It’s been slightly over a week since I got my 12.9, so I got to test it out in various situations for work and for casual use. Multitasking is fantastic — split screen that I never used when I had 10.5 I am utilizing way more. Big screen is absolutely gorgeous.
I am finding some issues with having only ASK and will be switching to a regular smart folio + magic keyboard combo instead. I realized that in my head, I was going to be typing a lot to capture everything that was discussed in meetings at work with the Pencil being used as an annotating device, but in reality, I found that I still preferred taking notes in handwritten form (I’m a recent college graduate who relied on handwritten notes on 10.5 for studies).
I feel conscious of using 12.9 and feel a little unwieldy when I am trying to use it primarily for handwriting notes during meetings. Lots of people use a small, portable laptop (smaller than my iPad, lol) or carry a tiny notepad to jot down casual notes during discussion. While same size as a standard A4 paper for 12.9, it being entirely made up of a touchable screen makes it seem somehow bigger or ‘humongous.’ This is the only thing making me reconsider my previous choice to grab a 12.9. Whenever I am called into a discussion with my boss I try to grab my 12.9 for any notes I might have to write and I just feel that it’s not convenient.
Otherwise it’s been perfect. Casual use has been fantastic and working on the iPad by myself on the desk has been fantastic as well.
I am going to be picking up a 11” with magic keyboard and smart folio today and compare my use cases on the smaller screen over the weekend and see if I can live with it. The size of 11 I think is better for portability with some compromise (due to screen size and split screen multitasking ability). Another con I am seeing for 11 is that I don’t think a lot of the games I play will update to fit the new resolution and will always look outdated.
I never planned on my iPad replacing my work-issued laptop for productivity (I really just wanted to lightly browse on the iPad, write and organize meeting notes, and become paperless as much as I can with my PDF converter app, everything else is done on the laptop — making powerpoints, excel, data analysis, etc...) so I wonder if I really need the bigger size screen. It sure is nice to have and if it was strictly for casual use I would not be conflicted at all, I don’t mind the big screen at home.