I think, instead, that this is gonna change now... They will not use RAM as a differentiator but M1. So from now on M iPads (M1, M2 etc) will get features (like sophisticated multitasking, or some Mac-like apps) that the other iPads won't get. And only M iPads will get so much RAM. The iPad pro will become more pro, not just premium, and this will push its sales. We'll know soon enough.
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iPad Pro just wow. 16GB RAM on new iPad Pro!
- Thread starter bscheffel
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It does feel that the Mac/macOS and the iPad Pro/iPadOS are now firmly on a collision course.
The marketing section of the new IPP in yesterday’s presentation left me in no doubt that Apple sees the iPad as a seriously powerful computer optimised for multimedia creation (whereas the Mac is a general purpose computer).
The use of the M1 processor in the IPP is a clear sign too.
It’s going to fascinating to see how long this takes and what the outcome will be.
I can see the MBA being significantly cannibalized by the IPA in 2-3 years.
The marketing section of the new IPP in yesterday’s presentation left me in no doubt that Apple sees the iPad as a seriously powerful computer optimised for multimedia creation (whereas the Mac is a general purpose computer).
The use of the M1 processor in the IPP is a clear sign too.
It’s going to fascinating to see how long this takes and what the outcome will be.
I can see the MBA being significantly cannibalized by the IPA in 2-3 years.
What might be the use case for 16 GB of ram on an iPad?
I highly doubt if Apple will allow Mac OS on the iPad Pro, as it will eat into MacBook Air and Pro's market, unless they change their strategy and having iPad Pro at the bottom of "consumer" level and kill the Air the low spec Pro. But that will really confuse the Air and low spec Pro type of consumers. Now Apple can do what they set out to do with a cool chip, just hope they can use it wisely.
I highly doubt if Apple will allow Mac OS on the iPad Pro, as it will eat into MacBook Air and Pro's market, unless they change their strategy and having iPad Pro at the bottom of "consumer" level and kill the Air the low spec Pro. But that will really confuse the Air and low spec Pro type of consumers. Now Apple can do what they set out to do with a cool chip, just hope they can use it wisely.
I think the specs are just overpowered at this point without giving any hint of what to expect in the future in terms of software because it’s been years I’m waiting for big changes in iPadOS and it never happens.
Seriously what do you do on your iPad in this current state that require so much power? For me, I’ll buy it when I’ll see big changes in iPadOS first.
Seriously what do you do on your iPad in this current state that require so much power? For me, I’ll buy it when I’ll see big changes in iPadOS first.
As I have said already, you don't need MacOS to use 8GB or even 16GB, you could do it on Android with Dex, by running up to 3 apps in split screen on the tablet and as many as you like on Dex on the external display in resizable windows (or minimizing them in the taskbar without closing them). Now if you don't like resizable windows for some reason it's fine, but that is something even the 6GB pros would struggle with.... Or pegging apps to RAM to avoid reload, again a Samsung feature...
I am not saying Apple should copy Samsung, they would certainly improve on it, but they don't need MacOS, an iPadOS desktop mode (with external display) just for M1 iPads could take advantage of that RAM...
I don’t understand this. Why would the iPad Pro kill the MacBook Air, let alone the MacBook Pro? They are completely different form factors.
Why would anyone looking for a light weight laptop, instead opt for a much more expensive tablet where you have to purchase the keyboard / mouse etc separately. That’s not even counting the number of ports available. Sure for some that is exactly what they want, but as is constantly stated here - not everyone does. No one has said the cheap iPad is going to get the M1, or be able to run MacOS (apps), just the iPad Pro.
That is exactly my thinking. That said, while I will wait for the software, it does make a little sense. The hardware has to come first undoubtedly. So why not release it June or October? Well, I think that’s just marketing. While it is a massive jump for the iPad Pro, I do think the ‘hype’ might have been slightly lower if they had also released new MBP or a Mac Pro with M1X or the similar. Currently it’s easy to understand, the iPad Pro has the same chip as the macs. In a few months time, maybe not so straightforward. Probably harder to pitch how good an M1X is while simultaneously trying to sell the iPad Pro with the same chip as macs.
Why? Because the 12.9in iPad (with MacOS) is basically the same weight as the M1 Macbook Pro once you add the MK (and only slightly heavier than the MBA) and while a bit more expensive it offers a much better screen, an appealing aspect ratio, touch and pen support and can act as an iPad when detached. Plus you have a cellular option....
As for the number of ports, a hub solves the issue.
If this could not eat into the M1 Macbook sales I don't know what would
Apple has already done this before. When iOS 11 came out, Split Screen was limited to the then-new iPad Pro 10.5 and 1st and 2nd Gen 12.9” Pro. We assumed this was because those models contained 4GB of RAM for the first time compared to the 2GB found in the earlier iPads and iPad Pro 9.7”.
Maybe I should have worded my last post a bit better. I do not think Apple will treat 8GB M1 iPads and 16GB M1 iPads different. Whatever one gets, the other will. Having to tell people a certain feature is limited to only the 1TB and 2TB models, even into the future, will cause an uproar. The 16GB of RAM will purely serve to increase productivity for those who are going to be running Pro Apps, which I think will see a heavy emphasis come WWDC. And considering Apple has yet to fragment even macOS by RAM - instead by just model years - bodes well for M1 iPads.
So my point stands. Unless you’re purchasing the iPad with the intention of running a MacBook Pro level of cooperative multitasking, you do not need to worry about getting 16GB of RAM.
that matches what I said, so it's will be M1, not RAM, the differentiator... 16GB may become helpful at some point but 8GB will not be a limiting factor...
Having said that, let me correct something concerning split screen. It came with IOS 9 and all 2GB RAM models were allowed to use it, starting with the iPad air 2. So Apple did differentiate but it was earlier, in 2015, cutting off 1GB models.
The 4GB pro couldn't do anything more than the 9.7. Not even 3 apps at the same time, which was later allowed on iPads with only 3 GB RAM probably because IOS could not differentiate 2 different versions of A9X....
This is what I am hoping. I am waiting until WWDC before thinking about upgrading to one of the M1 iPad's.
I was super excited about 16GB yesterday. But today, I am not so sure. For my specific use case, I am struggling to understand how 16GB would benefit me when 4GB on my current 2018 model works fine. I also don’t think I need 1 TB of storage. A 256GB, Cellular IPad Pro 12.9” costs $1,399, which starts to make more sense price wise than a $1,999 1 TB model.
Well, you are looking at it from a “now” perspective. I think these iPad Pros are specifically for iPadOS 15…. And when more developers port over macOS apps over to the iPad Pro, you’ll then find certain use cases… that would benefit the 16GB model.
I believe, that certain apps from devs will be limited to only run on the newest iPad Pros. I’m excited for the 16GB models, but I’m not looking to spend that much for them.
Same here still rocking a 12.9 Gen 2 256GB cellular. Storage wise 1TB is a massive overkill for my needs only using 100GB on current iPad. It’s a gamble getting the 8GB and a decision you could regret down the line once we know what the future software plans are iPadOS 15 onwards
Simple, because people might have to carry another laptop around to get things done easily. Apple completely screwed up the 3rd party software eco-system with what they have done. Either I can spend a lot of time fixing 3rd party software and try to get it run on my fully specced MBP16 with GPU support or I can carry another laptop (in my case Razer) with a Nvidia RTX5000 running Linux where things just work out of the box. The thing is, I don't want to use Windows or Linux for daily tasks such as email/web, some photos, videos, presentations, reading and writing. I want to do it in macOS. It's much easier to carry a laptop + tablet than two laptops. The other option would be to log into a remote box from a MBx, but that's not always possible. For office use, it doesn't matter much. I have a linux box in addition to my Macs in the home office and a Dell/Linux box in the office + GPU cluster available. When I have to be mobile, that doesn't work.
So I'd welcome a 15/16" iPad Pro running macOS when docked to a Magic Keyboard or any other dock with full monitor support and whenever it's not docked running macOS in "iOS mode" like any iPad so far.
We'll see what happens with 3rd party software over the next years, but right now it's an absolute mess. That being said, I think it's the right step for Apple to make the switch.
So they did a similar RAM split in 2018 as they are doing here. Was that very well published on Apple website at the time?
Your post is a reminder to not read too much into this stuff too early. Easy to read 16GB of RAM as a must have for massive changes, but they may still waffle about and not deliver much. We'll see what WWDC offers.
True, but none of these offer touch / pencil support (if that matters for your use-case).
I thought Slide Over came with iOS 9 but Split View didn’t come until iOS 11? Regardless you’re correct. M1 will be the limiting factor not the RAM. Hence why I do not see a reason for jumping on the 1TB model when it’s a $700 upgrade. If someone finds value in it that’s great but to me and I feel 90% of even Pro-Level iPad users it will not make difference.
As I said, I have the 16GB M1 in my Mac mini and run Final Cut. Editing dual 4K ProRes streams in a timeline with color grading, FCPX uses about 6GB. Considering iPadOS 14.5 is still running fairly well on iPads with 2GB, I feel even the 8GB is going to be pretty overkill with pro-apps. It may need to ‘reload’ FCPX after switching to, say, Safari or Pixelmator, but who knows. Maybe iPadOS 15 will introduce disk swap and that’s why Apple upgraded the performance of the iPad’s SSD.
I would loooove Final Cut on the iPad but I need to be able to keep my library portable. If iPadOS 15 doesn’t support running an FCPX library from an external drive it’s a non-starter for me.
Both Slide Over and Split View came with IOS 9, but only Slide Over worked with 1GB devices (and not even that with 512MB devices...)
Personally I don't use FCP, I use lumafusion (but I don't videoedit often), so FCP coming to iPad won't change anything for me (same for the other pro apps, no interest in Logic, I use Korg Gadget and Module)
I agree with you in general, but I would make a distinction. If you buy 128 or even 256GB iPads, it doesn't make sense to go 1TB for an amount of RAM that you won't fully use before many years if ever...
However if you go with 512GB then the jump is $400-500 and at that point it can start making sense, especially if you plan to keep the iPad for a very long time...
Personally I am one of those that always get the top specs (I got the maxed out version both with the 2015 pro and the 2018 11in pro). But now I am not in the market for a new iPad unless at some point iPadOS brings some very compelling, desktop-like, features that only work on M1...
But there is one thing that would make me upgrade instantly, without even thinking about it and not caring about price, but it won't happen anytime soon, a 15in iPad pro max...
Ok yeah I remember there being a lot of feature fragmentation and only the latest iPad getting Split View (which, at the time, was the Air 2). I agree with everything else, but even if I was considering the 512GB it would take a lot to convince me to jump to the 1TB at $400. Not that it is a bad deal (to jump from 8GB/512 to 16GB/1TB in the M1 Macs is $400 as well), that's just a lot of extra change to drop on what is vaporware at this point.
Personally, I wish Apple would start treating the iPad Pro as a pro machine, not just on the software level but the ordering level as well. I would probably opt for the 16/256 config IF we knew FCPX was coming to iPad and I could edit on an external drive. I bought the 1TB in my Mac mini because I have 512GB in my MacBook Pro and have hit the limit multiple times. I currently have 3 FCPX projects on my Mac mini's internal drive and have 600GB free. I can't imagine having all these files on the iPad either, so it would probably have even MORE free space. 256 just feels like the sweet spot for me with the iPad.
$400?
$400 is $1.1 per day for a year.
You wouldn't even notice it if this much was stolen from you each day.
$400 is $1.1 per day for a year.
You wouldn't even notice it if this much was stolen from you each day.
Haha, I hear you. I honestly was looking at the 24" iMac thinking "it just looks like a giant iPad now..."
Yeah I'm one of those people who would go for a bigger iPad than even the 12.9", though I concede that at some point it becomes another device since it's going to probably need a desk to really use well rather than being suited for handheld use.My iPads sit on a stand most of the time, my 15in Surface Book 2 is not much heavier than my 2015 pro, so Apple could easily make a 15in pro that is totally suitable for handheld use, just not for a long time... But is the 12.9 pro much more suitable for that? Especially the M1 one, which is now as heavy as the second gen 12.9....Haha, I hear you. I honestly was looking at the 24" iMac thinking "it just looks like a giant iPad now..."