Along with the answer, I’d also like to know what other devices the student has, and which tasks they would use the ipp for, because I imagine the answer (for students and people in general) will depend largely on that. Eg. if a student has no other laptop or desktop, and has to use the ipp for literally everything, my guess is most would prefer the 12.9. If a student has a laptop or prefers doing most their work on a desktop, and only needs something portable to take notes and do some reading, I imagine they’d choose the 11.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPad Pro 11 or 12.9 Pro ?
- Thread starter George Dawes
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I have the 12.9" IPP, i mostly use notability in split view with my books taking up 1/3 of the screen.
I also have a Macbook pro 13" 2015 that i use for coding but other than that i use the mac almost never, most of my browsing is done on my Ipad.
my gen 6 9in ipad was stolen recently and i went balls to the wall and upgraded to the 12.9 pro
initially before it even arrived in the mail i was concerned that maybe i over did it but turns out no. like anything else you get use to it and you'll more likely regret not getting it then getting it. i literally only use mine to watch movies and tv shows so i didnt need this expensive model but life is short and i wanted to make sure i would have no regrets
better to have and not need than to need and not have
initially before it even arrived in the mail i was concerned that maybe i over did it but turns out no. like anything else you get use to it and you'll more likely regret not getting it then getting it. i literally only use mine to watch movies and tv shows so i didnt need this expensive model but life is short and i wanted to make sure i would have no regrets
better to have and not need than to need and not have
I think that depends on how much you'll be using the iPad for work. I've found that if you tend to use it a lot in portrait mode, then the 11" is better. So, things like handwritten notes and reading PDF's or books.
But, if you like typing out your notes and using split screen for apps, then get the 12.9". Personally, I use split screen a lot and the larger screen is better for your eyes. I'm also a keyboard guy, so the larger keyboard helps with the typing experience.
Good luck at school.
Haha, I love it. I bought the 1st gen 12.9 Pro back in 2015 and much of the time I’m using it the same way. I need to try the 2018 12.9 some more in the store but my brief experience with it was that it felt lighter and much better balanced in one hand than the older 12.9 models.
I also have a first gen 9.7” Pro which actually got very little use until recently, but it still tends to be my preference when traveling (Size along with the fact that this one has cellular while my 12.9 does not). I figured I’d upgrade to a 2018 12.9 but recently have been tempted by the 11”...
Things have changed a little on my end. I bought an IPP 11" last April and have been using it as my go to device since then.
Unfortunately I kept trying to convince myself that it was fine when I often wanted to grab my wife's Macbook Air out of convenience. I tried learning how to get my tasks done differently but unfortunately did not manage (or have the patience) to meet the same efficiency I have when using a laptop.
Don't get me wrong the iPad is a great device and there is no doubt that a lot of people will be more than happy with it. It just wasn't my case.
It was a fun ride and trying out something completely new was great.
Unfortunately I kept trying to convince myself that it was fine when I often wanted to grab my wife's Macbook Air out of convenience. I tried learning how to get my tasks done differently but unfortunately did not manage (or have the patience) to meet the same efficiency I have when using a laptop.
Don't get me wrong the iPad is a great device and there is no doubt that a lot of people will be more than happy with it. It just wasn't my case.
It was a fun ride and trying out something completely new was great.
What was your experience with annotating PDFs? I need to highlight, comment, and add things like commas to PDFs.
I think it’s kind of amazing that it’s still almost an even split though. I can’t believe it doesn’t lean more 12.9. I prefer the 11” myself, but I just thought it would maybe be more like 60/40.
I’m really glad to see that the 12.9 is popular. For the first couple generations I was afraid that it was a niche product and might fizzle out and get the axe like some of Apple’s other products that I’ve liked (small iPhones, 12” retina Macbook). But this suggests to me that it will receive updates and support for a long time.
Is there a speed difference between the larger 12.9 and 11? That’s what the lady at the apple store was saying that the 11 would be faster?? True?
I can't decide which one to get - can you help me make up my mind ?
Thx
I bought a 10.5 before. I also currently have a 13" Macbook Pro.
Next time i'm probably going for a 12.9. Because i probably won't get another Macbook, unless Apple blow me away with a refresh. I'll consolidate down to "larger iPad plus Desktop". Because my higher end usage doesn't fit the Macbook Pro very well anyway, and the ipad can do stuff the macbook can't (replace keyboard, pencil use, etc.).
I would suggest that neither is "best", but based on my experience:
- If you plan to carry a Macbook with you as well, go for the 11"
- If you use the pencil a lot, consider the 12.9 - the 10-11" can be a little cramped for extensive pencil use. Its not terrible, but when doing note-taking with it and sketching diagrams, i often wish the 10.5 was larger.
- If you're considering ditching your laptop and using the ipad as your "portable computer" (and depending what you need to do on the go, that may well be a reasonable consideration), consider the 12.9"
YMMV, but IMHO the "best" size is very much dependent on what other devices you plan to maintain along with it.
I’d be surprised if there was any kind of notable difference. Only appreciable difference I can see is that the 12.9 has more pixels that the A12X needs to drive.
[doublepost=1566533855][/doublepost]
Roughly what I’m going to do. New Mac Mini at home and iPad Pro as portable. Throw in the Luna Display and I can run the Mini from other parts of the house. Now I just need a nice keyboard case with a trackpad built in...
Last edited:
Agreed. There may be some "in theory" speed difference, or a difference in benchmarks, but i wouldn't consider that. Even the current base model ipad is "fast enough" for most of the ipad type things you're likely to throw at it (and if that gets refreshed and improved, i'd SERIOUSLY consider the base iPad instead of an 11" pro. I'm super impressed at how close the GF's current base model is compared to my 10.5 - considering i bought it for like half the price...).
The more relevant difference will be the trade-off between portability and size and that will be influenced by what other devices you run and what your use case is.
Why not use the upcoming Side Car feature in Catalina instead of Luna display?Roughly what I’m going to do. New Mac Mini at home and iPad Pro as portable. Throw in the Luna Display and I can run the Mini from other parts of the house. Now I just need a nice keyboard case with a trackpad built in...
Different use case. Sidecar is something you initiate from the Mac side, no? And acts like an additional screen? Luna lets me use the Mac headless and can be initiated from the iPad. Someone correct me if I’ve got it wrong.
Though I am now looking at additional Remote Desktop solutions.
I see. Hmm yeah I’m not sure if you can initiate Side Car from the iPad. I hope so. That would be very useful.
Not sure about headless either. But if you have a monitor, I’m sure you can mirror the desktop instead of extend.
I agree so much with this statement.
So often people will ask me which laptop they should buy and my first question is "have you considered a tablet".
When the reply is "i need a laptop" i ask "to do what" and the answer is invariably something like "email, web browsing, banking". Nothing a tablet can't do.
The tablets can also now do things the laptops can't do.
Unless you really need some specific application, or you need the processing power that the 15" machines can provide, the laptop market is IMHO on borrowed time. The current iPads are faster than the 13" notebooks, and approaching the speed of 15" machines at various tasks. Unless you have a specific windows or macOS application requirement (or, admittedly, you are a heavy multi-tasker), you can do most stuff on an ipad today. You may need to change software and maybe adjust the way you work slightly, but it isn't a big shift and often for the better.
For me, the 13" notebook market is totally dead. And the 15" machines aren't powerful enough for the stuff i want to do that the ipad can't do. So 15" laptops are pretty much dead to me as well.
I agree and disagree.
I agree that many people can switch to ipads even though they don’t realize it. There’s been a stigma that ipads are consumption-only devices and not as capable as laptops, which is much less true today. But I’d argue that many could also stay on laptops and it would be equally beneficial.
It really just depends on the individual of course. Because for even for basic functions like emailing and web browsing, it’s possible one might not care for touch input and might even prefer a laptop for its clamshell form factor which is optimized for heavy typing. And as you said, there are those who prefer the less restricted OS of laptops for heavy multitasking, special software, etc, but I believe that market is sizable.
So I wouldn’t go so far as to say laptops in any size are dead (individuals yes, but in the market no). Tablets have taken a large chunk out of their market for sure. I’d say there is even potential for it to take majority. But that’s as far as I would predict, because laptops of all sizes still have valid advantages and it’s really hard to say what works for everyone.
What is a good option on an IPad for Outlook, i.e desktop version where I can drag and drop an email into the calendar and have it popup with the email content and attachments and allow me to create an event? Another example is creating rules for specific functions like when an email comes in it auto moves it to a folder. One more would be the task list in Outlook. I am a heavy outlook user and the Google apps for business web interface does not cut it as an all in one application to manage a lot of my information.
I never said there aren't examples of where a desktop application is better.
However iPadOS 13 will help fix some of those functions via multiple windows for the same app. The rest is up to Microsoft as they're the vendor of Microsoft Outlook.
On the flip-side, for a portable computing device, the ipad is fanless, has great battery life, can replace a paper note-pad, and (vs. the macbook lineup) has an easily replaceable keyboard and the option for whatever keyboard feel you like. It be used to scan documents, etc.
Not disagreeing, just upgraded from a 10.5 to an 11. Just wishing it was possible to have that functionality in a single app on an iPad.