These are different machines, cannot be compared spec for spec, they don't need to raise prices on the pro, but they wont increase it either on them as some think...
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iPad Pro Does the iPad Pro make sense anymore?
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I could never get used to the idea of an iPad as a laptop replacement. As a developer and someone who deals with a LOT of files (Project, Word, Excel, Visio, etc...) - I never could understand an iPad as a laptop replacement. Probably doesn't help I work in Windows.
So an iPad to me was always a reading device - a photo editing, occasional video watching device. Yes, I could hook a mouse/keyboard up to it - and that was cool, but I much prefer my 32' 4k monitor with my MBP if I am to do anything with video and files.
The only people I know that use an iPad as their only device are people here and on Youtube. I could see how it would work but I do think the new M1 puts a dampener on the idea of an iPad being a laptop replacement. Still can't beat the portability of a 11' iPad vs a 13' MBP, especially in decreasing airplane seats.
For me? iPad was always and will always be a reading device that can do almost everything my iPhone can. I usually keep it for 3-4 years if not more because of the price.
I can't justify the keyboard --- and I agree with other posters, had I not already had a 2018 iPad Pro 11 - I'd go for the Air 3. Pro just doesn't make sense at this price point for me.
They could start by nudging their own internal developers. Where’s Final Cut Pro for iPad? Logic? If Apple wants to demonstrate the power of an iPad as a professional device, then why don’t they take the lead and develop professional-level software for it? This is what they did back in the early days of the Machintosh - they even created their own line of laser printers to help establish the computers as the go-to desktop publishing machines. Apple had to do a ton of groundwork to establish the Mac as the computer for the creative professional and to maintain that position over the growth of Windows PCs - that didn’t just come naturally. It’s why they own Final Cut and Logic in the first place.
So far the evolution of the iPad as a true desktop replacement has consisted mostly of a powerful chip series (shared with the iPhone and now Mac), a USB port, accessories like the Magic Keyboard, and some marketing slogans. Software-wise we’ve seen very little development over the last few years, outside of some quick-wins like a simple file explorer app and some slightly improved multitasking. But really, “iPad OS” is almost identical to the iPad version of “iOS” it was supposed to radically improve upon.
At least as far as software goes, it seams like 3rd party devs have done more to push the iPad as a “pro” machine then Apple has, through software like Procreate and stuff like Foreflight. But that’s not anywhere near an all-encompassing pro ecosystem like we see on the Mac.
I've been able to use the iPad Pros as my only laptop/personal large screen device, but the 2020 12.9" iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard and Pencil was the first model I owned where my reaction was, "YES--this is the iPad-as-laptop setup I've been waiting for!!!" As someone who's always loved iPads, it met or exceeded all my expectations (eventually) for all my workflows, and I even learned a bunch of new pro software. But if that rig met or exceeded all my expectations, the M1 Macs, especially the Air, made me completely rethink what my expectations even are. When I make a pro/con list for switching from an iPad, literally "touch screen" and "Pencil support" are the only things I see as cons. The touch screen I can live without. The Pencil support is going to be hard to give up. On the other hand, I sent it out to the buyer several days ago and haven't thought much about it since.
EDIT: Almost forgot--regarding your comment about people here and on YouTube being the only people you know of that are iPad-only--If you had asked me 2 or 3 years ago, I would have said that by 2020, we're going to see a lot more people in public on iPads with key stands/cases instead of Mac or PC laptops. I guess I can't really say EXACTLY how it is in 2020 since I barely go anywhere at the moment. What I will say is that more and more often, when I walk into a crowded coffee shop or cafe (pre-COVID, of course), a majority of computer users are on Macs, 2 or 3 people are on PCs, and you'll see MAYBE 1 person on an iPad or iPad Pro.
Not that I care about what other people use when deciding what I should use. I just think it's a little crazy how I thought we'd see all these Mac/PC laptop users switching to iPad Pro by now, and what I've actually seen with my own two eyes is that more and more people are switching to Macs from PCs, the Mac users are staying on Macs, and the iPad still doesn't seem to have hit that inflection point yet where I'll see more than one or two in a crowded public place. I know anecdote does not equal data, but I'm in a very high population metropolitan area, so I do feel like I get a good cross section of who's using what.
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The practical utility of an iPad is different from a Mac.
If you put value on how it operates, you can justify how Apple priced each model.
It is a more enjoyable and lighter eReader/Media consumption device and can do most of the work a laptop can if you can put up with its limitation + pair it with a kb/pointing device. For most people it will be big enough for their large screen computing needs.
With a MacBook Air, you only have the desktop mode And while I do agree its been made more compelling by the M1 (less heat), it will never approach iPad’s weight and operational flexibility and *sigh For now* a better camera system.
If you put value on how it operates, you can justify how Apple priced each model.
It is a more enjoyable and lighter eReader/Media consumption device and can do most of the work a laptop can if you can put up with its limitation + pair it with a kb/pointing device. For most people it will be big enough for their large screen computing needs.
With a MacBook Air, you only have the desktop mode And while I do agree its been made more compelling by the M1 (less heat), it will never approach iPad’s weight and operational flexibility and *sigh For now* a better camera system.
I think people need to realise that this topic is about the iPad Pro, not iPads in general.
The iPad as a thing, still has a great purpose. The new Air is a fantastic machine. I literally bought one for someone and it will be their primary computing device. That person and millions of others mostly consume content and for that an iPad is fantastic. The Air does a perfect job of that.
The iPad Pro on the other hand, who would actually want one of those who also would find the other lesser iPad unacceptable for what they need? Not too many people I would wager. Of these "not too many people" how many would be better suited with a Mac? A lot of them.
The other question being asked here is which tasks do you do that can't also be done on an iPad Air or M1 Macbook? What can the iPad Pro do that nothing else can do? Maybe those who need the larger screen real estate for the pencil and don't want to carry around a Macbook and drawing tablet. Maybe, maybe, it's all getting rather niche.
The iPad as a thing, still has a great purpose. The new Air is a fantastic machine. I literally bought one for someone and it will be their primary computing device. That person and millions of others mostly consume content and for that an iPad is fantastic. The Air does a perfect job of that.
The iPad Pro on the other hand, who would actually want one of those who also would find the other lesser iPad unacceptable for what they need? Not too many people I would wager. Of these "not too many people" how many would be better suited with a Mac? A lot of them.
The other question being asked here is which tasks do you do that can't also be done on an iPad Air or M1 Macbook? What can the iPad Pro do that nothing else can do? Maybe those who need the larger screen real estate for the pencil and don't want to carry around a Macbook and drawing tablet. Maybe, maybe, it's all getting rather niche.
It's definitely a "right tool for the job" situation. There's no standard correct answer for all users. I can do everything I need to do on an iPad (even if it's not a Pro model) OR a Mac. I consider myself a power user of both iPadOS/iOS and macOS, and I can flip back and forth pretty seamlessly and get things done no matter what device I'm on. That's truly a testament to how great Apple's ecosystem is and how well all the platforms tie into each other. You just don't get that integration anywhere else.
For me though, the M1 Macs are worlds better than what they're replacing, and I'm just so excited about where this is all going to go. This might make me sound like a fanboy or whatever, but I truly believe we are at the start of a new revolution in processing power. I want in on the ground floor. I'm super pumped about all this horsepower I'm about to have access to.
Firstly I agree with everything you said 100%.
How well the M1 and iPads link together is totally amazing.
Secondly the "even if it's not a Pro model" comment you said really hits home. I agree the right tool for the job might be an iPad, it might be the M1. Both get different jobs done.
However if everything most people need done can be done on any iPad, what's the need for the iPad Pro to exist?
This is not a rhetorical question. I am seriously curious as to what things only the iPad pro can do but no other iPad or M1 can do.
It’s about preference and is highly subjective. Apple brought out the M1 MacBooks and suddenly people are trying to convince others that iPad Pros are no longer relevant? Nothing has changed.
The iPad Pro brings features to the table that the laptops don’t. A touchscreen with pencil support and the ability to hold in portrait mode.
I much prefer using a 12.9 iPad with pencil to process photos in Lightroom. Give the MacBooks a touchscreen and I might be tempted.
The iPad Air also brings those features to the table.
My point was, what does the iPad pro bring to the table, that the iPad Air and M1 both do not.
Do certain people really need the increased screen real estate and other iPad Pro exclusive features that much, that the iPad Air will not suffice?
That's exactly the point I came to about 2 weeks after the M1 Mac lineup came out. At the very beginning I was "meh" about them because I've been full time iPad for so long, but as I had more time to digest the reviews and articles and see all the benchmarks, it slowly hit home that if I was mostly just using my iPad Pro as a laptop these days, then what I probably really need is a "normal" laptop. And if I'm buying a "normal" laptop, there's a great new option that's thinner, lighter, runs cooler, and has double the battery life of my current iPad Pro setup. So--no brainer there.
As far as the new iPad Air, that's a killer device at a great price point, and I probably wouldn't go any lower down the lineup than that if/when I buy another iPad again. But the release of that iPad brought me to another thought: I haven't used my iPad Pro as an iPad in probably a couple of months now. Any time I want to do iOS type stuff, I've found it much quicker and easier to just grab my iPhone 12 Pro Max. It looks/feels/functions more like an iPad mini than an iPhone, and the screen is GORGEOUS.
So as much as I love iPadOS, the introduction of the M1 Mac is squeezing it for my attention on one side, and the 12 Pro Max is definitely squeezing it for attention on the other.
I do agree here--the iPad Pro needs to exist even if it's just for that larger screen size, and the the quad audio and laminated screen make a HUGE difference. I would love to see Apple pull most of these features down into the Air line, and maybe just keep the 12.9" model as the Pro line. With all these rumors about only the 12.9" model getting the new mini LED screens, I have to wonder if that's an indication that the 11" Pro will be discontinued and kind of wrapped up into the Air, while the 12.9" stays where it is and continues to get all the newest innovations for iPad.
Personally, I was (and still a bit now) hung up on the word "Pro" for the Pro line. It made me judge the Pro line more harshly. I ended up realizing for my use case, the Pro and the basic iPad will accomplish the same task. While the experience will be nicer for on the Pro, I had no problem with my Mini 4 vs 2018 11" Pro. (The larger screen of the 11" Pro is nice though for remote logging into computer! Lol ? ).
I think that for a normal user, a pro could be better in the long run. I mean, obviously all the ipads have around 4-5 years of iOS support, but a normal user after 5 years could still use the iPad Pro without feeling slow down.
My 2015 iPad Pro still works very fast on media consumption. But my normal iPads, after 3-4 years started to feel slow.
So if someone wants to keep their iPad for 5+ years, iPad Pro still makes sense even tho it has a bigger initial investment which would be less than a base model iPad every 2-3 years.
I don't think this is an issue anymore particularly with the base iPad having A12 chipset. There has been some pretty huge general jumps from iPad to iPad Air 2 but that's been slowing down.
We have some iPad 5th and 6th gens in the household and honestly, they still perform quite well. Wouldn't be surprised if they last their users a total of 5+ years. Bonus, battery degradation hasn't been as bad as on X chipset iPad Pros.
Performance wise I can not disagree/agree with You as my other ipad is the 1st gen iPad and I have nothing else to compare. But even my 1st gen iPad Mini is still very usable, even tho slow, but very usable.
Battery wise, It is very strange because I always babied my 2017 15” Macbook pro, and guess what, today it has 58% of battery capacity and service is advices. On the other hand, I never babied my iPad Pro, it even stayed 3-4 months with 0% of battery which is bad for battery, and it still has 93% of battery capacity. It is impressive, in my opinion, for a 2015 model iPad Pro.
Yeah concerning future proofing, with any current iPad having at least A12 and 3GB RAM, they'll be just as snappy in 5-7 years. And Apple will very likely update them for 7 or even 10 years. Sure the pro will get even more, but does it matter? Honestly giving how fast Apple Silicon is advancing, who will want to use a current iPad pro as their main iPad in 10 to 15 years? I mean the basic iPad SOC is the same family as the pro, same single core, same perceived speed. Currently iPad pro real advantages are others (speakers, pro motion, size etc.)
I kinda upgraded every year from iPad 2 to 2017 iPad Pro for performance, features and storage. Older iPads were just slow to begin with. I remember opting to use the laptop for web browsing while the iPad was pretty much just relegated to reading manga and ebooks because it was too slow and a lot of websites were incompatible. That changed starting with Air 2/1st gen iPad Pro. We have a mix of devices in the household and even now, there's not much of a performance difference between A9, A9X, A10, A10X and A12. The A8X Air 2 though, yeah that's showing its age but still perfectly usable.
Mind, I personally wouldn't consider the 1st gen mini (A5, 512MB, iOS 9) usable. The mini 2 (A7, 1GB, iOS 12) I'd consider slow but usable. Anything A5, seems like cruel and unusual punishment. Even my dad found the iPad 2-3 unbearably slow and he's fine using an old desktop (1st gen Core i3 Nehalem/Clarkdale).
I don’t feel that’s a need. Nice to have for some of us but Apple serves a way bigger market with iPads than they do with Macs I guess. If Apple wanted to go the Surface route they would have done that a while ago?
Those who want to work full-time from the iPad will be willing to pay the premium price for the absolute best iPad, but I admit that likely isn't a massive market. For me, I'm a tech enthusiast so I like the fancy features, but even I have to admit that I was really tempted by the new iPad Air, which I think is fine for 80% of the iPad user base. Also, the extra money is worth it for the slightly larger screen and Promotion to satisfy my techies. I agree with @rui no onna though, I kind of wish there would be an A14 version of the iPad Pro with the RAM of the A14X. The X variants used to be needed for the display, but we've longed transitioned away from the necessity and now it just represents higher performance at the cost of battery and heat that is unneeded for the vast majority of iOS tasks.
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TL/DR: Managing multiple Macs is more difficult than multiple iOS devices plus the iPad in a laptop context is less of a compromise than a Mac in a tablet compromise, so I will continue to use an iPad as my in-between device and primary personal computer and will therefore pay for the best one I can.
To answer the post topic only from my perspective. I've never been thrilled with the iPad-as-a-laptop experience because I find iOS limiting for some niche cases and I also find laptop-style iPad hardware (even the magic keyboard) to be a bit clunky. For most cases, outside of OS preference, a MacBook Air will be a more solid and reliable setup than an iPad hooked up to multiple oddly-weighted accessories - however the iPad is also far more versatile.
I love using macOS on a big display, so a desktop is still in my future so I can have an always-on Mac with massive storage and power. I will also always have an iPhone. For the middle ground, I still prefer an iPad to a Mac which means I will pay for the Pro to have the best experience on my main personal computer. While iPad vs M1 MacBook each have their pros and cons, I'd still pick iPad as my portable system due to the fact that the tablet form factor is still preferable in certain circumstances (e.g. streaming, casually browsing, reading and marking up PDFs).
An iPad can act as a "good enough" compromised laptop when I need it too and be an excellent tablet. A MacBook will be an excellent laptop, but can't act as a tablet and would be more of a compromise in a tablet context than an iPad would in a laptop context. Also, it's far easier to manager multiple iOS-based devices than it would be to manage an iMac and a MacBook (e.g. several software installations would have to be repurchased with multiple licenses, etc.)
Until Apple creates some kind of table that can excel at both contexts, I will continue to choose the iPad because a Mac desktop + iPad + iPhone still gives me the best flexibility while offering me a way to get my needed tasks done.
Yes, but can you remove the keyboard when needed/for handling comfort (based on what you need it to be?)
Even if some of us frame the existential question to the iPad Pro, there are still *key* features (Pencil + Pro Motion tandem, FaceID and LiDar 3D systems, quad speakers For that size) that Macs cannot bring to the table and that’s on top of the iPad platform as a whole (Flexibility, thin and light, cellular support, pen support, touchscreen, good front cam).
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Yeah, the chipsets are pretty overkill for what I do. 512GB-1TB storage is pretty much the only reason I will be opting for Pro. Personally, if they offered higher storage and more RAM on the Air 4, I'd be perfectly happy to go for that and save a couple hundred bucks.