iPad Pro Apple has just introduced Bionic A14 in iPad Air

[Shanghaichica]

Nah. There are no real tablet competitors on the Android side. Unfortunately, the app ecosystem has been dead for years.

The hardware on those Samsung tablets is good. If were an android users I would get one but I'm not in that ecosystem so I wouldn't get one.

 

[ericwn]

i do not want to buy new iPad Pro every year..

That’s one of the reasons it didn’t get another update this year and will likely be updated again next year.

Besides the newer chip name, the Pro is still leading in other features.

And nobody I know buys a new one every year.

 

[EugW]

The hardware on those Samsung tablets is good. If were an android users I would get one but I'm not in that ecosystem so I wouldn't get one.

That’s the problem. There is no real ecosystem anymore. It’s effectively dead for Android tablets.

 

[ericwn]

Most useless remark ever. The one i bought is less than two months old though.

Oh no, why did Tim Cook not call you to check if it would be ok to upgrade a different product than the one you have. Seriously Apple....

Thins is starting of as a humorous week, thank you all for that.

 

[darngooddesign]

...

 

[grandM]

True, thanks for the correction. Fixed me post above.

I think the $200 extra is still easily worth it. For that, you get a slightly better screen, double the storage, FaceID, and better cameras. That’s a lot of extras (esp compared to Macbooks where $200 barely buys a RAM upgrade usually, hah). And since we’re already north of $500, the extra outlay is not as significant.

That is specs. The standard iPad has some drawbacks. The pro is a lot of money. The air used to be at a sweet spot. Now it is expensive.

 

[Shanghaichica]

That’s the problem. There is no real ecosystem anymore. It’s effectively dead for Android tablets.

I guess ecosystem isn’t that important to android users. I think they care about each individual device and don’t care too much about how they interact with each other. I couldn’t use a hodge podge of devices though.

 

[EugW]

I guess ecosystem isn’t that important to android users. I think they care about each individual device and don’t care too much about how they interact with each other. I couldn’t use a hodge podge of devices though.

Well, that’s just it. Even Android phone geeks say Android tablets are dead.

Seven years after the Nexus 7, what happened to Android tablets?

The Nexus 7 helped start the Android tablet revolution. What happened to them and why haven't they taken off like Apple's iPad?

www.androidauthority.com

 

[pdoherty]

I’m pretty sure the Samsung tablets will browse the internet, get email, play Netflix/AmazonPrime/YouTube videos, and play games like iPads do.

 

[EugW]

I’m pretty sure the Samsung tablets will browse the internet, get email, play Netflix/AmazonPrime/YouTube videos, and play games like iPads do.

Indeed, and that's pretty much it. Anything else and often times you're stuck with a phone app, with no specific tablet support. Therein lies the problem.

It's a really sub-par experience. It's so bad these days that even many hardcore Android users recommend iPads for tablets. ie. Android phone plus iPad.

 

[macdogpro]

Software and ecosystem aside , I think it’s good Samsung still pushing their tablets to compete in the market. No competition is bad for even a great line of products like ipads.

But as professional Creative, it is the exclusive apps like Procreate and lumafusion that got me into ipad pro, even almost fully ditching my macbook pro.
Also even samsung tablets supports DCI P3 color gamut, it is still not as accurate as ipad when creating printing accurate working files. Apple has been very good for color accuracy ever since the G3 era.

 

[Stoianski]

When you guys say the Android ecosystem is not developed for tablets which apps do you actually mean?

I have a very old iPad that is very slow and not usable any longer. I am a researcher and used in mainly for PDF annotations (PDF Expert) and learning German (dictionaries, etc.).

For one year I have 8 inch Samsung tablet with s-pen. It is a bit small for PDFs, but I use it sometimes in landscape mode. PDF Expert is not available, but Xodo is excellent and free. For dictionaries, Kindle reading and note taking it is great. What I like about the pen is than it is noiseless when writing (Samsung pen tips are from soft material in contrast to the plastic of the Apple pencil). What I also like is that I can hold it with one hand (unlike iPad mini). Another thing is an app called One Hand Operation that allows very easily to access the apps and different functions with short or long gestures. Wish Apple has this. Have impression this and the multitasking are better implemented on samsung tablets.

Having said this I now need a large tablet and can not decide between Samsung S7/S7+ and iPad Pro 11/12.9/Air4. I am contemplating Pro 11, because of the 6GB RAM. Like also the larger model, but is a bit too big and expensive. The education price of Pro 11 in Germany is 814 euro plus AirPods, which is not bad.

Air is only 64 GB. Would I be able to easily open files (for example PDFs) using also an external usb stick?

Which is more important for large PDFs with annotations plus multitasking (multiple dictionaries, web browser, etc.): A14 of Air or A12z plus more RAM of the Pro?

What will be the difference between S7 Samsung and iPad pro. I also wonder if not to take S7/S7+? Which apps make the difference?

Thanks a lot.

 

[EugW]

When you guys say the Android ecosystem is not developed for tablets which apps do you actually mean?

You're probably better equipped than most to answer this question because you actually currently own a recent Android tablet. I still own one, but it's old. I can say that a common complaint amongst Android tablet users is getting the "This app may not be optimized for your device" message when installing apps, and they get various display issues.

I would suggest installing a bunch of apps on your Android tablet that you may end up using on a larger Android tablet, and see how many give you problems.

 

[Stoianski]

Thanks EugW. I would appreciate your input on my Apple related questions. A12Z vs A14 and RAM on heavy PDF files with annotations. Thank you.

 

[rui no onna]

Thanks EugW. I would appreciate your input on my Apple related questions. A12Z vs A14 and RAM on heavy PDF files with annotations. Thank you.

I'd go with more RAM on this one. Honestly, I don't think even 6GB is enough for super complex PDFs with lots of vector images. I can't remember who it was but another forum member had to rasterize his PDFs so he can view it on the iPad. All PDF viewers run out of memory otherwise.

 

[macdogpro]

I'd go with more RAM on this one. Honestly, I don't think even 6GB is enough for super complex PDFs with lots of vector images. I can't remember who it was but another forum member had to rasterize his PDFs so he can view it on the iPad. All PDF viewers run out of memory otherwise.

I agree, depend on the PDF content. If it was flatten, it doesn’t matter single core or multicore.
But if it’s a working file with lots of vectors / object, then maybe A12X/Z will handle a bit better.

 

[Stoianski]

Thank you.

 

[dmccloud]

That’s very nicely explained @EugW

I would also guess that the A14 has 4gb ram. Honestly I don’t see this as an issue at all for atleast another 2 years. By then most will upgrade if they have problems.

4gb ram is actually ok even on Windows 10 for simple tasks, and IpadOS is a very streamlined in comparison. I can’t think of a single app right now, even complex, that doesn’t work on 4gb ipads superbly.

I wouldn't recommend less than 8GB of RAM for Windows 10 - the OS itself uses around 2.1GB just for booting to the desktop, so unless you're using the computer in a VERY limited way, you will hit the full 4GB of RAM quickly, which means you're using swap files the rest of the way. Put two computers with identical specs except for the RAM side by side and open Word on both at the same time - you'll see just how much of an impact 8GB has in Windows. On the iOS/iPadOS side, the OS itself is much less resource hungry, so 4GB is usually more then enough RAM - same can be said for most Chromebooks on the market.

 

[dmccloud]

Could someone explain the meaning of single core and multi core, and how that relates to apps ?

I'm considering picking up my first iPad, I'll be using the usual daily apps I suppose such as web browsing, mail, video, ect. But I'd also like to do some music production. Given that, which is more important to performance single core and multi core ?

And what type of apps use single core vs apps that use multi core ?


Thank you .....

Most basic apps (browser, Office apps, etc.) still use single-core for processing, since those apps usually will not benefit from multithreading. On the other hand, more resource-intensive apps (Photoshop, Premiere, media encoding, music recording/production) will take advantage of multiple cores to process tasks more efficiently. Think of it this way: if I'm editing a photo in an app that supports multiple cores and need to apply a filter to said photo, a multicore processor can break that image into 2 or more parts and process each segment simultaneously, whereas a single-core CPU has to perform the entire task from start to finish. The multicore CPU is faster at the task because it splits the image into multiple segments and processes them in a batch. Keep in mind that if the app itself doesn't support multiple cores, the OS cannot force threading on the app.
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The new Samsung Tab 7/7+ is a competitor.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 and Galaxy Tab S7 Plus review

The king of Android tablets (and legitimate iPad competitors)

www.laptopmag.com

It also looks like an iPad Pro...

 

[Tsepz]

Well, that’s just it. Even Android phone geeks say Android tablets are dead.

Seven years after the Nexus 7, what happened to Android tablets?

The Nexus 7 helped start the Android tablet revolution. What happened to them and why haven't they taken off like Apple's iPad?

www.androidauthority.com

It’s been 7 friggin years since the Nexus 7!? Wtf did the time go!? That is insane. I remember owning a Galaxy Tab10.1 tablet, and really liking it (hardware wise), unfortunately there was an incredible lack of software and it’s software update situation also went to the crapper within a year, so I dropped it and got an iPad 4 shortly after that got released and never looked back. Android tablets were truly letdown by Google and their manufacturers who simply launched tablets as a comeback at Apple and not as a strategic device to enhance their ecosystem.

Where Apple gets it right all the time is that whenever they launch anything it seems to always arrive with a great tie-in to the overall Apple ecosystem and they are also lucky enough to own their ecosystem so that helps to.

I am still a fan of Android but I hate how some of the manufacturers have absolutely butchered their ecosystems in forcing out devices that are clearly not ready, and not having thorough and strategic approach to what they are doing, rather just “we are doing this because Apple did it and we need to capitalise NOW”

 

[Moyapilot]

It’s been 7 friggin years since the Nexus 7!? Wtf did the time go!? That is insane. I remember owning a Galaxy Tab10.1 tablet, and really liking it (hardware wise), unfortunately there was an incredible lack of software and it’s software update situation also went to the crapper within a year, so I dropped it and got an iPad 4 shortly after that got released and never looked back. Android tablets were truly letdown by Google and their manufacturers who simply lunched tablets as a comeback at Apple and not as a strategic device to enhance their ecosystem.

Where Apple gets it right all the time is that whenever they launch anything it seems to always arrive with a great tie-in to the overall Apple ecosystem and they are also lucky enough to win their ecosystem so that helps to.

I am still a fan of Android but I hate how some of the manufacturers have absolutely butchered their ecosystems in forcing out devices that are clearly not ready, and not having thorough and strategic approach to what they are doing, rather just “we are doing this because Apple did it and we need to capitalise NOW”

You nailed it.

Nexus 7 was my first tablet, it made me a huge fan of the form factor. I actually got it at launch after being so excited about it. I got my mom and GenII when it came out and she still uses it ‘till this day along with an Ipad Mini3. Great products.

Funny enough, I also moved from the original Nexus 7 to Ipad 4 and never looked back. Man what a beast the Ip4 was, rock solid hardware and software.

Still use Android phone though, love the Pixel lineup. But tablets is Ipad all the way.