Apple's newest iPad Pro tablet is its most powerful yet, but it will never replace my laptop until Apple makes these four changes

Bebeto Matthews/AP

The 2018 iPad Pro

• The iPad Pro's improved performance and larger screens make it better for productivity than ever before.
• But there are a few shortcomings that hold it back from being a true laptop replacement.
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When Steve Jobs unveiled the first-generation iPad in 2010, he positioned the device as being a middle ground between the smartphone and the laptop.

Now, nearly a decade later, Apple's tablet is edging closer toward the laptop end of the spectrum than ever before. The iPad Pro tablets Apple unveiled in October come with larger screens, an A12X Bionic processor that the company says makes them more powerful than most PC laptops, and a USB-C port, which has become the standard for connectivity on most computers and mobile devices.

But even with these upgrades, Apple's iPads lack a few key features before I ditch my laptop.

Here are four big changes Apple needs to make to the iPad if it wants it to be considered a real computer replacement.