I got the 2020-model today, it was fantastic! At the end of the day though I realised that it was overkill for my needs. Picked up the 2018 model and saved a bit of money. Very happy with the 2018!
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All iPads iPP 12.9 2020 vs 2018 Refrub, Current iPP 9.7 Pro
- Thread starter jpmoogle
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I got the 2020-model today, it was fantastic! At the end of the day though I realised that it was overkill for my needs. Picked up the 2018 model and saved a bit of money. Very happy with the 2018!
I'm really stuck because of that 6 GB of RAM. Hahaha. I think price will prevail and in my mind, it will match the RAM in my 11 so more of a reason to go with that - they should go EOL around the same time.
Yes, that was what mainly pushed me towards the 2020 in the first place.
Then I realised even the Air 3 runs 3 GB of RAM, so 4GB should be sufficient for many years to come for regular users like me. I don’t do photo or video editing, gaming or anything like that on my iPad.
But I agree with you, price will be the deciding factor. If one can justify the extra cash, the 2020 is of course better.
got the 2018 refurb 12.9. Your “life is short” got to me. Money isn’t too big of an issue, I’m just cheap. Haha. But maybe the $200 isn’t that big of a deal (although factoring in magic keyboard it becomes almost as much as a entry MacBook Pro).
anyways still have a few more days for return. Still thinking if I should just go 2020 and keep to for a long long time.
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Ram is not only important for photo, video and gaming, but also for something as mundane as having multiple browser tabs open. Today’s websites consume an amazing amount of Ram.
But I wouldn’t reduce comparison criteria to Ram size alone. The 2020 also has better WiFi, LIDAR, more powerful GPU and - perhaps most important - an “enhanced thermal architecture”, as Apple puts it. The latter is quite important if you intend to cover the metal back of the iPad, as it will impair the back’s important functionality of being a giant heat sink.
Earlier generations ran a bit hot and could develop the “touch disease”, which is most probably very closely related to heat (not only from load, but also from simply charging) and a covered back. Even something as simple as prolonged web-surfing sessions did make the 2017 12.9 run significantly hotter tot he touch than the 2020. There’s a reason why Apple never offered an official folio case for the early gen 12.9’s ...
As Apple explicitly mentions the thermal improvement for the 2020 iPP’s, I assume that the problem was not fully solved in the 2018 models. And iirc there also were some reports from 2018 users about touch problems.
The 11” iPad Pro basically contains the same hardware as the 12.9, only with less body volume and a smaller back (heat sink), therefore I would take that heat issue into consideration for an 11” iPP as well.
If I recalled correct. 2018 and 2020 both have 120hz.
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How wide spread is the touch problem? I had the iPad Pro 1st gen from the beginning (gave to my parents). Also purchased 2nd gen for my mother in-law. None of them have had any issues.
I think you’re drinking the kool-aid. 😉 The 2020 iPad Pro has been widely regarded as the most lacklustre update of all time. I bought one, besides the camera I couldn’t tell any difference to the 2018. The 2018 also has 120Hz of course and I haven’t had any heat issues. Personally, I rather saved the $200.
Are you suggesting that you would need 6GB RAM for mundane tasks such as web browsing? I doubt it, Apple have so many 3GB devices still being sold new (iPad 10.2”, Air 3 and Mini 5), they are going to ensure a smooth browsing experience for casual users for many years to come, even with 3GB RAM. We’re probably still two years away from 4GB becoming the new mainstream.
I have one more week before returning the iPad pro 2018 refurb. I'm debating, I use it for note taking A LOT, and I want to expand it's usage with the magic keyboard. The magic keyboard with the 2018 refurb pricing is "acceptable" but the price is still almost close to getting a new MacBook Air/Pro. The magic keyboard with the 2020 is just a bit too much. Although I do planning on keeping the iPad pro for a long time.
On my PC, I think the web browser is the single biggest user of RAM. I normally see it using around 8GB or more on a system with 16GB RAM. Websites have gotten pretty bloated nowadays.
Yes, iPads with 3GB RAM offer fast browsing. Heck, even A10/2GB iPads do. However, I have 2017 iPad Pros with 4GB and I still get plenty of tab refreshes on those. Moreso on iPadOS 13 compared to iOS 12.
If I’m filling out long online forms on the iPad, I never switch apps or tabs in Safari so I don’t lose my input. Instead I’ll use my phone or another iPad to “multitask” and research. Either that or I’ll switch to filling out the form on a PC.
That said, I doubt 3GB vs 4GB vs 6GB RAM is going to be a dealbreaker for most.
Im returning my 11" pro refurb 2018. I use it for notability and it still crashes with ate bad food/sig kill/watchdog exhausted RTC real time clock for 10 seconds error when the CPU gets overloaded. When this happens, I lose a large chunk of my notes. It was fine with ios12 on my air 2 but since downgrading to 13, it's been absolute hell.
Seems like devs have no idea what to do with that error. Ive reached out to a bunch and they get back to me with other bug reports but 100% of all the devs ignore me when I send a bug report with that error message.
YMMV though.
I started out with mor notability. But then I settled on OneNote because it has always been solid and I have MS 354 home. It also helps that you can quickly sync with the onenote on your PC. Maybe give that a try?
i have onte note as well + 365 but their PDF handling is/used to be really bad. WIth notability, it was a lot easier to write handwritten notes on top + record the lectures and have it sync up. Has that gotten any better these days?
Exactly... that's what I call the "laptop bias"... people still think of RAM on ipads like on laptops... that is, less RAM = slower... no... even 2GB RAM is fast on ipad, it's reloads the problem not speed...
Having said that, as I said elsewhere, the RAM management algorithm Apple is using now it pretty impredictable... so it's hard to tell the difference between 3/4/6 GB devices (2GB are clearly a pain and reloand constantly...). Hopefully they'll improve the algorithm but for now I don't trust any ipad if I am filliing a form....
Um...I seems to remember notability had some issues with taking large PDF and try to take notes with it. I have yet to try PDF with Oenote, I suppose you would import them as PDF or digital print them to Oenote format?
Have you tried PDF Expert? I had them from early days (like early iPad just for PDF reading), but I think it works well for annotation?
Even on „normal“ PC’s/Laptops, less Ram does not automatically equal a slower machine. However, with a full-blown desktop OS taking up more space in Ram, chances are higher to reach the Ram limit and the machine needs to page out to disk.
In addition, less Ram means less space for caching system resources, so in those cases again a disk access is more likely on systems with less Ram, thus slowing down the system.
Especially some years ago, when disk drives were usually magnetic spinners, you could clearly notice the speed loss. With SSD‘s becoming increasingly ubiquituous, that speed loss is less noticeable. But it does not completely vanish as long as Ram is still significantly faster than an SSD.
On iPads, the system disk has always been some kind of SSD. Also, the OS was heavily optimised for a small Ram footprint. In combination, iOS (iPadOS) always felt quite fast.
However, with iPadOS clearly steering towards becoming more and more like a desktop OS, its Ram footprint gets bigger and bigger and it’s internal structures will probably also get closer to those of a desktop OS.
In other words, lack of Ram will become more noticeable in the future, with iPadOS further maturing (and Websites continuing to become even bigger resource hogs). Apple is not exactly known for being overly generous with Ram, so giving all iPadPro’s 2020 full 6GB Ram is pretty telling imho.
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Have read this thread with interest as I’m ready to buy an iPad Pro 11” to replace/supplement my iPad Mini 4.
The UK refurb store only has cellular versions of the 2018 Model so, although I’d get 256GB for a similar cost to the 2020 128GB, I’m minded to future proof and go for the newer model. I have no need for the cellular function as I can just tether tmy iPhone.
My 2010 MBA has lasted well but isn’t really worth direct replacement, so I’d prefer to get the iPad Pro and invest in the magic keyboard. I can then use the iPad for photography when travelling as well as a daily device for other uses. I have Creative Cloud and cloud space so don’t necessarily need to have large storage. I’ll need to replace my 2013 iMac as well at some point, but may as well wait and see what ARM brings.
I know 256GB would be better than 128, on balance I feel the tweaks to the 2020 model would be a better investment, unless anyone can suggest otherwise?!
The UK refurb store only has cellular versions of the 2018 Model so, although I’d get 256GB for a similar cost to the 2020 128GB, I’m minded to future proof and go for the newer model. I have no need for the cellular function as I can just tether tmy iPhone.
My 2010 MBA has lasted well but isn’t really worth direct replacement, so I’d prefer to get the iPad Pro and invest in the magic keyboard. I can then use the iPad for photography when travelling as well as a daily device for other uses. I have Creative Cloud and cloud space so don’t necessarily need to have large storage. I’ll need to replace my 2013 iMac as well at some point, but may as well wait and see what ARM brings.
I know 256GB would be better than 128, on balance I feel the tweaks to the 2020 model would be a better investment, unless anyone can suggest otherwise?!