iPad Pro 10.5 or new iPad Air for gaming

[prhat317]

Would love to spring for the 2018 iPad Pro but the now discontinued 10.5 is on sale starting at $499. Is the lower A10 with the extra GB ram at the same price point, worth it for gaming?

 

[Minimalist_Tech]

I’d imagine the screen on the 10.5” Pro would be the bigger benefit with the higher refresh rate.

 

[prhat317]

I’d imagine the screen on the 10.5” Pro would be the bigger benefit with the higher refresh rate.

Didn’t even think about that. Good point.

 

[roadkill401]

And how do you think that 120hz is going to make any sort of difference with games? I am not sure if any of the games out there will truely take advantage of the faster screen refresh consiering that they likely will only compile to the most common denominators. None of the phones offer this screen rate, so is there going to be and advantage to spend the time to add in optimizations for an iPad Pro when the vast majortity of all the money you are going to make comes from short term purchases from people who want to play a game on their phone??

 

[InvictaGB]

And how do you think that 120hz is going to make any sort of difference with games? I am not sure if any of the games out there will truely take advantage of the faster screen refresh consiering that they likely will only compile to the most common denominators. None of the phones offer this screen rate, so is there going to be and advantage to spend the time to add in optimizations for an iPad Pro when the vast majortity of all the money you are going to make comes from short term purchases from people who want to play a game on their phone??

I also wondered this too. Fairly sure no iPad is going to render any half-decent game at 120fps. I’m pretty sure the A12 is going to outpace the A10X and be better long-term, the alleged loss of 1GB RAM won’t be a problem as games will be designed around the 1 and 2GB RAM iPads first and foremost.

I play Fortnite on the iPad Pro 10.5 and when they opened up 60fps on those 2nd gen Pros it was amazing how much of a better experience it was vs 30fps. I should think these new iPads will do 60fps just fine.

 

[AutomaticApple]

Get the iPad Air 3. You will be happy with your purchase.

 

[Minimalist_Tech]

And how do you think that 120hz is going to make any sort of difference with games? I am not sure if any of the games out there will truely take advantage of the faster screen refresh consiering that they likely will only compile to the most common denominators. None of the phones offer this screen rate, so is there going to be and advantage to spend the time to add in optimizations for an iPad Pro when the vast majortity of all the money you are going to make comes from short term purchases from people who want to play a game on their phone??

A smoother screen response applies to anything with rapid motion, from all games to on screen animations. 120hz =/= 120FPS, which seems to be what you’re misunderstanding. For example, a game such as PUBG will appear smoother and more responsive on a 120hz screen than on a 60hz scren, just by nature of the screen’s refresh rate being doubled.

 

[tps3443]

GRID™ has offered a ultra fast graphics setting that pushes the FPS to 120 on the new iPad Pro.

 

[ACG12]

The a10x is plenty powerful. For the same price as the new air, I’ll gladly lose a little tiny bit of speed and get to keep 4gb ram, 120hz display and quad speakers.

 

[roadkill401]

And the A12 has a much faster and far better graphics processor than the A10X. So would you want prefer a screen that can produce a better picture than the graphics card could ever produce, or an increadible graphics that might not be as silky smooth as it could be ?

 

[ACG12]

And the A12 has a much faster and far better graphics processor than the A10X. So would you want prefer a screen that can produce a better picture than the graphics card could ever produce, or an increadible graphics that might not be as silky smooth as it could be ?

Yes, same reason I returned my iPad 9.7 2018 and kept my 9.7 Pro. Screen and speakers matter to me. The minor speed difference did nothing for what I use it for.

 

[anthorumor]

iPad Air 3 does not have promotion, only 60Hz screen.
But the A12 will give you longevity.
Alternatively, get the now discontinued iPad Pro 10.5 which has ProMotion and quad speakers (instead of bottom firing stereo ones) at discount when you can find sales.

 

[Sunshoopa]

And the A12 has a much faster and far better graphics processor than the A10X. So would you want prefer a screen that can produce a better picture than the graphics card could ever produce, or an increadible graphics that might not be as silky smooth as it could be ?

Uh, nope. The A10X has a slightly better GPU in it than the A12 according to benchmarks. The A12 has a faster CPU though. Also keep in mind that the onscreen score would be slightly worse on the iPad Air 10.5” as it’s much higher res than the IPhone XS Max.

(Taken from: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...air-vs-2017-10-5-inch-ipad-pro.2173777/page-5 )

I personally would go with the iPad Pro 10.5” if I were you. there are a few games that take advantage of the 120 FPS, especially with streaming from your PC with Moonlight if that’s your thing.

Edit: forgot to add that the iPad Air 10.5” only has 3GB of RAM VS the 4GB on the iPad Pro 10.5”. So that can make a difference for gaming as well.

 

[tps3443]

You can surely use more than even 4GB of ram in iOS pretty easily with professional applications.

Either one is great for your uses. iPad Pro 2nd gen or new iPad Air.

 

[3.5jackandairpods]

A10X on pro has substantially better gpu, more speakers.

 

[mofunk]

I've played with the iPad 2018 and IPP 10.5 and there is a huge lag when it comes to heavy gaming. I like playing Sky Force Reloaded and it lags a bit on the 2018 iPad. Very smooth on the IPP.

It will be interesting to see what the iPad Air will do.

 

[DAKSHxDakshxx]

Uh, nope. The A10X has a slightly better GPU in it than the A12 according to benchmarks. The A12 has a faster CPU though. Also keep in mind that the onscreen score would be slightly worse on the iPad Air 10.5” as it’s much higher res than the IPhone XS Max.

View attachment 827079
(Taken from: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...air-vs-2017-10-5-inch-ipad-pro.2173777/page-5 )

I personally would go with the iPad Pro 10.5” if I were you. there are a few games that take advantage of the 120 FPS, especially with streaming from your PC with Moonlight if that’s your thing.

Edit: forgot to add that the iPad Air 10.5” only has 3GB of RAM VS the 4GB on the iPad Pro 10.5”. So that can make a difference for gaming as well.

Just wanted to tell u guys that A12 is better than A10X in terms of CPU and GPU
i researched a lot and here’s what I found... by the way Antutu is the best benchmark
and the 2nd on is 3D mark which is specifically for graphics or GPU..
So,The iPad Air 2019 is clearly the winner
Thanks

 

[FlyingDutch]

And the A12 has a much faster and far better graphics processor than the A10X. So would you want prefer a screen that can produce a better picture than the graphics card could ever produce, or an increadible graphics that might not be as silky smooth as it could be ?

much faster ? you sure ?

 

[DAKSHxDakshxx]

much faster ? you sure ?

Yes

 

[Ungibbed]

What about ProMotion? Some games do take advantage of the 120hz display.

 

[DAKSHxDakshxx]

What about ProMotion? Some games do take advantage of the 120hz display.

Umm only some games take advantage of promotion
for eg. Fortnite
on iPad Air it runs on 60 FPS on high graphics
on iPad Pro 10.5 it runs on 60 FPS but on medium graphics
even though the A12 Bionic has 4 GPU cores,, 1 core of A12 Bionic is really powerful and as powerful as almost 4 gpu cores of A10X,,A12 has a much better multi core performance, and better GPU than A10X,, if u want you can see the top 10 devices in Antutu benchmark test.....
https://www.antutu.com/en/ranking/ios1.htm
if u see the GPU category u can see that the iPad Air has a better GPU than iPad Pro 10.5 inch...in all 3D Mark tests ipad Air A12 had much more graphic score than iPad Pro 10.5 inch

 

[Ungibbed]

Umm only some games take advantage of promotion
for eg. Fortnite
on iPad Air it runs on 60 FPS on high graphics
on iPad Pro 10.5 it runs on 60 FPS but on medium graphics
even though the A12 Bionic has 4 GPU cores,, 1 core of A12 Bionic is really powerful and as powerful as almost 4 gpu cores of A10X,,A12 has a much better multi core performance, and better GPU than A10X,, if u want you can see the top 10 devices in Antutu benchmark test.....
https://www.antutu.com/en/ranking/ios1.htm
if u see the GPU category u can see that the iPad Air has a better GPU than iPad Pro 10.5 inch...in all 3D Mark tests ipad Air A12 had much more graphic score than iPad Pro 10.5 inch

It’s a trade-off. Newer A12 is going to obviously perform better but the Air doesn’t have the better display and audio.

pick your poison it sounds like. I’d take the Pro for the extra RAM for Procreate/PS but that’s just me.

 

[DAKSHxDakshxx]

It’s a trade-off. Newer A12 is going to obviously perform better but the Air doesn’t have the better display and audio.

pick your poison it sounds like. I’d take the Pro for the extra RAM for Procreate/PS but that’s just me.

Yeah pro has 120 hz refresh rate and way better speakers but air has a better GPU and CPU

 

[MandiMac]

Same here, I'd go for the Pro for stereo sound and ProMotion.

 

[FlyingDutch]

Yes

a single benchmark that doesn't give you the right picture.