IPad Pro first gen vs IPad Pro 10.5 - advice?!

[Lillylolly]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to get an IPad Pro - I'm an illustrator so am really interested in using it with procreate. I was looking at getting a refurbished 10.5 Ipad Pro and the pencil separately, it's kind of really stretching my budget even getting a refurb though. Buying new, or one of the larger models is not an option for me.

However someone has offered me a first generation IPad Pro 12.9 with Apple pencil for £450 - it's barely been used (she bought it for same reason as I want it and just never got on with it). My only concern is the age of it- is it worth buying considering it's a first gen? Id prefer the larger size obviously with drawing but the brand new, latest model is way way out of my budget.

To give some extra details - I would mainly be using it for drawing, using the internet, streaming Netflix/iPlayer etc and using it for note taking of some kind (I teach part time so this would be useful for tutorials etc).

Any advice? I need to give a reply to this seller pretty soon!!

Thanks in advance

 

[PanAm-L1011]

I'd say why not? It's probably got some life still left in it and should be fine for what you want to do.

 

[MK500]

The first thing I would check is how much storage it has. The 32GB models are a bit tight for a lot of uses. Even just a large selection of Apps can fill that up and not give you much space for art projects. So hopefully the 12.9 is not the base model with 32GB. My daughter bought the 32GB model thinking, “Dad, it’s just for drawing”. But she is constantly complaining about having to delete apps to free up space. And when she got into photography; the large RAW images were a problem.

The original 12.9 has a A9X processor and the 10.5 has a A10X. Both have 4GB RAM which is a big deal for future iOS upgradability and design apps. So that’s good.

Overall the processor is probably about 25% faster on the 10.5. This shouldn’t be a deal breaker.

The newest version of iOS really gives a boost to older models; so I don’t think you will have any problems using the first generation 12.9”.

One final worry is the battery. Depending on how it was used the battery on a 3 year old iPad can begin to degrade or even need to be replaced. Check on the cost of this if it seems to not be holding a charge long enough. Here Apple charges $99 for a battery replacement.

 

[Lillylolly]

Thanks for all that info!! It's the 128gb version so gives a little bit more room! I've attached a pic of what the seller has sent me. She's including the pencil with it so seems like a pretty good deal, I just wanted to check if having an older pro would be as workable as the newer ones!! I'll check about the battery, thanks!

 

[Freakonomics101]

One final worry is the battery. Depending on how it was used the battery on a 3 year old iPad can begin to degrade or even need to be replaced. Check on the cost of this if it seems to not be holding a charge long enough. Here Apple charges $99 for a battery replacement.

I thought Apple didn’t replace iPad batteries? Instead they just issue a device replacement.

Thanks for all that info!! It's the 128gb version so gives a little bit more room! I've attached a pic of what the seller has sent me. She's including the pencil with it so seems like a pretty good deal, I just wanted to check if having an older pro would be as workable as the newer ones!! I'll check about the battery, thanks!

You should be good with 128 GB. I have 64 GB on my iPad Pro 10.5 Wi-Fi + Cellular and I’m doing fine with storage. I use my iPad for the same reasons.

Settings app states I have 158 apps and almost 3,000 “photos.”

9.38 GB remaining. Not great but also not concerning as I have all the apps I want already installed on my iPad.

 

[RevTEG]

Thanks for all that info!! It's the 128gb version so gives a little bit more room! I've attached a pic of what the seller has sent me. She's including the pencil with it so seems like a pretty good deal, I just wanted to check if having an older pro would be as workable as the newer ones!! I'll check about the battery, thanks!

My first gen 12.9 (128g) WiFi+cell still runs flawless. I have the new 12.9 also. I love both devices and for my teaching needs really can’t tell a huge difference in everyday usage. I say get the one you’re looking at. You’ll be happy with it.

 

[AlexJoda]

Thanks for all that info!! It's the 128gb version so gives a little bit more room! I've attached a pic of what the seller has sent me. She's including the pencil with it so seems like a pretty good deal, I just wanted to check if having an older pro would be as workable as the newer ones!! I'll check about the battery, thanks!

That seems like a good deal! I had the gen 1 iPP 12.9 for nearly two years and loved it all the time. Gave it to my brother in spring hoping for a new model at the developer conference in summer. Apple did not release a new one and I bought a used gen 2 after that. I am very happy with it and I will not upgrade to the gen 3 iPP because that one brings no functional improvements. It cost me 800€ without pencil. The main difference is the ProMotion display with 120HZ refresh rate. This is a nice feature but one can live without it for nearly half the price (with pencil). The CPU difference is not that much noticeable. This is a great tablet especially because of the size! No comparison to anything smaller...

 

[Lillylolly]

Amazing thank you all so much!!

 

[Kendo]

Get a used model with AppleCare+ used if you can, it is much cheaper and also "brand new" if you use up one of the AppleCare claims. https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ically-giving-away-10-5-pros-on-ebay.2154778/