"What we know about the 11-inch user is that they just love bringing a super powerful iPad with them in a portable one-pound design. They just love the form factor of that. Whereas the user who is embracing the 12.9-inch display, they were looking for the largest canvas to do their most creative work on that product, and that made sense to bring that XDR technology to the 12.9-inch display for the iPad Pro." – Scott Broderick
Although in my original thread I falsely stated that I had already decided on the 11” model I later went back on my word and decided to give a 1TB 12.9” a test-run (picked up in-store Friday morning) before exchanging for the smaller 2021 iPad Pro at 1 pm the next day.
As I roughly explained to the salesperson who attentively heard my complaints and who guided me expertly through the exchange process, the 12.9” is clearly a portal custom-designed for (tele-)visual content creators and consumers. The few music videos I cared to watch on the thing (those for “Ponyboy,” “Faceshopping,” and “It’s Okay to Cry” by late electronic musician SOPHIE) sang, each shocking strobe and visual effect rendered, to be simplistic, cinematically, impactfully. The richness of darker shades is generally beautiful as is the screen’s capability to emphasize highlight in a way that is eye-catchingly natural. The display felt disarmingly warm and lifelike—and luxurious—during the one candle-lit Fitness+ yoga session I had with the XDR iPad.
However, in my specific use case, exchanging the 1TB 12.9” Wi-Fi-only model for a cellular-equipped 256GB 11” Pro plus Apple Pencil, Magic Keyboard, Smart Folio, two years of AppleCare+, as well as an AirTag and keyring—and paying twenty cents after the fact—was one of my better recent decisions.
Let’s get to the why aside from the obviously, astoundingly better value. Yes, the 12.9” size is less manageable (the tablet proved to be more than a bit awkward and uncomfortable to hold in a reclining position during the short time I had with it—no great surprise there). And yes, it’s clear there is a whole lot one could do with that whole lot of screen.
But aside from the more compact frame of the 11” “just” suiting me better—to use Mr. Broderick’s favorite word—“just” what was it about this newfangled, somewhat-gargantuan iPad that drove me back to the Apple Store?
I hate to further beat this horse, but it was the blooming of the display, particularly the strange clouds around white text on contrasting backgrounds, increased blur/smear with moving content (such as scrolling text), and apparent, boxy backlighting zones (or bloom/fallout from them) around brighter elements of dark user interfaces that made me quickly resent my very expensive, increasingly apparent mistake. The display was nearly unusable without thinking about how I wish it looked somehow different, especially when using dark mode and most especially when using the device in darker surroundings.
It made me feel like my contacts were dirty. The display’s disappointment factor ranked up (or down) there with that of the iPhone XS I had briefly before returning in 2018, the pulse-width modulation of which just about made my eyes bleed. Although this wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable, it was a lot more expensive.
Although I am currently satisfied and not having to think too hard about the quality of my 11” iPad’s display or wondering whether it might somehow be improved through future software updates—so far it has looked excellent across all my typical Safari/Twitter/Apple Music/light gaming use cases—it will be cool to watch how display technologies across the iPad line might further progress into and improve with smaller backlighting arrays in its LCDs or oft-beloved, per-pixel-lit OLED for use in the nearer future.
I have been using an iPhone 12 since late October 2020 and although there was a small adjustment period the comfortability of Apple’s iPhone OLED implementation for my eyes is light years ahead of where it was just two years ago. On that more positive note I hope everyone is satisfied with their device(s) or that they are able to return or exchange until their needs are met.
Also I would lastly like to say that the store representative who assisted me was pleasantly helpful and not just attentive but interested. He made sure to submit my feedback to Apple to potentially be taken into account in future product refinements and said that an Apple engineer may be reaching out at some point for further detail.
Although in my original thread I falsely stated that I had already decided on the 11” model I later went back on my word and decided to give a 1TB 12.9” a test-run (picked up in-store Friday morning) before exchanging for the smaller 2021 iPad Pro at 1 pm the next day.
As I roughly explained to the salesperson who attentively heard my complaints and who guided me expertly through the exchange process, the 12.9” is clearly a portal custom-designed for (tele-)visual content creators and consumers. The few music videos I cared to watch on the thing (those for “Ponyboy,” “Faceshopping,” and “It’s Okay to Cry” by late electronic musician SOPHIE) sang, each shocking strobe and visual effect rendered, to be simplistic, cinematically, impactfully. The richness of darker shades is generally beautiful as is the screen’s capability to emphasize highlight in a way that is eye-catchingly natural. The display felt disarmingly warm and lifelike—and luxurious—during the one candle-lit Fitness+ yoga session I had with the XDR iPad.
However, in my specific use case, exchanging the 1TB 12.9” Wi-Fi-only model for a cellular-equipped 256GB 11” Pro plus Apple Pencil, Magic Keyboard, Smart Folio, two years of AppleCare+, as well as an AirTag and keyring—and paying twenty cents after the fact—was one of my better recent decisions.
Let’s get to the why aside from the obviously, astoundingly better value. Yes, the 12.9” size is less manageable (the tablet proved to be more than a bit awkward and uncomfortable to hold in a reclining position during the short time I had with it—no great surprise there). And yes, it’s clear there is a whole lot one could do with that whole lot of screen.
But aside from the more compact frame of the 11” “just” suiting me better—to use Mr. Broderick’s favorite word—“just” what was it about this newfangled, somewhat-gargantuan iPad that drove me back to the Apple Store?
I hate to further beat this horse, but it was the blooming of the display, particularly the strange clouds around white text on contrasting backgrounds, increased blur/smear with moving content (such as scrolling text), and apparent, boxy backlighting zones (or bloom/fallout from them) around brighter elements of dark user interfaces that made me quickly resent my very expensive, increasingly apparent mistake. The display was nearly unusable without thinking about how I wish it looked somehow different, especially when using dark mode and most especially when using the device in darker surroundings.
It made me feel like my contacts were dirty. The display’s disappointment factor ranked up (or down) there with that of the iPhone XS I had briefly before returning in 2018, the pulse-width modulation of which just about made my eyes bleed. Although this wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable, it was a lot more expensive.
Although I am currently satisfied and not having to think too hard about the quality of my 11” iPad’s display or wondering whether it might somehow be improved through future software updates—so far it has looked excellent across all my typical Safari/Twitter/Apple Music/light gaming use cases—it will be cool to watch how display technologies across the iPad line might further progress into and improve with smaller backlighting arrays in its LCDs or oft-beloved, per-pixel-lit OLED for use in the nearer future.
I have been using an iPhone 12 since late October 2020 and although there was a small adjustment period the comfortability of Apple’s iPhone OLED implementation for my eyes is light years ahead of where it was just two years ago. On that more positive note I hope everyone is satisfied with their device(s) or that they are able to return or exchange until their needs are met.
Also I would lastly like to say that the store representative who assisted me was pleasantly helpful and not just attentive but interested. He made sure to submit my feedback to Apple to potentially be taken into account in future product refinements and said that an Apple engineer may be reaching out at some point for further detail.
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