iPad Pro Should I wait for the next iPad Pro or buy the current model?

[Traverse]

As other's have said, I would wait at least a month if you can. The iPad Pro refresh seems to alternate between March and October on an 18 month cycle. While this March is only 12 months, I don't really count the 2020 iPad Pro. It was quite literally LiDAR, 2GB of RAM, and one additional GPU core. The fact that the Magic Keyboard worked with the 2018 model was another tell the this was mostly a spect bump to avoid the narrative of "two full years" and to start pushing LiDAR.

I am also tired of waiting, but will continue to do so. I had the money ready to go in March 2020, but couldn't bring myself to pay top tier prices for essentially the (admittedly good) 2018 model redux. My 10.5" iPad Pro isn't doing great, it has developed severe "white spot" toward the bottom and the battery is only useful for a few hours, but it's out of warranty. If the iPad Air had been fitted with an 11" display instead of 10.9", I probably would have purchased it.

 

[calstanford]

If the iPad Air had been fitted with an 11" display instead of 10.9", I probably would have purchased it.

Erm... seriously. The 0.1" (or 0.9%!) difference is why you didn't buy the Air???

 

[satchmo]

Erm... seriously. The 0.1" (or 0.9%!) difference is why you didn't buy the Air???

Exactly. Unless you have the two side by side, you wouldn’t think twice.

I picked up the Air last November after seeing the minor update of the 2020 iPP. I’ve enjoyed using it. Other than fewer accessories for it, it’s rock solid and fast!

I probably could have waited until this March but who knows, it could be October.

 

[Digitalguy]

Personally, after the bad experience with the 10.5 I will not be buying an iPad with a new type of display at launch... When I bought the 11 pro in December I knew it was a reliable device, but if I were in the market for a new iPad pro, I would wait at least a few months to see if the new screens has issues...

 

[Traverse]

Erm... seriously. The 0.1" (or 0.9%!) difference is why you didn't buy the Air???

Well, that in combination with the other factors (RAM, ProMotion, etc). I view a lot of side-by-side PDFs, so any additional space is appreciated since I don’t want the 12.9”.

Given the other compromises, the slightly smaller screen put it over the threshold for me to wait.

 

[Dean_UK]

Personally, after the bad experience with the 10.5 I will not be buying an iPad with a new type of display at launch... When I bought the 11 pro in December I knew it was a reliable device, but if I were in the market for a new iPad pro, I would wait at least a few months to see if the new screens has issues...

Absolutely, Apple can't get phone screens to be consistent using OLED which has been around for years so I wouldn't want to be a beta tester for an £800+ device.

But waiting a few weeks and getting a decent discount on the existing model would be a smart move, or maybe a refurb from Apple directly.

 

[ericwn]

With an average of 500+ days what makes y’all think they are now upgrading after a year?

Because: the last update wasn’t worth mentioning, lower tier models are already better equipped and cannibalising the top tier and lots of rumours in the past months about a better display pointed to a 2020 or 2021 upgrade.

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

With an average of 500+ days what makes y’all think they are now upgrading after a year?

iPad Air A14
iPad Pro A12Z

enough said there all singing top tier is a 2 year CPU

 

[The Game 161]

from all leaks we will see update next month and again in 2022 so the cycle seems to to be decreasing at least in the short term

 

[ericwn]

iPad Air A14
iPad Pro A12Z

enough said there all singing top tier is a 2 year CPU

What is a two year cpu? Does it spontaneously combust afterwards?

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

What is a two year cpu? Does it spontaneously combust afterwards?

obviously no of course not

My point was there top of the line iPad Pro is running outdated specs compared to the much cheaper Air 2020. At this point in time personally the Air is a much better investment if you can live without a Promotion 120ghz display.

 

[NastyMatt]

obviously no of course not

My point was there top of the line iPad Pro is running outdated specs compared to the much cheaper Air 2020. At this point in time personally the Air is a much better investment if you can live without a Promotion 120ghz display.

Don't be ridiculous.

 

[ericwn]

obviously no of course not

My point was there top of the line iPad Pro is running outdated specs compared to the much cheaper Air 2020. At this point in time personally the Air is a much better investment if you can live without a Promotion 120ghz display.

Thank you for explaining what you meant, I get it now.
Btw, it’s Hz not GHz when it comes to displays. GHz is taking a bit longer.

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

Don't be ridiculous.

sorry if you disagree but it’s my opinion

I only have the Pro coz it’s a 12.9 and suppose it’s down to your needs.
Mine are browsing mostly and that’s it.

if I had the 11” a Air would be very tempting over a A12 Pro right now

 

[SkiHound2]

sorry if you disagree but it’s my opinion

I only have the Pro coz it’s a 12.9 and suppose it’s down to your needs.
Mine are browsing mostly and that’s it.

if I had the 11” a Air would be very tempting over a A12 Pro right now

The Air vs Pro is one question. Buying the current Pro or waiting is a different question. Yes, the current Pro has an older generation processor. I have a 9.7" iPad Pro with a processor that is several generations old at this point. Still does a pretty dang good job with things like web browsing, streaming media, checking email, etc. The A12Z will meet most of the needs of most people most of the time. Here's a recent video that directly addresses the buy a pro now or wait question:

 

[NastyMatt]

sorry if you disagree but it’s my opinion

I only have the Pro coz it’s a 12.9 and suppose it’s down to your needs.
Mine are browsing mostly and that’s it.

if I had the 11” a Air would be very tempting over a A12 Pro right now

You said "iPad Pro is running outdated specs compared to the much cheaper Air 2020" - what specs? The cpu? Well, the A14 is indeed faster on single core but not multi core and gpu benches are comparable (due to more cores on the A12z).

Now apart from that, the Pro's specs are better/higher on everything else where they differ:

• Pro has up to 1tb storage v 256gb
• Pro front facing camera higher res
• Pro has better brightness
• Pro has Promotion (120hz screen refresh)
• Pro has true tone flash
• Pro does ultra wide photos and video
• Pro has has 4 speakers v 2
• Pro has FaceID
• Pro has LiDAR scanner
• Pro has 5 mics v Air's 2

So to suggest the Pro is obsolete due to only single core performance is uninformed at best. (As for cost, the equal storage spec Pro v Air is £869 v £729, £140 for all of the above).

And this is not me ragging on the Air as I think it's a very good device and would happily have one.

 

[Digitalguy]

You said "iPad Pro is running outdated specs compared to the much cheaper Air 2020" - what specs? The cpu? Well, the A14 is indeed faster on single core but not multi core and gpu benches are comparable (due to more cores on the A12z).

Now apart from that, the Pro's specs are better/higher on everything else where they differ:

• Pro has up to 1tb storage v 256gb
• Pro front facing camera higher res
• Pro has better brightness
• Pro has Promotion (120hz screen refresh)
• Pro has true tone flash
• Pro does ultra wide photos and video
• Pro has has 4 speakers v 2
• Pro has FaceID
• Pro has LiDAR scanner
• Pro has 5 mics v Air's 2

So to suggest the Pro is obsolete due to only single core performance is uninformed at best. (As for cost, the equal storage spec Pro v Air is £869 v £729, £140 for all of the above).

And this is not me ragging on the Air as I think it's a very good device and would happily have one.

Thing is people judge based on their priorities.... Many people for instance don't care about lidar, cameras, more than 256GB storage, little bit more brightness, so many of those differences don't matter to them. Some people, like me, may even find faceID a negative, instead of a positive and don't care much about promotion (however I am in the minority on these 2 things).
For me the speakers are very important, and that alone justifies the price increase, but for others they aren't, since for instance speakers would bother other people in the house and they mainly use airpods etc.
Many non geeks don't care about RAM, and many don't even know since Apple does not mention RAM, and you didn't even mentioned it either, I do care a lot and for me 2 more GB of RAM are more important than some more CPU speed... (and speakers and RAM more the justifiy the $200 difference to me).
By the way one thing to point out. Overall the Air 4 can be considered better in terms of CPU speeds. You gain 40% in single core, which is a lot and will be felt in day to day use, and you only lose 10% in multicore when all cores are used at the same time, which is much less frequent.

 

[James Godfrey]

You said "iPad Pro is running outdated specs compared to the much cheaper Air 2020" - what specs? The cpu? Well, the A14 is indeed faster on single core but not multi core and gpu benches are comparable (due to more cores on the A12z).

Now apart from that, the Pro's specs are better/higher on everything else where they differ:

• Pro has up to 1tb storage v 256gb
• Pro front facing camera higher res
• Pro has better brightness
• Pro has Promotion (120hz screen refresh)
• Pro has true tone flash
• Pro does ultra wide photos and video
• Pro has has 4 speakers v 2
• Pro has FaceID
• Pro has LiDAR scanner
• Pro has 5 mics v Air's 2

So to suggest the Pro is obsolete due to only single core performance is uninformed at best. (As for cost, the equal storage spec Pro v Air is £869 v £729, £140 for all of the above).

And this is not me ragging on the Air as I think it's a very good device and would happily have one.

I think many people see a number that’s lower and automatically think it’s worse or old... A14 sounds a lot better than A12Z at this point... imagine if Apple had named the A12Z as an A13X... I am pretty sure most people would advise to buy the Pro now rather than wait...

Apple knew what they were doing with the 2020 Pros, initially they were probably intended for release alongside the Air... which would have also seen the birth of the Magic Keyboard as well but due to delays with miniLED pushing into 2021, they had to get something to market quickly, and that’s where the 2020 Pros were born from and ultimately the release of the Magic Keyboard earlier than planned also.

 

[NastyMatt]

Thing is people judge based on their priorities.... Many people for instance don't care about lidar, cameras, more than 256GB storage, little bit more brightness, so many of those differences don't matter to them. Some people, like me, may even find faceID a negative, instead of a positive and don't care much about promotion (however I am in the minority on these 2 things).
For me the speakers are very important, and that alone justifies the price increase, but for others they aren't, since for instance speakers would bother other people in the house and they mainly use airpods etc.
Many non geeks don't care about RAM, and many don't even know since Apple does not mention RAM, and you didn't even mentioned it either, I do care a lot and for me 2 more GB of RAM are more important than some more CPU speed... (and speakers and RAM more the justifiy the $200 difference to me).
By the way one thing to point out. Overall the Air 4 can be considered better in terms of CPU speeds. You gain 40% in single core, which is a lot and will be felt in day to day use, and you only lose 10% in multicore when all cores are used at the same time, which is much less frequent.

I totally get people pick a device based on their needs and judge the viability of the product from a single POV but to say "specifications are lower because I don't need them" is no argument. If one has 2 speakers and the other 4, then the one with 4 has higher spec, "I only listen to 2 speakers tho" is not a valid argument to define which is higher in spec.

I have no use of the LiDAR scanner, zero, if it was not there I would not notice, but it is and therefore, a higher spec.

To me, this is like the argument when someone says "my car does 200mph" and the reply is "well the speed limit is 70mph and my car does that" what they have failed to say is their car only does 89mph, clearly the 200mph car is a higher spec regardless of the speed limit and their personal requirements.

 

[RSB96]

At this time, I would wait for the 2021 version.

The A14X will make a significant leap in power, although the 2020 is already very fast in everything you can do with the iPad.

The miniLED display may be the highlight of this generation (if they finally release it).

Otherwise, they will be minor changes, but the SoC will be a big enough change to wait for the new model.

 

[jumpcutking]

At this time, I would wait for the 2021 version.

The A14X will make a significant leap in power, although the 2020 is already very fast in everything you can do with the iPad.

The miniLED display may be the highlight of this generation (if they finally release it).

Otherwise, they will be minor changes, but the SoC will be a big enough change to wait for the new model.

I think I’m very much in agreement with you on that!

 

[Osamede]

So... I’m looking to get an iPad Pro! Awesome... used one many times for work and it just elevated note taking, image editing... pretty much everything.

I heard that the Apple gods may grace us with a release of an updated iPad Pro in March. The question is simple: should I wait? Is Apple actually gonna launch an iPad Pro? Are those features worth the wait? Is the design changes substantial?

The questions may help prevent me from FOMO... when the new iPad gets released.

New model of ipad Pro will not assist you better with any of those needs, but will certainly cost more. You could probably do fine with 2018 IPad Pro or 2020 Air.

 

[m0nkeyb0y]

I'm waiting to see. For me, the key will be screen improvement on the 11", either OLED or mini-LED. If neither comes to the 11", I'm thinking seriously of buying the current (will be "old") model instead. Other changes that would convince me... more RAM? Higher brightness?
I'm an academic, and spend a lot of time scanning archives and reading, so a better black at night and more brightness in the sun would be good.

 

[Devyn89]

Standard advice, which I think is generally a good strategy, is that if you NEED it now, but it now, otherwise I'd wait. Everything is basically speculation. March is the rumored time when it will appear. But we don't know that for fact. I haven't been searching very hard but I've not been seeing any especially good deals on the current Pros. I have a 9.7" Pro and am planning to upgrade to an 11" Pro (haven't completely ruled out an Air) but I'm waiting to see what the next release brings. I want the larger screen size and spatial audio. I'd also like to add a pencil and my current iPad is not compatible with the newest pencil. But my 9.7" is still very useable for the vast majority of what I do, so I can afford to wait.

I had a 9.7” Pro as well and upgraded in 2018 to the 11”. I love my 11” a lot and don’t regret upgrading at all. I definitely would wait if I was you at this point because it sounds like it’ll be a big update but I hope you enjoy the upgrade as much as I did.

 

[jumpcutking]

I suppose the consensus is, wait and if you don't like the changes get the previous iPad Pro cheaper.

Sounds fair.

Of course, I am looking for the latest changes in iPad OS.

Anyone have any news on the iPad or the new iteration of iPad OS?