iPad Pro A14X iPad Pro. Could it debut at the iPhone event? (It should)

[bobmans]

1. A12Z > A14
2. Why would they release an iPad Pro only 6months after the latest update

They should really rename the X/Z version of chips to P chips or whatever instead of A chips because somehow people think higher number after the A immediately means better chip.

 

[EugW]

i’ve been pondering that myself. I have never had the 11” to make the comparison. Ever since the iPad Pro came out in 2015, I have had the 12.9” iPad Pro.

I much prefer portability, and have no interest in the 12.9" model. I do very little editing on it though. I have done some simply LumaFusion editing on my 10.5" and it works fine, but not surprisingly it is a bit cramped.

My friend doesn't do a lot of editing on his 12.9", but does use it a lot to demo his work to clients. The 12.9" is a good size for this, and he prefers surfing at this size too. He has no interest in the 11" model.

 

[rui no onna]

Aren't the 2020 Pros only like 6 months old? There's not another one coming this year. I'd say March at the earliest.

Original rumors before the pandemic caused all these shutdowns was November 2020 for iPad Pro with Mini-LED+5G+new chipset, very likely at higher price and sold concurrently with the A12Z iPad Pros.

 

[Tsepz]

Have a look at this
A14

Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max's AnTuTu result shows minor performance gains

The results are somehow disappointing. Even though Apple didn't announce any new iPhones during its September event, the company detailed the heart of the...

www.gsmarena.com

A12Z

Apple iPad Pro 11 2020 AnTuTu benchmark shows 6GB RAM, 9% GPU boost

The latest iPad Pro gained one GPU core over its predecessor. Yesterday Apple unveiled the latest generation iPad Pros - both 11-inch and 12.9-inch models...

www.gsmarena.com

 

[Dave245]

I much prefer portability, and have no interest in the 12.9" model. I do very little editing on it though. I have done some simply LumaFusion editing on my 10.5" and it works fine, but not surprisingly it is a bit cramped.

My friend doesn't do a lot of editing on his 12.9", but does use it a lot to demo his work to clients. The 12.9" is a good size for this, and he prefers surfing at this size too. He has no interest in the 11" model.

I do wonder how cramped the 10.9” would be for multitasking. Also how much smaller the Magic Keyboard would be, is it cramped and more condensed vs the 12.9” Pro?

 

[EugW]

I do wonder how cramped the 10.9” would be for multitasking. Also how much smaller the Magic Keyboard would be, is it cramped and more condensed vs the 12.9” Pro?

Both Smart Keyboards are technically considered full sized, but on the 11" the key spacing is 18 mm, and on the 12.9" it is 19 mm. I believe the key spacings on the Magic Keyboards are exactly the same respectively.

Note that 19 mm is what is found on all Macs and most desktop PCs, as well as larger PC laptops. 18 mm is smaller, but I find it very comfortable. It's when it gets to the 17 mm size or thereabouts I find it really uncomfortable. (I think the 9.7" Pro is 17.5 mm, and some of the third party ones for 9.7" iPads is 17 mm or less.)

 

[Dave245]

Both Smart Keyboards are technically considered full sized, but on the 11" the key spacing is 18 mm, and on the 12.9" it is 19 mm. I believe the key spacings on the Magic Keyboards are exactly the same respectively.

Note that 19 mm is what is found on all Macs and most desktop PCs, as well as larger PC laptops. 18 mm is smaller, but I find it very comfortable. It's when it gets to the 17 mm size or thereabouts I find it really uncomfortable. (I think the 9.7" Pro is 17.5 mm, and some of the third party ones for 9.7" iPads is 17 mm or less.)

Interesting, so the 12.9” version will have the same keyboard size as my 13” 2019 MacBook Pro. The 11” will be just 1mm less, that seems like it would be barely noticeable.

What’s interesting is that Apple charges more for the 12.9” Magic Keyboard than the 11” (around £50 more).

 

[AutomaticApple]

I'm a little annoyed that Apple skipped straight ahead to the A14 for the Air, and consequently left the Pro high and dry.

Yeah, that was a bit disappointing when I first saw it.

 

[bwillwall]

They just updated the Pros this year, so no you'll have to wait for 2021. The thing about this is it's being oversimplified by the branding but apple's CPU development is becoming more complex with different class chips. The A12Z is accurate branding because of how it was made I assume, but unfortunately it's not great marketing. It's the 2nd "pro" version of the A12 meaning it's more capable especially graphically than the A12. The A14 is essentially first an iPhone chip made more for a smaller screen, but it happens to be so capable that it works great for an iPad. They've split up between different classes of chips, so I guess where we are now is a Pro version of a chip follows the normal iPhone version. It's not going to lead to as much disappointment as you probably think if you look at actual benchmarks and real world numbers. But again, the marketing seems quite bad because people are now forced to choose from a Pro iPad with promotion etc and a cheaper iPad that has a newer chip version.

 

[James Godfrey]

I waited for Tuesdays event before taking the plunge, and Wednesday I ordered a 2020 iPad Pro 12.9, do I regret ordering .... NO!

If Apple was going to launch a new iPad Pro this year it would have been done on Tuesday or at least announced for a November release.

I really think the iPad Pro 2020 was born due to delays with the miniLED screens, I think the 2020 Pro was going to be released alongside the new Air, meaning the 2018 model had a two year life span.

But I think mid-late 2019 there was delays with miniLED meaning the next refresh would have landed in March 2021 (a huge 2.5 year life cycle for the 2018 model), sales had probably slowed at that point so Apple just done a minor upgrade to the Pro line.

Shortly after that decision the pandemic happened which has likely push the next pro even further out, likely a late 2021 launch, giving the 2020 Pro the standard 18 month life cycle.

 

[rui no onna]

They just updated the Pros this year, so no you'll have to wait for 2021. The thing about this is it's being oversimplified by the branding but apple's CPU development is becoming more complex with different class chips. The A12Z is accurate branding because of how it was made I assume, but unfortunately it's not great marketing. It's the 2nd "pro" version of the A12 meaning it's more capable especially graphically than the A12. The A14 is essentially first an iPhone chip made more for a smaller screen, but it happens to be so capable that it works great for an iPad. They've split up between different classes of chips, so I guess where we are now is a Pro version of a chip follows the normal iPhone version. It's not going to lead to as much disappointment as you probably think if you look at actual benchmarks and real world numbers. But again, the marketing seems quite bad because people are now forced to choose from a Pro iPad with promotion etc and a cheaper iPad that has a newer chip version.

They've had non-X and X chipsets ever since the iPad 3. It's just the first time a more expensive, currently selling iPad has an older chipset than a lower end iPad model.

2017
iPad 5th gen A9, $329
iPad Pro 9.7 A9X, $599 (1H)
iPad Pro 10.5 A10X, $649

2018
iPad 6th gen A10, $329
iPad Pro 10.5 A10X, $649
iPad Pro 11 A12X, $799

2019
iPad 7th gen A10, $329
iPad Air 3rd gen A12, $499
iPad Pro 11 A12X, $799

2020
iPad 8th gen A12, $329
iPad Air 4th gen A14, $599
iPad Pro 11 2nd gen A12Z, $799

 

[kiranmk2]

I imagine a new Pro with A14X will come either with the iPhones or early 2021. The early 2020 update was clearly not a regular update. The new model will also get 5G and perhaps miniLED backlighting along with the U1 chip.

Apple has form for doing this with the 4th gen coming 6 months after the Retina iPad.

 

[satchmo]

The 2018 11" iPad Pro comes in and out of stock on the refurb store fairly regularly. If folks can catch that, it's a smashing deal compared to everything else.

Bear in mind the 2018 iPad Pro only has 4gb RAM unless you get the 1TB model.

 

[EugW]

Interesting, so the 12.9” version will have the same keyboard size as my 13” 2019 MacBook Pro. The 11” will be just 1mm less, that seems like it would be barely noticeable.

What’s interesting is that Apple charges more for the 12.9” Magic Keyboard than the 11” (around £50 more).

Well, some people don't like 18 mm keyboards. I like them though as I find them quite comfortable.

The keyboards of the MacBook Pro are wider, but that's because they shorten rectangular keys like the return and shift keys on the iPad keyboards. However, the spacing of the other regular square keys is the same.

Bear in mind the 2018 iPad Pro only has 4gb RAM unless you get the 1TB model.

I don't know if this is a software glitch or not but Procreate as an individual app can access more RAM on 6 GB models than on 4 GB models, but the 6 GB model has to be a 2020 model. Didn't work on the 2018 1 TB 6 GB models. Or at least that's the way it was in the first weeks after the 2020 models became available.

OTOH, AFAIK both the 2018 6 GB model and the 2020 models can utilize more RAM for multi-tasking than the 4 GB models for obvious reasons.

 

[James Godfrey]

I imagine a new Pro with A14X will come either with the iPhones or early 2021. The early 2020 update was clearly not a regular update. The new model will also get 5G and perhaps miniLED backlighting along with the U1 chip.

Apple has form for doing this with the 4th gen coming 6 months after the Retina iPad.

It won’t come anytime soon, they haven’t even met supply/demand of the current gen, why refresh something which is still selling like crazy.

I estimate late 2021 iPad Pro release with a $150 increase in price.

 

[joeblow7777]

I can’t believe how many people are complaining that now the Air has too good a chip, as if it somehow takes away from their iPad Pros, which still offer numerous other advantages.

 

[James Godfrey]

I can’t believe how many people are complaining that now the Air has too good a chip, as if it somehow takes away from their iPad Pros, which still offer numerous other advantages.

Ha, I know, what we have to remember is the difference between these chips is starting to get sooooo marginal now... the difference between A12X/A14 is going to be so small, and only noticeable in single core situations, with the A12X/Z being better in multi core.

It’s crazy that everyone seems proper devastated because although their iPad Pro has got better speakers, better screen, better cameras, better microphones... the new iPad Air might open certain apps 1 second faster, and possibly export a movie 2 seconds quicker...

 

[Tsepz]

I imagine a new Pro with A14X will come either with the iPhones or early 2021. The early 2020 update was clearly not a regular update. The new model will also get 5G and perhaps miniLED backlighting along with the U1 chip.

Apple has form for doing this with the 4th gen coming 6 months after the Retina iPad.

A12Z already has the U1 chip as far as I am aware. U1 chip and WiFi 6 both came in the A12Z.

EDIT:

My bad, it seems no U1 chip in A12Z, but it does have WiFi 6, I guess the latter doesn’t require a reconfigured chip to be added.

 

[James Godfrey]

A12Z already has the U1 chip as far as I am aware. U1 chip and WiFi 6 both came in the A12Z.

I read somewhere during a tear down there is no U1 chip in the iPP as far as I know...https://www.macrumors.com/2020/04/07/2020-ipad-pro-no-u1-chip-confirmed/


The U1 chip also requires associated antennas that wouldn't play particularly nicely with the ‌iPad Pro‌'s metal chassis. On the ‌iPhone 11‌ series, these antennas require cutouts in the metal case lining, but remain concealed thanks to the glass exterior of the phone.

I think they would require a redesign to implement in the iPad Pro

 

[Tsepz]

I read somewhere during a tear down there is no U1 chip in the iPP as far as I know...https://www.macrumors.com/2020/04/07/2020-ipad-pro-no-u1-chip-confirmed/

Yep, I think what I was reading was older, lol, so I did add an edit note in my post that I am wrong.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Bear in mind the 2018 iPad Pro only has 4gb RAM unless you get the 1TB model.

I know, but I haven't yet personally experienced any limitations due to RAM, and from reading this forum there aren't any. The old constant Safari tab reloading problems that folks had with the 2GB RAM iPads don't seem to be a problem anymore.

 

[James Godfrey]

What everyone has to remember is the A12Z chip was released in 2020, same as the A14, both chips are from the same year... if anything the 2020 Pro should have had an A13X, but Apple likely thought the benefit was that minimal it wasn’t worth investing in altering the A13 for it to be worth it, coupled with the fact the 2020 model was likely rushed to market due to miniLED delays prompting a 30 month refresh cycle for the 2018 Pro...

I really think before coronavirus hit the 2020 Pro was released with the intention of releasing the 2021 miniLED pro in March 2021, but since then we have coronavirus, likely a second wave and further lockdown through this winter which unfortunately looks as though it will be delayed further into 2021.

 

[darngooddesign]

Releasing an A14 IPP 6 months after the last release will anger more people than just having the Air be faster with some tasks for six months.

 

[EugW]

What everyone has to remember is the A12Z chip was released in 2020, same as the A14, both chips are from the same year...

Well, sort of, but not really. A12X and A12Z are different bins of the exact same chip. All A12X chips have the same number of GPU cores as A12Z, but one of the GPU cores of A12X was deactivated for yield reasons.

Fast forward two years, and yields have improved enough that Apple/TSMC no longer have to deactivate one of the GPU cores to get enough working chips.

 

[rui no onna]

Well, sort of, but not really. A12X and A12Z are different bins of the exact same chip. All A12X chips have the same number of GPU cores as A12Z, but one of the GPU cores of A12X was deactivated for yield reasons.

Fast forward two years, and yields have improved enough that Apple/TSMC no longer have to deactivate one of the GPU cores to get enough working chips.

Yep, exactly. The 2020 Pro essentially just uses better binned versions of a chipset originally released in 2018. To me, the only thing attractive about the 2020 Pro is the extra RAM.

Meanwhile, A14 provides similar or better CPU performance as A12X/Z with quite likely better power efficiency. It's the GPU where the X/Z chipsets really shine. Kind of a moot point for me since I don't do anything GPU taxing and would rather take the power savings.

I wouldn't want to pay full MSRP for the 2020 iPad Pros. Reckon they're fine with, say, Apple's back to school promo. That said, I'm personally waiting for a bigger upgrade considering the configuration I want costs nearly the same as 3x base iPad Airs.