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All iPads M1 iPad Pro 11 in. vs. M2 iPad air 11 in.
- Thread starter RedMango22
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I think the 120 hz is one of the most biggest features that pushed me to the iPad Pro 😄😄😄
Got to keep my eye out for a good deal! I’m trying to look one that’s 256 GB
After some consideration, today I decided to order the refurbished 11" M1 iPad Pro from Apple UK.
The irony is that if the iPad 10th Gen had a 128GB option, I may have gone for that because I initially wanted to pay as little as possible and sub-£400 was compelling. But 64GB for the base model is too little, and £499 for the next step up (even though it's 256GB) is too close to the price of the new iPad Air (£599) & refurb M1 iPad Pro (£549).
In the end, it really wasn't a challenging decision. Thanks to everyone who's contributed to this thread, it's been really helpful.
The irony is that if the iPad 10th Gen had a 128GB option, I may have gone for that because I initially wanted to pay as little as possible and sub-£400 was compelling. But 64GB for the base model is too little, and £499 for the next step up (even though it's 256GB) is too close to the price of the new iPad Air (£599) & refurb M1 iPad Pro (£549).
In the end, it really wasn't a challenging decision. Thanks to everyone who's contributed to this thread, it's been really helpful.
I thought it’s quite obvious why Apple did that. It’s to simply streamline the line up and make it similar to the MacBook lineup. The MacBook screen sizes are not exactly 13”, 14”, 15” or 16” either, and yet they are marketed as such for simplification.
MacBook:
Air 13” and 15”
Pro 14” and 16”
iPad:
Air 11” and 13”
Pro 11” and 13”
I’m more surprised they didn’t increase the size of the iPad Pros by an inch. But I suspect that would happen in the future. Many digital artists would benefit from the increased size.
Mad Mac Maniac
macrumors 601
I was referring to the fact that the iPad Airs are still *slightly* smaller than their pro counterparts. For simplicity I would have assumed Apple would 1) keep iPad Pro at 12.9" but *call* it 13" and 2) increase the iPad Air to exactly 11" just to streamline display production lines
Instead they 1) increased 12.9 pro to 13" and added a 13" Air which is *actually* 12.9"... 2) renamed the 10.9" air to 11" but *actually* kept it at 10.9"
Apple doesn't mention their actual screen size for the base model, except to say 10.9". Whereas the new M2 Air is now described as being 11". But it has in vey small text a side notation in apple's comparison table for different iPad current models, where it says:
" Measured diagonally as a rectangle, the 11‑inch iPad Air is 10.86 inches. Actual viewable area is less. "
Hmm ... but Apple doesn't say what the viewable area is!! Hah Hah. But it's less than 10.85 inch!!!!
Other threads have mentioned the "If Steve Jobs were here", while others have said at what his age would be now (70 years) he'd not likely be working for Apple (I guess the tech industry is tougher than the USA's Presidency). But why does Apple make establishing precise screen viewing sizes impossible?
Since Apple does not, they should call the series 10 base iPad, the current M2 Air and the iPad M4 Pro all 11" viewing. Unless its a 13" of course!
Well done! Great deal too. Refurb's from Apple Australia don't occur with iPads unless it's for over equipped iPad Minis.
My figures show for a last year's iPad Pro M2, they cost 12.5% less than today's version, in cellular and 256 GB versions. Value is better for a 128 GB version, and using Mac Air prices for upgrading 128 to 256 GB I found the previous M2 Mac Pro with cellular and 128 GB to be 19% cheaper than the new version (if it had 128 GB available). For many usages your M1 Pro would be better than today's Air IMO, mostly due to Promotion and screen brightness.
When one starts considering keyboards and pens, current models would have more appeal. But then one runs into the comparative value of MacBooks.
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I thought it might be amusing to see my two “non-Mini” iPads side-by-side, more than a decade apart …
I think I know which is the newer one. 🤣
The screen is definitely awesome.
I think I know which is the newer one. 🤣
It was the hardware differences that nailed it for me in the end. If the 2024 iPad Air had been an M4 rather than an M2, I may have been persuaded the other way.
The screen is definitely awesome.
I'm also considering getting a refurb M1 Pro for £550... it's still more than enough for 90% of the people buying iPads I expect and literally half the price of the new model, but a lot more than half the machine IMO.
I don’t think you’ll regret it. I actually went the extra step and got the cellular version (£100 more) - mainly because I don’t see myself replacing this iPad for many, many years and I know that option will be useful to me (I occasionally used it on my mini 5). But that’s obviously not necessary if you don’t need it.
Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! Hoping this thread helped anyone else make a decision, like it helped me.
