Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

gnomeisland

macrumors 65816
Jul 30, 2008
1,097
833
New York, NY
I was going to upgrade my 2018 last year but I prefer the 11" form factor and the XDR screen, so as soon as Apple releases an 11" model with either mini-LED or OLED I'm upgrading even if it means replacing a lot of these expensive accessories (which hopefully it won't).
 

Digitalguy

macrumors 601
Apr 15, 2019
4,653
4,479
Having more RAM will not render a slider change or batch apply a preset and update thumbnails quicker. Thats CPU and GPU dependent.
Yes, for that indeed. I was saying that in the context of this thread. Over the long term, the difference in RAM will be felt much more than the difference in cores. Even now 4GB iPads are starting to reload a bit too much and over time this may become much worse depending on future updates
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,920
13,264
I don't see any reason to upgrade my M1 with 512GB within the next five years.

Same. Of course, that could change after a couple of keynotes. :p

With that said, with how minimal updates have been since 2018 and how good the current iPad Pro hardware is, I don't see myself upgrading within 5 years either. Most of my hardware gripes (primarily low storage and RAM) have been addressed by the 2021 Pro.
 

glindon

macrumors 6502a
Jun 9, 2014
639
906
Phoenix
No way to really answer this question as it goes by what future updates the ipad pro will receive
If there nothing in the updates over the next few years that interest me then i just hang onto my 2021 ipad 11" & 12.9 pro's

Not sure if i change my 2021 11" pro for the new one if it gets a miniled, See what other interests and cash flow is like at the time
As a tech enthusiast, I miss being able to get significant improvements each year for $730, the old price of a mid storage cellular iPad. Now it’s closer to $2,000 or nearly 3 years of annual upgrades. Last iPad that really was a huge leap was the 2018 iPad. Now I’m just waiting on software/OS to still catch up before buying a new iPad-or my battery or iPad dies.
 

blkjedi954

macrumors 6502
Feb 15, 2012
409
314
Florida
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?
Depends on case usage. M1 should last at least 6 years. My only issue with the M1 Pro 11 inch is the lack of mini LED. I watch a lot of horror flicks where there are plenty of dark scenes. Boy let me tell you, the back lighting destroys any visual acuity of the scene. Completely washed out blacks make it impossible to see anything. Same issue on my 2020 12.9 iPad Pro. So now I only watch my horror flicks on the OLED tv in living room. However I do about 85% of my tv viewing on my iPad. Wish I could do it all on this awesome device. I will be updating to this year’s pro 11 inch if mini LED is included.
 

Abazigal

Contributor
Jul 18, 2011
20,393
23,897
Singapore
I just had the screen of my iPad Pro replaced (third party), and battery health is at 89% (according to the Apple Store). Still going strong, but I guess I may be in the market for an upgrade at the end of the year, if the new model proves compelling enough.
 

johntw

macrumors regular
May 29, 2016
210
239
Apple makes trading in so easy, and with interest free Apple Card payments, I upgrade every time their is a new one. I never get more than the base model because of this. It’s my most used device and I always enjoy the minor upgrades year over year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: alecgold

Chaparral02

macrumors regular
Jan 30, 2021
196
168
Apple makes trading in so easy, and with interest free Apple Card payments, I upgrade every time their is a new one. I never get more than the base model because of this. It’s my most used device and I always enjoy the minor upgrades year over year.
And there me finding apple totally useless as it a real nightmare getting anything at all from apple as they refuse to ship to my location
 

Hombre53

macrumors regular
Feb 27, 2018
246
263
My 2016 iPad Pro 9.7 (256gb) is getting a little long in the tooth. It runs iPadOS 15.3 well, but is getting a little sluggish at times. This model has the A9 processor. I use it to surf the net and play solitaire when I go to bed at night. It has been a faithful servant, still running the original battery at 93%.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigMcGuire

alecgold

macrumors 65816
Oct 11, 2007
1,490
1,044
NLD
I was going to upgrade my 2018 last year but I prefer the 11" form factor and the XDR screen, so as soon as Apple releases an 11" model with either mini-LED or OLED I'm upgrading even if it means replacing a lot of these expensive accessories (which hopefully it won't).
It's not that big of a difference?
When I compare my 11" next to my 14" MBP you can see the difference, but on it's own the 11" has a really nice display.
 

alecgold

macrumors 65816
Oct 11, 2007
1,490
1,044
NLD
...
Wireless charging? Never will use it. New design? This one will never feel outdated. FaceID is fast and reliable so don’t need TouchID.
...
Wireless charging? I have it on my 2021 M1 11"!!
The magic keyboard is a bit heavy so it became a desk queen. When I get at my desk, I lift the iPad out of my bag and it goes onto the MKB. The MKB is always plugged into a wall charger, so when I'm at my desk, the iPP charges. And at night it is also there, charging, so I'm never out of battery.
 

iF34R

macrumors 65816
Jul 13, 2011
1,325
549
South Carolina
I won't buy another one until the features actually are used. i.e. the transfer speeds. No reason for transfering from pc to ipad via itunes to be so dang slow.
 

gnomeisland

macrumors 65816
Jul 30, 2008
1,097
833
New York, NY
It's not that big of a difference?
When I compare my 11" next to my 14" MBP you can see the difference, but on it's own the 11" has a really nice display.
Perhaps not huge, but I'm on the fence with upgrading the 2018 model. It is fast enough for most of what I do and I would appreciate all the small upgrades to the 2021 but I do most of my photo (and some of my video) editing on my iPad at this point and being able to see true HDR is a big deal if only for longevity. The HDR modes of the current 11" iPP are impressive for a single backlight device but if I'm going to pay $1200+ for a device I want it to be ahead of the imaging/tech curve not slightly behind it.
 

caranddriver

macrumors regular
Jun 15, 2010
211
32
SF Bay Area
My parents still use their 2016 iPad Pro 9.7, but the battery needs replacing at some point. They are receiving the new base iPad 10.1 2021 soon to free up that old iPad to get taken to the Apple Store and hopefully exchanged with refurb. Outside the battery, that iPad Pro does everything with no issues they ask of it: web surfing, iMessage, email, app usage like YouTube, Netflix, travel apps, etc. The front-facing camera is pretty mediocre compared to the current iPads though for FaceTime. When Apple doesn't support with OS updates anymore and the apps start to not work with the older OS is when retirement time comes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: alecgold

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,920
13,264
My parents still use their 2016 iPad Pro 9.7, but the battery needs replacing at some point. They are receiving the new base iPad 10.1 2021 soon to free up that old iPad to get taken to the Apple Store and hopefully exchanged with refurb. Outside the battery, that iPad Pro does everything with no issues they ask of it: web surfing, iMessage, email, app usage like YouTube, Netflix, travel apps, etc. The front-facing camera is pretty mediocre compared to the current iPads though for FaceTime. When Apple doesn't support with OS updates anymore and the apps start to not work with the older OS is when retirement time comes.


I just checked and Apple gives $130 for iPad Pro 9.7 trade-in.

If the laminated display and quad speakers aren't priorities, I feel like it's better to just spend an extra $100 on top of $130 trade-in + $99 battery replacement fee and replace it with an iPad 9th gen. For an extra $100, the 9th gen will provide better performance and longer useful life than the Pro 9.7.
 
  • Like
Reactions: UltimateSyn

UltimateSyn

macrumors 601
Mar 3, 2008
4,970
9,206
Massachusetts
I just checked and Apple gives $130 for iPad Pro 9.7 trade-in.

If the laminated display and quad speakers aren't priorities, I feel like it's better to just spend an extra $100 on top of $130 trade-in + $99 battery replacement fee and replace it with an iPad 9th gen. For an extra $100, the 9th gen will provide better performance and longer useful life than the Pro 9.7.
Wholeheartedly agree with that recommendation. There was a poster on here who was going to spend ~$100 to refurb the battery on their first-gen Air. I said just get the base model iPad! Far better value at this point.

To the original question: I sold my 12.9" Pro when the 14" MBP came out so I am Pro-less at the moment, but expect to pick up an 11" variant of the next generation. I'll keep that for at least 3 years now that my tech portfolio should be stabilized a bit.
 

DeepIn2U

macrumors G5
May 30, 2002
13,051
6,984
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I don't see any reason to upgrade my M1 with 512GB within the next five years.

Likewise. I made the mistake of gifting my sister the '2018 iPad Pro 11" and got a 13" MBP Intel, which is now going on the market. Got the best iPad for me M1 256GB 11" and pencil on order being shipped. I'll be keeping mine for 5yrs, as right now it's a LOT more computing power than I'm using yet will grow into it.
 

BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
14,032
Yep, I tried to get rid of my iPad again this year - after not learning last year (tried to get rid of it for a few months, ended up getting one again). Same thing this year. I went a week+ with my iPhone before I realized my consumption of the written word went down by 80-90%. As much as I'd like to use just one device, reading on the iPad Pro 11 is beyond perfect.

So my wife got my 7 month old M1 256GB iPad Pro 11 and I sprung for an M1 128GB iPad Pro 11. We sold my wife's 2018 iPad Pro 11 for $345 to Apple. Planning on keeping these for at least 3 years before considering an upgrade. We'll see how it goes. I vastly prefer pen and paper but nothing can replace a handful of hours of reading on that iPad Pro 11 screen.

I go through way too many of these things due to my indecisive nature. :( - but at least relatives around me (and Apple) benefit.
 

AVBeatMan

macrumors 603
Nov 10, 2010
5,968
3,849
So I have my 2020 11” iPad Pro up for sale. Thinking of this years M2? Pros, but…is it really worth it? I read somewhere an analogy saying it was like buying a Ferrari but having to drive it at 30mph? Should I just stick with my 2020 Pro?
 

BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
14,032
So I have my 2020 11” iPad Pro up for sale. Thinking of this years M2? Pros, but…is it really worth it? I read somewhere an analogy saying it was like buying a Ferrari but having to drive it at 30mph? Should I just stick with my 2020 Pro?
Depending on what you use it for? I would. I don't even touch 15% of my M1's iPad performance. While having the power is nice, I never even use it. I'd be fine with a Mini 5. The only reason why I really like the M1s? 8 GB of ram vs the 2018's 4. (2020s had 6 if I remember right).

If I had to do it all over again, I'd wait.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.