I wanted to post my first impressions of the new 2018 gen 3 iPad Pro 12.9”, compared to the gen1. Keep in mind that I’ve just had the new one for 2 days. So in no particular oreder away we go.
I also currently have both iPads mentioned, so I can do a direct comparison. Image below, the silver gen 1 is in a beat up KavaJ case with the gen 3 lying flat.
Case Size - definite improvement. It’s considerably shorter in the long dimension which reduces wrist/hand strain.
Screen - noticeably better, but not huge. The better gen 3 refresh rate is refreshing, it’s noticeably more responsive.
Performance - the gen 3 is snappier for sure, but it’s new of course (but restored from the gen 1 backup). Again not huge, the gen 1 12.9” Pro is not underpowered. In 2 days I haven’t stressed the gen 3 of course.
Design - love it, loved the iPhone 4. YMMV of course.
Bezels (thinner) - not a problem. I’ve covered the FaceID camera with my fingers 2-3 times, but that’s just getting used to a new product. I have had zero issues with any mistaken screen ‘touches’
FaceID - noticeably better than my iPhone X, better at angles, a little faster, no issues. I had a concern because I use this sitting up on a table (in the KavaJ case as shown below) when taking a class. Would it be more inconvenient than TouchID to wake it up after it goes to sleep? I tried it today and so far so good. It’s different, not perfect, but no worse than TouchID in this situation, maybe better but I just have not had enough time using the gen 3 in this specific setting.
Speakers - definite improvement. For personal media consumption, you really don’t need a bluetooth speaker anymore. The speakers won’t fill a room like even a decent BT speaker, but for 1-person use up close they’re great, a solid improvement.
USB-C - time marches on, a step in the right direction, but any connector change will incur some ‘growing pains’, but you have to start somewhere. I did have to make some minor re-arrangements to my device charging table. This is as far as I’ve gotten in 2 days with USB-C on the iPad, so apologies for not having anything more helpful.
Pricing: i’ve seen it stated several times that it isn’t worth the price increase. What if I told you that the gen 3 was actually cheaper? Here are the numbers:
My gen 1 12.9 WiFi+LTE 128 GB was $1,079 in 2015, but my new gen 3 is 256 GB. So that we’re comparing apples to apples (<- you see what I did there?), let’s use the gen 1 256 GB WiFi+LTE figure of $1,229. You can check the gen 1 prices on Wikipedia. A 256 GB gen 3 WiFi+LTE is $1,299, a whopping $70 increase over 3 years. But wait! Using the US inflation calculator, $1,229 2015 dollars is the equivalent of $1,308 and change in 2018 dollars, 6.5% inflation over 3 years.
So are the new features worth $10 less in 2018? Absolutely!
BTW, feel free to check my numbers. I’m a retired engineer and good at calculus but horrible at arithmetic, so beware!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPad_Pro
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com
I also currently have both iPads mentioned, so I can do a direct comparison. Image below, the silver gen 1 is in a beat up KavaJ case with the gen 3 lying flat.
Case Size - definite improvement. It’s considerably shorter in the long dimension which reduces wrist/hand strain.
Screen - noticeably better, but not huge. The better gen 3 refresh rate is refreshing, it’s noticeably more responsive.
Performance - the gen 3 is snappier for sure, but it’s new of course (but restored from the gen 1 backup). Again not huge, the gen 1 12.9” Pro is not underpowered. In 2 days I haven’t stressed the gen 3 of course.
Design - love it, loved the iPhone 4. YMMV of course.
Bezels (thinner) - not a problem. I’ve covered the FaceID camera with my fingers 2-3 times, but that’s just getting used to a new product. I have had zero issues with any mistaken screen ‘touches’
FaceID - noticeably better than my iPhone X, better at angles, a little faster, no issues. I had a concern because I use this sitting up on a table (in the KavaJ case as shown below) when taking a class. Would it be more inconvenient than TouchID to wake it up after it goes to sleep? I tried it today and so far so good. It’s different, not perfect, but no worse than TouchID in this situation, maybe better but I just have not had enough time using the gen 3 in this specific setting.
Speakers - definite improvement. For personal media consumption, you really don’t need a bluetooth speaker anymore. The speakers won’t fill a room like even a decent BT speaker, but for 1-person use up close they’re great, a solid improvement.
USB-C - time marches on, a step in the right direction, but any connector change will incur some ‘growing pains’, but you have to start somewhere. I did have to make some minor re-arrangements to my device charging table. This is as far as I’ve gotten in 2 days with USB-C on the iPad, so apologies for not having anything more helpful.
Pricing: i’ve seen it stated several times that it isn’t worth the price increase. What if I told you that the gen 3 was actually cheaper? Here are the numbers:
My gen 1 12.9 WiFi+LTE 128 GB was $1,079 in 2015, but my new gen 3 is 256 GB. So that we’re comparing apples to apples (<- you see what I did there?), let’s use the gen 1 256 GB WiFi+LTE figure of $1,229. You can check the gen 1 prices on Wikipedia. A 256 GB gen 3 WiFi+LTE is $1,299, a whopping $70 increase over 3 years. But wait! Using the US inflation calculator, $1,229 2015 dollars is the equivalent of $1,308 and change in 2018 dollars, 6.5% inflation over 3 years.
So are the new features worth $10 less in 2018? Absolutely!
BTW, feel free to check my numbers. I’m a retired engineer and good at calculus but horrible at arithmetic, so beware!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPad_Pro
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com
