iPad Pro Ipad Pro 10.5 (2017) vs Ipad Air 3 (2019)

[ericwn]

Extend your AppleCare+ coverage - Apple Support

If your AppleCare+ plan expired recently, you might be able to continue coverage.

support.apple.com

Nice, thanks for sharing. So this makes it indefinite for US customers on a monthly basis or am I missing something?

 

[Richard8655]

I've had both, and it's the Air 3 for sure. The 10.5 Pro display was way too sensitive to issues such as pressure at the edges causing light bleed. The white spot issue was always a risk, if not now then developing in the future and probably after all warranties expire. The 10.5 Pro display just seemed delicate and vulnerable to potential issues to me.

The Air 3 display is much more solid with none of these issues. It's as if Apple finally perfected the laminated display. Pro Motion is not missed at all, and never was that impressive to me. As far as stereo speakers, who listens to tiny tinny iPad speakers for good sound when plugging-in or Bluetooth connecting high quality headphones can make the audio night and day better and potentially high end?

 

[BigMcGuire]

I never had an apple product before and now I'm thinking about buying an Ipad mainly for drawing and media consumption, I don't really care about all extra features of Ipad Pro 10.5 all I need is best drawing experience I know that Ipad Air 3 (2019) lacks promotion which makes Ipad Pro 10.5 a better choice for drawing but I am scared about the bright spot issue, and in my country apple products are not officially available so I cant get apple care or reclaim any warranty cuz it will cost more than the iPad itself to send it to the company. So I wanted to know;

• Is there any noticeable difference between pen experience with promotion and without promotion?
• Have you used Ipad Air 3? and do you recommend it?
• Is A12 better than A10X fusion?
• Is 3gb ram enough?

1. Yes, there is a noticeable difference. iOS 13 has mitigated this to an extent. I’ve used a 10.5 for a year+ and an iPad Air 3 for 3-4 months now.
2. Yes, and I recommend it. It is my daily driver. Sold my 10.5 Pro to my sister who wanted it for school.
3. I notice no difference in CPU or GPU speeds between the 10.5 and Air 3.
4. Yes, 3GB of ram is enough - I usually have 10 tabs opened on Safari and use 3-4 apps with an external Bluetooth keyboard. My use of the Apple Pencil is almost daily.

If you can afford the Pro, I recommend it. However, the Air 3 is, in my opinion, not too far behind. Biggest things that I noticed? — Speakers on both sides with the 10.5 pro. Makes watching YouTube videos without headset a lot more pleasant. I, however, use AirPods most of the time so, Air 3 for me.

My wife uses and I used a 10.5 for almost 1.5 years. My wife continues to use hers daily for a PhD. Haven’t seen any “white spot“ at all.

Loving my Air 3. Wish I had gotten 256GB instead of the 64GB, but I’m making due.
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Nice, thanks for sharing. So this makes it indefinite for US customers on a monthly basis or am I missing something?

Wow... this is news to me as well! Time to make calendar dates for when AppleCare+ expires on my devices (all of which except our iPhones have the 2 year AppleCare+).

How interesting.

 

[rui no onna]

Nice, thanks for sharing. So this makes it indefinite for US customers on a monthly basis or am I missing something?

Yup, pretty much. Kinda like car insurance. You're covered as long as you keep paying.

In California, I think Apple's required to keep parts for repair available for at least 7 years (Song-Beverly). In practice, Apple exceeds the 7 years since even now they still provide OOW replacement for the original iPad.

What’s happened to recent iPads that makes their batteries so bad?

Personally, I don't think it's that the batteries are actually worse. Rather, it's likely because Apple has lowered the capacity for thinness and weight reduction.

Right out the gate, battery life on the iPad Pro 9.7 (27.5Wh) was noticeably worse than a 4 year old iPad 3 (42.5Wh).

Newer, faster iPads probably see a lot more actual use, too, ergo increased battery wear. Back on Air and older, my PC still did the bulk of web browsing and other activities. Ever since the Pro 9.7, I've switched to almost all iPad and with full desktop browsing on iPadOS, perhaps even the website edge cases I needed the PC for would now work on the iPad, too.

 

[Johnny365]

Have iPad Mini 5, and recently started using my iPad Pro 10.5 again for certain tasks, like watching movies. The quad speakers...OMG. If only the Mini 5 had them. Makes the audio so much better.

 

[aakshey]

iPad Pro 2nd gen and up is an investment. You gotta believe. Once you buy you’ll feel the difference.

 

[ericwn]

Technology that is only used for a few years is hardly an investment. iPads are computers. Computers are tools. These tools are not user serviceable and many in my experience keep using them for 3-5 years.

 

[Freakonomics101]

When iOS 13 came out for the 10.5 Pro when I had it, I stopped using the home button except when I need to unlock it. I adapted to swiping up to get to the home screen. Not sure why I did that but I found swiping up to be pretty convenient. Unlocking it with the home button was instant. I felt like there was no delay after touching the home button to turn the screen on. Man that iPad was all around awesome. Bezels didn’t bother me either. But I upgraded to the 11” because of the smaller bezels and tap to wake.

I feel like the two iPads would be twins if they looked alike cause performance is as awesome as the 11”.

Have I convinced you to get the 10.5 Pro yet? LOL!

 

[aakshey]

When iOS 13 came out for the 10.5 Pro when I had it, I stopped using the home button expect when I need to unlock it. I adapted to swiping up to get to the home screen. Not sure why I did that but I found swiping up to be pretty convenient. Unlocking it with the home button was instant. I felt like there was no delay after touching the home button to turn the screen. Man that iPad was all around awesome. Bezels didn’t bother me either. But I upgraded to the 11” because of the smaller bezels and tap to wake.

I feel like the two iPads would be twins if they looked alike cause performance is as awesome as the 11”.

Have I convinced you to get the 10.5 Pro yet? LOL!

I agree. Real world performance is close, if not identical, for most people.

 

[ShayanAhmed]

When iOS 13 came out for the 10.5 Pro when I had it, I stopped using the home button except when I need to unlock it. I adapted to swiping up to get to the home screen. Not sure why I did that but I found swiping up to be pretty convenient. Unlocking it with the home button was instant. I felt like there was no delay after touching the home button to turn the screen on. Man that iPad was all around awesome. Bezels didn’t bother me either. But I upgraded to the 11” because of the smaller bezels and tap to wake.

I feel like the two iPads would be twins if they looked alike cause performance is as awesome as the 11”.

Have I convinced you to get the 10.5 Pro yet? LOL!

Man you certainly convinced me, in fact I was convinced that Ipad Pro 2017 is better before even posting this thread but the thing is I live in Pakistan and we have no official apple support or whatsoever so the bright spot issue is a huge risk for me but I think I'm ready to roll with it.

 

[aakshey]

Man you certainly convinced me, in fact I was convinced that Ipad Pro 2017 is better before even posting this thread but the thing is I live in Pakistan and we have no official apple support or whatsoever so the bright spot issue is a huge risk for me but I think I'm ready to roll with it.

Trust me, the bright spot won’t even bother you. It is only visible on really white backgrounds. If that.

 

[Denzzil]

It is only visible on really white backgrounds

For drawing it will be a pain in the ass.

 

[aakshey]

For drawing it will be a pain in the ass.

Not really. It takes like 2-4% of the total screen area, if that.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I’m probably in the minority because the promotion screens for some reason sometimes bother my eyes…

But the feature that I care about even more than that is the quad speakers.

I would never want an iPad again without the quad speakers

 

[Freakonomics101]

I’m probably in the minority because the promotion screens for some reason sometimes bother my eyes…

But the feature that I care about even more than that is the quad speakers.

I would never want an iPad again without the quad speakers

Those speakers pack a good amount of bass and surround sound too. I feel they are much improved over the 9.7 Pro.

 

[Digitalguy]

Those speakers pack a good amount of bass and surround sound too. I feel they are much improved over the 9.7 Pro.

They are virtually the same, I have both and cannot tell the difference. I can instead tell a clear difference with the 1st gen 12.9, clearly more powerful speakers... (I can also tell the difference with the 11in ipad, and I find it slightly worse than the 9.7 and 10.5, not a big difference, but not hard to notice side by side, contrary to the 9.7 vs 10.5, which sound the same).
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I went with the 10.5 pro, main reason was the speakers. I don’t care about promotion, makes no difference to me, but some people live and die by it, so to each its own...
White spot is annoying, the only solution is using dark mode all the time, but of course it won’t make white web pages or word documents dark... so you will see it...
Speed difference is kind of noticeable (I have a mini 5) but not a big deal... As for RAM the more, the better. But as I have explained elsewhere, the difference between 2 and 3 GB is huge, the difference between 3 and 4 is much less in ios 12/13 (it’s like having 16GB storage with the OS taking half of it, you only have 8... and having 32 with the OS taking 8, you have actually 24 (3 times more). Adding 16GB more is nice, but in day to day it’s not like moving from 8 to 24 which changes your life, hope the comparison is clear...)
Honestly there is no clear answer, I chose the speakers over the white spot, but I am annoyed by it, but I would make the same choice again because of it, as I watch a lot of youtube with my ipads so I need loud speakers especially in the kitchen...
One last thing, if you use airpods you’ll have a much better range with the air 3 because of bluetooth 5.0

 

[iAssimilated]

I’ve not experienced the white spot issue on my 10.5 (been using it for a year and a half). I agree the quad speakers are nice.

I use an Air 3 at work and it is also nice. Honestly you will be happy with either device.

 

[Damc]

I have owned a 10.5 iPad Pro 2017 now for 12 months and the white spot just appeared. I disagree that it won’t bother you; I would say that is personal. This model is a fingerprint magnet, so you adapt to scrolling white webpages such as these and seeing some “grime” on the screen. I don’t find that bothersome, but the white spot is more prominent and has put me in the dilemma of considering whether it is worth sending in for repair (Assuming they will replace it for free).
If you are capable of ignoring it on white pages then you will be fine. Kind of depends on you

Otherwise, I can say I chose this model over an 11 inch pro because:
- round edges and matching round edges on the case I bought. Case also has a holder for the pencil.
- considerably cheaper than the 11 inch
- didn’t like the idea of the smart keyboard cover rubbing against the screen on the 11”. Smart keyboard on 10.5 is great (using it now)

The iPad Air 3 was not available when I purchased my 10.5 pro.
For me the laminated display (like the Air 3 has) was the main reason to go for this model, because the pencil has a much smaller “airgap” and feels more “in contact” with the paper/screen.
The promotion is probably most noticeable to artists who “get in the zone”, but like someone else said, I think the lag is now far less noticeable on the non promotion devices. I tried the Air 3 yesterday and it felt the same to me for writing (I am not an artist).