Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New iPad Air or iPad Pro 11"?

gwhizkids

gwhizkids

macrumors G5
Original poster
Jun 21, 2013
13,672
22,540
I'm torn: I'd love the 2018 iPad Pro 11" model with Pencil 2 support. But right now forking out $1100 (for the iPad, Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil 2) is a tough call. How much am I really losing by getting the new iPad Air, with a Smart Keyboard (and an Apple Pencil, that a family member has already given me)? I am not a creative professional; I read / edit documents and am looking for a good way to annotate.

My main concern with "settling" is future proofing my purchase. I tend to refresh my iPad every 4 years. The A12 in the new iPad Air is certainly encouraging, but I don't want to lose out on Pencil capability if apps start supporting Pencil 2 and leaving Pencil "1" behind. Also, how important is ProMotion to my use case?

Thanks for your thoughts in advance.
 
ProMotion and Pencil 2 are important updates that blend well together. If you want to use Apple Pencil on a regular basis, I would go with iPad Pro.
ProMotion makes scrolling documents nice and ultra smooth. Once you've used it, you won't want to go back to an iPad without it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cape Dave and gwhizkids
gwhizkids said:
I'm torn: I'd love the 2018 iPad Pro 11" model with Pencil 2 support. But right now forking out $1100 (for the iPad, Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil 2) is a tough call. How much am I really losing by getting the new iPad Air, with a Smart Keyboard (and an Apple Pencil, that a family member has already given me)? I am not a creative professional; I read / edit documents and am looking for a good way to annotate.

My main concern with "settling" is future proofing my purchase. I tend to refresh my iPad every 4 years. The A12 in the new iPad Air is certainly encouraging, but I don't want to lose out on Pencil capability if apps start supporting Pencil 2 and leaving Pencil "1" behind. Also, how important is ProMotion to my use case?

Thanks for your thoughts in advance.
Click to expand...
The Air has just been released. It will be fine for 4 years, so "future proofing" (which isn't actually a thing) should not be a concern. It has also been revealed that the Air has 3GB RAM, which is another nice little boost. Others claim that ProMotion is a must-have and lack of it would prevent them from buying the Air. For me, it is a gimmick. I've used iPads that had it and didn't and the "benefits" are wildly overstated (again IMO).

I've been using the Pencil 1 daily for 3 years (first with the 12.9 Pro and for the last year, the 2018 iPad) and there is nothing that I do with it where I wish I had the Pencil 2.

I think that the Air + Smart Keyboard + (free to you) Pencil is an outstanding combination that will provide you with years of enjoyment.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tps3443, AutomaticApple, Falhófnir and 3 others
I don’t think you need to worry about apps “not supporting” the original pencil. The technology in the tip that controls writing and pressure sensitivity is identical between the pencil 1 and the pencil 2. They both behave exactly the same while writing so they should both be supported on devices where the hardware allows for it. All the pencil 2 brings to the table is the double tap gesture and inductive charging instead of lightning. Neither of those should affect whether apps support the pencil 1.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gwhizkids
sracer said:
The Air has just been released. It will be fine for 4 years, so "future proofing" (which isn't actually a thing) should not be a concern. It has also been revealed that the Air has 3GB RAM, which is another nice little boost. Others claim that ProMotion is a must-have and lack of it would prevent them from buying the Air. For me, it is a gimmick. I've used iPads that had it and didn't and the "benefits" are wildly overstated (again IMO).

I've been using the Pencil 1 daily for 3 years (first with the 12.9 Pro and for the last year, the 2018 iPad) and there is nothing that I do with it where I wish I had the Pencil 2.

I think that the Air + Smart Keyboard + (free to you) Pencil is an outstanding combination that will provide you with years of enjoyment.
Click to expand...

Having had the 11” IPP for a week before returning it, and had a play with the v2 Pencil, I’d say it feels more like writing / drawing on paper than the v1 pencil, as (in my head anyway!!) it felt like there was a little more friction.

However that was last year, and I have since moved my note-taking in work purely to my v1 IPP using the original pencil, and when I now compare;

- IPP 11” 256gb £919 + v2 Pencil £119 =£1038 to
- new IPA 10.5” 256gb £629 and use existing pencil

It becomes a no-brainer for a non-pro like me. That’s £419 difference.

I could trade my current IPP in for £243, but with the saving, I might hang on to both. My IPP is 32gb, so will be fine just for work.

Today’s announcement is just what I wanted. Just iOS 13 to wait for now!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: sracer
Davefevs said:
Having had the 11” IPP for a week before returning it, and had a play with the v2 Pencil, I’d say it feels more like writing / drawing on paper than the v1 pencil, as (in my head anyway!!) it felt like there was a little more friction.

However that was last year, and I have since moved my note-taking in work purely to my v1 IPP using the original pencil, and when I now compare;

- IPP 11” 256gb £919 + v2 Pencil £119 =£1038 to
- new IPA 10.5” 256gb £629 and use existing pencil

It becomes a no-brainer for a non-pro like me. That’s £419 difference.

I could trade my current IPP in for £243, but with the saving, I might hang on to both. My IPP is 32gb, so will be fine just for work.

Today’s announcement is just what I wanted. Just iOS 13 to wait for now!!
Click to expand...
I use a matte screen protector on my 1st gen 12.9 Pro and 2018 iPad and using the Pencil 1 feels very natural... enough bite that it feels like writing on paper. I know most people don't use a matte protector so I can understand why it would feel different than the Pencil 2.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Davefevs
I am sort of in a simular boat as the OP.. except I have the Apple Pensil 2.

I had originally ordered the Apple 12.9 Pro 2018 and the Pensil, but sent it back last year as I could not justift the cost of the whole package. About 6 weeks after returning the Pro, a second package arrived from Apple with an Apple Pensil 2 inside of it. Apple was nice in they said just keep it as I guess it costs less to make them than it would to pay for a return package back to them.

So I have the Apple Pensil 2 with no iPad Pro to use it on.

Right now I have an old original iPad Air circa 2015, that is getting rather long of tooth and really doesn't work all that well anymore with most apps. I stopped updating the IOS at 10.3.3 and fear to even try anything else as I don't know how well it would work and fear that as I can't back out if I don't like it, then I am just stuck.

I want a new iPad. So I was waiting for what came next from Apple and that looks like the new Air. I can cheat a bit as I have a kid in Highschool who can now get the education discount pricing of $619 cdn for the 64gb iPad and a gen1 pensil would cost me $115. With taxes that I can't get away from paying it comes out to $830 for both items.

Now i can get the 11" iPad Pro 64gb for $1080 after taxes, but as I don't need to buy a pensil, the cost difference between the Air and the 11" pro works out to $250. Do you think that the Pro verson is worth that sort of premium??
 
I'm not a creative user either. I think either one is a solid choice. I use my iPad every single day, which is how I justify the cost of a pro in my mind. I really do love Face ID and the larger screen (upgraded from a 9.7 IPP to an 11).
 
gwhizkids said:
I'm torn: I'd love the 2018 iPad Pro 11" model with Pencil 2 support. But right now forking out $1100 (for the iPad, Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil 2) is a tough call. How much am I really losing by getting the new iPad Air, with a Smart Keyboard (and an Apple Pencil, that a family member has already given me)? I am not a creative professional; I read / edit documents and am looking for a good way to annotate.

My main concern with "settling" is future proofing my purchase. I tend to refresh my iPad every 4 years. The A12 in the new iPad Air is certainly encouraging, but I don't want to lose out on Pencil capability if apps start supporting Pencil 2 and leaving Pencil "1" behind. Also, how important is ProMotion to my use case?

Thanks for your thoughts in advance.
Click to expand...
Get the iPad Air 3.
 
roadkill401 said:
I am sort of in a simular boat as the OP.. except I have the Apple Pensil 2.

I had originally ordered the Apple 12.9 Pro 2018 and the Pensil, but sent it back last year as I could not justift the cost of the whole package. About 6 weeks after returning the Pro, a second package arrived from Apple with an Apple Pensil 2 inside of it. Apple was nice in they said just keep it as I guess it costs less to make them than it would to pay for a return package back to them.

So I have the Apple Pensil 2 with no iPad Pro to use it on.

Right now I have an old original iPad Air circa 2015, that is getting rather long of tooth and really doesn't work all that well anymore with most apps. I stopped updating the IOS at 10.3.3 and fear to even try anything else as I don't know how well it would work and fear that as I can't back out if I don't like it, then I am just stuck.

I want a new iPad. So I was waiting for what came next from Apple and that looks like the new Air. I can cheat a bit as I have a kid in Highschool who can now get the education discount pricing of $619 cdn for the 64gb iPad and a gen1 pensil would cost me $115. With taxes that I can't get away from paying it comes out to $830 for both items.

Now i can get the 11" iPad Pro 64gb for $1080 after taxes, but as I don't need to buy a pensil, the cost difference between the Air and the 11" pro works out to $250. Do you think that the Pro verson is worth that sort of premium??
Click to expand...

I absolutely think it’s worth the extra money (I don’t have a computer other than my iPad Pro so I use it for everything). Face ID, stereo speakers, pro-motion, a much better pencil experience (in my opinion, your mileage may vary) and the feel in the hand make the iPad Pro worth the premium. If it wasn’t my only computing device (besides my phone) then I’d probably think differently.
 
I'm in a similar situation as well. I've never owned an iPad before but I have an iPhone and MacBook Air. I'm moving soon for my masters and would like to do some light drawings along with notes.
According to you, should I get the iPad Air or 11 inch iPad Pro?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back