The iPad Pro, as I and many others have previously stated, is a much better content manager than content creator. There is no question that drafting a legal memorandum, contract or a lengthy letter is best performed using a computer with a conventional keyboard. Once documents are created, regardless of whether they are PDF files, Microsoft Word files or countless other file types, the iPad Pro shines in storing, organizing, finding and facilitating review of those documents. In comparison, using paper file folders and three-ring binders is embarrassingly old-fashioned and inefficient. However, there is one additional feature of the iPad Pro that is often overlooked and is about to get even better, the editing of documents. Significant changes are coming with the expected September 2019 release a new operating system exclusively for iPads that could make comparative review of documents and multitasking even easier for attorneys.

Currently, the iPhone and the iPad share a common operating system (iOS), but at the 2019 Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced the development of an operating system exclusively for the iPad, iPadOS. Many features of this new operating system take advantage of the iPad Pro’s larger screen and allow for efficient multitasking. There are three new features in particular that will undoubtedly benefit attorneys. The one that is the most exciting for attorneys is “split view,” which allows for multiple “windows” from the same application to be open side by side. (Apple detractors will be amused by the use of the word “windows” to refer to the opening of multiple apps). In other words, two versions of the same document can be opened from the same application. Previously, the best application for performing that kind of comparison was GoodReader 5, but the ability to open up two windows within many different apps will make it much easier to compare and edit documents. Of course, this function has been available on both PCs and Macs for years, but having it available on a tablet, like the iPad, that does not attempt to mimic a computer, is a significant technological advance.