iPad Pro iPad has become quite useless and I regret purchasing it

[Digitalguy]

Great comparison, winner: ipad pro.

Winner? Not in my book. All the screen differences are just details to me... Including blooming. Honestly I don't even care about LCD vs OLED vs MiniLED... But there is one, major difference, between the 2, and it's size. Movies on the 12.9 look ridiculously small against the ultra, and now that I received mine I am wondering how was this not a thing over the past years.... I do hope this will convince Apple to go on with their iPad pro max project Gurmann talked about last year.
One other element, however, is important to me, aspect ratio. And the truth is, if you want one device but use it in both portrait (typically for reading, documents, etc.) and landscape mode (typically for videos) a lot, you need to compromise.
If you can afford to have both, then you have the best of each.

 

[Isengardtom]

Samsung definitely made an interesting device here. I’m less impressed with the normal S8/S8+ upgrades
They feel like minor spec bumps.

It’s time for apple to do something with that M1 power

 

[Digitalguy]

Samsung definitely made an interesting device here. I’m less impressed with the normal S8/S8+ upgrades
They feel like minor spec bumps.

It’s time for apple to do something with that M1 power

Indeed, not a big change overall. Still, the processor change does make a very noticeable difference for browsing. I was using the S7+ basically just for videos and streaming since browsing on it felt sluggish vs the 2018 iPad pro.
I did some benchmarks and it was below my 2015 iPad pro... Now granted, I wouldn't call the 2015 pro a slow device, but if you are used to a more powerful device like the 3rd gen or the M1, you definitely feel the difference. Especially if, like me, you prefer desktop sites to apps (youtube, gmail, amazon, etc.) to have a more desktop-like experience.
Browsing on the S8 is 2/3 times faster, which makes a big difference.
To give you some reference, based on Browserbench, the S7+ was at around 40, the 1st gen pro around 50, the second gen pro almost 100, the 3rd gen 150 and the M1 around 250. The S8 is around 115. However, past a certain speed the difference becomes almost negligeable. It's like resolutions on laptop, moving from HD to Full HD makes a big difference, moving to full HD to retina is another noticeable jump, but moving from retina to 4k makes much less difference, and I guess moving to 6k or 8k on a laptop would make almost no difference. Similarly anything above 100 feels snappy and virtually instant. Even today browsing on my 10.5 pro, for instance, feels fast enough that I could browse any site comfortably (do I notice the difference with A12/A12X? Sure, but it changes very little....). Not so much on the first gen, or worse on the iPad 5 with A9... So in the end this has turned out to be a game changer for me...

 

[DeepSix]

Winner? Not in my book. All the screen differences are just details to me... Including blooming. Honestly I don't even care about LCD vs OLED vs MiniLED... But there is one, major difference, between the 2, and it's size. Movies on the 12.9 look ridiculously small against the ultra, and now that I received mine I am wondering how was this not a thing over the past years.... I do hope this will convince Apple to go on with their iPad pro max project Gurmann talked about last year.
One other element, however, is important to me, aspect ratio. And the truth is, if you want one device but use it in both portrait (typically for reading, documents, etc.) and landscape mode (typically for videos) a lot, you need to compromise.
If you can afford to have both, then you have the best of each.

Well I think they're both made for very different purposes. 12.9 ipad is for productivity with movies being second. And the Ultra is the reverse. I don't watch movies on tablets so I have no use for the ultra...heck I rarely watch movies to begin with. If someone just wants to watch movies on it then the Ultra is far better. I think it's a unique tablet. Apple will likely announce a 17-20" ipad this year.

I see no point in owning both unless someone has a lot of time on their hands that they sit and stare at screens for hours and hours everyday. I now have 4 different devices that are each lightly used (not even including my phone), many days some aren't even used. Now that I have an ipad pro, I'm trying to slim down to 3 devices as I find 4 is overkill for my use cases. I don't know how anyone can find the time for both unless they're using one of the two as a laptop replacement. But I also work too so I have limited free time each day.

I've purposely become very distant from social media and media consumption because of Covid so I don't sit and watch YouTube for hours like I know a lot out there do in their free time. Not saying you are one of them but especially now with Covid, you'd be surprised how many hours the average person are attached to their screens everyday. This is essentially why Samsung created the Ultra, because to appeal to the people who spend tons of time consuming videos everyday. I only go on YouTube if I am looking for an answer to something. But for someone who may spend several hours a day watching YouTube or movies or streaming then the Ultra is well worth it for them.

 

[heels4real]

I ditched the ipad for the new Samsung Tab S8 plus... damn its a nice tablet. 16x9 and all

 

[Digitalguy]

Well I think they're both made for very different purposes. 12.9 ipad is for productivity with movies being second. And the Ultra is the reverse. I don't watch movies on tablets so I have no use for the ultra...heck I rarely watch movies to begin with. If someone just wants to watch movies on it then the Ultra is far better. I think it's a unique tablet. Apple will likely announce a 17-20" ipad this year.

I see no point in owning both unless someone has a lot of time on their hands that they sit and stare at screens for hours and hours everyday. I now have 4 different devices that are each lightly used (not even including my phone), many days some aren't even used. Now that I have an ipad pro, I'm trying to slim down to 3 devices as I find 4 is overkill for my use cases. I don't know how anyone can find the time for both unless they're using one of the two as a laptop replacement. But I also work too so I have limited free time each day.

I've purposely become very distant from social media and media consumption because of Covid so I don't sit and watch YouTube for hours like I know a lot out there do in their free time. Not saying you are one of them but especially now with Covid, you'd be surprised how many hours the average person are attached to their screens everyday. This is essentially why Samsung created the Ultra, because to appeal to the people who spend tons of time consuming videos everyday. I only go on YouTube if I am looking for an answer to something. But for someone who may spend several hours a day watching YouTube or movies or streaming then the Ultra is well worth it for them.

I watch indeed a lot of youtube and movies, but I never do "just that". I work from home and I watch videos while preparing/eating one of my daily meals, while shaving, while doing things that need to be done around the house etc. I never sit on a couch or even on my desk watching a video.
In general I do agree with what you wrote, but I don't believe we'll see a larger iPad before 2024. Gurmann was pretty clear the project is still years away from the final product. I would think it will come together with the following iPad pro generations (the next with M2 is Autumn this year and the following probably M3 or M4 should be Spring 2024). Count me among those who will purchase that iPad, although I think it won't be over 15in and Apple will struggle with the weight unless they go OLED. The Samsung ultra can be so thin an light because it has OLED which requires less layers than LCD. Mini-LED instead made the iPad thicker and heavier than the LCD....

Also, productivity is a very tricky concept. Sure if you need some drawing or music apps that only exist on iPad, iPad is better, but if you can't draw or create music and need more multitasking for office stuff etc. the S8 ultra is a much more powerful multitasking device, not only because OneUI allows to do more things a the same time, but also because the screen is larger, and the support for external displays is much better....

 

[Isengardtom]

I ditched the ipad for the new Samsung Tab S8 plus... damn its a nice tablet. 16x9 and all

16x10 but yes, it’s definitely going to be great for video

i’m wondering : is it ok to hold as a tablet? (Weight and size I mean)

 

[jdb8167]

16x10 but yes, it’s definitely going to be great for video

i’m wondering : is it ok to hold as a tablet? (Weight and size I mean)

It’s lighter than the 12.9” iPad Pro. In a review video, the 16:10 aspect ratio in portrait didn’t seem as bad as I envisioned.

 

[Rafterman]

I ditched the ipad for the new Samsung Tab S8 plus... damn its a nice tablet. 16x9 and all

The S8 looks solid and gets good reviews. But the apps for Android tablets still lag behind and many aren't optimized. I hear that the next version of Android will split the tablet OS off, so maybe that will improve tablet sapp quality.

I have an iPad Pro 12.9 and Mini 6, and while the Mini 6 is invaluable for its size, I found that my newly purchased Surface Pro 8 has taken over all my iPad 12.9 duties.

I bought a Surface Pro 8 i7/16GB/256GB in that sharp looking black color, popped open that little cover in the back with a SIM ejector pin and replaced the 256GB drive iwth a 1TB M2 2230 card I had lying around (which saved me $300 and allowed me to get the black color, since NMicrosoft, for some inexplicable reason, doesn't offer any 1TB model in black, just silver.

I would have gotten the 32GB RAM model, but that one is impossible to find.

 

[Isengardtom]

It’s lighter than the 12.9” iPad Pro. In a review video, the 16:10 aspect ratio in portrait didn’t seem as bad as I envisioned.

Right. I read Ultra instead of plus sorry.

 

[Digitalguy]

The S8 looks solid and gets good reviews. But the apps for Android tablets still lag behind and many aren't optimized. I hear that the next version of Android will split the tablet OS off, so maybe that will improve tablet sapp quality.

I have an iPad Pro 12.9 and Mini 6, and while the Mini 6 is invaluable for its size, I found that my newly purchased Surface Pro 8 has taken over all my iPad 12.9 duties.

I bought a Surface Pro 8 i7/16GB/256GB in that sharp looking black color, popped open that little cover in the back with a SIM ejector pin and replaced the 256GB drive iwth a 1TB M2 2230 card I had lying around (which saved me $300 and allowed me to get the black color, since NMicrosoft, for some inexplicable reason, doesn't offer any 1TB model in black, just silver.

I would have gotten the 32GB RAM model, but that one is impossible to find.

I think the "unoptimized" apps narrative is a big exaggeration, especially in the Apple world (that is by people who have little recent experience with Android tablets). Some social media apps are often cited, like facebook and twitter, but other than those, the vast majority of mainstream apps (e.g. from Google and Microsoft) are perfectly optimized (I have tons of apps in both my Android tablets and iPads so I speak from experience). Lack of some specialized apps is another story and is true, but Samsung is doing a lot to catch up... Where they will probably never catch up is music...

 

[DeepSix]

I watch indeed a lot of youtube and movies, but I never do "just that". I work from home and I watch videos while preparing/eating one of my daily meals, while shaving, while doing things that need to be done around the house etc. I never sit on a couch or even on my desk watching a video.
In general I do agree with what you wrote, but I don't believe we'll see a larger iPad before 2024. Gurmann was pretty clear the project is still years away from the final product. I would think it will come together with the following iPad pro generations (the next with M2 is Autumn this year and the following probably M3 or M4 should be Spring 2024). Count me among those who will purchase that iPad, although I think it won't be over 15in and Apple will struggle with the weight unless they go OLED. The Samsung ultra can be so thin an light because it has OLED which requires less layers than LCD. Mini-LED instead made the iPad thicker and heavier than the LCD....

Also, productivity is a very tricky concept. Sure if you need some drawing or music apps that only exist on iPad, iPad is better, but if you can't draw or create music and need more multitasking for office stuff etc. the S8 ultra is a much more powerful multitasking device, not only because OneUI allows to do more things a the same time, but also because the screen is larger, and the support for external displays is much better....

I think when we see the larger ipads, Apple will have a different use for it. Perhaps they open up iOS more to take advantage of the M2 (which is likely the CPU to go in them). With the ultra now out, no doubt Apple has to answer the bell with an ipad bigger than 12.9. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple came out with a completely bezelless ipad pro that's larger than 12.9 just to keep the weight down but market it as a stationary deskstation. Kinda like the all in one PCs. I've never liked viewing websites in portrait in a 16:10 aspect ratio on a tablet, way too narrow.

I would love to give the S8+ a try but I'm loving the ipad pro too much. So I will look at the models in the store (because I do want to see them in person) but I already know just from past experiences that I much prefer the ipad aspect ratio. I use ipads a lot in portrait and with the aspect ratio it makes it balance just right in the hands. But with a 16:10 device, it's weight will be a bit front heavy.

With that being said, I think the ipad and the ultra appeal to different users. Not quite the same target customer. But the ultra will no doubt sell well because there's nothing of that size and quality right now. Like I said, the ultra makes for a killer bedside movie watching device.

Samsung also makes their devices with relatively short term OS support. They said OS updates on the new tabs up to 4 years. To me that's not long enough. I would want 6+ years support. I watched a benchmark test the other day between the 12.9 IPP and the Ultra and the Ultra got smoked by the ipad. But this is no surprise, the ultra CPU is no match for the M1. And the SSD in the ultra is signifcantly slower than the SSD in the ipad pro.

 

[Rafterman]

I think the "unoptimized" apps narrative is a big exaggeration, especially in the Apple world (that is by people who have little recent experience with Android tablets). Some social media apps are often cited, like facebook and twitter, but other than those, the vast majority of mainstream apps (e.g. from Google and Microsoft) are perfectly optimized (I have tons of apps in both my Android tablets and iPads so I speak from experience). Lack of some specialized apps is another story and is true, but Samsung is doing a lot to catch up... Where they will probably never catch up is music...

I've owned Android phones, but not a tablet. From what I heard, many apps work fine, but they are just simply bigger. Most iPad apps have different UIs vs their iPhone counterpart, to better take advantage of the extra space. Thus the word "optimized".

But I don't know if that's true about Android anymore.

 

[Digitalguy]

I've owned Android phones, but not a tablet. From what I heard, many apps work fine, but they are just simply bigger. Most iPad apps have different UIs vs their iPhone counterpart, to better take advantage of the extra space. Thus the word "optimized".

But I don't know if that's true about Android anymore.

That's has not been true for years. There are a few, but very popular, blown up apps like facebook and twitter, and some "Apple first apps" that have an Android version like an afterthought (from developers that mainly develop for IOS and MacOS and but offer some second class Windows and Android apps) but 90% of Android Apps do take advantage of the larger screen virtually as well as iPad does.
Just to give you some example in addition to all Google and Microsoft apps (I use virtually all of them), all streaming apps are perfectly optimized, all TV channels or newspaper apps that I use are very similar between iPad and Android tablets. Many apps simply don't exist on both platforms but have equivalents, so they are not directly comparable...
Also for some of the unoptimized apps like twitter you can install a PWA app from Samsung Internet for instance which is a true app and works at least as well as the iPadOS app.

 

[Digitalguy]

I think when we see the larger ipads, Apple will have a different use for it. Perhaps they open up iOS more to take advantage of the M2 (which is likely the CPU to go in them). With the ultra now out, no doubt Apple has to answer the bell with an ipad bigger than 12.9. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple came out with a completely bezelless ipad pro that's larger than 12.9 just to keep the weight down but market it as a stationary deskstation. Kinda like the all in one PCs. I've never liked viewing websites in portrait in a 16:10 aspect ratio on a tablet, way too narrow.

I would love to give the S8+ a try but I'm loving the ipad pro too much. So I will look at the models in the store (because I do want to see them in person) but I already know just from past experiences that I much prefer the ipad aspect ratio. I use ipads a lot in portrait and with the aspect ratio it makes it balance just right in the hands. But with a 16:10 device, it's weight will be a bit front heavy.

With that being said, I think the ipad and the ultra appeal to different users. Not quite the same target customer. But the ultra will no doubt sell well because there's nothing of that size and quality right now. Like I said, the ultra makes for a killer bedside movie watching device.

Samsung also makes their devices with relatively short term OS support. They said OS updates on the new tabs up to 4 years. To me that's not long enough. I would want 6+ years support. I watched a benchmark test the other day between the 12.9 IPP and the Ultra and the Ultra got smoked by the ipad. But this is no surprise, the ultra CPU is no match for the M1. And the SSD in the ultra is signifcantly slower than the SSD in the ipad pro.

Honestly, for me the only advantage of moving from A12X to M1 is RAM, the speed increase is barely used by iPad, and while I am sure some people will argue that for the M1 changes everything for them, I am also certain that most people would be fine with a an iPad pro that has A12X/Z 8GB RAM for a couple hundreds dollar cheaper than M1. Many actually buy refurbished for this very reason, despite the lower RAM. And the SSD speed difference is also pretty much irrelevant on these devices, they are both basically instant. And the Samsung is a sort of A12X with more RAM. Fast enough that it does not matter.
As I have said, it's like PPI, once you get to Retina on a laptop, going up to 4k has diminishing returns.
These CPU and SSD speed comparison sound like transposing desktop comparisons (where they matter more) to much more limited systems (and in terms of being limited iPadOS is number 1, especially with multitasking).

Concerning support, I don't think you can compare iPadOS to Android.
1. What are you looking for in an update? Security? Well that's 5 years, not 4. And honestly, security on tablets cannot be compared to security on desktop OS. Millions of people use unsupported tablets safely every day to watch videos, read books and even browse the internet. Most malware targets desktop systems and Windows in particular and if you don't install strange apps or better yet do not install any new app on an unsupported tablet it can be used for many years after end of updates.
2. Updates on iPadOS are not guaranteed, sure the air 2 got a lot, but what if Apple this year decides to cut the 1st gen pro (2015 and 2016) and even the 2017 iPad 5 together with the air 2?
3. App compatibility on Android is quite a bit longer than on IOS. IOS 9 is basically unusable at this time to run anything. The older Android 5 still runs a ton more apps and my old lenovo tablet on Android 5 is still compatible with most apps, contrary to my iPad 2.

 

[arvinsim]

The OS is really holding it back. Just earlier, I was trying to use Calender on the iPad with the Magic Keyboard. Creating and duplicating new events is just so painful that I stopped and used my Macbook instead. Let's not even get to spreadsheets.

 

[DeepSix]

Honestly, for me the only advantage of moving from A12X to M1 is RAM, the speed increase is barely used by iPad, and while I am sure some people will argue that for the M1 changes everything for them, I am also certain that most people would be fine with a an iPad pro that has A12X/Z 8GB RAM for a couple hundreds dollar cheaper than M1. Many actually buy refurbished for this very reason, despite the lower RAM. And the SSD speed difference is also pretty much irrelevant on these devices, they are both basically instant. And the Samsung is a sort of A12X with more RAM. Fast enough that it does not matter.
As I have said, it's like PPI, once you get to Retina on a laptop, going up to 4k has diminishing returns.
These CPU and SSD speed comparison sound like transposing desktop comparisons (where they matter more) to much more limited systems (and in terms of being limited iPadOS is number 1, especially with multitasking).

Concerning support, I don't think you can compare iPadOS to Android.
1. What are you looking for in an update? Security? Well that's 5 years, not 4. And honestly, security on tablets cannot be compared to security on desktop OS. Millions of people use unsupported tablets safely every day to watch videos, read books and even browse the internet. Most malware targets desktop systems and Windows in particular and if you don't install strange apps or better yet do not install any new app on an unsupported tablet it can be used for many years after end of updates.
2. Updates on iPadOS are not guaranteed, sure the air 2 got a lot, but what if Apple this year decides to cut the 1st gen pro (2015 and 2016) and even the 2017 iPad 5 together with the air 2?
3. App compatibility on Android is quite a bit longer than on IOS. IOS 9 is basically unusable at this time to run anything. The older Android 5 still runs a ton more apps and my old lenovo tablet on Android 5 is still compatible with most apps, contrary to my iPad 2.

Same here, my main reason going with the faster CPU is getting double the ram. 4GB is fine but 8GB is much more future proof. If the M1 had the same ram I wouldn't have bothered and just settle with the Air 4.

4K on a laptop isn't worth it IMO because the screen is so small but on a desktop monitor it's totally worth it. Talking 27" and up.

I feel that android on phones is much better than on tablets. I am curious to see how smooth and well the UI is on the new tabs but from what I hear so far, they're not as smooth as iPad OS and the battery life (while still very good) isn't as good.

 

[Digitalguy]

Same here, my main reason going with the faster CPU is getting double the ram. 4GB is fine but 8GB is much more future proof. If the M1 had the same ram I wouldn't have bothered and just settle with the Air 4.

4K on a laptop isn't worth it IMO because the screen is so small but on a desktop monitor it's totally worth it. Talking 27" and up.

I feel that android on phones is much better than on tablets. I am curious to see how smooth and well the UI is on the new tabs but from what I hear so far, they're not as smooth as iPad OS and the battery life (while still very good) isn't as good.

It looks perfectly smooth to me. It was on the S7+ too, to be honest. The huge difference is that the added performance finally make browsing as smooth as on iPad pro.
I guess Android is good or bad on tablets depending on what you want to do with it... If you want some of the apps that are not present it's bad. If you want the additional multitasking / external display capabilities it's good (and better than iPadOS). Same with screen size, for some it's too big, for some it's exactly what they have been waiting for....

 

[rui no onna]

Honestly, for me the only advantage of moving from A12X to M1 is RAM, the speed increase is barely used by iPad, and while I am sure some people will argue that for the M1 changes everything for them, I am also certain that most people would be fine with a an iPad pro that has A12X/Z 8GB RAM for a couple hundreds dollar cheaper than M1. Many actually buy refurbished for this very reason, despite the lower RAM.

I prefer A14/A15 + 8-16GB RAM but yeah, I don't really need M1 either. Alas, I do need at least 512GB of storage (1TB preferred) and that's not yet an option on the Air.

 

[paulcons]

Got an iPad Pro less than a year ago. Mostly to consume video, I was very impressed with the mini LED screen. There, it has not disappointed. Overall however, I am very disappointed. Face ID simply sucks, partly because they use the camera on the short side of a very wide display. EVEN when I am holding it in Portrait mode, it can fail unless I tilt the top towards my face. I get a LOT of "Face not recognized." Reorienting it generally brings recognition. The camera needs to be located on the long side, not the short one as long as they are forcing this biometric on users. Frankly, I'd FAR prefer the touch ID system. I used same for a few years on a previous iPad Pro. Next why do I have to go through massive contortions to get rid of the lock screen? First I have to make sure it pointing at my face. Second I have to swipe up. Well, I have a 50% chance to even GET to my Home screen because half the time it brings up every notification I have gotten in the past 10 years! Turn off and start all over from the beginning. Oh and THAT is when the swipe works at all... for some reason about a third of the time, that swipe up simply does not respond. On my iPhone (or previous iPad Pro) with Touch ID, I press the button and 100% of the time I get to my home screen. AND that ties into the fact that touch in general becomes unresponsive maybe 25% or less of the time. No scrolling, no quitting apps, no launching apps, no nothing. Not for very long, but generally under a minute... trust me that feels exceedingly long. Bad design decisions and terribly software are jointly the issues here.

 

[sparksd]

Got an iPad Pro less than a year ago. Mostly to consume video, I was very impressed with the mini LED screen. There, it has not disappointed. Overall however, I am very disappointed. Face ID simply sucks, partly because they use the camera on the short side of a very wide display. EVEN when I am holding it in Portrait mode, it can fail unless I tilt the top towards my face. I get a LOT of "Face not recognized." Reorienting it generally brings recognition. The camera needs to be located on the long side, not the short one as long as they are forcing this biometric on users. Frankly, I'd FAR prefer the touch ID system. I used same for a few years on a previous iPad Pro. Next why do I have to go through massive contortions to get rid of the lock screen? First I have to make sure it pointing at my face. Second I have to swipe up. Well, I have a 50% chance to even GET to my Home screen because half the time it brings up every notification I have gotten in the past 10 years! Turn off and start all over from the beginning. Oh and THAT is when the swipe works at all... for some reason about a third of the time, that swipe up simply does not respond. On my iPhone (or previous iPad Pro) with Touch ID, I press the button and 100% of the time I get to my home screen. AND that ties into the fact that touch in general becomes unresponsive maybe 25% or less of the time. No scrolling, no quitting apps, no launching apps, no nothing. Not for very long, but generally under a minute... trust me that feels exceedingly long. Bad design decisions and terribly software are jointly the issues here.

Regarding loss of touch responsiveness - something is wrong with your device. Six iPads and 2 iPhones and I've never seen that.

 

[Digitalguy]

Got an iPad Pro less than a year ago. Mostly to consume video, I was very impressed with the mini LED screen. There, it has not disappointed. Overall however, I am very disappointed. Face ID simply sucks, partly because they use the camera on the short side of a very wide display. EVEN when I am holding it in Portrait mode, it can fail unless I tilt the top towards my face. I get a LOT of "Face not recognized." Reorienting it generally brings recognition. The camera needs to be located on the long side, not the short one as long as they are forcing this biometric on users. Frankly, I'd FAR prefer the touch ID system. I used same for a few years on a previous iPad Pro. Next why do I have to go through massive contortions to get rid of the lock screen? First I have to make sure it pointing at my face. Second I have to swipe up. Well, I have a 50% chance to even GET to my Home screen because half the time it brings up every notification I have gotten in the past 10 years! Turn off and start all over from the beginning. Oh and THAT is when the swipe works at all... for some reason about a third of the time, that swipe up simply does not respond. On my iPhone (or previous iPad Pro) with Touch ID, I press the button and 100% of the time I get to my home screen. AND that ties into the fact that touch in general becomes unresponsive maybe 25% or less of the time. No scrolling, no quitting apps, no launching apps, no nothing. Not for very long, but generally under a minute... trust me that feels exceedingly long. Bad design decisions and terribly software are jointly the issues here.

I feel you concerning face id. I have simply ended up disabling it completely in both my 11 and 12.9. Only my touch id iPad have a password protection.

 

[bondr006]

Got an iPad Pro less than a year ago. Mostly to consume video, I was very impressed with the mini LED screen. There, it has not disappointed. Overall however, I am very disappointed. Face ID simply sucks, partly because they use the camera on the short side of a very wide display. EVEN when I am holding it in Portrait mode, it can fail unless I tilt the top towards my face. I get a LOT of "Face not recognized." Reorienting it generally brings recognition. The camera needs to be located on the long side, not the short one as long as they are forcing this biometric on users. Frankly, I'd FAR prefer the touch ID system. I used same for a few years on a previous iPad Pro. Next why do I have to go through massive contortions to get rid of the lock screen? First I have to make sure it pointing at my face. Second I have to swipe up. Well, I have a 50% chance to even GET to my Home screen because half the time it brings up every notification I have gotten in the past 10 years! Turn off and start all over from the beginning. Oh and THAT is when the swipe works at all... for some reason about a third of the time, that swipe up simply does not respond. On my iPhone (or previous iPad Pro) with Touch ID, I press the button and 100% of the time I get to my home screen. AND that ties into the fact that touch in general becomes unresponsive maybe 25% or less of the time. No scrolling, no quitting apps, no launching apps, no nothing. Not for very long, but generally under a minute... trust me that feels exceedingly long. Bad design decisions and terribly software are jointly the issues here.

You must have something defective in the system. I don't experience face id or swipe problems with either my iPhone 12 Pro Max or my M1 iPad Pro 11. Works perfectly for me every time, even when I'm opening it up in the dark at arms length. My wife and son both have the same two devices, and they do not have the face id or swipe problems either. My wife is the pickiest person in the world, and I'd know real quick if she did, because I'm the one who talked her into buying them. I have several friends with iPhones and iPads with face id and don't hear any of them complaining about face id problems. I'd make an appointment at the local Apple Store Genius bar and see if they can resolve it for you.

Edit: Looked for some news on face ID problems and can't find much. A few things here and there, but no mass problems. Most of the stuff I found was a defect in the individuals unit or simple operator malfunction, which isn't surprising.

In the almost 30 years I have been using Apple products, I have had to take only one one thing to the Genius Bar. My iPhone 5 had a bad battery in it, and they replaced the phone with no problem. My avatar picture is what is left of my collection of the Apple stickers I haven't given away. Still have about half of them. Not bad for 30 years and dozens of Apple products.

 

[dmccloud]

Yeah I agree although I have both an iPad mini and Pro, I just feel like Apple are really letting the iPad down at the moment especially the Pro models, and as each year passes it’s getting harder and harder for people to justify the price tag of the pros.

Even reviewers are advising getting quality refurbished 2018 iPad Pro models to this day, now that is concerning considering that device is nearing 4 years old now…

that’s the equivalent to being recommended to buy the iPhone X or XS over the current gen iPhone, or the Apple Watch series 4 over the current gen… something which is seldom recommended at this point.

I managed to find a slightly used 2020 12.9 iPad Pro with Cellular (256GB) for $499 in December - while there's no way I could have justified paying full retail price for it, being able to get it for that price was a no-brainer. It actually replaced an 11" Pro I had at my prior job and had to be turned in when I got laid off last year.

 

[DeepSix]

Got an iPad Pro less than a year ago. Mostly to consume video, I was very impressed with the mini LED screen. There, it has not disappointed. Overall however, I am very disappointed. Face ID simply sucks, partly because they use the camera on the short side of a very wide display. EVEN when I am holding it in Portrait mode, it can fail unless I tilt the top towards my face. I get a LOT of "Face not recognized." Reorienting it generally brings recognition. The camera needs to be located on the long side, not the short one as long as they are forcing this biometric on users. Frankly, I'd FAR prefer the touch ID system. I used same for a few years on a previous iPad Pro. Next why do I have to go through massive contortions to get rid of the lock screen? First I have to make sure it pointing at my face. Second I have to swipe up. Well, I have a 50% chance to even GET to my Home screen because half the time it brings up every notification I have gotten in the past 10 years! Turn off and start all over from the beginning. Oh and THAT is when the swipe works at all... for some reason about a third of the time, that swipe up simply does not respond. On my iPhone (or previous iPad Pro) with Touch ID, I press the button and 100% of the time I get to my home screen. AND that ties into the fact that touch in general becomes unresponsive maybe 25% or less of the time. No scrolling, no quitting apps, no launching apps, no nothing. Not for very long, but generally under a minute... trust me that feels exceedingly long. Bad design decisions and terribly software are jointly the issues here.

Sounds like there's something wrong with your ipad. Face ID is far superior to touch ID, it works so good. Mine unlocks even when the ipad is on a desk. You're putting the ipad in front of your face right when doing it?