iPad Phew - my wallet is safe!

[playtech1]

So the new iPad Pros seem like a decent upgrade for video editors and the like, but neither my 2018 12.9 Pro or (very recently purchased) 2018 11 Pro have ever seemed to need more CPU power or RAM, so I can happily pass.

For me, the Pro was a choice made for size/design, FaceID, speakers and Pro Motion rather than pure CPU power.

I'm glad the iPad is getting more powerful, but it still feels like the software is what holds it back. Personally I think iPad multitasking is still a pain and remarkably unintuitive for an Apple product.

Overall today's event felt like the wash up of everything that should have been ready last November, but which got delayed. M1 was the hot product of 2020, whereas 2021 should be the year of M1's successor.

 

[holycow]

I'm just happy they didn't update the entry-level iPads. Bought a couple of the 128gb ones when they were on sale for $380. I was pretty much resigned to the fact that I would need to do a return with a lot of people expecting a refresh.

 

[richpjr]

Not my wallet! I will be picking up a 1 TB 12.9 iPad Pro and a new Apple TV.

 

[SirithX]

Agreed with you OP, I have the 2018 11" Pro and it's still going strong for me. Maybe if it were the M2 processor then I'd feel inclined to upgrade knowing it'll last me the next 4 years, but as good as the processor upgrade is mine is still performing great and needs no upgrade.

 

[GaelenSky]

Agreed with you OP, I have the 2018 11" Pro and it's still going strong for me. Maybe if it were the M2 processor then I'd feel inclined to upgrade knowing it'll last me the next 4 years, but as good as the processor upgrade is mine is still performing great and needs no upgrade.

But, the M1 processor was pretty much just released? That’s the model that will last you that long...

 

[rui no onna]

Not my wallet! I will be picking up a 1 TB 12.9 iPad Pro and a new Apple TV.

Lol, same here. My poor wallet...

 

[TheRealAlex]

So the new iPad Pros seem like a decent upgrade for video editors and the like, but neither my 2018 12.9 Pro or (very recently purchased) 2018 11 Pro have ever seemed to need more CPU power or RAM, so I can happily pass.

For me, the Pro was a choice made for size/design, FaceID, speakers and Pro Motion rather than pure CPU power.

I'm glad the iPad is getting more powerful, but it still feels like the software is what holds it back. Personally I think iPad multitasking is still a pain and remarkably unintuitive for an Apple product.

Overall today's event felt like the wash up of everything that should have been ready last November, but which got delayed. M1 was the hot product of 2020, whereas 2021 should be the year of M1's successor.

Your cool headed thinking May save me a ton of money. I highly respect your comment.

But just but, I can have a 12.9” XDR iPad Pro for $600 given I sell my 2018 and Magic Keyboard for $500 and it’s an M1, Thunderbolt 8GB. 2500 Zone Mini LED Display Monster.

Talk me Out of this please. I really want a M1X MacBook Pro but every rumor says they are going OLED next year.

 

[AutomaticApple]

I'm just happy they didn't update the entry-level iPads.

The entry-level iPads were updated very recently. Why would Apple update them yet again?

 

[*~Kim~*]

Mine too. Set on the Mini and happy with my Chromecast ?

That purple iPhone 12 looks nice, but I don’t think I want a notch and iOS doesn’t work with the Chromecast as well as Android.

 

[jterp7]

I guess i know how the small phone people feel now since i think the 12.9 is only comfortable on a desk (‘18 11” pro owner). No mini led no care

 

[playtech1]

Your cool headed thinking May save me a ton of money. I highly respect your comment.

But just but, I can have a 12.9” XDR iPad Pro for $600 given I sell my 2018 and Magic Keyboard for $500 and it’s an M1, Thunderbolt 8GB. 2500 Zone Mini LED Display Monster.

Talk me Out of this please. I really want a M1X MacBook Pro but every rumor says they are going OLED next year.

I'm sure if you get one it will be lovely - as all iPads are - but ask yourself this: what can you do differently on a 2021 iPad than a 2018?

There will be some out there who will be really pleased that they can do HDR video editing and export 50% quicker, but for a lot of us that's nice but utterly irrelevant. The pre-2021 screen is already pretty nice.

Hope the pep talk saves you some cash but, if not, a shiny new iPad isn't the worst thing in the world!

 

[saudor]

Dont think these are really aimed at 2018 pro users since those are plenty fast enough unless you have specific needs. It's mostly aimed for stubborn mules such as myself still using an ipad air 2 from 2014

 

[playtech1]

Dont think these are really aimed at 2018 pro users since those are plenty fast enough unless you have specific needs. It's mostly aimed for stubborn mules such as myself still using an ipad air 2 from 2014

You may be right, but it seems odd to me that Apple hasn't really provided a clearly compelling upgrade path to their 3 year old Pro models. Maybe next year will see a more fundamental redesign?

 

[TheRealAlex]

I'm sure if you get one it will be lovely - as all iPads are - but ask yourself this: what can you do differently on a 2021 iPad than a 2018?

There will be some out there who will be really pleased that they can do HDR video editing and export 50% quicker, but for a lot of us that's nice but utterly irrelevant. The pre-2021 screen is already pretty nice.

Hope the pep talk saves you some cash but, if not, a shiny new iPad isn't the worst thing in the world!

Close. Good pep talk.

 

[Spankey]

Well, I wasn’t going to upgrade from my 2018 11 Pro, BUT, getting almost $500 as a trade in price makes it an easy decision. I will easily be able to get another two years out of the new iPad and it seems like it makes sense to trade in when you still get a decent bang for your buck. That means I can upgrade every two years for the next 8 years for the price of one new iPad.

 

[holycow]

The entry-level iPads were updated very recently. Why would Apple update them yet again?

I have no idea, but several sites, including the one you're on now pegged it as a very possible update.

 

[wolfboy]

Dont think these are really aimed at 2018 pro users since those are plenty fast enough unless you have specific needs. It's mostly aimed for stubborn mules such as myself still using an ipad air 2 from 2014

Damn right it is lol. I was close to settling last year for the 2020 iPP, but I knew I wouldn't be happy dropping $800 for 2018 specs. So glad I skipped out on that lame spec bump, it was such a bad spot in their lineup.

 

[richpjr]

Dont think these are really aimed at 2018 pro users since those are plenty fast enough unless you have specific needs. It's mostly aimed for stubborn mules such as myself still using an ipad air 2 from 2014

Just idly speculating, but I'm guessing (hoping?) that the more powerful CPU and extra RAM will be needed for pro apps that will be coming with iPadOS 15. Buying something now in the hopes that Apple will update things in the future is not a great strategy for most - but I have the "rationalization" that my wife wants my 2018 12.9 iPad Pro so I'll likely pick one up.

 

[Wags]

So the new iPad Pros seem like a decent upgrade for video editors and the like, but neither my 2018 12.9 Pro or (very recently purchased) 2018 11 Pro have ever seemed to need more CPU power or RAM, so I can happily pass.

For me, the Pro was a choice made for size/design, FaceID, speakers and Pro Motion rather than pure CPU power.

I'm glad the iPad is getting more powerful, but it still feels like the software is what holds it back. Personally I think iPad multitasking is still a pain and remarkably unintuitive for an Apple product.

Overall today's event felt like the wash up of everything that should have been ready last November, but which got delayed. M1 was the hot product of 2020, whereas 2021 should be the year of M1's successor.

How much real noticeable difference between a14 and m1 unless some sort of pro apps. Probably not much right now. Still odd ipp11 display left the same with air and A14 Right now.

 

[saudor]

Just idly speculating, but I'm guessing (hoping?) that the more powerful CPU and extra RAM will be needed for pro apps that will be coming with iPadOS 15. Buying something now in the hopes that Apple will update things in the future is not a great strategy for most - but I have the "rationalization" that my wife wants my 2018 12.9 iPad Pro so I'll likely pick one up.

Yeah for sure. When the Air2 came out with 3 cores and 2gb RAM, it was an overkill beast. Then came ios9 with multitasking which got boosted with ios13 to take full advantage of all that power.

 

[hovscorpion12]

As @richpjr said, it could all come down to WWDC. The iPad Pro's start shipping in mid may which is just right around the corner to June. With the iPad Pro's now coming with 8 or 16GB of Ram, iPadOS 15 needs to be the biggest OS update ever. Otherwise you just wasted money.

 

[Digitalguy]

Yeah for sure. When the Air2 came out with 3 cores and 2gb RAM, it was an overkill beast. Then came ios9 with multitasking which got boosted with ios13 to take full advantage of all that power.

I don't think the Air 2 was a real beast, 2GB RAM was need even in the Air 1 (if not in the iPad 4), it was only overdue... As for 3 cores... yeah but it was 3 slow cores for a OS where even now single core performance is what makes the difference.
The real beast was the first pro the following year. And you can see it now... After 5-6 years the Air 2 is slow as molasse and has a lot of reloads, the pro is still snappy with it's 2 cores (but twice as fast cores), it's much faster storage, very few reloads with 4GB RAM, USB 3.0 storage (let alone things like fast charging, variable refresh rate, pencil, keyboard, speakers, screen size etc.). We had to wait until iPadOS to really take advantage of some things like UBS 3.0

 

[saudor]

I don't think the Air 2 was a real beast, 2GB RAM was need even in the Air 1 (if not in the iPad 4), it was only overdue... As for 3 cores... yeah but it was 3 slow cores for a OS where even now single core performance is what makes the difference.
The real beast was the first pro the following year. And you can see it now... After 5-6 years the Air 2 is slow as molasse and has a lot of reloads, the pro is still snappy with it's 2 cores (but twice as fast cores), it's much faster storage, very few reloads with 4GB RAM, USB 3.0 storage (let alone things like fast charging, variable refresh rate, pencil, keyboard, speakers, screen size etc.). We had to wait until iPadOS to really take advantage of some things like UBS 3.0

The air 2 and pro were completely different products with the latter also being almost double in price. They were also targeted towards different use-case scenarios. It's like saying the M1 MBA is not a beast because the Mac Pro with 1.5 TB RAM and its 28 xeon cores blows it out of the water. Its true successor was the regular iPad line and those had the same 2gb ram and even an inferior screen tech until quite recently. The bumps in CPU speed after it followed a pretty typical curve

The Air 2 might be slower today but it's still more than enough for what it was designed to do. It was unheard of for ipads of this era to hold on to decent speed beyond a couple years. Even with the new M1, im still debating if it's worth upgrading my Air 2 just because it still handles everything i need it to do at decent enough speeds.

Anyways my point was, for iOS8 tech, it was pretty overkill since there were no multi tasking and unlike the iphone 6 A8 vs 5s A7, the A8X single core was decently higher than the A7 in the Air1 (see https://browser.geekbench.com/ios_devices/ipad-air-2) . Similarly for iPadOS14, this M1 Pro is overkill but who knows what's in the pipelines.

 

[andyw715]

I'm disappointed that there wasn't a iPad Mini announcement.

I bought a Mini 5 this past black Friday for $299. itsworthmore offered $248 so a "rental" for 6 months of $50.

But alas, I'll be canceling that offer and keep it.