Does a 10.5" iPad with iPad Mini PPI worry anyone?

[Traverse]

I'm just curious if I'm in the minority here, but does the iPad Pro 10.5" with the iPad Mini's PPI rumor worry anyone else?

I personally find that many UI elements and text to be too small on the iPad mini. I use picture the massive canvas of the 12.9" Pro with so much wasted space shrunk down onto a 10.5" screen. I mean, image that giant iPad Pro 12.9" keyboard with iPad Mini-sized keys. It'd be so tedious to use.

Does this not worry anyone else?

 

[iOSpecialist]

Um, are you aware of what PPI stands for? It stands for Pixels Per Inch. It's just a measurement of how densely packed the pixels on the display are put beside eachother. Basically, a higher PPI means that things should look sharper compared to a display with lower PPI. Meaning the higher the PPI, the better. No matter what the screen size is. The only time having more PPI is bad is when the cpu/GPU isn't powerful enough to drive that many pixels, causing the device to seem slower. However I'm sure that won't be an issue with the new iPad.

Right now, the iPad mini has the highest PPI of all the iPads. Hearing that the new 10 inch iPad will have the same PPI as the iPad mini is great news for whoever might be buying it because the display will look so nice. The keyboard and all that stuff won't be iPad mini sized, they will be scaled to fit the new iPad's display just like any other iPad.

If you were planning on buying the new iPad you don't need to worry, the display will look super nice with more PPI and true tone. And I'm sure it'll have a cpu that's more than powerful enough to handle that many pixels.

 

[Traverse]

Um, are you aware of what PPI stands for? It stands for Pixels Per Inch. It's just a measurement of how densely packed the pixels on the display are put beside eachother. Basically, a higher PPI means that things should look sharper compared to a display with lower PPI. Meaning the higher the PPI, the better. No matter what the screen size is. The only time having more PPI is bad is when the cpu/GPU isn't powerful enough to drive that many pixels, causing the device to seem slower. However I'm sure that won't be an issue with the new iPad.

Right now, the iPad mini has the highest PPI of all the iPads. Hearing that the new 10 inch iPad will have the same PPI as the iPad mini is great news for whoever might be buying it because the display will look so nice. The keyboard and all that stuff won't be iPad mini sized, they will be scaled to fit the new iPad's display just like any other iPad.

If you were planning on buying the new iPad you don't need to worry, the display will look super nice with more PPI and true tone. And I'm sure it'll have a cpu that's more than powerful enough to handle that many pixels.

I'm worried about the thr 10.5 simply mirroring the 12.9 but with everything smaller.

 

[Andres Cantu]

I'm worried about the thr 10.5 simply mirroring the 12.9 but with everything smaller.

I don't think that will be the case.

Knowing Apple, they'll just add another row or column of apps, they seem to think that's more useful than it actually is.

 

[joeblow7777]

No sense in worrying about rumoured specs about a rumoured device. Also, Apple knows how to make usable devices.

 

[Channan]

I don't think that will be the case.

Knowing Apple, they'll just add another row or column of apps, they seem to think that's more useful than it actually is.

OP has a valid concern, considering that's exactly what Apple did with the iPad mini. The iPad's UI wasn't altered for the iPad mini's smaller display. It was just miniaturized.

I don't think Apple would do that with a new flagship product, but it's very possible if they get lazy.

 

[rui no onna]

More likely than not, Apple will just blow up/resize the 9.7 UI to 10.5. Heck, that's pretty much the case for a lot of iOS apps on the 12.9 iPad.

9.7 is the "main" iPad display size. Optimization for 7.9 and 12.9 seems to be more of an afterthought. If the 10.5 iPad will inherit a UI, it'll be the 9.7 rather than 7.9/12.9.

 

[iOSpecialist]

The iPad

OP has a valid concern, considering that's exactly what Apple did with the iPad mini. The iPad's UI wasn't altered for the iPad mini's smaller display. It was just miniaturized.

I don't think Apple would do that with a new flagship product, but it's very possible if they get lazy.

The iPad mini still works great though. I use an iPad mini 4 as my main device every day and it's really good unless you've got huge hands. The display is awesome too. I can see why it concerns some but I don't think it's anything to really worry about. I think Apple will be "lazy" with this one, and I think it'll be ok. iOS 11 will hopefully bring some new exclusive features to iPad though.

More likely than not, Apple will just blow up/resize the 9.7 UI to 10.5. Heck, that's pretty much the case for a lot of iOS apps on the 12.9 iPad.

9.7 is the "main" iPad display size. Optimization for 7.9 and 12.9 seems to be more of an afterthought. If the 10.5 iPad will inherit a UI, it'll be the 9.7 rather than 7.9/12.9.

To make this simpler, all iPads pretty much have the same UI. They just have differently sized displays. It happens to work very well on the 9.7" display because it was first designed for it.

 

[caramelpolice]

Personally, a 12.9" iPad shrunk to 10.5" is exactly what I want. I think everything looks too big on a normal iPad, but I want more screen real estate than an iPad mini.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

The math is pretty straightforward. Shrinking the 12.9" iPad's 2732 x 2048 desktop from 264 to 326 PPI gives us almost precisely 2732 x 2048 on a 10.5" display.

I don't object to that. It'd be a nice set of choices - both the 10.5" and 12.9" would have the same size desktop. The only question is whether you want that desktop in a more compact form (at the cost of smaller screen elements). If there continues to be a 9.7" Pro, then you also have the choice of larger desktop (10.5") or larger screen elements (9.7"), both with the same external dimensions and the remaining Pro feature set.

However, I think the 9.7" Pro will be retired from the lineup within a year. I think the larger desktop, whether at 326 PPI on the 10.5" or 264 PPI on the 12.9", is a great way to distinguish Pro from non-Pro, "The larger canvas pros demand" (or similar slogan).

There's something to be said for two clearly-dilineated iPad product lines: Mini and 9.7" iPad, both at 2048 x 1536; Pro at 10.5" and 12.9", both at 2732 x 2048.

Now, Apple could give the Pros a display scaling option - it'd be the 5:4 scaling ratio we see on PCs. I think that's less likely - there's yet to be an iOS device with user-selected scaling, but it would certainly be a "pro" feature.

 

[caramelpolice]

Now, Apple could give the Pros a display scaling option - it'd be the 5:4 scaling ratio we see on PCs. I think that's less likely - there's yet to be an iOS device with user-selected scaling, but it would certainly be a "pro" feature.

All the iPhone 6/6S/7 models have scaling options - either the default, or scaling up the next size down (so you can set a 4.7" iPhone to act liked a scaled-up 4" model, and a 5.5" iPhone to act like a scaled-up 4.7" model). The iPad Pro 12.9" also supports this. You can scale it from 2048x1536 so it's like a 9.7" iPad. I would imagine the 10.5" iPad will offer the same option.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Display Zoom! Doh! Shows how often I think to make my desktops smaller!

Of course, this also neatly addresses the OP's "problem."

 

[sracer]

Personally, a 12.9" iPad shrunk to 10.5" is exactly what I want. I think everything looks too big on a normal iPad, but I want more screen real estate than an iPad mini.

I would only consider downsizing from my current 12.9 to a 10.5 if the 10.5 would be capable of displaying the full UI of apps in split-window.

One of the little known benefits to the 12.9 Pro is that when running 2 apps side-by-side in split window they are the full UI for each app. When doing this on anything smaller, like 9.7 Pro or Air 2, iOS displays the reduced version of the UI for each app as it would appear on iPhones (running as a single app).

There would be other things to consider as well, but how it handles split-window is a make-or-break for me.

 

[stevemiller]

Also, Apple knows how to make usable devices.

I lol'd. and lol'd and lol'd.

 

[NT1440]

I'm worried about the thr 10.5 simply mirroring the 12.9 but with everything smaller.

I don't think Apple has ever been stupid enough to do such a thing. Things are smaller on the mini because the canvas to draw on is smaller, that's it.

 

[Channan]

I lol'd. and lol'd and lol'd.

Is this one of those "it's funny because it's true" things?

 

[joeblow7777]

I lol'd. and lol'd and lol'd.

Seriously, what Apple devices are particularly user unfriendly?

Restrictive, yes, but an iPad or iPhone isn't pretty easy to pickup and use.

 

[profets]

I'm worried about the thr 10.5 simply mirroring the 12.9 but with everything smaller.

I agree - I think this is a valid concern. The math certainly lines up for this to be the case, but then there was a rumour not long ago about the 10.5 having a completely different resolution as well.

I don't think Apple has ever been stupid enough to do such a thing. Things are smaller on the mini because the canvas to draw on is smaller, that's it.

That's incorrect. UI elements, buttons, touch targets, etc on the mini are physically smaller than on the 9.7" iPads. This is because they kept the same resolution on the physically smaller display. If you want to call that stupid, then yes, Apple has been stupid enough to do such a thing.

 

[MyopicPaideia]

I would only consider downsizing from my current 12.9 to a 10.5 if the 10.5 would be capable of displaying the full UI of apps in split-window.

One of the little known benefits to the 12.9 Pro is that when running 2 apps side-by-side in split window they are the full UI for each app. When doing this on anything smaller, like 9.7 Pro or Air 2, iOS displays the reduced version of the UI for each app as it would appear on iPhones (running as a single app).

There would be other things to consider as well, but how it handles split-window is a make-or-break for me.

Ha ha ha, I though this was the main and most well known benefit, and the reason why the 12.9" was created in the first place?

If the 10.5" iPad Pro doesn't have this, then there is literally no point to it. If the screen is anything less than 2732x2048, why even make a new screen size? It would be much smarter to simply optimise the design around existing screen sizes, making the nearly bezelless design into smaller iPads with the same screen sizes.

The only reason for 10.5" to exist is to put two "whole" apps side by side complete with their normal portrait oriented UI's, but with the iPad mini PPI.

I'm interested if only because I much prefer the iPad mini over anything else now, and this could be that "mini pro" - same PPI and same UI element size that I prefer...and it will still be smaller than my rMB so can fit in my computer case, unlike the more gangly 12.9" Pro

 

[Donka]

As @sracer says, it is important that the UI behaves the same as the 12.9 in split view mode which I assume it will if it uses the same resolution. I would prefer if they try to keep the UI objects of a similar size to the 9.7 & 12.9 devices if possible but make better use of the space i.e. app icons being the same size but closer together instead of the huge gaps. The iPhone plus devices have a more optimised UI for the larger size and they need to do more of the same for the iPad range.
Adding a number row to the keyboard on the 12.9, while very welcome, is just not enough.

 

[stevemiller]

Seriously, what Apple devices are particularly user unfriendly?

Restrictive, yes, but an iPad or iPhone isn't pretty easy to pickup and use.

I'll caveat "in my own experience" before things, but I've been genuinely frustrated the last few years. I'm not demanding anyone to agree, but I'm being honest.

I really enjoyed switching to Mac in 2005, and I loved my iPhones 3g and 4s. But in terms of reliability and usability I have struggled since ios7 and then my iphone6. From basic tasks to more nuanced features I find myself constantly troubleshooting to the point where I don't feel like the device is making my life easier.

Keyboard lag, touchscreen missed inputs, battery issues, bluetooth issues, HomeKit issues, iMessage issues, Apple Pay issues, touchID issues, App Store issues, graphical glitches, and I'm sure there's many more I'm missing.

I know some will say "thats the price of increased features and complexity," and I'm sure its a fine trade off for people, but for me I have revisited the 4S on earlier iOS versions, and I would honestly still take that simpler experience, if it even existed anywhere.

You're welcome to disagree, but its how I feel.

 

[rui no onna]

Keyboard lag, touchscreen missed inputs, battery issues, bluetooth issues, HomeKit issues, iMessage issues, Apple Pay issues, touchID issues, App Store issues, graphical glitches, and I'm sure there's many more I'm missing.

That sounds like there might be something wrong with your device (or perhaps a restored backup?). Both my mom and dad have iPhones and if they had that many issues, they'd both be bugging me all the time until it gets fixed.