Thanks for all the advice everyone. I decided to return the 12.9 and keep the 10.5. Reasons were:
- At this moment, I’d prefer to see my bank account be larger than to make an unnecessary purchase even though I loved it.
- Since I still rely on my laptop for things, it didn’t make sense to me to have 2 large devices (the 12.9 and my laptop) that do most of the same things.
- Although the main reason I loved the 12.9 was the extra functionality the larger screen provided, I was a little afraid that I’d get tired of the larger size as I kept it longer.
- My device didn’t come bent, but I was scared that it might bend over time from normal use, and then I’d be screwed.
- The 10.5” still provides ~75% of the experience for me.
The main factor of my decision was the first one I listed above (saving money), but the rest of the reasons were still relevant.
Switching back to the 10.5, I immediately felt a lot more limited and I noticed one of the games I started playing on the 12.9 made my 10.5 really warm and drained the battery very significantly more compared to the 12.9 (that’s what you get with a 100% graphics performance improvement) which was a bit disappointing.
However, the portability and lighter weight was refreshing after using the 12.9 for 2 weeks, the 10.5 still provides a great, although different, experience, and I feel very happy to see my bank account with ~$1200 added back to it. The 12.9 is definitely my preferred iPad experience, but I won’t be upgrading iPads until my 10.5 becomes unusuable or until I can fully rely on an iPad and sell my laptop.