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iPad Pro Is the 2021 iPad Pro even worth waiting for?
- Thread starter wetrollerskate
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It really depends on one's circumstance.
Reality is my 2017 iPad Pros (512GB LTE) still serve me well. I don't do anything that would require a faster chipset. I don't really care about resale value either. My old iPads are better off going to family members to use or as beta testing devices rather than exchanging them for the pittance that Apple offers for trade-in. It's too much of a hassle to sell them myself.
The longer I keep my current iPads, the lower the annualized cost. Hence to me, it's worth waiting until the incremental upgrades pile up for a more major upgrade.
I'm pretty sure, based on how big sur ui scaling has changed to more touch friendly environment, that mac pad pro like device will come out eventually. I'm so waiting for that kind of device.
This is what tech has really come to over the years to be honest, you really do not need to upgrade an iPad or iPhone yearly as generation to generation the changes are not big, but if you skip generations then you really feel the upgrade.
Coming from my 2014 iPad Air to a 2020 iPad Pro was a very huge jump in every way, while going from a 2017 iPad Pro to a 2020 iPad Pro may just not be worth it, so I can completely understand why someone with a 2017 iPP may want to wait a few extra years to really “feel” the upgrade.
My wife wants the iPad Pro 12.9; she currently uses a 2016 Retina Macbook. I thought about waiting and seeing what a refresh will bring, but for her needs, the current model is more than enough, so I'll just be looking out at sales/deals between now and Christmas and pick one up.
I just bought a 2020 iPad Pro, so it wasn't worth waiting for me. I love the form factor, the current screen, and the device has more than enough power for what I'm doing with it. For me, it was pretty much that simple.
The benefits of the 2021 iPad Pros are likely going to be limited to the minimal improvements it makes over the A12Z with A14(X). I'm happy that I got the 2020 iPad Pro 11" when it launched this year. Only people who need fit the bill for the type of work that the A14 really shines on should consider waiting... but that's still like 6 months away. So if finances allow those people could buy now and upgrade later (also consider trade-ins and 2nd hand selling).
My thought is that it's the 2022 iPads to be on the lookout for. After Apple has updated more of it's Mac lineup with M1 (or M2) custom chips. I have a feeling Apple using ARM on Mac is going to allow them to bring more of the desktop features to iPad Pro which will be a game changer. The difference between the A12 and the likely A15(X) will be much bigger than A12Z to A14(X). Imagine if the iPad switches to M1 chips. That makes bring a parity between laptops/desktops and phones that has never existed at this level.
The iPad Air's similarity to iPad Pro does put into question where they are heading, but I believe that will be short-lived. The gap between Air and Pro will be wider in 2022.
As always, the recommendation depends on the person and their unique circumstances. Should you wait? Maybe, but in most cases - no. Just buy the best iPad for you at the time you need it.
My thought is that it's the 2022 iPads to be on the lookout for. After Apple has updated more of it's Mac lineup with M1 (or M2) custom chips. I have a feeling Apple using ARM on Mac is going to allow them to bring more of the desktop features to iPad Pro which will be a game changer. The difference between the A12 and the likely A15(X) will be much bigger than A12Z to A14(X). Imagine if the iPad switches to M1 chips. That makes bring a parity between laptops/desktops and phones that has never existed at this level.
The iPad Air's similarity to iPad Pro does put into question where they are heading, but I believe that will be short-lived. The gap between Air and Pro will be wider in 2022.
As always, the recommendation depends on the person and their unique circumstances. Should you wait? Maybe, but in most cases - no. Just buy the best iPad for you at the time you need it.
100% the price is going up. You can tell by how they priced and specced the new iPad Air.
Unless part of your upgrade reason is the screen size !
If a new iPad is released 6 months from now, the current model will still be able to do all you need to do in a tablet and more. The current model won’t be obsolete or useless in terms of power and ability. And trying to stay ahead of the latest and greatest will last about 6 months or so, because technology, design and build is already in progress when you make your purchase.
The 2020 iPad Pro will still be able to carry on and receive updates for 4 - 5 more years.
Too many people on this forum over buy for years down the road. That line of thinking runs counter to other mindset they employ of wanting the latest tech. In the end, it is nothing more than a lot of people over buying so they can brag to themselves and others that they have the latest product x.
Buy what you have a need for today. And if your needs change in 3 - 4 years etc. make another decision based on the current tech versus your budget.
These kinds of decisions aren’t hard to make once you remove the inherent forum mentality.
The 2020 iPad Pro will still be able to carry on and receive updates for 4 - 5 more years.
Too many people on this forum over buy for years down the road. That line of thinking runs counter to other mindset they employ of wanting the latest tech. In the end, it is nothing more than a lot of people over buying so they can brag to themselves and others that they have the latest product x.
Buy what you have a need for today. And if your needs change in 3 - 4 years etc. make another decision based on the current tech versus your budget.
These kinds of decisions aren’t hard to make once you remove the inherent forum mentality.
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I’m in the same wait and see boat - I wonder if Amazon will drop that 12.9 further than the $939 128GB silver is already going for .... hrm.....
I'm hoping the Air's power button Touch ID is added as I'd prefer to use that than Face ID. mini LED is the other big attraction, if it wasn't for that I'd probably have upgraded to the current A12Z model. The A14X will be almost a non consideration given the already massive overkill of the A12Z.
Yep. If I didn't already have an iPad, I'd be more than fine buying one of the currently available options.
As it is, I don't need to upgrade yet. I'd probably upgrade before I actually need to anyway. Just a matter of when I want it more than the other things on my wish list.
I had the 2018 iPad Pro, and now I have the 12.9 inch iPad Pro, with the magic keyboard, bought it basically day one.
It's FANTASTIC, I absolutely recommend it to anyone that wants the best iPad available now. If you need or want one, just get it. I will probably resell mine and get the newest one, but I always want to have the best possible thing.
IMO don't wait, just buy one now.
en.wikipedia.org
It's FANTASTIC, I absolutely recommend it to anyone that wants the best iPad available now. If you need or want one, just get it. I will probably resell mine and get the newest one, but I always want to have the best possible thing.
IMO don't wait, just buy one now.
Osborne effect - Wikipedia
I am a little concerned about this, £969 is about the limit I'm willing to pay for a companion device. I'd spend a little more if I was using it as a MacBook replacement, but that's not how it fits into my usage. If there does end up being a significant price increase, I'll probably end up grabbing the current model before it disappears.
I suppose there's a chance the 12.9" model doesn't move much, but the release of the new Air has made the 11" a really strange device at an odd price point. Can't remember the last time Apple cannibalised one of its own devices so blatantly. The 11" Pro needs some killer app that clearly differentiates it from the Air.
I guess they have room to make the 11” £100 more at £869 and could still leave the 12.9" at £969 - there's no real reason for the price gap between the two sizes to be £200 that I can see?
After weighing up whether or not to wait for the next iPad Pro or take the plunge on the current gen, I just went ahead and got the current gen for these reasons:
1. Likely upgrades on the 2021 model are miniLED, 5G and A14X. The miniLED isn’t going to be a night and day difference IMO as apples standard retina displays are fantastic anyway, 5G is pointless and A14X is going to be a bit faster (A12Z is still super fast though).
2. Will likely be the exact same design as the current gen (don’t know how they will get away from the flat edge design while the Apple Pencil charges the way it does), I personally think the next redesign will be in 2022.
3. Price bump is almost certain at this stage, very similar to how the price increased when retina displays and OLED came about, I can see the base 11 inch being at least £899 and the base 12.9 being at least £1099.
4. Release time isn’t guaranteed to be March 2021, and with the pandemic causing delays and the fact that they are now using iPad parts for their iPhones to keep up with demand shows that they are willing to slow down the iPads for the iPhone, I wouldn’t be surprised if the next Pros don’t get released until October time. On top of this the current gen is still selling like crazy, and releasing in October is still only an 18 month refresh cycle.
1. Likely upgrades on the 2021 model are miniLED, 5G and A14X. The miniLED isn’t going to be a night and day difference IMO as apples standard retina displays are fantastic anyway, 5G is pointless and A14X is going to be a bit faster (A12Z is still super fast though).
2. Will likely be the exact same design as the current gen (don’t know how they will get away from the flat edge design while the Apple Pencil charges the way it does), I personally think the next redesign will be in 2022.
3. Price bump is almost certain at this stage, very similar to how the price increased when retina displays and OLED came about, I can see the base 11 inch being at least £899 and the base 12.9 being at least £1099.
4. Release time isn’t guaranteed to be March 2021, and with the pandemic causing delays and the fact that they are now using iPad parts for their iPhones to keep up with demand shows that they are willing to slow down the iPads for the iPhone, I wouldn’t be surprised if the next Pros don’t get released until October time. On top of this the current gen is still selling like crazy, and releasing in October is still only an 18 month refresh cycle.
I'm not really sure there a major redesign is on the cards at all. They'll maybe cycle through flat edges and rounded edges, while reducing the already small bezels until there's nothing left at all? But basically the current iPad Pro is a rectangular piece of glass that is mainly screen. There's not really anywhere else for that design to go.
Having said I definitely expect a price bump, I can't see them putting the base Pro up by £130 in a single swoop. I know that's roughly what they did with the new Air, but the 4th gen Air is a complete redesign and massive upgrade over the 3rd gen. They'd have to do something really impressive with the 11" Pro to justify selling it for the same price as a MacBook Air, before you even add a magic keyboard which puts another £250 on to the price. (magic keyboard is pretty much a must with the Pro iPads to do pro work on them, if you're not getting the magic keyboard then you really might as well get an iPad Air)
Yeah, I agree and maybe that’s why there is no rumours of the 11 inch getting miniLED so as not to put the price up too sharply possibly... however I just can’t see them upgrading the 12.9 screen without the same being done with the 11, price increase is 100% though regardless whether it’s by £50/£100/£150 just depends how greedy Apple want to be.
Can't be 100% sure but I'm fairly confident the M-series chips are going to be reserved for Macs. They might have pretty much identical architecture to the A-series, but I think they'll stick with the 'A' nomenclature for mobile devices and 'M' for the Mac.
Who said the iPad Pro is going up in price? That's just conjecture.
This has become my mantra of late: If it doesn't have 5G and mini-LED, I'm not interested.
Why 5G? Just because.
Why mini-LED? Because while I think the LCD screens on the current iPad Pros are good, I still want something better. I don't like the grey blacks on those devices for video streaming consumption. Mini-LED may not fix this, but hopefully they can make it better than it is now. Otherwise I'd rather just save my money and stick with my already good screen on my 2017 iPad Pro 10.5". I have perfect blacks on my iPhone because it is OLED, but ironically, it's less critical for me on the iPhone since I don't watch a lot of streaming video on it aside from occasional short YouTube videos and video news reports. The grey blacks on the iPad Pros just bug me.
As for the CPU, since I already have a functional iPad Pro, I may as well wait 5 months, instead of buying a 2 year old SoC at full price in 2020. Hell, I may even wait until summer, to take advantage of the back-to-school sale to get me some discounted AirPods with ambient noise reduction.
In that context, the 2020 model would have to be discounted by something like 40% before I'd even consider it. Right now the 11" cellular model is CAD$1249. Thus, I wouldn't consider buying it unless it was $749 or so. The iPad Air doesn't interest me, since reports are its blacks are even worse than the iPad Pros, and plus it still has Touch ID and no Face ID. I like Touch ID on phones, but I don't like it on iPads. Face ID is where it's at on iPads IMO.
This has become my mantra of late: If it doesn't have 5G and mini-LED, I'm not interested.
Why 5G? Just because.
Why mini-LED? Because while I think the LCD screens on the current iPad Pros are good, I still want something better. I don't like the grey blacks on those devices for video streaming consumption. Mini-LED may not fix this, but hopefully they can make it better than it is now. Otherwise I'd rather just save my money and stick with my already good screen on my 2017 iPad Pro 10.5". I have perfect blacks on my iPhone because it is OLED, but ironically, it's less critical for me on the iPhone since I don't watch a lot of streaming video on it aside from occasional short YouTube videos and video news reports. The grey blacks on the iPad Pros just bug me.As for the CPU, since I already have a functional iPad Pro, I may as well wait 5 months, instead of buying a 2 year old SoC at full price in 2020. Hell, I may even wait until summer, to take advantage of the back-to-school sale to get me some discounted AirPods with ambient noise reduction.
In that context, the 2020 model would have to be discounted by something like 40% before I'd even consider it. Right now the 11" cellular model is CAD$1249. Thus, I wouldn't consider buying it unless it was $749 or so. The iPad Air doesn't interest me, since reports are its blacks are even worse than the iPad Pros, and plus it still has Touch ID and no Face ID. I like Touch ID on phones, but I don't like it on iPads. Face ID is where it's at on iPads IMO.
Trust me it’s going up in price, why...Who said the iPad Pro is going up in price? That's just conjecture.
This has become my mantra of late: If it doesn't have 5G and mini-LED, I'm not interested.
Why 5G? Just because.
As for the CPU, since I already have a functional iPad Pro, I may as well wait 5 months, instead of buying a 2 year old SoC at full price in 2020. Hell, I may even wait until summer, to take advantage of the back-to-school sale to get me some discounted AirPods with ambient noise reduction.
In that context, the 2020 model would have to be discounted by something like 40% before I'd even consider it. Right now the 11" cellular model is CAD$1249. Thus, I wouldn't consider buying it unless it was $749 or so. The iPad Air doesn't interest me, since reports are its blacks are even worse than the iPad Pros, and plus it still has Touch ID and no Face ID. I like Touch ID on phones, but I don't like it on iPads. Face ID is where it's at on iPads IMO.
Imagine if the iPad Pro stayed at 769 base, if the air was 128gb at its base it would be 679 not 579 as it is with 64gb which would be a mere 90 difference in price than the pro if the storage capacities matched.
So if the pro offers better chip (A14X), better speakers, miniLED, Face ID, better cameras, 120hz screen, 5G etc it would be absolutely crazy to even consider going with the Air at the price point with its minuscule storage option.
There is definately an increase in price on the cards for the next gen iPP.