I am more interested in how iOS 13 will affect larger iPads. The mini to me is more a consumption device.
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iPad mini How will Apple implement iOS 13's supposed "groundbreaking" changes to the iPad mini?
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Is there any technical reason why non-Pro iPads couldn’t just use a lighting to USB-C adapter to connect to external drives? If Apple denied this capability, it would seem like a blatant up-sell strategy to get people to fork over more money for the Pro models......which Apple is not above doing.
I think they will be disappointed. Buying the product with the hope that in the future the product will worth the money usually is not a very good move. The company already have the money and the sell, the pressure to make the product they already sold better is almost zero.
There is already a USB-A adapter that works fine with Lightning iPads. It even supports USB 3.0, and is sold by Apple itself.
With an old but UDMA compatible CompactFlash card I was getting 70 MB/s out of it thru a USB 3 card reader.
I can also use USB-C periperhals with it using an additional $4 USB-C to USB-A adapter.
The current implementation of USB-C on the new iPad Pros is essentially a format-shift from Lightning to USB-C. The only differences that I'm aware of are the higher resolution video output and faster transfer rates.
But the limitations of iOS support for USB peripherals remains intact. When rumor of USB-C coming to the iPad first broke, most immediately assumed that it would mean comprehensive support for USB-C peripherals. They were mistaken.
In my opinion, Apple won't further advance the spread of USB-C beyond what they currently have until they get the USB-IF to sign-off and implement an enhancement to the USB-C protocols that allow manufacturers to deny the use of certain USB-C peripherals even if those devices meet the specification. Think of it as "DRM" for USB-C.
With that "DRM", it would give Apple the ability to have their iPhones with USB-C ports to only work with Apple-approved USB-C peripherals. I believe this is the major reason why iPhones still don't use USB-C. Apple would lose significant revenue by adopting USB-C as it is currently defined.
All that to say, I don't think we'll see the expansion of the capabilities of the USB-C on the iPad Pros in iOS 13. Once those new protocols are in place, THEN we'll see some good stuff coming to the iPad Pros that are equipped with that new version of USB-C.
Some pro owners may feel the need to justify for their purchase, I can’t speak for anyone but me. Personally, I’m not one of them. I don’t upgrade devices every year, so when I do upgrade, I buy the model that will last me the longest while getting the most future updates. That’s why I bought the first gen pro and now the 3rd gen pro. I go for the high specs and most new features when I buy. I would buy the “pro” iPad even if it wasn’t my daily driver for work.
Plus, for me, I work a lot of hours and feel zero need to justify how I spend my money.
I think the Mini 5 will get most all the new features, unless Apple determines certain features don’t look good or function as well on the smaller screen. Which is why they've withheld or delayed features on the mini and iPhone in the past. It will most likely be screen size or connection type (lighting instead of USB-C) that limits the mini, not it’s chip. Regardless, the Mini is still a great device and will continue to do what it doesn’t today... even after iOS 13.
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Why would anyone feel like they need to justify which iPad they spent their own money on? It sounds more like people trying to justify why they didn’t buy the “pro”. All iPads are great devices. Pro is just a name. Like the MacBook Pro verses Apples 12 inch MacBook. I have a “pro”, my wife has the 12 inch MacBook. I’m positive that neither of use have ever thought the other was better or worse because of the computers we bought.
Yes, I was thinking about file sharing capabilities via lightning connector. If Apple introduces file sharing capability for USB-C in iOS 13, it seems like there is no technical reason it could not be done for iPads and iPhones with lightning connectors plus adapters......unless Apple simply made a decision to limit the capability to iPad Pro models for up-sell purposes. Of course, they would also be unnecessarily crippling their flagship iPhones, which seems like a bad idea from a competition perspective, especially with business users who might want to transfer large files from their phones.
Yes, if they limit such file sharing to USB-C iPad Pros only, then it would largely be an artificial limitation.
In fact, right now, there is some limited file sharing support already in place over these Lightning USB adapters. If you plug a Lightning to USB-A adapter into to an iPad, and then plug in a regular Lightning cable to that adapter, with the other end into an iPhone, the Photos app will pop up on the iPad and allow you to import images and videos from the iPhone directly. Also, for compatible photo and video files, if you put them on a flash card that has been formatted correctly, you can read those files off the flash card through a flash card reader plugged into the Lightning USB adapter.
IOW, everything is in place already. Apple just needs to open it up more and they most definitely could do it with Lightning iPads. However, there is no guarantee they will.
It was a calculated risk, but when the 2nd gen 10.5" iPad Pro dropped significantly in price, I bought that instead of trying to "future proof" with the 3rd gen. Why? Cuz I wasn't sure if Apple would actually limit it to USB-C, but even if they did, I didn't know when they would offer that feature. Would it be at iOS 13? Or perhaps iOS 14 or even later? Furthermore, the cost of the 3rd gen was over 50% more, and was still limited to 4 GB RAM. I didn't think it made a huge amount of sense to "future proof" on USB-C at 52% higher cost when the machine only has 4 GB RAM to begin with, which is the same as iPhones that aren't used for content creation.
So, I'll use my 10.5" Pro as is for now, hopeful that eventually Apple will add proper file system support to that too. If they don't, maybe I'll upgrade a year or two earlier than originally planned to a USB-C model, and pass down the 10.5" to my wife. In the meantime I can already load my photos and videos on the iPad anyway. I won't get a new iPad Pro though until they have a minimum of 6 GB RAM. A 6 GB model with proper file system support (and mouse support?) would last me a long while.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the only iOS feature withheld from the mini was three simultaneous active apps (on the mini 4, the split screen apps go dark when the 3rd app slides over), and I think that was due to an older processor and/or ram, not size. I believe the Air 2 which had the same processor (though it was A8x instead of A8) had the same limitation even though it’s bigger.
Actually, could someone with a mini 5 see if it can do three active apps (two split screen apps, with a third slide over app, and all apps are active)? That would prove the limitation was due to the chip. Though if it doesn’t work, it may be because it has 3gb of ram instead of 4. But if it doesn’t work, and an air 3 does work, that would prove it was due to size.
As someone who’s preferred tablet size is 7.9” and recently purchased a Mini 5, I would be somewhat understanding (if personally disappointed) if Apple created a slight fork of iOS exclusive to the Pro line, giving it a bit more distinction in the iPad lineup.
What would be rather galling is if Apple brought a slate of new features to the Air 3 but left the brand-new Mini 5 out in the cold due simply to a smaller screen size and form factor. The Mini 5 has an A12 and 3GB of RAM, and its higher pixel density puts its resolution still within the ballpark of some larger iPads.
Fortunately Apple has seemingly disagreed when people have said the Mini was too small for certain iPad features. People said the Mini was too small to support Split View, but it works quite well on here. Some said the Mini was too small for Pencil support, but it came nonetheless.
I hope the Mini 5 continues to keep feature parity with larger iPads. They’re smaller devices but they’re still workhorses.
I can confirm that full Split View with Slide Over works with all apps active on the Mini 5.
What would be rather galling is if Apple brought a slate of new features to the Air 3 but left the brand-new Mini 5 out in the cold due simply to a smaller screen size and form factor. The Mini 5 has an A12 and 3GB of RAM, and its higher pixel density puts its resolution still within the ballpark of some larger iPads.
Fortunately Apple has seemingly disagreed when people have said the Mini was too small for certain iPad features. People said the Mini was too small to support Split View, but it works quite well on here. Some said the Mini was too small for Pencil support, but it came nonetheless.
I hope the Mini 5 continues to keep feature parity with larger iPads. They’re smaller devices but they’re still workhorses.
I can confirm that full Split View with Slide Over works with all apps active on the Mini 5.
Great points. I have an older iPhone 10. I had the 7 plus before that. I don’t think any of my iPhones allow spilt screen simultaneous apps? Is this still the case with current model iPhones? If so, it proves Apple has withheld features based on screen size and not chip performance.
I think Apple withholds Split View and Slide Over from iPhones as an entire product category, leaving it an iPad-exclusive feature.
I remember Split View was delayed on the Mini lineup about a year when Apple made the weird decision to release the Mini 3 with the exact same A7 (1GB RAM) as the Mini 2, but simultaneously released the Air 2 with the A8X (and 2GB RAM). Once the Mini 4 got bumped up to an A8 and 2GB of RAM, Split View followed.
It simply came down to chip performance an RAM in the end.
Apple needs to retain value in the pro distinction. Part of this will be via design. and part hardware functionality:
promotion, new pencil, cameras, and file transfer. I do not forsee a bifurcation in ios or store. Who knows?
Probably more to do with RAM. A7 and A8 performance isn't all that different, although the mini 4 did get get a clock speed boost for A8 as well.
I agree. For me personally, I think phone screens are to small for split view. Just my opinion of course. My main point was that regardless of chip and ram performance Apple has decided to limit some features per device that other iOS devices running the same software has. With that in mind Apple could decide to do that with other devices on the same software.
iPad Mini 5 with 3 apps at the same time. Someone asked to check if possible.
Yeah, I understand their desire to do that. I went with the Mini 5 mainly because it offers the size I vastly prefer from a tablet, but also because it does almost everything a Pro does. Don’t get me wrong, 120hz screen refresh, USB-C and a more powerful CPU/GPU are certainly nice things to have, but the introductory cost is double that of the Mini. And there’s no “Mini Pro” for me to have even considered purchasing. Overall it feels like none of those Pro distinctions really fundamentally shift the experience of using iOS, at least not yet. So I figured I would get the size of iPad I most like considering the A12 is powerful enough.
So I’d understand a bit if Apple polished iOS for the iPad Pros specifically, but it would be silly if they brought some new set of features to the Air or 9.7” iPad but left the powerful Mini 5 out over just a screen size difference.
True, but the iPad Mini, considering its 4:3 aspect ratio and the fact that iPad iOS is already itself something of an offshoot from iPhone iOS, a Mini 5 by default is already far closer of a device to other iPads than it is an iPhone. I think the decision to withhold Split View from iPhones is simply a product category.
Having said that it would be interesting to see it come to iPhone. But having a 4:3 aspect ratio helps make it usable on the Mini, even as the vertical height of iPhone screens grow taller.
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No idea, but I am not expecting anything groundbreaking. I would expect continuous improvements to iOS on the iPad, making better use of the screen space. People who can't use an iPad as their main computer today still aren't going to be after iOS 13 is released.
I'm slightly hoping that if they do that, they open up the SD card reader for all iOS devices. If they have the software side to manage the files on external storage, then I see no reason to force a user to continue to use the photos app to only import photos/videos from an SD card. I'm sure given that it's Apple that is the way it will be, but it would be nice to write photos off to an SD card etc if we wanted to, even from a iPhone. But I guess we don't want to tread on the cloud business too much
The Lightning to USB 3 adapter I bought for my iPad Pro 10.5" works fine on both my iPhone 7 Plus and my iPad Air 2.I'm slightly hoping that if they do that, they open up the SD card reader for all iOS devices. If they have the software side to manage the files on external storage, then I see no reason to force a user to continue to use the photos app to only import photos/videos from an SD card. I'm sure given that it's Apple that is the way it will be, but it would be nice to write photos off to an SD card etc if we wanted to, even from a iPhone. But I guess we don't want to tread on the cloud business too much
The only issue is that with my iPad Air 2, if I use a USB 3 flash card reader with a modern UDMA flash card, there is some sort of incompatibility that causes the transfers to be really, really slow. It would seem the iPad Air 2 can't handle this protocol but instead of ignoring it, it freaks out instead. However, if I use a USB 2 flash card reader that does not support UDMA, then the transfers work perfectly* (at USB 2 speeds).
*Perfectly if the files are not HEVC video. iOS 12's Photos import specifically excludes HEVC from loading on the iPad Air 2, presumably because the A8X does not have HEVC hardware acceleration to deal with these computationally demanding files.
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I personally can't see Apple offering full external storage support, it kills off any iPad above 256GB for almost everyone if they can just connect a £60 External Drive.
I imagine most users wouldn’t want an external drive or dongle constantly hanging off of their iPad. And besides, it’s not like external drive connectivity has killed the market for higher capacity Macs. (Although I am rather disappointed they phased out SD card slots on Macbooks. I wish they had at least downsized it to a microSD slot. It was a good way to augment storage on a Macbook while keeping portable.)
Nonetheless, the lack of external drive support (and by extension file system access) is still a major roadblock for a lot of people who might otherwise consider an iPad Pro as a main computing platform.