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iPad iPad Pro - 12.9 inch update?!?

What's more likely with the 12.9 inch iPad Pro?

  • Total voters
    65
Joseph C

Joseph C

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 5, 2009
1,459
2,769
I'm really struggling to decide which iPad Pro to get. The fragmentation of Apple's line up and feature sets along with current whisperings is making it very difficult.

I'm leaning towards 12.9inch with a smart cover + Magic Keyboard (not sure about the Keyboard Cover really) + Pencil for handwritten notes/scribbles. Pros would be full Safari site views in Split View and generally more screen space for productivity, cons would be slight lack of portability but no different to taking my 15 inch MBP around!

HOWEVER:
- No True Tone display like 9.7 inch model
- Cameras vastly inferior to 9.7 inch model

I can't quite understand why the 12.9 inch model was not updated when the 9.7 inch model was released. The lack of feature parity is very annoying. I am worried if I purchase and invest in the 12.9 inch model now (and all its accessories), I will regret it when they add True Tone and improve the cameras.

I also worry they will release a 2nd gen Pencil. I know this is always the way with Apple products but it seems particularly acute with the iPads right now with all the talk of a new design, etc.

Does anyone have any advice? Is it possible the iPad 12.9 will be updated before WWDC, or more likely not updated until later in the year?
 
Joseph I am an owner of iPad pro 12.9 128GB. If you gonna be doing a lot of drawing and work on a desk, then this is the way to go. If you like holding the iPad and carrying it around a lot, then the new 10.5 in iPad might be a better option.

I would personally wait for the update, which should be coming soon. A bezel less 12.9 or 10.5 would be a huge boost to the portability of a big screen iPad.

Having said that, the 12.9 is still a beast, it outperforms everything out there....
 
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Joseph H said:
I'm really struggling to decide which iPad Pro to get. The fragmentation of Apple's line up and feature sets along with current whisperings is making it very difficult.

I'm leaning towards 12.9inch with a smart cover + Magic Keyboard (not sure about the Keyboard Cover really) + Pencil for handwritten notes/scribbles. Pros would be full Safari site views in Split View and generally more screen space for productivity, cons would be slight lack of portability but no different to taking my 15 inch MBP around!

HOWEVER:
- No True Tone display like 9.7 inch model
- Cameras vastly inferior to 9.7 inch model

I can't quite understand why the 12.9 inch model was not updated when the 9.7 inch model was released. The lack of feature parity is very annoying. I am worried if I purchase and invest in the 12.9 inch model now (and all its accessories), I will regret it when they add True Tone and improve the cameras.

I also worry they will release a 2nd gen Pencil. I know this is always the way with Apple products but it seems particularly acute with the iPads right now with all the talk of a new design, etc.

Does anyone have any advice? Is it possible the iPad 12.9 will be updated before WWDC, or more likely not updated until later in the year?
Click to expand...
Are you new here?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/the-ipad-pro-2-is-coming-soon.2042299/

One of many threads speculating...
 
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Joseph H said:
I'm really struggling to decide which iPad Pro to get. The fragmentation of Apple's line up and feature sets along with current whisperings is making it very difficult.

I'm leaning towards 12.9inch with a smart cover + Magic Keyboard (not sure about the Keyboard Cover really) + Pencil for handwritten notes/scribbles. Pros would be full Safari site views in Split View and generally more screen space for productivity, cons would be slight lack of portability but no different to taking my 15 inch MBP around!

HOWEVER:
- No True Tone display like 9.7 inch model
- Cameras vastly inferior to 9.7 inch model

I can't quite understand why the 12.9 inch model was not updated when the 9.7 inch model was released. The lack of feature parity is very annoying. I am worried if I purchase and invest in the 12.9 inch model now (and all its accessories), I will regret it when they add True Tone and improve the cameras.

I also worry they will release a 2nd gen Pencil. I know this is always the way with Apple products but it seems particularly acute with the iPads right now with all the talk of a new design, etc.

Does anyone have any advice? Is it possible the iPad 12.9 will be updated before WWDC, or more likely not updated until later in the year?
Click to expand...

My personal take is that we won't see refreshed iPads until the end of the year, after the iPhone has been announced. The pace of tech improvements and sales simply don't justify an annual refresh of the iPad anymore.

If you think you can wait for another half a year, go ahead. Else, the 12.9" iPad Pro is still a pretty capable device even if its parts are a generation old.
 
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I'm waiting for either the bezel-less 10.5" iPad Pro, or a possible iPad mini Pro. Thought they were coming in March...but when that didn't happen was kinda bummed. Guess I'll have to wait a bit longer. Until then, my aging iPad mini 2 will have to do. It's all good.
 
Abazigal said:
My personal take is that we won't see refreshed iPads until the end of the year, after the iPhone has been announced. The pace of tech improvements and sales simply don't justify an annual refresh of the iPad anymore.
Click to expand...


I wholeheartedly agree. I think we are to the point where the iPad will likely see a refresh somewhere around or after the iPhone releases. My thoughts are for a release, somewhere around October or November, similar to the 12.9 iPad did in November 2015. That's been my prediction all along and it's pointing toward that direction.
 
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darkarn said:
I am still unsure where or why you came up with that idea though, do you mind explaining this?
Click to expand...
I think it's a bit of hyperbole. It's not abandoned; however, the iPad is not making them the money it used to and it definitely isn't getting the same focus as the iPhone.

There isn't much of a difference from the iPad Pro to the iPad 2017 other than a few hardware improvements and accessory compatibility. There's no software advantage between any of the iPads.
 
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lympero said:
More or less doesn't matter. It's still abandoned.
Click to expand...

That's just fancy speculation. You have zero insight wether there will be a successor or if the next iOS version will have more features for this device. Besides, it was a niche product from the start, and everyone knew that.
 
Instead of updating from year to year with minimal updates, its more important to take their time to come with bigger updates. I see in iphones,i bet they could update from iphone 6 to iphone 7 called 6s after 2 years
[doublepost=1492951924][/doublepost]Nowdays is very hard to come with big improvements from year to year
 
denichidesigns said:
I think it's a bit of hyperbole. It's not abandoned; however, the iPad is not making them the money it used to and it definitely isn't getting the same focus as the iPhone.

There isn't much of a difference from the iPad Pro to the iPad 2017 other than a few hardware improvements and accessory compatibility. There's no software advantage between any of the iPads.
Click to expand...

I just thought the word "abandoned" is a little too harsh, if it was truly as such, shops won't display them for a start
 
darkarn said:
I am still unsure where or why you came up with that idea though, do you mind explaining this?
Click to expand...
With 4gb and A9x processor, the 12.9 iPad Pro is likely going to be supported by software updates for a good many years to come.

I can understand the reluctance to pick one up though. It is now almost 1.5 years old, even though it remains the most powerful iPad with regards to horsepower. Yes, it has a lousier camera compared to the 9.7" iPad Pro, but if you don't find yourself taking photos often, or if camera quality isn't a top priority (8mp is still plenty when taking scans), you shouldn't miss it (and hey, no camera bump!). A larger iPad also means a wider smart keyboard which makes for easier typing.

Overall, the 12.9" iPad Pro is still a very solid iPad which will work well, even if Apple suddenly decides to release a new model in the coming months.
 
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Abazigal said:
With 4gb and A9x processor, the 12.9 iPad Pro is likely going to be supported by software updates for a good many years to come.

I can understand the reluctance to pick one up though. It is now almost 1.5 years old, even though it remains the most powerful iPad with regards to horsepower. Yes, it has a lousier camera compared to the 9.7" iPad Pro, but if you don't find yourself taking photos often, or if camera quality isn't a top priority (8mp is still plenty when taking scans), you shouldn't miss it (and hey, no camera bump!). A larger iPad also means a wider smart keyboard which makes for easier typing.

Overall, the 12.9" iPad Pro is still a very solid iPad which will work well, even if Apple suddenly decides to release a new model in the coming months.
Click to expand...

Given its size, it is much harder to take pictures too; may as well whip out a DSLR lol
 
darkarn said:
Given its size, it is much harder to take pictures too; may as well whip out a DSLR lol
Click to expand...

Well, if you want to take photos to insert directly into iMovie or keynote, may as well do it with the iPad and save yourself a step of transferring it over.

I am a teacher using the 9.7" iPad Pro and my iPad's camera gets a fair amount of usage.
 
Abazigal said:
Well, if you want to take photos to insert directly into iMovie or keynote, may as well do it with the iPad and save yourself a step of transferring it over.

I am a teacher using the 9.7" iPad Pro and my iPad's camera gets a fair amount of usage.
Click to expand...

Good point, I didn't think about this workflow, thanks!
 
lympero said:
Even if you need it DONT buy. It's totally abandoned from Apple and not worth it at the moment.
Click to expand...

That's definitely an opinion without any factual evidence. Considering Cook stated the iPad is the future of computing for Apple.

https://qz.com/689936/the-ipad-will...-the-future-of-personal-computing-eventually/

lympero said:
More or less doesn't matter. It's still abandoned.
Click to expand...

More or less you're saying you have no idea why your posting with no substantialality and have zero feedback, other than to jab at Apple for one reason or another.
 
Last edited:
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Joseph H said:
I'm really struggling to decide which iPad Pro to get. The fragmentation of Apple's line up and feature sets along with current whisperings is making it very difficult.

I'm leaning towards 12.9inch with a smart cover + Magic Keyboard (not sure about the Keyboard Cover really) + Pencil for handwritten notes/scribbles. Pros would be full Safari site views in Split View and generally more screen space for productivity, cons would be slight lack of portability but no different to taking my 15 inch MBP around!

Does anyone have any advice? Is it possible the iPad 12.9 will be updated before WWDC, or more likely not updated until later in the year?
Click to expand...

Honestly its still a great iPad but buying a 1.5 year old iPad doesn't make sense to me, i can guarantee you will have buyers remorse as soon as the new one comes out. If there is an urgent need try to find a cheaper used one you can use and sell later for not much of a loss.
 
I just noticed today that the Apple store is showing availability of the 12.9 pro as 2-3 weeks. I've tried various configurations (wifi only, cellular, gold, silver etc) and availability doesn't change. So I've hedged my vote on a new 12.9 Pro before WWDC.
 
darkarn said:
Given its size, it is much harder to take pictures too; may as well whip out a DSLR lol
Click to expand...

I think cameras on the pros are more meant for document scaning in combination with the pencil than regular photography. They work really well in that regard anyways.
 
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