I come from a 9.7” iPad Pro. Very happy with this upgrade so far. The increased screen real estate is noticeable. Everything is fast and snappy. I didn’t even think my old iPad Pro was slow until I tried this one.
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iPad Pro M1 iPad Pro 11 First Impressions
- Thread starter Wags
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I’m on the fence and have a 2018 iPad Pro 11 as well. Can you elaborate on any more of the improvements over the 2018?
Other than apps, is FaceID and Safari web browsing any faster?
Yeah I like face ID on my iPhone but I absolutely hate it on iPad. It never work as expected in landscape mode (like 50% of the time) and often I just end up enter my code because I’m too frustrated with it.
That's interesting, my experience has been the exact opposite (with 2018 12.9, and now with M1 11) – almost always unlocks right away regardless of orientation (unless my hand is in the way).
So far loving my new 11” M1 experience. Had a 6th gen for the last couple years until it broke (bad fall), then was borrowing my kids air 3 for the couple few months. This is my first pro and wow it flies!
The screen is gorgeous, the speakers are fantastic and it’s extremely fast!. Loving my experience so far
The screen is gorgeous, the speakers are fantastic and it’s extremely fast!. Loving my experience so far
I bit the bullet and upgraded to the 11" M1 from a 2018 11". There is really one major thing I've noticed that make the experience better.
Going from 4 to 8 gigs of RAM makes a big difference in my use case. Safari tabs don't refresh and Splashtop sessions stay active in the background. The extra RAM is a huge difference in my opinion.
Speed is better, but not really that noticeable in day to day use. Bootup is faster as is updating to 14.6. Also, seems like Ubiquiti Unifi app is more responsive as is Splashtop Business app. May be placebo effect, but seems snappier.
Overall for me, nice update. Not a required one, but as a tech enthusiast, it is a nice treat.
Going from 4 to 8 gigs of RAM makes a big difference in my use case. Safari tabs don't refresh and Splashtop sessions stay active in the background. The extra RAM is a huge difference in my opinion.
Speed is better, but not really that noticeable in day to day use. Bootup is faster as is updating to 14.6. Also, seems like Ubiquiti Unifi app is more responsive as is Splashtop Business app. May be placebo effect, but seems snappier.
Overall for me, nice update. Not a required one, but as a tech enthusiast, it is a nice treat.
More and more I’m regretting my decision of getting rid of my 2017 10.5 for this. It’s a little snappier but not a whole lot more and I’m really hating FaceID now (I’ve reset it, tried multiple profiles, etc). I personally find TouchID to be vastly superior.
That's worrying to hear. I have the 10.5 as well, but I'm planning to buy the M1 11 in Silver myself today. Do you advise against it? What in particular do you not like? Is there any thing that's better? (eg screen, speakers, etc)? As a note I usually use my iPad in portrait mode, so I expect Face ID to work fairly well?
I've been using faceid on iPad pros since they were introduced with no issue using faceid at any angle. currently owned a 3rd gen 11" iPad Pro with no issues at all. Get one if you really want one. I came from a 2020 iPad Pro 12.9" and this 11" is great. My wife has an original 10.5" iPad Pro that is showing it's age when up against this new 11"
Make sure to leave some space between your face and the camera, about arm length. It won't work well if your face is too close. Also try registering your face in low light condition.
Just swapped my Space Grey M1 11” with Black Magic Keyboard for Silver/White combo yesterday for a change pace because I’m always going with the darker color way. I must say I preferred the darker look but the silver-white does have that “newness” factor many (myself included, if perhaps on a slightly more technical level) look for.
Everything has been incredibly reliable and quick for me on these new M1 iPads, save for the screen of the first one—a 12.9” 2021—which I ended up switching for a more cost-effective and personally-enjoyable experience in the 11”. Face ID, Wi-Fi, iCloud, calls from my iPhone (until I can get cellular activated when the budget allows)…everything seems to be working as intended. Only sorta funky thing, as MKBHD pointed out, is the edge-of-frame distortion by the front-facing camera when viewing a wide angle, which the “distortion correction” doesn’t seem to always affect.
FaceID seems to be hit and miss with people, so that's hard to tell. Some people will say it never works and others will claim to never have problems, for me it's the former. I'd honestly say that for me it fails more than 50% of the time for sure, even when I make it a point to not cover the camera (which is another nag of mine - it's something I have to think about, never had to think about anything with TouchID). I do use mine in landscape mode a vast majority of the time though, so you might have better luck in portrait mode.
I'd say outside of that it's marginally better. Websites load a few ticks faster, apps launch a few ticks faster, etc - but it's not life altering. With day to day use I never felt like my 10.5 was slow. I find most people to be terribly unreliable when you ask them to compare because they spent a bunch of money on a new toy and they don't want to feel like they wasted money so they'll claim that things are so much better, but if I'm being totally honest here I have to say that for day to day usage, if the 2021 11-inch is a 10/10 then the 2017 10.5 is an 8.5/10. The 2021 is better but not "magical" or anything like that.
As far as screen goes, to me it seems basically the same, but I'm not comparing them side-by-side (sold my 10.5 to get the 11 so I don't have both handy). I really don't notice any difference. With speakers it's the same thing, I think the 2021 might sound a tiny bit better? I can't be sure, I'm sure if I did A/B comparisons with both devices I would notice some differences, but having only experienced each in isolation it's impossible for me to tell. Basically I'm saying that they clearly aren't drastically better (to my ears) because I haven't taken particular notice.
There's basically only one thing where the 11 is clearly better for me and it's with some music production apps I use, like Korg Gadget. When I created particularly complex projects in Korg Gadget on my 10.5 then it would start to become choppy and a bit cumbersome, however, on the M1 iPad it's *clearly* better. Even my most complex projects are absolutely buttery smooth, so this is the one thing that keeps me from totally regretting my purchase. If I didn't use this app so much (or didn't create really complex projects with it) then I would have totally regretted my purchase, but this one thing keeps me hanging on! I still hate FaceID with the heat of a thousand suns though, I really wish I could have TouchID back, so that offsets things a bit.
That's the thing though, with TouchID I didn't have to make adjustments, hold my iPad out at certain distances, etc - I just touched the thing and it worked, nearly 100% of the time.
FaceID is completely unreliable for me when I'm laying around with the iPad, like if I'm laying on the couch or in bed. In that case it fails nearly 100% of the time. Touch and go was a way better experience for me. I also vastly prefer the home button for things like pressing to go home or double-tapping to switch apps, etc. I find that gestures on my phone are intuitive enough and FaceID works well enough there, but for me it didn't translate over to the iPad very well.
Hmm, i'm already swiping to navigate between apps, not really using that home button much. but I do use it on the couch and having to hold the iPad far away to unlock it is a bit of a drawback.
does the silver border around the screen bother you (kind of like and white bezel), or is it a non-issue? why did you preferred the darker one?
Liked it so much I returned my 2021 12.9” for it ! 😂😂
From 2018 11" to 2021 11"? What things are noticeably better? Was it worth the upgrade?
Well you either have to adapt or move on. Apple may or may not implement TouchID like the one for Air 4 in the future Pro, but likely won't.
I mean, sure, but I'm still going to complain about it. The iPad is one of my most used devices of all time and I like it a ton outside of that, but the "adapt or move on" attitude isn't helpful in the least. Imagine if they started implementing AnusID where it scans your anus in order to unlock the device, but the device is your most used device you own. Would it be helpful or informative or useful in any way whatsoever if someone just told you "adapt or move on"?
Careful, don't give apple ideas now!
edit: Joking aside, I really like face id on my phone, so as long as i can have it work for me, faceID is actually a big plus for me. I guess I'll find out.
Yeah you'll have to just try for yourself and see. I like FaceID on my iPhone, that almost never fails, I think the issue with the iPad is that I use it a lot while laying around and for some reason when it's closer to my face (as it tends to be when I lay around) it fails, so either it's passcode time or I have to consciously remember to hold it further away, and also consciously remember to unblock the camera (a problem you won't likely encounter since you said you use it in portrait mode most of the time).
Here’s what the iPad looks like on my humble little makeshift desk. As you can probably tell the Space Grey/Black I had before (sorry I didn’t snap photos) did blend in more seamlessly but I’m quickly growing to appreciate this White color way as well, especially while using lighter interfaces (which as a logistical bonus, as many of you know, are more power-efficient for LCD displays).
With the DualSense controller I acquired yesterday as well as with a standard smattering of Apple accessories and cables—even extending to my vape pen, contact case, and deodorant—my “desk” now has a cool monochromatic look that feels more uplifting than the same-y, sometimes-all-too-familiar, sometimes-drab shades of grey.
Along with the other Apple devices I primarily use (Black iPhone 12 [on which picture was taken], Space Grey Apple Watch, and Space Grey HomePod), all of which are equipped with OLED displays, this color option brings a satisfying and unifying sense of logic to the 11” LCD-equipped iPad since, again, brighter/lighter interfaces and LCDs are typically a good match, akin to OLED pairing more efficiently with darker ones.
The silver bezel adds some pleasing accent that isn’t too “there” if I don’t think too much about it, but even when I do, I still think it adds to rather than detracts from the overall appearance by providing some transition between the shocking white of the keyboard and the iPad’s pitch-black bezel. It looks well-machined and is aesthetically-pleasing, worlds away from the disappointment and distraction of an in-screen edge shadow in my humble opinion.
Although you may not be able to tell by how my desk looks I generally try to be a clean person and have an affinity for keeping my hands non-grubby so it isn’t so much the potential stains and grime that are irking me but rather the keyboard’s uneven backlighting (combined with the fact that bright-white backlighting isn’t always easy to see on bright white keys) that some others have been complaining about.
I could be wrong but the backlighting of this model seems to operate a bit differently—perhaps switching on less—due to the logistical fact that the keys might be easier to read than on the Black models sans backlighting being on in certain scenarios. After all, as I discovered yesterday after the swap, the firmware that came on this model appears to be different from/higher than that of the Black model despite the hardware version numbers being the same. So far I’m not noticing a great deal of difference but the backlighting behavior does feel like it could have been tweaked to complement the color.
Edit: Forgot to show the best, most-coordinated complementary accessory to go with the iPad + White keyboard—the Pencil! Silly me…but I guess the vape battery sorta does the job
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Then what are your options other than bitching and moaning into the ether? Currently your options are stick with older device, Air 4, or put up.
its a nice device! Coming from 2017 12.9”
Finding the smaller size refreshing after 4 years with the big boy
Still going to wait and see if my 2020 12.9” comes and then decide to keep that or this, but I think I might end up having to get rid of my 2017 anyways. IPad overkill.
plus got the mini.
Finding the smaller size refreshing after 4 years with the big boy
Still going to wait and see if my 2020 12.9” comes and then decide to keep that or this, but I think I might end up having to get rid of my 2017 anyways. IPad overkill.
plus got the mini.