I have an old iPad Air 2 that I got through work when it first came out. It’s still working fine, but it’s also showing its age and is a bit on the slow side. I was looking at the Air 4, but it’s missing some key features I want like Face ID, 4 speakers, etc., that the Pros have. However, a concern is that the chip in the Pro is now outdated vs the A14. So, buying the Pro now a mistake and is it better to wait until the 2021 version or bite the bullet now?
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All iPads Get iPad Pro or wait?
- Thread starter PFox78
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The chip in the new pro released earlier this year is not outdated and is more than capable of doing anything you need.
I recommend waiting it out only because you already have a functioning iPad that presumably does everything that you would like it to do.
If you were to buy the iPad Pro 2020, get AppleCare+ and I'm sure you'll be happy. But just be aware that spending that same amount of money in a year might get you more bells and whistles. Those bells and whistles will surely be there in 5 years when you upgrade again.
If you were to buy the iPad Pro 2020, get AppleCare+ and I'm sure you'll be happy. But just be aware that spending that same amount of money in a year might get you more bells and whistles. Those bells and whistles will surely be there in 5 years when you upgrade again.
I would wait until next March for the 2021 iPad Pro. It looks to be a big upgrade from the 2020 ones. A14X and Mini-LED will be worth the wait. I bought an 11” 2020 Pro in July and it’s incredible, but I probably would’ve bought the new Air instead if I had held out a bit longer.
Erm, no.
A14 inside the new iPad Air:
A12z from My iPad Pro:
Yes, they are pretty close. However, with the iPad Pro’s 6GB of RAM and it’s 8 Core GPU compared to the 4 Core in the A14, the Pro is still overall more powerful.
As other users have said, the Ipad Pro basically has a 2-year-old chip inside of it. I have the 2020 pro and it is really fast and contains 6gb of ram (air has 4gb). I would say go for the pro especially if you are going to use the education store (get free AirPods, $100 off pro and $30 off applecare+). The air has 64gb of storage while the pro has 128gb, base it on those choices tbh. If you need to upgrade storage, go with the pro. I feel like both devices will still be relevant and won't be slow for at least a couple of years.
If your six year old iPad with A8x is "still working fine" I wouldn't worry about the A12Z in the Pro.
Good points. Definitely going for the Pro instead of the Air, but I’m just wondering whether this year’s version is still worth it. It’s a really expensive device, so my decision is whether to buy the current one, which wasn’t a massive upgrade over the 2018 edition, or wait until next year’s with the A14x and miniLED Display, etc.
Buy the iPad you want now. Tech is always evolving, and you don’t know if the next Product will satisfy you. If you like this 2020 iPad Pro, buy it. The current version of iPad Pro is incredible. I love mine.
Life is short. I recommend you get what you need when you need it. iPads as you can see last a very long time as your current one shows. I’m using the first generation iPad Pro from a few years ago still.
Face ID isn't reliant on the CPU? With the A12 in the iPhone XS, Face ID was slight faster than that of the A11 in the iPhone X.
Ordered IPP 12.9 couple of weeks ago after spending too much of time on chipset difference. Got it delivered today with Apple Pencil and magic keyboard. Performance is too good and screen quality is awesome. Don’t know why I wasted my time and energy to find answer for chipset.
If you need it now then order it else wait for something new to come because every time there will be something new.
If you need it now then order it else wait for something new to come because every time there will be something new.
I do recommend applecare+ for the pro since bendgate won't be covered under the limited warranty. I have it for my pro and with the discount, it is affordable.
What is the difference between single core and multi core?
Consider that current rumors point towards no 11" model. Just 12.9".
If you’re in the UK and interested in a 512GB WIFI 2020 model only two months old PM me and I could list it on eBay for you. It’s amazing and I change my mind daily on selling or keeping, but would do you a deal.
Single Core score shows how Much performance the Actual Chip has.
The A14 has 6 Cores.
The A12z has 8 Cores.
If the A14 had 8 Cores like the A12z, it would be faster. But it doesn’t. Therefore, the Multi-Core score is the Performance you are gonna be getting on a Regular Basis.
Multi-core is the performance you get if running apps that are perfectly multi-threaded or running heavy apps side by side. In this case though, I'd consider the multi-core score a wash. You're really unlikely to notice a difference of just 10%.
That said, the extra RAM is likely going to be quite helpful (more so than the extra cores).
That said, what type of apps take advantage of multi-core?
I suspect mostly graphic intensive and computational ones. If you’re just using Word, Pages and Numbers, maybe an Air is all you need.
I wouldn't consider that more than conjecture from some posters here, and should be accompanied by a Himalayan salt lamp. Apple isn't going to force users who don't want the larger size to forego the "Pro" features and settle for an Air 4, any more than it will stop offering the iPhones Pro in anything but the larger Max phablet size.
Now, the company may give the 12.9" extra features, such as mini-LED, or more RAM (as it has done in the past), but it's not going to leave money on the table by not offering an 11" Pro, when it outsells the larger model.
The aim is to incentivize up-sells without stepping over the line into forcing deeper compromises, as would be the case with the Air 4 as surrogate, or, penalizing users outright.
As for the OP's dilemma, I answered that myself and picked up a 11" Pro today at the local store, which can have stock, despite what Apple's website indicates. It succeeds an 64GB Air 1, which is still OK in most respects, and can even run iOS 12, but feeling its age when it comes to battery life and limited memory (both RAM and storage).
I had been waiting for the Air to make the leap to a modern form factor, and if the Air 4 had been offered with 128GB, it would have been a much easier choice. I've visited a couple stores recently, and based on the disclaimers personnel are giving about it not having arrived, there is a great deal of interest in the Air 4. Indicate you're interested in an iPad, and the first thing the store people will mention is that they don't have the Air yet.
But with the price of the 256GB model the same as the 128GB Pro's EDU, or sale pricing (as Amazon has been offering recently, as well as some resellers), the confluence of features of the Pro won out. For qualifying EDU buyers, the soon-to-expire free AirPods offer is the coup de grâce, to be enjoyed, or re-sold.
The A14 is a beast (which portends even better things for those who can wait for the A14X), but the only place where it opens a gap on the A12Z is in the single-core score. The more modern neural engine in the A14 is probably a leap as well, but that doesn't explicitly manifest itself in benchmarks. In other respects, the two are in the same ballpark.
Apple does a great deal of work on iOS' memory management, and the Air 4's 4GB RAM does provide a cushion over the current 3GB baseline in the value/mainstream products (SE2, iPad 8). But, ultimately, the support window in iOS devices has been heavily influenced more by memory than outright speed, so the 6GB in the Pro provides more cushion.
Otherwise, Face ID (albeit a subjective preference, YMMV), ProMotion screen (+brightness), dual-cameras w/flash +LiDAR, quad-speakers, and five microphones are additional features I was willing to trade for the extra storage. 64GB a bit too constricting, 256GB more than enough, but 128GB just right. Learned that lesson with my 64GB XS, and didn't want to encounter that situation again. More nits can be picked in terms of the narrower bezels, and 18 vs 20W adapter, but they are very minor in my book.
So, for me, for today, the 11" Pro is a better overall package, if one can't manage with the base 64GB Air 4. The EDU promo with the AirPods made it a no brainer.
Apple's product planners about as good as they get in terms of up-sells, and they've found another victim.
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