If the basic iPad had stereo speakers it would be perfect. Granted I have the M1 pro 11” and love it. I only use it for media consumption and got a good deal on it. After trading in my 7th gen ipad I only paid 599 for it! At that price I could justify going with the pro. I wouldn’t want to pay any more than that on an iPad. At the regular price the MacBook Air makes much more sense. Truthfully the best option would be a MacBook Air and 9th gen ipad. You would get the best of both worlds at the same price as a 12.9 inch 256gb iPad Pro.
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iPad Pro iPad has become quite useless and I regret purchasing it
- Thread starter igauravarora
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And maybe stop charging $130 for the cellular option in iPads. (I know, fat chance of that!)
The pricing on the 128GB ipad Pro M1 seems reasonable at $800USD/$999CDN until you look at the Macbook Air only being $300CDN more and it does way more. Then it makes you re-consider.
What's crazy is that someone could get 2 new mini 6's (64GB) for just a bit more money than one 256GB ipad Pro M1 12.9. For someone who may have very specific use cases for the mini, having two could greatly benefit them.
I posted a few days ago that I felt that I couldn't use my iPadPro as it's missing a database program (when Nixon works like an apple app then I'll reconsider.) I have since dedicated my iPad Pro to ultrasound scanning - attached by USB -C to a Butterfly IQ - and now every Mac product that I own has its function!
MacBook Air is better value for sure. If you need iPad for drawing, maybe buy cheaper iPad. I don't know who needs M1 pro iPads. MacBook Air M1 is best value ever for an Apple computer. Apple needs to rethink the iPad lineup. Mini probably needs to be the cheap value iPad again. Why does the iPad Air exist? Or maybe the Air needs to be the normal iPad like the MacBook Air is the entry MacBook. I don't know, it's a mess.
If you want a 12.9 display - I do - you need an M1 iPad. My 2021 12.9 is also better than my previous 2018 12.9 for processing 4K video and very large RAW images. The M1 iPad has its place.
Completely agree that the ipad Air doesn’t make sense. When the air was the pro iPad back in the air 2 days it made sense but since the pros came around it doesn’t make sense anymore. The basic iPad is just a great iPad and will do everything the pro and air will do.
The price difference between the iPad and the 11” iPad Pro just begs for a product in between. For most people, the $329 and $799 price gap is huge. $329 to $599 is less of a sticker shock. Then you get USB-C, Pencil 2 charging, better screen, and if you need it, the Magic Keyboard. If the March rumors are right and you wait a few weeks then you also get the A15 which is faster in single core than the M1 in the iPad Pro.
Probably a long shot, but check the connection on the switch isn't loose. Beyond that, I'd say it's probably the switch itself.
You win the random post award for today.Probably a long shot, but check the connection on the switch isn't loose. Beyond that, I'd say it's probably the switch itself.
Yes, sure, but it's becoming a very niche thing, mainly because of pricing. I mean, with the value of the MacBook Air M1, most people will buy MacBooks again over iPads. The data suggest there's growth in MacBooks and decline in iPads. There was a time when people started thinking about moving from MacBook to iPad because of the awful Intel offerings on the entry MacBook side, and there was value in iPads. MacBook Air M1 is true value now. It almost seems iPads have become things for those who need pencils. Haha! It's the opposite of before. It's not about having a value, very portable, computer, it's all about pencil support. Haha! How things change. Yes, I like iPads for content, and travel, and the quality of screen of the pro is damn nice -- especially if you are photographer. But damn, MacBook Air M1 is so darn value. It's wonderful and sad. If the 12.9" iPad hadn't gone up and up in price over the years, I would still have considered it value computer over MacBooks, but it's so damn expensive right now to get the 12.9". In the beginning I understood the mini - regular iPad - Pro offerings. iPads were seen as computers that were well below MacBook Air pricing. It gave you a good computer at a good price. But now it's competing with MacBooks. And for most getting the 12.9" iPad over the MacBook Air is getting harder than before. I do see that for some there's still some value in getting the iPad pro, like needing the best screen, but it's getting harder to justify for most people.
The iPad is artifically limited in what it can do. People want to use it for "desktop" tasks, while Apple says that a Mac does that better, so you should buy both a Mac and an iPad. All for the simple reason of greed. Only that it becomes so obvious with the iPad that people see through it.
You also do not see 4G/5G modem in Macs for the same simple reason. We can always try to find reasons for Apple's choices, but I bet you it all comes down to careful planning and product differentation from Apples side, to maximize profits. After all, there is no other purpose for a publicly traded company.
You also do not see 4G/5G modem in Macs for the same simple reason. We can always try to find reasons for Apple's choices, but I bet you it all comes down to careful planning and product differentation from Apples side, to maximize profits. After all, there is no other purpose for a publicly traded company.
I don’t follow the logic. Just because the Mac now also has a good chip the iPad users are not suddenly going to all switch devices. The iPad Pro is very likely a niche device and the bulk of sales will happen in the other three iPad model lines.
Easy decision for me - I wanted a tablet, not a laptop, and particularly not a Mac laptop.
I think it's always interesting to see how Apple prices products and how they encourage people to buy up. A $599 64gb Air is kind of a teaser product. Nice device for a decent price, but is 64gb enough? A 128gb Air at $599 would be a killer value. I often put quite a bit of media on my iPad. I don't have huge storage needs, but 64 isn't sufficient. A 256gb iPad Air at $749 doesn't look like a great value compared to a 128gb iPad Pro. A $128gb Air at $599 would likely take a whole lot of sales from the Pro. If the base Air 5 comes with $128 (I don't think it will) I would take that as a sign that the next iPad Pro will get a price bump. And they don't offer a $128gb option for the Air. Sort of leading one to the the Pro. I've not looked at specs on different levels of the product for a while, but I recall with Intel iMacs there was always a 3 tier pricing model. Base model was a solid product, the middle model was always a modest bump in specs at a price difference that made it a bad value, and the top tier model would seem to offer a lot of value relative to the middle tier model. Lots of folks think they should buy an upgraded model, even if they don't really need it, and the whole pricing structure leads to the top tier model. The Ipad Air is kind of that teaser product. I want an iPad. Hmm, I should not buy the base model. Well, the Air looks great but I can't live with 64gb. I'll bit the bullet and buy the base Pro.
More general to the overall thread, there are a lot of things the Macbooks do better. Apple doesn't really want IOS to directly compete. The iPads do some things better. I like them much better for reading, much better for a light traveling companion for consuming information, they are better for watching videos in bed... And try writing or drawing on a Macbook. They are different products and Apple wants to keep them separate.
Likewise. They’re distinct niches, even if they overlap to a degree, and the MacBook is no substitute for touch-centered input - not without spending even more money and being less flexible.
Apple doesn't have to "encourage people to buy up". That's what the forums at Macrumors are for.
Apple made it an art. But buying up happens when people know that the basic model is useless to them. I have witnessed people buying very poor basic models and come to hate them. Remember when Apple for a long time held onto 8GB products, the iPhone and iPod touch, even when iOS clearly needed so much room the user had little space left, making even iOS updates impossible without a computer? They did it again with 16GB iPads in a time when more was needed, because people started using them for watching videos and games. Apple did it also with selling 4GB RAM MacBook Air and Mac minis. The 8GB models of the same Macs can still be used today, like the 2013 MacBook Air I'm using, but Apple sold a lot of 4GB models -- just look at eBay -- and those models could not be upgraded. Not great experience for buyers. Or the time Apple kept selling the iPad 2 when it was clearly super outdated! Oh, I have witnessed it all. These days Apple is better. The MacBook Air M1 with 8GB and 256 GB SSD is good value and will give good experience for years. But still, entry iMacs with 256 GB SSD is still stingy, because they used to come with 500GB - 1TB HDD. In the past Apple has robbed so many people of good experience. They lost much goodwill, despite the rise in sales Apple has had. Give people a great experience and they will be Apple users for life. For a decade I have witnessed a bad Apple. It's getting better. MacBook Air M1 and Mac mini M1 are so much value we never had before. The normal iPad has actually come down in price. I hope Apple will keep having value products, but value products with great experience! That is key to Apple's future.
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I could easily live with 64GB storage since I install no more than 20 apps at a time. I upgraded to the Pro 11 because it offers far better value than other models like Air or Mini. Double the ram, pro motion, better battery life, better quality screen, higher nits were the main reasons. Then stuff like M1, bigger screen, faster SSD, better speakers is just icing on top.
I have said this many times, since last year. The iPad 9 offers the most value, followed by the 11in pro, and the (current) air is the very last of the line in terms of value, even behind the mini. But I am convinced many people don't really realize what they get for the money spent.
I agree that iPad 9 is the best value followed by Pro 11. I originally had my eye set for the iPad 9 but no Pencil 2 support and no USBC were deal breakers. No point buying a pencil that is 3 years outdated and all my devices are USBC now. But after experiencing 120hz on a tablet, it just feels so much smoother and I would pay more for this feature.
Mini 6 IMO is the last on the list for value, I feel it's $50 overpriced. Its a very expensive model and it has the worst screen of them all. Noticeably worse than the 2 year old Air 4. Air 5 will only make the value of the mini 6 even worse when it comes out.
The price gap between the basic iPad and air is 300 (since you can get the basic iPad for 299 most of the time). The gap between the air and pro is 200. If you can spend 300 more to get the air you most likely can spend 200 more and get the pro. Also need to remember that the air comes with less storage at 599. If you bump up the storage it’s only 50 less than the pro. Granted it’s 256gb vs 128gb but at that price point the pro is a much better deal.
I still like the 11" iPad Pro + Magic Keyboard because it's currently the most portable laptop-ish experience Apple offers. The 12.9" iPad Pro + Magic Keyboard combination makes no sense to me, because it's thicker, heavier, and has less battery life than the equivalent size MacBook.
If Apple ever does a 12" MacBook with Apple Silicon, it's probably going to be just as portable as the 11" Pro + Magic Keyboard, but it'll be thinner, lighter, and with better battery life. At that point, I think I'm probably going to ditch the iPad completely.
If Apple ever does a 12" MacBook with Apple Silicon, it's probably going to be just as portable as the 11" Pro + Magic Keyboard, but it'll be thinner, lighter, and with better battery life. At that point, I think I'm probably going to ditch the iPad completely.
The problem is that you are comparing the 12.9 to a laptop - they are two very different devices. I want the larger screen but I don't want the Mac laptop - I want a tablet form factor so it makes sense to me.