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iPad Pro My First iPad Pro> Buyers Guilt?

I did not really need it back then, but to diminish my buyers guilt, I bought a refurbished iPad Pro Gen 1 + Apple Pencil and saved over 40% on both products.

Every now and then I buy a kindle book instead of a hardcover, and save a few bucks.
I'm also extremely happy to have it when I take the plane.

--

Just upgraded to a refurbished iPad Pro 11-inch 2020 and literally could sell it $150 higher tomorrow if I wanted to.
 
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I definitely relate. I bought the 12.9” M1 with the expensive magic keyboard a few months ago. I got it to replace my 10.5” 2017 ipad pro and was expecting to really love the upgrade… but instead I just found myself mentally justifying dropping $1700 or so on a device I honestly already had. Sure it was new, fast, big, and sleek, but if I’m being honest with myself my old ipad does all the things the new one did, without even one single significant feature difference for my use case (no pencil).

Maybe if my A10X was struggling to keep up I would’ve kept it, but since there aren’t any pro apps or triple A games to use it on, I just had to return it. Got the M1 macbook air instead and saved myself a lot of money. I would’ve bought the ipad air in a heartbeat if it wasn’t for pro motion—any ipad without pro motion would’ve felt like a downgrade for me.

If you’re having buyer’s remorse, I would definitely return it. It costs too much to buy frivolously. Gone are the days of the $650 ipad pros
 
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So many good replies and stories. I’m definitely excited to use this device more, and really unleash its power. I’m interested in learning to draw and color. I’m always down for watching movies in the best possible quality. Even remote gaming, photo editing or recording music. Coming from an old 9.7” I really wanted the best. I don’t think I’d be happy with an iPad that I know there’s one that can sound better look better, be more powerful.
 
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MetalMatt24 said:
So I just got an iPad Pro M1 12.9". I got the 11" and returned it for the 12.9"

Now that I have it I start thinking? did I really need this or did I just want it? I'm in no way an artist or a "creator" but do occasionally color with colored pencils and would like to get into the world of doing it digitally. I used to bring my iPad with me and run my music off it in my truck instead of my phone. This one does seem huge.

has anyone ever bought one and then started thinking after did I need this? Should I just have gotten the Air?
The Air would be a major upgrade from my "iPad" cheap that I had. But this seems to be the ultimate. I'm just coming up with excuses after excuses of why I really need it.
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Yea I had a bit of that. I don’t even have a pencil for mine and probably never will. Just wanted the better speakers and better screen, plus the most future proof tablet you can buy. We only live once, if you can comfortably afford it then why not get the best iPad experience
 
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Having waited 5 years to upgrade (from the 1st Gen 9.7 iPad Pro), I do not feel any guilt in my M1 12.9 purchase. It feels like a HUGE upgrade and I can justify such a luxury when it’s over such a long period of time.
 
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MetalMatt24 said:
So many good replies and stories. I’m definitely excited to use this device more, and really unleash its power. I’m interested in learning to draw and color. I’m always down for watching movies in the best possible quality. Even remote gaming, photo editing or recording music. Coming from an old 9.7” I really wanted the best. I don’t think I’d be happy with an iPad that I know there’s one that can sound better look better, be more powerful.
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FOMO is a costly thing. ;)

On the flipside, we who have offered our opinions have first-hand experience with an iPad Pro. There is value to you personally to have a first-hand experience too. Your experiences in some ways will be similar to ours, and in other ways different. Please keep us posted here with your experiences with it... it helps add to the collective knowledge and experience and will help others who will be in a similar position in the future.
 
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FMRWin10Boy said:
No I did at first but concluded it was a good purchase. I spend most of my time working on a desk and it’s nice to move to the couch or take my work outside. I find it helps my mental state. I don’t view the iPad Pro as a laptop replace by any means. However, I think Apple is heading in the direction in which professionals could do 100% of their work on an iPad, but it’s not there right now. I can only do about 40% of my work on it. But during that 40%, I’m away from my desk!
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MetalMatt24 said:
So I just got an iPad Pro M1 12.9". I got the 11" and returned it for the 12.9"

Now that I have it I start thinking? did I really need this or did I just want it? I'm in no way an artist or a "creator" but do occasionally color with colored pencils and would like to get into the world of doing it digitally. I used to bring my iPad with me and run my music off it in my truck instead of my phone. This one does seem huge.

has anyone ever bought one and then started thinking after did I need this? Should I just have gotten the Air?
The Air would be a major upgrade from my "iPad" cheap that I had. But this seems to be the ultimate. I'm just coming up with excuses after excuses of why I really need it.
Click to expand...
MetalMatt24 said:
So I just got an iPad Pro M1 12.9". I got the 11" and returned it for the 12.9"

Now that I have it I start thinking? did I really need this or did I just want it? I'm in no way an artist or a "creator" but do occasionally color with colored pencils and would like to get into the world of doing it digitally. I used to bring my iPad with me and run my music off it in my truck instead of my phone. This one does seem huge.

has anyone ever bought one and then started thinking after did I need this? Should I just have gotten the Air?
The Air would be a major upgrade from my "iPad" cheap that I had. But this seems to be the ultimate. I'm just coming up with excuses after excuses of why I really need it.
Click to expand...
 
The most important feature for me is being able to use one outside. I sometimes consider getting an iPad, but always thought you couldn't use it outside because of the brightness, so I'm wondering if that has changed, and if so, can any/all new iPads be used in, at least, indirect sun?
 
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generdude said:
The most important feature for me is being able to use one outside. I sometimes consider getting an iPad, but always thought you couldn't use it outside because of the brightness, so I'm wondering if that has changed, and if so, can any/all new iPads be used in, at least, indirect sun?
Click to expand...

I use mine in the car pretty often (passenger). Sunny SoCal weather and it's fine. Just need to increase the brightness from my usual 0-25% to max. Of course, having display at max uses up a ton of battery and makes the iPad pretty warm. During heat waves and with the sun beating down on the iPad, it could get hot enough to shutdown to prevent overheating.
 
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Yes. I wish I had just got the 11". When using the 12.9, I would rather just use my MBA since it's more capable and I want the keyboard anyway. When doing "tablet things", the 11" is a better size. The extra space of the 12.9 is wasted because of iOS limitations. I thought I would appreciate mini LED more but in truth I just don't care. All I really need is an iPhone and MBA.
 
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That’s a reason why I didn’t get the M1 iPad Pro 12.9. I knew I wanted the 12.9, but didn’t want to spend $1,000+ on the iPad, keyboard and pencil. So, I watched some comparison videos on YouTube of the 2018, 2020 and 2021 12.9. I ended up saving a ton of money and recently getting the 2018 12.9 for under $600 used (no scratches, battery health is at 98%). Now, I don’t feel that guilt of, “Did I really just spend $1,000+ on this device when I already have a MBP that’s capable of all my tasks?”
 
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Every time you look, make use of the brighter, larger and all around better screen, it pays off. Life is too short, enjoy things money can buy. It’s a good investment too. You have the best tablet in your hands that will last many years to come. I’m happy with iPhone 8, 5 years with iPhone 4 before that, people are happy with iPP 2018... I wish I had iPP before this one, feels like I was missing out. (hope some of it makes sense)
 
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sracer said:
An iPad Pro sounds like overkill for your uses. Even the Air would be. The 8th Gen iPad is a great device and would do everything you would need it to for far less money. But then again, you don't want to be THAT guy among your friends and acquaintances who cheaped out while they all had iPad Pros. :)
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Yes, an overall nicer screen (thing that makes 90% of the tablet) is an overkill for a human unless he’s a "pro". 🙄
Getting iPP to show a class though 😎👍.
Sorry but I dislike the way you think here.
 
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generdude said:
The most important feature for me is being able to use one outside. I sometimes consider getting an iPad, but always thought you couldn't use it outside because of the brightness, so I'm wondering if that has changed, and if so, can any/all new iPads be used in, at least, indirect sun?
Click to expand...
On a really sunny day, it can be still difficult to read the display, XDR doesn’t help much with that. What helps is the better anti-reflective coating. Reading is manageable, movies are not.
 
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MetalMatt24 said:
has anyone ever bought one and then started thinking after did I need this? Should I just have gotten the Air?
The Air would be a major upgrade from my "iPad" cheap that I had. But this seems to be the ultimate. I'm just coming up with excuses after excuses of why I really need it.
Click to expand...

I had a good think on buying the Air and concluded that it wouldn't have been the best idea. I had seen iPad Pros on display at an Apple Store. The Air has no ProMotion, and I read a lot, so the smoother animation and scrolling of the Pro models won me over in the end. No regrets here.

Also if you like to watch shows at night, the display of the M1 12.9" iPad Pro is excellent for that.
 
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i upgraded from a 11” 2018 to the 12.9 M1.
Like many others have said already - Did I need it? : Absolutely no.
Can I do all my work on it like the M1 MBA ?: No - although it suffices 75% of the time vs the 50% on the 11"

Do I regret it - Hell, No - the larger screen is much better for productivity work and the mini LED screen coupled with a APP makes HDR playback more immersive than my TV + ATMOS rig
 
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