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Jupiter9

macrumors member
Jul 2, 2021
62
62
Until Apple cripples it with an update which means never since I won't ever update it past iOS14. The iPad Pro 10.5" is eternal.
 
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Seanm87

macrumors 68020
Oct 10, 2014
2,209
4,412
2018 11 inch pro.

Will upgrade when apple gives me a good incentive to. Nothing since 2018 has been worth it IMO.
 
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Rashy

Suspended
Jan 7, 2020
186
372
Ipad Pro 10.5“ was an is still a beast. Unlike the 11“ from 2018 it didn‘t bend, had OiS and a headphone jack. A10X and 4GB Ram are still good for almost all tasks. If there hadn‘t been that darn white spot issue, hands down, it would be the best iPad of its time.

I just gifted mine to my sister at Xmas.

Btw, the M1 for iPad Pro is totally overkill. There is barely any software benefiting from its power. The A12Z (or A15) would had been more than fine, at a lower price ofc.
 
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darngooddesign

macrumors P6
Jul 4, 2007
18,366
10,128
Atlanta, GA
Btw, the M1 for iPad Pro is totally overkill. There is barely any software benefiting from its power. The A12Z (or A15) would had been more than fine, at a lower price ofc.
People do like to say that.

I compared the 11" Air against the 11" iPP and the M1 updates thumbnails after import and renders changes in Lightroom quicker than the Air does. Slight difference when dealing with a single image, of course being able to see instantaneous changes is very helpful while editing, but noticeable after importing a day's worth of photos. Lightroom isn't exactly niche software, nor is editing photos an edge use-case.
 

Chaparral02

macrumors regular
Jan 30, 2021
196
168
Btw, the M1 for iPad Pro is totally overkill. There is barely any software benefiting from its power. The A12Z (or A15) would had been more than fine, at a lower price ofc.
I would hate to buy an ipad if it only had a cpu that was fast enough for the present day that would then be to slow in say 3 or 4 years time
 

FriendlyMackle

macrumors 6502a
Oct 29, 2011
925
804
NYC
Just recently bought an iPad Pro 11 M1 128GB Wifi Space Grey and I’m quite happy and pleased with the purchase. Before I tried the Air 64GB Wifi and the iPad 9 64GB Wifi. Both returned due to dead pixels, dust under the screen and scuffs on the borders of the tablets.

I’ve always wanted the Pro 11, so this time, with all the huge upgrades it got this year plus the difficulty in buying the base model due to stock limitations, I decided to try the Pro 11. My last iPad was the 6th gen 128GB Wifi for 3 years.

Decided to change because it was getting a little bit old and slow, and wanted a change in design, but the 9th gen was also so good a deal that I tried it to see if I could keep it for the next years.

The old design and 60Hz started to feel really old news. My tablet is my most used device at home. Only use the iMac 27 1019 for work, but I also didn’t want to spend 800 euros on a tablet. Felt too much, but did it anyways due to the actual situation with stock and wanted something that I could keep for many many years.

I knew having the 9th gen I would have wanted to upgrade again in 2/3 years.

Pro is GREAT. Got a perfect screen with no issues. 120Hz is much more important than I first thought. It makes web surfing so nice. It feels like there is no webpage that can slow this thing. It flies.

FaceID is algo awesome. I much prefer it to the TouchID of the Air, for example. M1, 8GB RAM, 128GB storage, WIFI 6, BT 5, modern design, 120Hz and FaceID is a perfect combo for many years.

Can’t see a need to upgrade this Pro for at least 6 years. OLED screen? Would be nice, but not enough reason to change. Wireless charging? Never will use it. New design? This one will never feel outdated. FaceID is fast and reliable so don’t need TouchID.

I’m sure Apple will update iPadOS in this device for at least 6 years, since it has the M1 and they will want to show it’s endurance for years.

So I will keep this Pro until the battery degrades a lot and then I will try to get it replace (whole device) at an Apple service repair store. If I lasted 3 years with an iPad 6 with this one I can do 6 years easily I hope. In 6 years not even the base iPad will have 8GB RAM, for example.

How long is everyone planing on keeping their Pros?
I upgrade once the current IPP feels sluggish; has incessant webpage reloads; and battery life wanes significantly.

So, I have an 11” IPP (2018) which is mostly fine…but, I have noticed shorter battery life (by like 30%) and frequent web page reloads — when I have only about 3 pages open (and nothing else of note active). The reload problem only started after the update to 15. So it is a case of Apple’s poor software maintenance and lack of attention to detail for users with slightly older machines. I don’t necessarily think it is intentional, I think it simply isn’t a priority for the software guys or management. In any case, my 2018 model is still functional otherwise, great for reading and notes.

I just upgraded to the M1 12.9” 2021 IPP, and I plan to use it for at least 4-5 years. I do think that the 8GB RAM (double what my 2018 model has) should be enough for at least that amount of time. Particularly if I’m careful towards the end (of life) not to upgrade too quickly to whatever the ‘next’ software version is.

I still have a perfectly working iPad Air (version 1!), which is from maybe 2013(?). The only ‘problem’ that ipad has it short battery life (now down to around 5.5 hours), some sluggishness when launching some apps, and really, that’s it! The system couldn’t be updated after one or two versions iOS ago (I haven’t looked in a while).

The only reason I haven’t sold that iPad is that, as others have said, it isn’t worth selling. I doubt anyone would pay $50 for it, and I’d probably spend $30 to package and ship it anywhere. ? And, frankly, anyone would do better to put that $50 toward a more recent model.

Amusingly, I do have a 2016-2017 12.9” IPP which functions nearly perfectly, and still has great battery life (again, probably 75% of what it originally had), but, due to my own All-Thumbs-Efficiency?, I managed to significantly BEND the iPad straight down the middle when trying to remove the case I had put on it! And that was right after I bought it. Still, it has functioned beautifully for nearly 5 years now, despite the user-inflicted destruction, and the only major noticeable problem is some white spots on the screen in two places (and I’m pretty sure I caused those). I can’t even give this one away, I do think it could just ‘die’ at any point.
 
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Scontig

macrumors regular
Sep 25, 2014
185
162
United Kingdom
I got a new iPad Pro for Christmas to replace my old iPad Pro that was around six years old. So I plan to keep this new one for at least that long!
 

Digitalguy

macrumors 601
Apr 15, 2019
4,653
4,479
People do like to say that.

I compared the 11" Air against the 11" iPP and the M1 updates thumbnails after import and renders changes in Lightroom quicker than the Air does. Slight difference when dealing with a single image, of course being able to see instantaneous changes is very helpful while editing, but noticeable after importing a day's worth of photos. Lightroom isn't exactly niche software, nor is editing photos an edge use-case.
the limitation of the air or the 2018 pro is not the CPU, but the RAM...
 
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Digitalguy

macrumors 601
Apr 15, 2019
4,653
4,479
I would hate to buy an ipad if it only had a cpu that was fast enough for the present day that would then be to slow in say 3 or 4 years time
As I have said above, the bottleneck is not the CPU. Any A12 or better will stay fast for many years. RAM may become the real bottleneck in 3-4 years... That's also why an A12Z will age better than an A12X (except if you have the 1TB model). The M1 should age very well
 

xxray

macrumors 68040
Jul 27, 2013
3,115
9,412
Minimum 4 years, hoping for 5 years. This is on par for me, given I went from OG iPad (2010) -> iPad 4 (2012) -> iPad Pro 10.5 (2017) -> M1 iPad Pro (2021).
 

alecgold

macrumors 65816
Oct 11, 2007
1,490
1,044
NLD
Well, I was looking into this forum because my wife’s original iPad Pro 12.9” just crapped out on me. It just died ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
its now about 7 years old?
so there‘s your answer: until they crap out ?
So my wife will take my 2018 iPad Pro 11” of my hands and I’m looking to buy another iPad.
but do I wait until the 2022 edition? Or buy the 12.9? Or continue with the 11” with M1?
Thats a hard question.
 

Ludatyk

macrumors 603
May 27, 2012
5,965
5,133
Texas
Well, for me. It all depends upon what Apple does with iPadOS…. If features differentiate from my current model to the newest model. Then that’s when I’ll update. I have Apple Care+ on my iPP… so, it will protect against any damages during my ownership.

Next iPP will have slight design changes to the back… allowing reverse wireless charging, at least that’s what the rumors are saying. Could care less about that feature… as I said in the beginning, iPadOS is what I base my upgrade decision.

Apple has done incredibly well hardware wise for iPP… awaiting on what’s in store for iPadOS.
 
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cityhopper

macrumors member
Jul 7, 2013
42
18
M1 12.9 iPP - if nothing fails on it, then, since the day of purchase somewhere in july 2021, some 3-4 years in total should be acceptable. After that its either upgrade to something more current or if iPadOS is still fast and stable on it, then another year/two should be fine for it.

I agree. I expect to keep my M1 12.9 as iPP my primary mobile device for the next 4 years. The purchase of a silicon-based Mac mini may extend the life of the M1 12.9 iPP to 5-6 years. I’ll continue to use the 2017 iPP as a entertainment device until it stops working.
 

teralpar

macrumors member
Feb 20, 2014
48
25
I recently purchased an M1 iPad Pro 11" 128gb and iPad mini 6 256gb (both 5G). I plan on keeping both for at least 4-5 years.
 

dumastudetto

macrumors 603
Aug 28, 2013
5,531
8,311
Los Angeles, USA
I keep my iPads until the new models come out, and then immediately upgrade and gift my old ones to relatives. I can never wait to take advantage of great new technologies in every iPad Pro update.
 
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McScooby

macrumors 65816
Oct 15, 2005
1,275
819
The Paps of Glenn Close, Scotland.
Until Apple cripples it with an update which means never since I won't ever update it past iOS14. The iPad Pro 10.5" is eternal.
Or until you realise that for no technical reason :apple: have gimped the 10.5" by not allowing it to get spatial audio / head tracking although a phone made earlier with a weaker processor does - I still can't believe that they've done this to a device which was sold up until 2019 hence I'm waiting for the refresh in march.
 
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alecgold

macrumors 65816
Oct 11, 2007
1,490
1,044
NLD
Well, I was looking into this forum because my wife’s original iPad Pro 12.9” just crapped out on me. It just died ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
its now about 7 years old?
so there‘s your answer: until they crap out ?
So my wife will take my 2018 iPad Pro 11” of my hands and I’m looking to buy another iPad.
but do I wait until the 2022 edition? Or buy the 12.9? Or continue with the 11” with M1?
Thats a hard question.
As it turns out, living without an iPad is harder then you might think. Got the 11” with 1Tb. Hope this one lives as long as the 12.9” did.
1Tb is so nice to have all your data with you. Not to mention a few comics, movies and 9000 epubs ?
And the 16Gb memory makes it a bit more future proof possibly.
 
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BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
14,032
As it turns out, living without an iPad is harder then you might think. Got the 11” with 1Tb. Hope this one lives as long as the 12.9” did.
1Tb is so nice to have all your data with you. Not to mention a few comics, movies and 9000 epubs ?
And the 16Gb memory makes it a bit more future proof possibly.
9000 epubs?! I thought I was high and mighty with my 380 books.
 
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