Huawei just announced iPad Pro and iPadOS. Or, MatePad Pro and HarmonyOS – nobody knows

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By Oliver Haslam
published

Huawei Matepad Pro
Huawei Matepad Pro (Image credit: Huawei)

What you need to know

  • Huawei's new MatePad Pro runs HarmonyOS and it looks pretty cool.
  • Huawei's new MatePad Pro runs HarmonyOS and it looks like iPad Pro.

Huawei has just announced some new tablets with one, in particular, catching the eye. The 12.6-inch MatePad Pro is a good-looking bit of kit and it even comes with a rather fetching bit of software to go with it. Dubbed HarmonyOS, it seems to be a forked version of Android – although Huawei won't confirm that's the case given its current US-based issues.

Oh, and both are complete facsimiles of the current iPad Pro and iPadOS 14.

You don't need to take my word for it, though. Leaker Evan Blass managed to share some screenshots of HarmonyOS earlier today, ahead of the official announcement. And they look ... familiar. I'm not sure what it is. Sure does look good, though.

Jokes aside, I'm sure this is a good tablet and I'm sure HarmonyOS is fine. Yes, it's clear the people who designed them both are very familiar with Apple's work but really, who isn't? Buying one might still be a problem for some people and the lack of Google's official apps and store would be a concern for many, but hey – it isn't like there are a ton of good Android tablets out there for you to choose from. This might be one of the best options. It has some cool features as well, not least support for wireless charging.

There's a genuine discussion to be had here, actually. As phones and tablets race to reduce as much character as possible, they'll all eventually look the same. Metal and glass, usually in silver and black. I don't know whether that's a bad thing or not, to be honest. But we've spent years trying to make our gadgets get out of the way. Maybe there's space for some that look a bit, I don't know. Different?

Huawei is yet to confirm pricing but it would need to be very compelling to stop me from telling you to check out the best iPad Pro deals instead of buying one. If you're absolutely convinced the MatePad Pro is for you, Tech Radar has all the details.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.