All iPads 2021 iPad Air (M1) vs. 2018 iPad Pro 12.9 (A12X)

[Shanghaichica]

Zone of tech doesn’t recommend the Air 5 over the 2018 iPad Pro. He thinks even if buying today the 2018 iPad Pro is the better buy

Tailosive tech also says the same

 

[1BadManVan]

I definitely don’t agree with zone of tech with that recommendation. The biggest thing the OP wants is something that’s more future proof. His uses are enough for a base model but if he wants that basic uses to be fluid and last him years to come, the Air 5 is easily the top pick on his list of options.

It’s double the ram, and a much more powerful soc. The two biggest things that make them more future proof, a faster screen and more speakers plays no factor into that equation.

 

[jdb8167]

That depends on whether you consider photo editing a limited case.

I tested the Previous Air 4 against the M1 iPP and the Pro updated Lightroom edits faster, which is useful for seeing before and after differences, and generated a screen full of thumbnail previews faster. The difference was slight, but it was there.

The A12X in the 2018 iPad Pro should still be slightly faster in multi-threaded use over the A14 in the iPad Air 4 but point taken.

Edit: About 15% faster according to Geekbench 5.

 

[rui no onna]

The A12X in the 2018 iPad Pro should still be slightly faster in multi-threaded use over the A14 in the iPad Air 4 but point taken.

Edit: About 15% faster according to Geekbench 5.

Iirc, users normally don’t “feel” improvements less than 20%. And really, the difference between A12X and A14 multi-core is much closer to 10% than 20%.

 

[Isamilis]

that won't change anything, as you cannot go back to previous versions of the OS

Yes it will, because it will clean up unused old files, reduced swap file and fix/clean up the config files which may cause the sluggish issues.

 

[mj_]

What a bummer... according to this thread the iPad Air (M1) will not charge when connected to a 5V USB port at all. Apparently, the on-board charging logic requires at least 9V/2A Power Delivery through USB-C to trigger and start the charging process. I have a smart outlet with two USB-A ports in the kitchen that I use to charge my various living room devices, such as the iPad, my headphones, my Watch, sometimes even my laptop. Getting the Air would require a new outlet in the kitchen that supports Power Delivery.

The more I think about this the more I am leaning towards just keeping the old one as-is...

 

[snipr125]

What a bummer... according to this thread the iPad Air (M1) will not charge when connected to a 5V USB port at all. Apparently, the on-board charging logic requires at least 9V/2A Power Delivery through USB-C to trigger and start the charging process. I have a smart outlet with two USB-A ports in the kitchen that I use to charge my various living room devices, such as the iPad, my headphones, my Watch, sometimes even my laptop. Getting the Air would require a new outlet in the kitchen that supports Power Delivery.

The more I think about this the more I am leaning towards just keeping the old one as-is...

Are you sure about this and tested? From my past experience with tablets, you cannot use a 5V charger to begin charging a dead tablet, they need a larger charge from something like a 2.1 Amp charger to kick it off from 0%, but if it has charge in it, then a 5V should work (e.g. topping up a tablet when its at 25%), it will be slow as hell, but still charge.

 

[rui no onna]

What a bummer... according to this thread the iPad Air (M1) will not charge when connected to a 5V USB port at all. Apparently, the on-board charging logic requires at least 9V/2A Power Delivery through USB-C to trigger and start the charging process.

I just plugged in my M1 Pro 11 (at 63%) to the USB-A port of the following adapter (well, RAVPower version) and it charges okay. Caveat, it appears to be limited to ~5W (per TP-Link smart plug with energy monitoring).

USB C Charger 120W 4-Port Desktop USB Charging Station, 2 USB C Ports + 2 USB A Ports Compatible for MacBook Pro/Air, Dell XPS 13, iPad Pro, iPhone 13, Galaxy S21

USB C Charger 120W 4-Port Desktop USB Charging Station, 2 USB C Ports + 2 USB A Ports Compatible for MacBook Pro/Air, Dell XPS 13, iPad Pro, iPhone 13, Galaxy S21

smile.amazon.com

 

[mj_]

Yes, that is correct. The consensus is that it seems to be working perfectly fine with the M1 Pro but not the M1 Air. Connecting the Air to a 5V power source doesn't seem to trigger the charging logic, and the Air appears to require Power Delivery with at least 9V/2A (aka 18W) to take any charge at all. I obviously haven't tested this myself yet but I have no reason to doubt @bondr006's findings.

I've also watched the two videos above, as well as similar other ones, and the 2018 Pro seems to be subjectively faster thanks to its 120 Hz display despite its slower SoC. That could very well make a huge difference in the long term, after all subjective performance is all that really matters to me. I am also taking the 2020 11" iPad Pro with 6GB of RAM and double the storage into consideration as that is available for $609 refurbished and could potentially last even longer thanks to its 120 Hz display.

 

[rui no onna]

Yes, that is correct. The consensus is that it seems to be working perfectly fine with the M1 Pro but not the M1 Air. Connecting the Air to a 5V power source doesn't seem to trigger the charging logic, and the Air appears to require Power Delivery with at least 9V/2A (aka 18W) to take any charge at all. I obviously haven't tested this myself yet but I have no reason to doubt @bondr006's findings.

@bondr006 has the M1 iPad Pro 11, not the M1 iPad Air 5.

 

[mj_]

Shoot... you're right, I misread that. Thank you.

 

[mj_]

Something has just occurred to me. The iPad Pro has Face ID instead of Touch ID. Does it work in both portrait and landscape mode? I don’t care that it only works upright on the iPhone because I almost never unlock my phone sideways but I have just noticed that I always unlock my iPad sideways with Touch ID on the right-hand side given that this is the way the Zugu case opens and unfolds. And since I am definitely going to put whichever new iPad I will end up getting in a Zugu case again this means that this would also be true for the Pro with its Face ID camera array.

Edit: Nevermind, I found the answer. It works both ways.

 

[1BadManVan]

Yes, that is correct. The consensus is that it seems to be working perfectly fine with the M1 Pro but not the M1 Air. Connecting the Air to a 5V power source doesn't seem to trigger the charging logic, and the Air appears to require Power Delivery with at least 9V/2A (aka 18W) to take any charge at all. I obviously haven't tested this myself yet but I have no reason to doubt @bondr006's findings.

I've also watched the two videos above, as well as similar other ones, and the 2018 Pro seems to be subjectively faster thanks to its 120 Hz display despite its slower SoC. That could very well make a huge difference in the long term, after all subjective performance is all that really matters to me. I am also taking the 2020 11" iPad Pro with 6GB of RAM and double the storage into consideration as that is available for $609 refurbished and could potentially last even longer thanks to its 120 Hz display.

120hz display won’t make it last longer, definitely false. But it seems you’re intrigued by the pro features so get the pro

 

[UltimateSyn]

Zone of tech doesn’t recommend the Air 5 over the 2018 iPad Pro. He thinks even if buying today the 2018 iPad Pro is the better buy

Tailosive tech also says the same

It's too bad that they're completely wrong. 50+% increases in single-core and multi-core Geekbench scores, and much more importantly a *doubling* of the RAM are going to make the Air 5 feel fast for significantly longer when it comes to subsequent iPadOS updates. Not that the 2018 Pros are long in the tooth by any means, or that anyone with those devices should necessarily feel compelled to upgrade, but to buy them now over an M1-equipped device would be fairly asinine IMHO.

 

[LFC2020]

Keep the Pro, no ProMotion on the iPad Air 5. ?

 

[UltimateSyn]

Keep the Pro, no ProMotion on the iPad Air 5. ?

Yup, all this chatter about the Air being an 11" Pro killer but without ProMotion it's not even close (to me).

 

[Digitalguy]

Yes it will, because it will clean up unused old files, reduced swap file and fix/clean up the config files which may cause the sluggish issues.

No, it won't, this is not a laptop. There is no swap file and unused old files have zero impact, resetting can fix setting issues, definitely not issues due to the OS taking more RAM, which is the main reason why a RAM-constrained iPad becomes more sluggish over time.

 

[UltimateSyn]

Yes it will, because it will clean up unused old files, reduced swap file and fix/clean up the config files which may cause the sluggish issues.

I don't think iPadOS even utilizes swap.

 

[mj_]

I am not intrigued by the Pro features at all to be honest. Quite the contrary, I find the "Pro" moniker absolutely ridiculous in a device as limited and software-restricted as the iPad. They should have simply called it the iPad MoreExpensive, that would have been a more honest and fitting name. But I digress...

That high-refresh 120 Hz display is something that I am having issues putting my fingers on. I have never used a device with a high-refresh display and am thus unable to tell whether or not I will even notice and benefit from the difference and alleged improved smoothness and usability. It's not like I find the 60 Hz display on my iPad or any of my computers lacking, and I certainly don't notice any lag or reduced smoothness when scrolling with the iPad or using it, so I am having a very hard time to imagine how that can get any smoother. I guess the only way to tell would be to compare a 60 Hz iPad Air M1 and a 120 Hz iPad Pro M1 side by side, but I don't really have the time right now to drive to an Apple Store (~90 minute round trip) to find out.

The only thing that I am intrigued by is the larger 12.9-inch display. I am trying to figure out whether or not I will benefit from having a larger display versus the reduced portability and increased weight.

 

[Student of Life]

I am not intrigued by the Pro features at all to be honest. Quite the contrary, I find the "Pro" moniker absolutely ridiculous in a device as limited and software-restricted as the iPad. They should have simply called it the iPad MoreExpensive, that would have been a more honest and fitting name. But I digress...

That high-refresh 120 Hz display is something that I am having issues putting my fingers on. I have never used a device with a high-refresh display and am thus unable to tell whether or not I will even notice and benefit from the difference and alleged improved smoothness and usability. It's not like I find the 60 Hz display on my iPad or any of my computers lacking, and I certainly don't notice any lag or reduced smoothness when scrolling with the iPad or using it, so I am having a very hard time to imagine how that can get any smoother. I guess the only way to tell would be to compare a 60 Hz iPad Air M1 and a 120 Hz iPad Pro M1 side by side, but I don't really have the time right now to drive to an Apple Store (~90 minute round trip) to find out.

The only thing that I am intrigued by is the larger 12.9-inch display. I am trying to figure out whether or not I will benefit from having a larger display versus the reduced portability and increased weight.

Honestly I think you will love the pro more, the bigger size, the better screen, screen size, better speakers and the Face ID. I love Touch ID on my 10.5 pro but hate it on my iPad Air 4.

 

[rui no onna]

I love Touch ID on my 10.5 pro but hate it on my iPad Air 4.

Alas, I feel the same way.

I feel like the surface area of the power button is too small. Hence, it has a harder time scanning the entire fingerprint during setup. Getting only a partial scan ergo makes TouchID authentication less reliable than home button.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Alas, I feel the same way.

I feel like the surface area of the power button is too small. Hence, it has a harder time scanning the entire fingerprint during setup. Getting only a partial scan ergo makes TouchID authentication less reliable than home button.

It’s not as bad as I thought it would be coming from the minis 5 to the mini 6. Yes the home button is better but it works very reliably on my mini 6. Having said that I would prefer Face ID on my mini 6.

 

[sparksd]

It’s not as bad as I thought it would be coming from the minis 5 to the mini 6. Yes the home button is better but it works very reliably on my mini 6. Having said that I would prefer Face ID on my mini 6.

Agree. The Mini 6 is my only device now with touch ID; even my Surface Pro 7 has face ID.

 

[Homme]

It’s not as bad as I thought it would be coming from the minis 5 to the mini 6. Yes the home button is better but it works very reliably on my mini 6. Having said that I would prefer Face ID on my mini 6.

FaceID won’t be in the mini for sometime to come

 

[mj_]

The 12.9-inch iPad Pro is no longer an option. After going back and forth and talking to my wife she made the excellent point that it would be too large for two occasional yet important use cases: on airplanes and in the car attached to a mount entertaining our toddler daughter on long trips.

It's basically down to either the 2020 iPad Pro 11 (A12Z) for $609 (Apple Refurbished) or the 2022 iPad Air (M1) for $599 now. I will have to go see that 120 Hz display in action first though and compare it to a regular 60 Hz display to see what all the fuss is about before I make that decision.

I would like to thank everybody for their input again, this thread has been very helpful in keeping me from making a rash decision.