iPad Pro 2021 iPad Pro vs Air 4

[rui no onna]

Having said all that about RAM, I must say it doesn‘t seem to be a big deal when it comes to certain apps. That Divinity game people are talking about requires a minimum of an A12, but doesn’t seem to have much RAM requirements. The Air 3, Mini 5 and iPad 8 all have A12 and 3GB RAM, while the 2017 iPad Pros have A10X and 4GB RAM. Some people were advising prospective buyers of the Air 3 in 2019 to opt for the Pro 2017 instead for its extra RAM and better multi-core performance. Looks like those things didn’t matter when it comes to Divinity.

The Apple app compatibility may show A12 minimum but developer notes say otherwise and I can confirm that the game will refuse to run on Air 3. You can download and install on the Air 3 but when you run it, it will tell you it's not compatible and to request for a refund.

 

[Crow_Servo]

The Apple app compatibility may show A12 minimum but developer notes say otherwise and I can confirm that the game will refuse to run on Air 3. You can download and install on the Air 3 but when you run it, it will tell you it's not compatible and to request for a refund.

Oh, wow. Very interesting. Seems like a pretty big mistake for them to make.

 

[rui no onna]

Oh, wow. Very interesting. Seems like a pretty big mistake for them to make.

I think the problem is Apple's system doesn't differentiate between A12 and A12X/Z. Technically, the chipsets' feature sets are the same. However, there's a pretty big gap in graphics performance between the two which is likely why the developer has chosen to cap compatibility. Determining system compatibility, I believe, needs to be fixed in the App Store's backend.

 

[snipr125]

Having said all that about RAM, I must say it doesn‘t seem to be a big deal when it comes to certain apps. That Divinity game people are talking about requires a minimum of an A12, but doesn’t seem to have much RAM requirements. The Air 3, Mini 5 and iPad 8 all have A12 and 3GB RAM, while the 2017 iPad Pros have A10X and 4GB RAM. Some people were advising prospective buyers of the Air 3 in 2019 to opt for the Pro 2017 instead for its extra RAM and better multi-core performance. Looks like those things didn’t matter when it comes to Divinity.

Not trying to be picky Crow Servo, but the A12 in the Air 3 outperforms the A10X in the 2017 Pro in both single AND multicore performance. The 2017 Pro obviously did/does have an extra GB of RAM and the Pro-motion display of course.

 

[Crow_Servo]

Not trying to be picky Crow Servo, but the A12 in the Air 3 outperforms the A10X in the 2017 Pro in both single AND multicore performance. The 2017 Pro obviously did/does have an extra GB of RAM and the Pro-motion display of course.

Good to know, but there were many naysayers back in 2019 that insisted the Air 3 was inferior to the 2017 Pro and a waste of money, beyond the lack of RAM and Promotion.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I can never go back to a non 120 Hz iPad … its not so noticeable when I go to my iPhone, but really feel it when I have to use my 2020 iPad (10.2”).

I suppose that if you never owned a ProMotion device, my point will have little relevance.

I’m quite fortunate to have never owned a 120hz device at this point, so the need isn’t there for me yet. I see a lot of posters in your position and I’m glad I’m able to appreciate the Air without this kind of need.

I’ve never played games in my iPad either, so a lot of the discussion here about ram and processor speed has little relevance to the performance I need. The most taxing app I use is YouTube I think? Most of the time I’m on safari, Facebook, Tapatalk and eBay lol. Another reason the mid tier iPad suits me and many I know. I could have gotten an iPad 8 but fancied the larger screen and TouchID in the power button. Stretching the cost to a Pro was just pointless for me anyway.

 

[Act3]

The Apple app compatibility may show A12 minimum but developer notes say otherwise and I can confirm that the game will refuse to run on Air 3. You can download and install on the Air 3 but when you run it, it will tell you it's not compatible and to request for a refund.

the App Store shows this for divinity game. none of those run a standard A12

 

[rui no onna]

the App Store shows this for divinity game. none of those run a standard A12

View attachment 1784977

Those are the developer notes I was referring to.

Apple's Compatibility list under Information includes A12 iPads which is misleading.

 

[sananda]

Air 4 256Gb £729
iPad Pro 11” 128Gb £749 - £20 more
iPad Pro 11” 256Gb £849 - £120 more.

I bought an iPad Air 256GB at that price in November. But if I were buying today, I would definitely consider the £120 extra needed for the Pro 256GB as being well worth it for the Face ID, M1 chip (not that I'm taxing the A14) and the extra speakers. Perhaps for the Pro Motion too, but I don't know since I've never had Pro Motion.

 

[0128672]

I’m quite fortunate to have never owned a 120hz device at this point, so the need isn’t there for me yet. I see a lot of posters in your position and I’m glad I’m able to appreciate the Air without this kind of need.

I’ve never played games in my iPad either, so a lot of the discussion here about ram and processor speed has little relevance to the performance I need. The most taxing app I use is YouTube I think? Most of the time I’m on safari, Facebook, Tapatalk and eBay lol. Another reason the mid tier iPad suits me and many I know. I could have gotten an iPad 8 but fancied the larger screen and TouchID in the power button. Stretching the cost to a Pro was just pointless for me anyway.

I feel the same way and my usage is definitely non-pro. I went with the iPad Air, cellular this time and I’m loving the convenience. Also love the touch ID on the power button, perfect placement IMO.

I had a 2018 12.9 I traded toward an M1 MBA, so I’ve had the better Pro screen, but am not missing it (or the larger size) with this Air. I don’t have a TV (because I don’t like the intrusion of big screens in my minimalist home), so this is my all around consumption device.

I got the Air on sale at Best Buy for $679. To get the cellular iPP 11 would be $320 more. Sure it has great features and double the storage, but I don’t need them. For that difference I can get a Logitech Folio Touch open box @$145, an Apple refurb Pencil 2 for $109, and Applecare. That’s the other thing: AC+ is only $69 for the Air compared to double that for the pros ($129 for 11”, $149 for 12.9).

I’m sold on these Airs for now. I love my M1 MBA but don’t need M1 in an iPad in the foreseeable future.

 

[jsmith1]

RAM is most definitely a big deal. I find it lacking in my 2018 pro @ 4GB. Same for iPhone 11P. The 12P is way better with ram. Same for iPads with 6,8,&16gb. Huge change. 4GB is *******.

When I brought this in 2018 that Apple was just using leftover ram and the pro should be min 6gb...I was literally told over and over it wasn’t important...I was right then and I’m right now when I say they do it to use left over components way to long in products and simple add something new and raise the price ..every year

 

[Digitalguy]

Good to know, but there were many naysayers back in 2019 that insisted the Air 3 was inferior to the 2017 Pro and a waste of money, beyond the lack of RAM and Promotion.

It was inferior in some aspects and better in others... CPU wise A12 is definitely better, in daily use it's just as fluid as A12X/Z, and you can feel it compared to A10X, even when taking promotion into account.
But A10X is faster in GPU performance and then there is RAM, USB 3.0 and speakers. But the old design plus the white spot issues are not aging well for either and both tablets are worth a fraction of the original price now, especially the 10.5 pro...

 

[Chompineer]

4GB RAM on the Air 4 is a no-go for me, I don’t care about a few benchmark points.

Especially when the 2018 Pro is not conceivably any slower vs an Air 4, has the same amount of RAM and a better GPU and display.

iPads being slow is a non issue, benchmarks are pointless. Buy the one you want.

The only perceivable performance change I’ve found from a 2018 pro to a 2021 is no more app refresh due to the doubled memory. That alone is enough to sell me on one, given how my 2018 would reload GoodNotes every time I switched over to PDFExpert, which is frequent.

 

[MrMister111]

I bought an iPad Air 256GB at that price in November. But if I were buying today, I would definitely consider the £120 extra needed for the Pro 256GB as being well worth it for the Face ID, M1 chip (not that I'm taxing the A14) and the extra speakers. Perhaps for the Pro Motion too, but I don't know since I've never had Pro Motion.

I think it’s worth it to looking at this today. Probably when you looked when buying your Air 4, the 2020 11” Pro wasn’t as different to the Air 4 spec wise and the 11” 2020 Pro in UK was £769 for 128Gb and £869 for 256Gb. Unbelievably the 2021 Pro seem to have reduced in price!?!

Deciding wether to future proof more with the 256Gb option, or just go with the 128Gb.

 

[Digitalguy]

Especially when the 2018 Pro is not conceivably any slower vs an Air 4, has the same amount of RAM and a better GPU and display.

iPads being slow is a non issue, benchmarks are pointless. Buy the one you want.

The only perceivable performance change I’ve found from a 2018 pro to a 2021 is no more app refresh due to the doubled memory. That alone is enough to sell me on one, given how my 2018 would reload GoodNotes every time I switched over to PDFExpert, which is frequent.

Air 4 has a much faster single core than A12X, the same as the M1, so in daily use it will feel faster, just like M1. And the GPU is actually slightly faster than the A12X.

 

[Act3]

Air 4 has a much faster single core than A12X, the same as the M1, so in daily use it will feel faster, just like M1. And the GPU is actually slightly faster than the A12X.

not following the same as the M1? M1 blows away the Air 4

 

[rui no onna]

not following the same as the M1? M1 blows away the Air 4

I think what he meant is A14 and M1 both have noticeably better single core performance than A12X/Z.

I have both the Air 4 and M1 12.9 and they do feel around the same.

 

[snipr125]

I think what he meant is A14 and M1 both have noticeably better single core performance than A12X/Z.

I have both the Air 4 and M1 12.9 and they do feel around the same.

Yes the A14 single core score in the Air 4 on Geekbench 5 is the highest on the site at 1585 points at the moment, and most Geek benchmarks for M1 put the single core score at about 1700, so very close. Not blown out of the water as Act 3 stated lol.

 

[Act3]

Yes the A14 single core score in the Air 4 on Geekbench 5 is the highest on the site at 1585 points at the moment, and most Geek benchmarks for M1 put the single core score at about 1700, so very close. Not blown out of the water as Act 3 stated lol.

Lol look at metal and multi core scores, the M1 blows away the air 4 and every other i device. Where did I say single core score in my post ? When you account for everything in the M1 system on a chip , it blows the A14 away.

M1 iPad Pro Over 50% Faster Than Previous Generation in Early Benchmarks

Last month, Apple introduced a new iPad Pro with the same M1 chip found in the latest Macs, and early benchmark results indicate that the M1 iPad Pro...

www.macrumors.com

 

[rui no onna]

Lol look at metal and multi core scores, the M1 blows away the air 4 and every other i device. Where did I say single core score in my post ?

M1 iPad Pro Over 50% Faster Than Previous Generation in Early Benchmarks

Last month, Apple introduced a new iPad Pro with the same M1 chip found in the latest Macs, and early benchmark results indicate that the M1 iPad Pro...

www.macrumors.com

Kinda meaningless unless you're gaming or video editing or something.

I swap between A10X/4GB, A12/3GB, A14/4GB and M1/16GB and to be perfectly honest, the M1 doesn't feel significantly faster than the others.

Really, the best thing about it for me is the RAM and 1TB storage.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Lol look at metal and multi core scores, the M1 blows away the air 4 and every other i device. Where did I say single core score in my post ? When you account for everything in the M1 system on a chip , it blows the A14 away.

M1 iPad Pro Over 50% Faster Than Previous Generation in Early Benchmarks

Last month, Apple introduced a new iPad Pro with the same M1 chip found in the latest Macs, and early benchmark results indicate that the M1 iPad Pro...

www.macrumors.com

In real world use, where would this be noticeable?

 

[snipr125]

In real world use, where would this be noticeable?

Currently on iPad OS, hardly any different to what a entry level or ipad air can do. As rui no onna showed, some games may not be compatible on the A12 IPad 8th Gen. The extra RAM is more useful though, so one can have far more Safari tabs open, more apps open in the back ground, stuff like that.

The M1 really shines on the Macs though, where Mac OS takes full advantage of its abilities.

 

[rui no onna]

The M1 really shines on the Macs though, where Mac OS takes full advantage of its abilities.

Meh, I don't do anything particularly demanding on PC/Mac, either. For me, the great thing about the M1 Macs is low-noise/fanless, low heat, and low power consumption. Otherwise, even Coffee Lake ULV is more than enough performance for my usage.

 

[Kung gu]

Meh, I don't do anything particularly demanding on PC/Mac, either. For me, the great thing about the M1 Macs is low-noise/fanless, low heat, and low power consumption. Otherwise, even Coffee Lake ULV is more than enough performance for my usage.

What I feel tho is that Apple Sillcon Mac will help devs to develop for the AR/VR Glasses.

That product is going to be extremely demanding to develop for, last time heard Apple is using 8k for the lens.
The higher-end Macs are going to powerhouses and for the people who can use make use of all the power, its wonderful.



oh and don't forget the battery life improvements on M1 laptops too.

 

[rui no onna]

oh and don't forget the battery life improvements on M1 laptops too.

I didn't forget. Note that low power consumption was mentioned. Better battery life is a result of that.

Mind, when Apple mentioned 18-hr battery life with 49.9 Wh battery on the MacBook Air, one of my first thoughts was "That means MacOS doesn't really have heavier power consumption than iPadOS and should be able to get ~10 hours on the iPad as well."

MBA: 49.9 / 18 = 2.77 W/hr

2020 12.9: 36.7 / 10 = 3.67 W/hr

2020 11: 28.7 / 10 = 2.87 W/hr