iPad Pro Just ordered iPad Pro 11, 512GB cellular to replace 2020 iPP 11

[Starscape]

After more than two years of near daily tortuous use for my work, my 2020 iPad Pro 11 has been rock-solid reliable. Saltwater and south Florida hot sun didn’t bother my iPP 11 at all but the upgrade from 4G to 5G cellular as well as the WiFi upgrades make the upgrade to the 2022 model worth it. The jump from the A12Z to the M2 APU will definitely be nice, and I’m curious to see how their performance compares. Now if Apple can give iPadOS true multitasking capabilities, it would be perfect. I’ll post a detailed comparison between the two here if you all want.

 

[azt33]

Definitely interested. I’m considering the jump from a 2018 model, which has been my daily workhorse for 4 years now.

 

[rogertoh16]

Mine is 2020 iPad Pro 12.1... also just order new iPad Pro, can't wait till 26Oct...

 

[DMG35]

You're going to see little if any performance gains. The A12Z was already a silicone chip and the M1 and M2 aren't significantly faster. You might see a gain of a couple of seconds but that's about it.

I guess if 5G and Wifi 6e are a reason for you to switch than I hope you enjoy your upgrade. In reality though you will see minimal gains in performance in those areas as well.

 

[MyAppleWorld]

i think the best upgrade you get is center stage from m1 onwards

 

[Starscape]

You're going to see little if any performance gains. The A12Z was already a silicone chip and the M1 and M2 aren't significantly faster. You might see a gain of a couple of seconds but that's about it.

I guess if 5G and Wifi 6e are a reason for you to switch than I hope you enjoy your upgrade. In reality though you will see minimal gains in performance in those areas as well.

Depends on the apps. For video encoding, the M2 will have noticeable gains in render time over the A12Z. The biggest gains will likely come from its GPU.

 

[Starscape]

It's a good thing my new iPad Pro 11 arrives tomorrow. The USB-C port stopped working this morning on my iPad Pro 11 2020. What is with Apple and these ports on the iPads? Every iPad I've owned had the Lightning or USB-C ports fail after about two years. My iPhone Mini's port is getting flakey too.

Although I use my devices daily outdoors a lot, I do take very good care of them. When I'm on the water, I always place a small piece of blue painter's tape over the port to protect it from salt, etc. I also check and clean those ports carefully. With my current iPP 11, cleaned the port and tried two different cables and chargers and no matter what I do, it no longer charges. I will also add that my iPP has never never been dropped, and I am always careful to not stress the port connection while I'm using it as it charges.

And here's the part when I might get flamed, though it's true; none of my Android tablets and phones had ever had a port fail. I use a Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 alongside my iPad and that port shows no signs of connectivity problems. Same for the previous Samsung tablets and phones I've used.

I really hope Apple had taken measures to make the USB-C port more reliable, but I'm sure it's the very same connector as previous iPads. Sigh.

 

[Digitalguy]

It's a good thing my new iPad Pro 11 arrives tomorrow. The USB-C port stopped working this morning on my iPad Pro 11 2020. What is with Apple and these ports on the iPads? Every iPad I've owned had the Lightning or USB-C ports fail after about two years. My iPhone Mini's port is getting flakey too.

Although I use my devices daily outdoors a lot, I do take very good care of them. When I'm on the water, I always place a small piece of blue painter's tape over the port to protect it from salt, etc. I also check and clean those ports carefully. With my current iPP 11, cleaned the port and tried two different cables and chargers and no matter what I do, it no longer charges. I will also add that my iPP has never never been dropped, and I am always careful to not stress the port connection while I'm using it as it charges.

And here's the part when I might get flamed, though it's true; none of my Android tablets and phones had ever had a port fail. I use a Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 alongside my iPad and that port shows no signs of connectivity problems. Same for the previous Samsung tablets and phones I've used.

I really hope Apple had taken measures to make the USB-C port more reliable, but I'm sure it's the very same connector as previous iPads. Sigh.

I had a port fail on my Samsung phone. The reason? I was using the device while plugged it. Unplug it before you use it, USB C is a fragile port, pressure from the cable may damage or break it.

 

[Username-already-in-use]

You're going to see little if any performance gains. The A12Z was already a silicone chip and the M1 and M2 aren't significantly faster. You might see a gain of a couple of seconds but that's about it.

I guess if 5G and Wifi 6e are a reason for you to switch than I hope you enjoy your upgrade. In reality though you will see minimal gains in performance in those areas as well.

I would disagree with this, I very much feel the M1 difference over the same gen-A12X model. Single core performance, memory amount, SSD read/write speeds and memory bandwidth differences are substantial.

 

[azt33]

It's a good thing my new iPad Pro 11 arrives tomorrow. The USB-C port stopped working this morning on my iPad Pro 11 2020. What is with Apple and these ports on the iPads? Every iPad I've owned had the Lightning or USB-C ports fail after about two years. My iPhone Mini's port is getting flakey too.

Although I use my devices daily outdoors a lot, I do take very good care of them. When I'm on the water, I always place a small piece of blue painter's tape over the port to protect it from salt, etc. I also check and clean those ports carefully. With my current iPP 11, cleaned the port and tried two different cables and chargers and no matter what I do, it no longer charges. I will also add that my iPP has never never been dropped, and I am always careful to not stress the port connection while I'm using it as it charges.

And here's the part when I might get flamed, though it's true; none of my Android tablets and phones had ever had a port fail. I use a Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 alongside my iPad and that port shows no signs of connectivity problems. Same for the previous Samsung tablets and phones I've used.

I really hope Apple had taken measures to make the USB-C port more reliable, but I'm sure it's the very same connector as previous iPads. Sigh.

Same with my 2018 model, now for about 1.5 years. I found one cable and one charger that will charge it, but worse than that, my iPP killed the USB-C port on my 32” LG monitor and 3 original USB-C cables

Can’t wait for the new iPP to arrive!

 

[Starscape]

I had a port fail on my Samsung phone. The reason? I was using the device while plugged it. Unplug it before you use it, USB C is a fragile port, pressure from the cable may damage or break it.

I understand what you're saying and I agree that using it while plugged in will create extra stress on the port. But this is an iPad, not a phone, and as a device that is designed to handle heavy workloads, having to only use it on battery would be ridiculous to most users that rely on it. I am confident that a better USB-C port can be designed. Naturally, Apple charges $700+ to change that port, essentially turning my iPad Pro into E-waste.

 

[rui no onna]

I understand what you're saying and I agree that using it while plugged in will create extra stress on the port. But this is an iPad, not a phone, and as a device that is designed to handle heavy workloads, having to only use it on battery would be ridiculous to most users that rely on it. I am confident that a better USB-C port can be designed. Naturally, Apple charges $700+ to change that port, essentially turning my iPad Pro into E-waste.

It’s fine to use the iPad plugged in as long as you’re not constantly moving it around. I have my 12.9” plugged in 24 hours during the work week (with charge levels managed via automations+smart plug) but it’s also mostly stationary.

I doubt Apple even manufactures the USB-C port themselves. They probably just buy it from the same Chinese manufacturers that Samsung, Google, et. al. buy theirs from.

 

[Starscape]

It’s fine to use the iPad plugged in as long as you’re not constantly moving it around. I have my 12.9” plugged in 24 hours during the work week (with charge levels managed via automations+smart plug) but it’s also mostly stationary.

I doubt Apple even manufactures the USB-C port themselves. They probably just buy it from the same Chinese manufacturers that Samsung, Google, et. al. buy theirs from.

Often my iPad is stationery as well, however I have another device that handles the majority of that workload - a computer workstation. The iPad is designed to be a portable, rugged device and Apple has long advertised it as a portable, powerful computer. And that it is in most respects.

I really like the iPad platform even with its limitations, but if the ideal long-term strategy for using it reliably is to never use it handheld while it's plugged in, then that is just dumb. Naturally Apple does not produce the actual port connectors, however they do design the boards and mountings for it. A quick search returns endless posts of failed iPad connectors not due simply to having lint or dirt inside the connector.

If my iPad Pro were four years old, I would not be so critical. But the machine I'm talking about is not even two years old yet. It's a 512GB cellular model that was not cheap. In all other respects, it functions flawlessly, and now it's such a shame that due to a port that costs pennies, the device is essentially a paperweight. And no, I don't think using the $300 keyboard to charge it is any solution either. But Apple got its way - my new iPP 11 512GB cellular to replace this one is out for delivery. Bravo, Apple.

 

[Gengar]

That’s what I did too. I needed more space and cellular. AT&T’s $20 unlimited tablet plan with 15GB of hotspot is

 

[blkjedi954]

You're going to see little if any performance gains. The A12Z was already a silicone chip and the M1 and M2 aren't significantly faster. You might see a gain of a couple of seconds but that's about it.

I guess if 5G and Wifi 6e are a reason for you to switch than I hope you enjoy your upgrade. In reality though you will see minimal gains in performance in those areas as well.

Wow.. wrong. And definitely wrong on 5G performance. I currently use 12.9 2020 1TB AND M1 11in 256GB. 5G in my area is more than 5 times the speed of my 4G LTE of my 12.9, mind you my average for LTE is about 60 - 75Mb down which is pretty good. But my 5G avg down is between 480 - 700Mb and the occasional 850 to 900Mb down. Night and day if you ask me. As for the silicon performance coming from A12Z to M2 will indeed be significant due in large to the significant increase in memory bandwidth. That alone will blow away the A12Z. The M2 CPU is 15% faster than M1 (which was already 50% faster than A12Z) and its GPU is 35% faster than M1 (which was already 40% faster than A12Z). Do the math. So unless you’re only playing flappy birds and watching YouTube videos you will definitely notice the difference and it won’t be just a couple of seconds.

 

[DMG35]

Wow.. wrong. And definitely wrong on 5G performance. I currently use 12.9 2020 1TB AND M1 11in 256GB. 5G in my area is more than 5 times the speed of my 4G LTE of my 12.9, mind you my average for LTE is about 60 - 75Mb down which is pretty good. But my 5G avg down is between 480 - 700Mb and the occasional 850 to 900Mb down. Night and day if you ask me. As for the silicon performance coming from A12Z to M2 will indeed be significant due in large to the significant increase in memory bandwidth. That alone will blow away the A12Z. The M2 CPU is 15% faster than M1 (which was already 50% faster than A12Z) and its GPU is 35% faster than M1 (which was already 40% faster than A12Z). Do the math. So unless you’re only playing flappy birds and watching YouTube videos you will definitely notice the difference and it won’t be just a couple of seconds.

In daily use you won't see a huge difference. Unless you are are heavy photo or video work then I'm sorry you just aren't seeing huge gains here. I'll give you the 5G but outside of that, you just aren't seeing massive differences here. The A12Z was already super fast and locked into iOS there is only so much these tablets can do.

 

[Digitalguy]

In daily use you won't see a huge difference. Unless you are are heavy photo or video work then I'm sorry you just aren't seeing huge gains here. I'll give you the 5G but outside of that, you just aren't seeing massive differences here. The A12Z was already super fast and locked into iOS there is only so much these tablets can do.

I tend to agree, I use daily my A12X pro and my M1 pro and the only big difference is the amount of RAM. Opening web pages and apps is not even a couple of seconds difference, more like half a second difference. I would say that there is more difference between A9X and A12X than between A12X and M1.
Now more intensive things like editing, simulations and what not (none of which I do on my iPads) are certainly different, but things like Apple, Google, Microsoft, streaming apps etc. it's a second or split second difference, unless there is a reload.
And that's where the huge difference is, reloads (at least with the 4GB devices, when I compare to my 6GB RAM A12X pro the difference is really minor for opening apps and webpages)

 

[Digitalguy]

Often my iPad is stationery as well, however I have another device that handles the majority of that workload - a computer workstation. The iPad is designed to be a portable, rugged device and Apple has long advertised it as a portable, powerful computer. And that it is in most respects.

I really like the iPad platform even with its limitations, but if the ideal long-term strategy for using it reliably is to never use it handheld while it's plugged in, then that is just dumb. Naturally Apple does not produce the actual port connectors, however they do design the boards and mountings for it. A quick search returns endless posts of failed iPad connectors not due simply to having lint or dirt inside the connector.

If my iPad Pro were four years old, I would not be so critical. But the machine I'm talking about is not even two years old yet. It's a 512GB cellular model that was not cheap. In all other respects, it functions flawlessly, and now it's such a shame that due to a port that costs pennies, the device is essentially a paperweight. And no, I don't think using the $300 keyboard to charge it is any solution either. But Apple got its way - my new iPP 11 512GB cellular to replace this one is out for delivery. Bravo, Apple.

To be honest, I never have the iPad in my hands when charging. if it's charing it's sitting somewhere on the Magic keyboard, on a smart folio or on a stand. The iPads have enough battery that I don't need to use them in my hand and have a cable still attached. But I never let them discharge below 50% so that helf to always have enough juice... (and I have more than one...)

 

[CharlesShaw]

Oh great. /s Something else on my worry list. Prior to reading this thread, I was looking forward to USB-C coming to my next iPhone, but now I'm thinking about how rugged the Lightning connectors are/were (albeit slow) when I was cleaning out pocket lint with a plastic tooth pick.

 

[Internaut]

i think the best upgrade you get is center stage from m1 onwards

Center Stage works on the 2020 iPad Pro (which was an unexpected surprise). I assume I will miss out on the external display improvements in 16.2 though.

 

[Bmoreguy03]

this should be interesting. Im about to do it also get the 11" the only thing holding me back is the screen

 

[blkjedi954]

It's a good thing my new iPad Pro 11 arrives tomorrow. The USB-C port stopped working this morning on my iPad Pro 11 2020. What is with Apple and these ports on the iPads? Every iPad I've owned had the Lightning or USB-C ports fail after about two years. My iPhone Mini's port is getting flakey too.

Although I use my devices daily outdoors a lot, I do take very good care of them. When I'm on the water, I always place a small piece of blue painter's tape over the port to protect it from salt, etc. I also check and clean those ports carefully. With my current iPP 11, cleaned the port and tried two different cables and chargers and no matter what I do, it no longer charges. I will also add that my iPP has never never been dropped, and I am always careful to not stress the port connection while I'm using it as it charges.

And here's the part when I might get flamed, though it's true; none of my Android tablets and phones had ever had a port fail. I use a Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 alongside my iPad and that port shows no signs of connectivity problems. Same for the previous Samsung tablets and phones I've used.

I really hope Apple had taken measures to make the USB-C port more reliable, but I'm sure it's the very same connector as previous iPads. Sigh.

I hear you and have read many who experienced the same issue. I on the other hand have been using the iPad since the iPad 2 (2011), and moved the entire family onto iPads. Of more than 20 iPads between the 5 of us over the 10+ years of rigorous use, ONLY ONE iPad suffered from a bad charging port. My original iPad 2, which died last year, never had an issue with the port. It was 11 years old. So… maybe, just maybe you’re unintentionally contributing to its failure? Not an accusation just putting it out there within the realm possibility. What say you?