iPad Pro 2021 iPad Pro vs Air 4

[telo123]

I would never get the iPad Air just because of the 60hz screen. When you're used to 120hz the difference is night and day.

I limited frame rate on the iPP (Accessibility > Motion) to see what 60 Hz is like with the Pencil 2 on GoodNotes 5 as I was debating on exchanging the iPP for the iPA to save some money.

That debate was quickly shot down in favour of the iPP. My God. I can feel the very small lag and not-so-smooth experience when writing notes down with 60 Hz.

 

[jsmith1]

I limited frame rate on the iPP (Accessibility > Motion) to see what 60 Hz is like with the Pencil 2 on GoodNotes 5 as I was debating on exchanging the iPP for the iPA to save some money.

That debate was quickly shot down in favour of the iPP. My God. I can feel the very small lag and not-so-smooth experience when writing notes down with 60 Hz.

Better to wait at this point unless you don’t have a choice...next Air should have most pro features without the Pro price.

 

[0128672]

Better to wait at this point unless you don’t have a choice...next Air should have most pro features without the Pro price.

I’d love to know more about these “pro features” coming on the next Air. What’s your source?

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I’d love to know what constitutes a ‘Pro feature’?

 

[jsmith1]

More ram, better screen, faster chip...should have many such considered pro features currently for next year, or do they not upgrade these features every year? Yea, doesn’t take a source for that just history, that’s where they dump the unused components.

 

[Crow_Servo]

More ram, better screen, faster chip...should have many such considered pro features currently for next year, or do they not upgrade these features every year? Yea, doesn’t take a source for that just history, that’s where they dump the unused components.

Air 4 has more RAM and a faster chip than Air 3, so it ticks off two of those boxes already. Unless I’m not understanding what you mean by more or faster. It won’t be equal to the current Pro models, unless you compare it to a previous Pro. 6 GB RAM is probably likely. Not sure what to expect from the chip. If it releases next fall, then maybe A16.

 

[rui no onna]

Air 4 has more RAM and a faster chip than Air 3, so it ticks off two of those boxes already. Unless I’m not understanding what you mean by more or faster. It won’t be equal to the current Pro models, unless you compare it to a previous Pro. 6 GB RAM is probably likely. Not sure what to expect from the chip. If it releases next fall, then maybe A16.

This has been the case for a while (trickle down tech). Prices of previous generation Pros drop as well so that's another option.

I remember buying my iPad Pro 10.5 512GB LTE for $650 early 2019 while the latest iPad Pro 11 512GB LTE was $1299. Incidentally, that was also less than the Air 3 256GB LTE MSRP ($779).

 

[Project Alice]

So I didn’t read this whole thread so sorry if this has already been discussed.
I’ve wanted an iPad for awhile. I will basically use it as a glorified web browser. I’m sure I’ll do more with it once I have one. Here’s my opinions on it.

If I’m buying a tablet it has to be more powerful than my phone. My phone is an SE 2nd gen, with an A13. That IMHO already puts the base iPad as a no for me. I know some might find that stupid, but if I’m gonna buy a new device especially to use as sort of a computer, it HAS to have more potential than my phone does.

I like the iPad Air 4. It has an A14, putting it more powerful than my phone; it has touch ID which I prefer personally. However it starts at a low storage option, which I could fill very easily (I have a 256GB iPhone with around ~45% utilized) so I would have to get the larger size. I think 128GB would suffice for me in an iPad (the main reason I got such a big phone is for music, which I won’t be loading the iPad with). The iPad Air only comes in 64GB and 256GB.
The 256GB is $750, and essentially an 11” display.

Okay, knowing all of that the base iPad Pro makes the most sense to me. CPU wise it’ll be overkill but at $800 (only $50 more) I get 128GB, a much faster CPU which means I could potentially have it for many years and not worry about it getting too slow, or having my next phone outperform it. The 8GB of ram also is a big factor here. In 5 years 8GB should still be good enough for a tablet. 4GB, maybe or maybe not. As some have already stated the constant reloading that my phone gets (it’s an SE so it has 3GB IIRC) a little annoying sometimes.

 

[ParagJain]

So I didn’t read this whole thread so sorry if this has already been discussed.
I’ve wanted an iPad for awhile. I will basically use it as a glorified web browser. I’m sure I’ll do more with it once I have one. Here’s my opinions on it.

If I’m buying a tablet it has to be more powerful than my phone. My phone is an SE 2nd gen, with an A13. That IMHO already puts the base iPad as a no for me. I know some might find that stupid, but if I’m gonna buy a new device especially to use as sort of a computer, it HAS to have more potential than my phone does.

I like the iPad Air 4. It has an A14, putting it more powerful than my phone; it has touch ID which I prefer personally. However it starts at a low storage option, which I could fill very easily (I have a 256GB iPhone with around ~45% utilized) so I would have to get the larger size. I think 128GB would suffice for me in an iPad (the main reason I got such a big phone is for music, which I won’t be loading the iPad with). The iPad Air only comes in 64GB and 256GB.
The 256GB is $750, and essentially an 11” display.

Okay, knowing all of that the base iPad Pro makes the most sense to me. CPU wise it’ll be overkill but at $800 (only $50 more) I get 128GB, a much faster CPU which means I could potentially have it for many years and not worry about it getting too slow, or having my next phone outperform it. The 8GB of ram also is a big factor here. In 5 years 8GB should still be good enough for a tablet. 4GB, maybe or maybe not. As some have already stated the constant reloading that my phone gets (it’s an SE so it has 3GB IIRC) a little annoying sometimes.

Adding to your points, Pro model has much better camera system. agree that not many will use these ipad cameras frequently but, better to have a good camera system and not needing it often.

i have mini 5, very capable media and browser device but, with work from home, remote working and blah blah, all of my work apps have been made available on ios platform. so now i find the smaller screen too small to do the day-to-day work. hence, will move to pro sometime in next couple of months.

 

[0128672]

Okay, knowing all of that the base iPad Pro makes the most sense to me. CPU wise it’ll be overkill but at $800 (only $50 more) I get 128GB, a much faster CPU which means I could potentially have it for many years and not worry about it getting too slow, or having my next phone outperform it. The 8GB of ram also is a big factor here. In 5 years 8GB should still be good enough for a tablet. 4GB, maybe or maybe not. As some have already stated the constant reloading that my phone gets (it’s an SE so it has 3GB IIRC) a little annoying sometimes.

I have a new cellular Air 4 64GB, and went back and forth quite a bit. When you’re talking about the price differences, you have to also take into account that the Airs are frequently on sale these days. For example, Best Buy has the 256GB Air on sale now for $699 ($50 off), so the price difference between that and the base iPP 11 is even greater.

I’ll consider trading this in next year, especially when the M1 iPP 11s hit the Apple refurb store, but buying an iPP at full retail price now is overkill for my needs and budget.

 

[rui no onna]

I have a new cellular Air 4 64GB, and went back and forth quite a bit. When you’re talking about the price differences, you have to also take into account that the Airs are frequently on sale these days. For example, Best Buy has the 256GB Air on sale now for $699 ($50 off), so the price difference between that and the base iPP 11 is even greater.

I’ll consider trading this in next year, especially when the M1 iPP 11s hit the Apple refurb store, but buying an iPP at full retail price now is overkill for my needs and budget.

You can get the 128 Pro 11 for $750 from Costco or Apple EDU, though.

 

[snipr125]

In terms of RRP value proposition:

2020 IPad Air 4 64 GB > 2021 IPad Pro 11 128 GB > 2020 IPad Air 4 256 GB

In my opinion of course.

 

[jsmith1]

So I didn’t read this whole thread so sorry if this has already been discussed.
I’ve wanted an iPad for awhile. I will basically use it as a glorified web browser. I’m sure I’ll do more with it once I have one. Here’s my opinions on it.

If I’m buying a tablet it has to be more powerful than my phone. My phone is an SE 2nd gen, with an A13. That IMHO already puts the base iPad as a no for me. I know some might find that stupid, but if I’m gonna buy a new device especially to use as sort of a computer, it HAS to have more potential than my phone does.

I like the iPad Air 4. It has an A14, putting it more powerful than my phone; it has touch ID which I prefer personally. However it starts at a low storage option, which I could fill very easily (I have a 256GB iPhone with around ~45% utilized) so I would have to get the larger size. I think 128GB would suffice for me in an iPad (the main reason I got such a big phone is for music, which I won’t be loading the iPad with). The iPad Air only comes in 64GB and 256GB.
The 256GB is $750, and essentially an 11” display.

Okay, knowing all of that the base iPad Pro makes the most sense to me. CPU wise it’ll be overkill but at $800 (only $50 more) I get 128GB, a much faster CPU which means I could potentially have it for many years and not worry about it getting too slow, or having my next phone outperform it. The 8GB of ram also is a big factor here. In 5 years 8GB should still be good enough for a tablet. 4GB, maybe or maybe not. As some have already stated the constant reloading that my phone gets (it’s an SE so it has 3GB IIRC) a little annoying sometimes.

Really not to many if any utilize the pro since it’s really just a high price side piece, Air is really best bang for the buck. Apple needed to offload chips so why not put them in iPad and charge more...they know how to make money for sure

 

[Frixos]

I bought an Air 4 last Friday, trading in a 2017 Pro 10.5. The Air is just enough iPad for my usage and I really don't notice the difference in screen refresh rate. The speakers are fine as well. If I wanted better quality even with the Pro, I'd use headphones, so there's no difference there for me. The battery life and speed is much better on the Air as compared to the 2017 Pro and I'm completely satisfied with having saved money vs. getting the Pro.

The Air 4 is too close of a side-grade than an upgrade for me to trade in my 2017 Pro 10.5. The refresh rate and speakers are not worth paying to lose in my opinion.

A worthy update would be a new display. Maybe we'll see that in the 2022 11" Ipad Pro.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I bought an Air 4 last Friday, trading in a 2017 Pro 10.5. The Air is just enough iPad for my usage and I really don't notice the difference in screen refresh rate. The speakers are fine as well. If I wanted better quality even with the Pro, I'd use headphones, so there's no difference there for me. The battery life and speed is much better on the Air as compared to the 2017 Pro and I'm completely satisfied with having saved money vs. getting the Pro.

It’s a great iPad and I’m more than happy with my Air. I had a 2017 iPad prior so for me it was a big upgrade. It’s probably more than I need as it’s only a device I browse on when sitting on the sofa anyway.

 

[one more]

The Air 4 is too close of a side-grade than an upgrade for me to trade in my 2017 Pro 10.5. The refresh rate and speakers are not worth paying to lose in my opinion.

A worthy update would be a new display. Maybe we'll see that in the 2022 11" Ipad Pro.

Yes, an 11” Pro could get a mini-LED in 2022 and Air - an OLED, take your pick. 😊

 

[jsmith1]

The Air 4 is too close of a side-grade than an upgrade for me to trade in my 2017 Pro 10.5. The refresh rate and speakers are not worth paying to lose in my opinion.

A worthy update would be a new display. Maybe we'll see that in the 2022 11" Ipad Pro.

Same iPad I still have and will wait me more cycle ...more ram too

 

[Jára Tyky]

Better to wait at this point unless you don’t have a choice...next Air should have most pro features without the Pro price.

what is the price of your crystal ball?

 

[snipr125]

what is the price of your crystal ball?

The Air 4 already has a lot of the Pros features like USB C connectivity, Pencil 2 and Magic Keyboard support, the Pro design and the A14 which is about on par with the A12Z in terms of performance. The next Air 5 is heavily predicted to have an OLED screen by Ming Chi Kuo, and will obviously have the A15 bionic all in a package £200 cheaper than the base iPad Pro, so Jsmith1 is not wrong in this regard (no Crystal ball needed!).

 

[Act3]

The Air 4 already has a lot of the Pros features like USB C connectivity, Pencil 2 and Magic Keyboard support, the Pro design and the A14 which is about on par with the A12Z in terms of performance. The next Air 5 is heavily predicted to have an OLED screen by Ming Chi Kuo, and will obviously have the A15 bionic all in a package £200 cheaper than the base iPad Pro, so Jsmith1 is not wrong in this regard (no Crystal ball needed!).

heavily predicted, isn't that using a crystal ball?

 

[Crow_Servo]

And how is the A15 in the Air 5 ”obvious”? We don’t even know when it’ll be out. The Air 3 was A12 and Air 4 is A14. I guess before the Air 4 released you were saying the A13 was obvious?

 

[Jára Tyky]

Apple is going by the product line M chips so more probably is that next iPad Air 5 can have M1 chip and not A15.
There are rumours that there will be M1 in iPhones because Apple wants Pro users offer the same high performace for all Pro line devices. Am speaking about continuity that you work on Macbook then grab iPad and then iPhone where all devices can do the same. And Apple has them locked in one universe - win win.

So there is nothing like obvious..

 

[snipr125]

And how is the A15 in the Air 5 ”obvious”? We don’t even know when it’ll be out. The Air 3 was A12 and Air 4 is A14. I guess before the Air 4 released you were saying the A13 was obvious?

Ok fair point, but the Ipad Air 3 and 4 both got the most current A chip on their release. Ming Chi Kuo is saying that the next Air will be updated with an OLED screen next year, so by extension this would be mean it would be released when the A15 is the current A chip. I too was very surprised that the Air 4 got the A14 chip before the iphone 12, when Apple could have given it the A13.

Apple is going by the product line M chips so more probably is that next iPad Air 5 can have M1 chip and not A15.
There are rumours that there will be M1 in iPhones because Apple wants Pro users offer the same high performace for all Pro line devices. Am speaking about continuity that you work on Macbook then grab iPad and then iPhone where all devices can do the same. And Apple has them locked in one universe - win win.

So there is nothing like obvious..

Apple could put the M1 chip in the Air 5, but personally I would prefer the newer and more efficient A15 which will probably have higher single core scores than the M1 by then. There is little to no chance that an iphone would have an M chip in it, as they would thermally throttle so badly that they would perform worse than the equivalent A chip. A chips are thermally designed for phones/mobile devices and the M chips are for larger tablets and Macs.

 

[jsmith1]

The Air 4 already has a lot of the Pros features like USB C connectivity, Pencil 2 and Magic Keyboard support, the Pro design and the A14 which is about on par with the A12Z in terms of performance. The next Air 5 is heavily predicted to have an OLED screen by Ming Chi Kuo, and will obviously have the A15 bionic all in a package £200 cheaper than the base iPad Pro, so Jsmith1 is not wrong in this regard (no Crystal ball needed!).

Facts are facts..funny how the fan boi’s know nothing about Apple and how they operate

 

[Crow_Servo]

Ok fair point, but the Ipad Air 3 and 4 both got the most current A chip on their release. Ming Chi Kuo is saying that the next Air will be updated with an OLED screen next year, so by extension this would be mean it would be released when the A15 is the current A chip. I too was very surprised that the Air 4 got the A14 chip before the iphone 12, when Apple could have given it the A13.

Apple could put the M1 chip in the Air 5, but personally I would prefer the newer and more efficient A15 which will probably have higher single core scores than the M1 by then. There is little to no chance that an iphone would have an M chip in it, as they would thermally throttle so badly that they would perform worse than the equivalent A chip. A chips are thermally designed for phones/mobile devices and the M chips are for larger tablets and Macs.

Also fair points. Like I said, it all depends on when the next Air releases. It’s expected next year. I guess it’s likely to be released in the first half of 2022, so if that’s the case, it very well could receive the A15, or some sort of variant like an A15X, similar to how the Air 2 received an A8X and not just an A8. Who knows…