suitable for the workplace. But analysts are divided over whether or not the iPad Pro has enough punch to make a real impact in the enterprise.

On the face of it, the iPad Pro is a perfect fit for most business users. Its 12.9-inch diagonal screen, 5.6 million-pixel resolution, 10-hour battery life and the introduction of a stylus (the Pencil) make it an ideal workhorse to suit the needs of today’s mobile workplace.

We mustn’t forget that Apple’s devices have always been extremely popular in the enterprise anyway, even though the once heavily consumer-focused Apple hasn’t coveted that market in a long time. Speaking to Forbes.com, Box, Inc., CEO Aaron Levie said the enterprise market has coalesced around Apple in spite of the company’s neglect, and he thinks that now that Apple is genuinely showing interest, it’s set to make big inroads.

“Apple’s dominance in enterprise mobility is unparalleled,” Levie told Forbes, pointing to the company’s work with Box in the healthcare, retail and financial industries.

Eric Smith, senior analyst for tablet & touchscreen strategies at Strategy Analytics Inc. was equally enthusiastic about the iPad Pro. He told SiliconANGLE the device will almost certainly help Apple take market share from Windows devices in the enterprise and that the new introductions go hand-in-hand with the company’s strategic partnership with IBM to create powerful and relevant apps for specific verticals.

“The iPad Air is already widely used in the C-suites of some of the largest companies and has even been deployed to rank-and-file employees,” Smith explained. “Now Apple has given the iPad Pro the size, processing power and accessory support to truly compete with Windows devices in the enterprise.”

The growing popularity of tablets in corporations is illustrated by a recent Forrester Research Inc. study that suggests that the percentage of tablets being used by businesses will grow from 14 percent this year to 20 percent by 2018. Forrester said more than half of information workers report using a tablet at least once a week, and many of these are personal devices rather than corporate-issued tablets.

As such, the iPad Pro will appeal to “hyper-mobile” workers who value mobility but could benefit from using a larger screen, Forrester analyst J.P. Gownder said. The introduction of a stylus meanwhile, should boost the iPad Pro’s appeal to designers and those working with Asian languages.

Too late in the day?

There’s no doubt Apple’s enterprise credentials are on the rise, but it won’t be a walk in the park for the iPad Pro. Lest we forget, Apple is still handicapped by the huge number of companies running legacy apps that are incompatible with iOS. As such, the iPad Pro won’t be much use to them for mainstream use.

Apple could also face further headaches due to what looks like a product conflict with the MacBook Air, explained Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. The iPad Pro”is the product that Cisco and IBM asked for,” the analyst said, adding that Apple will be expected to do the heavy lifting on demand generation for the newer device. “This may force a faster consolidation between the MacOS and iOS,” Enderle added.

A bigger problem for the iPad Pro is that it’s somewhat late to the enterprise game, and that means it’s playing catch-up to Microsoft.

Writing in ZDnet, Larry Dignan noted that the iPad Pro’s release date is still unknown due to the trouble Apple is having manufacturing the larger screens. As such, it could arrive too late in the day to attract some enterprises, which have already been sold on hybrid devices by Microsoft.

“Microsoft’s ecosystem has delivered better options on converged devices,” Dignan writes. “The slate of ultrabooks, two-in-one devices and similar devices has improved dramatically. The launch of Windows 10 will also help the corporate push for these devices.”

One of the best of the hybrids is, of course, the Microsoft Surface Pro 3. And although the Surface Pro might be less fashionable than the iPad brand, it’s considered a solid workhorse that compares very favorably with the iPad Pro. Furthermore, the Surface Pro also has the big advantage of running Windows, which means compatibility with legacy apps.

Dignan also pointed to the PC refresh cycle that many organizations went through last year in the course of replacing Windows XP as a further hurdle in the iPad Pro’s path. “These companies are looking to consolidate tablet and PC buys not engage in two separate replacement cycles,” he wrote.

In recent days Microsoft has stepped up its efforts to lock down the enterprise tablet market, announcing a partnership that will see Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. both start reselling Surface Pros to enterprise customers, alongside their support and services. According to Betanews‘ Randall C. Kennedy, it’s a move that legitimizes the Surface Pro in the eyes of major IT decision makers.

“By bundling the popular-yet-still-unproven Surface line with the time-tested services and support organizations of two leading PC hardware OEMs, Microsoft inherits some much-needed ‘street cred’ in enterprise circles while avoiding the hassle of constructing its own, comprehensive hardware services and support infrastructure,” Kennedy noted.

But even with these partnerships, Microsoft will be hard-pressed to prevent Apple from encroaching upon its traditional turf in the workplace. After all, Apple fanbois will always choose Apple devices first, so you can take it for granted those who work in the enterprise will want to get their hands on the iPad Pro.

So the iPad Pro should have little trouble getting its foot in the enterprise door. From then on it’ll be ‘game on’ as Apple goes gunning for Windows.

Photo by SiliconANGLE