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Size Dilemma

M

macdaddy1991

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 13, 2010
230
152
With the new ipads upon us, I'm in the market! Back in May, just before WWDC I purchased a 12.9" pro and loved it. The one issue is that it was quite large. The large size appeals to me as I want to use it as an electronic lab notebook for my PhD work and the 12.9" closely resembles a piece of paper. With the rumors of new ipads I returned it back in June within my 14 day return window to wait for the updated one. Now that the time is almost here I'm having difficulty deciding which size to go with. It would be nice to save a bit of money for the smaller option and the portability factor is a huge plus for me. On the other hand, the 12.9" is very close to the size of a traditional A4 piece of paper so for my uses of notetaking in lab, it's perfect. I'd also be using it for mobile photo editing while travelling, general media consumption/computing. I plan to utilize it as a laptop replacement for most things. anything intensive I have my desktop or MBP for.

For those of you with the current 10.5", how is it for taking notes as a student? Do you wish you went for the 12.9" instead to more closely replicate an A4 sheet of paper?
 
It’s such an incredibly difficult decision. I plan to use them in person at the Apple store the second they launch and make the call then.

For note-taking the 10.5” is much better than the 9.7” was, but admittedly not quite on the same level of the 12.9”.

My decision will boil down to a few questions that have yet to be answered:
How much lighter will the new 12.9” be?
Will they expand the 10.5” to 11”, possibly adding the ability to multitask with two full size iPad apps side by side?
Will the 12.9” still lose out on the split keyboard? This feature would make portrait mode thumb typing a breeze on the device, as the width of the 10.5” already allows me to do this easily.

My quick take on your use case is that the new 12.9” will be a better option, since you said it will essentially serve as a laptop replacement.
 
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AceFernalld said:
It’s such an incredibly difficult decision. I plan to use them in person at the Apple store the second they launch and make the call then.

For note-taking the 10.5” is much better than the 9.7” was, but admittedly not quite on the same level of the 12.9”.

My decision will boil down to a few questions that have yet to be answered:
How much lighter will the new 12.9” be?
Will they expand the 10.5” to 11”, possibly adding the ability to multitask with two full size iPad apps side by side?
Will the 12.9” still lose out on the split keyboard? This feature would make portrait mode thumb typing a breeze on the device, as the width of the 10.5” already allows me to do this easily.

My quick take on your use case is that the new 12.9” will be a better option, since you said it will essentially serve as a laptop replacement.
Click to expand...

We’ll note a lab notebook/photo editing device (especially with photoshop coming) that will double as a replacement for most tasks. The bulk of any writing/intensive tasks will still be done on my desktop and mbp
 
macdaddy1991 said:
With the new ipads upon us, I'm in the market! Back in May, just before WWDC I purchased a 12.9" pro and loved it. The one issue is that it was quite large. The large size appeals to me as I want to use it as an electronic lab notebook for my PhD work and the 12.9" closely resembles a piece of paper. With the rumors of new ipads I returned it back in June within my 14 day return window to wait for the updated one. Now that the time is almost here I'm having difficulty deciding which size to go with. It would be nice to save a bit of money for the smaller option and the portability factor is a huge plus for me. On the other hand, the 12.9" is very close to the size of a traditional A4 piece of paper so for my uses of notetaking in lab, it's perfect. I'd also be using it for mobile photo editing while travelling, general media consumption/computing. I plan to utilize it as a laptop replacement for most things. anything intensive I have my desktop or MBP for.

For those of you with the current 10.5", how is it for taking notes as a student? Do you wish you went for the 12.9" instead to more closely replicate an A4 sheet of paper?
Click to expand...

As others have suggested, I would try them out in the store before making a decision. However, I think the 12.9 would be a better fit for your needs... taking notes on it would be a dream.
 
I use my iPad laying in bed or the couch a lot. I was going to see how the 12.9 felt in these positions but I think Best Buy would frown upon me laying on the floor trying to prop up an iPad.
 
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zcohenzion said:
As others have suggested, I would try them out in the store before making a decision. However, I think the 12.9 would be a better fit for your needs... taking notes on it would be a dream.
Click to expand...
Obviously that’s optimal but I was hoping to preorder them as soon as they’re available. With the holidays coming I can see them being difficult to obtain.
 
The screen difference between the two will be negligable at 11 inch vs 12.9 inch (used to be a real difference at 9.7 vs 12.9 inch). The 12.9 will be heavier too. Its up to uou if you want to spend $200 for the extra little bit.
 
macdaddy1991 said:
With the new ipads upon us, I'm in the market! Back in May, just before WWDC I purchased a 12.9" pro and loved it. The one issue is that it was quite large. The large size appeals to me as I want to use it as an electronic lab notebook for my PhD work and the 12.9" closely resembles a piece of paper. With the rumors of new ipads I returned it back in June within my 14 day return window to wait for the updated one. Now that the time is almost here I'm having difficulty deciding which size to go with. It would be nice to save a bit of money for the smaller option and the portability factor is a huge plus for me. On the other hand, the 12.9" is very close to the size of a traditional A4 piece of paper so for my uses of notetaking in lab, it's perfect. I'd also be using it for mobile photo editing while travelling, general media consumption/computing. I plan to utilize it as a laptop replacement for most things. anything intensive I have my desktop or MBP for.

For those of you with the current 10.5", how is it for taking notes as a student? Do you wish you went for the 12.9" instead to more closely replicate an A4 sheet of paper?
Click to expand...
I have spent nearly 2 years using the 12.9 Pro as a digital notebook. What I've discovered is that being the same physical size as a piece of paper is not THAT helpful... that the overall size of the device is far more important. I ended up replacing the 12.9 Pro with the 2018 iPad. Using a quality note-taking app like GoodNotes (Notability, etc. are also equally up to the task) with buttery-smooth pinch-to-zoom makes taking notes on this smaller sized iPad terrific.

This is a prime example of taking advantage of the technology when switching from one format to another... trying to exactly replicate the paper experience when going paperless results in a less than optimal solution.

I thought that I would miss the larger screen when multitasking. The reality for me was that quite a few of the apps that I rely on still don't support split-window. (I'll avoid my rant about how system-level functions like this should be provided by the OS not the apps) So not much was missed.

Obviously this is all subjective, but if your use cases are anything like mine, if I can be even MORE productive on a 2018 iPad than on the 12.9 Pro, then you'll be fine on the 10.5 Pro.
 
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I'm in the same dilemma. I bought a 12.9 while I had my 10.5 and felt it was too big. I returned the 12.9 and kept my 10.5, which is perfect. With the new 12.9, I believe the overall size will be smaller due to the smaller bezels, so it may work for me. I will wait to get my hands on one to determine if the 12.9 will work.
 
I have both the 10.5 and 12.9 iPad Pros now and there is a big difference in size. I use the 10.5 for reading and casual couch web surfing/email/gaming. I use the 12.9 for watching movies, TV, light document editing using the keyboard and drawing. I will be very interested to see the bigger size screen on the 11 and the smaller footprint on the 12.9 (if the rumors are true) to decide if it's worth trying to consolidate on a single device.
 
When I first got my iPad Pro 12.9 I thought it was to large and found that I didn’t love it immediately, but after about a month of use I was more used to it and thought it was perfect. I use my iPad for general web surfing, note taking, watching tv, some photo/video stuff, etc. nothing to intensive but I do travel with my iPad a lot and never had an issue with it being to big once I got used to it initially. So I’m sticking with the 12.9 for me personally as now after using the one I have and loving it.
 
I've been using the 12.9" for the past 17 months as my primary computer. Prior to that it was the 9.7" Pro. Over the past year I've missed the ability to pick it up and have that weightless type of feel for casual browsing in portrait like I would on the 9.7. I'm a bit torn on what size I'd choose when upgrading to the new design, and will likely check them out for a bit in person before deciding. I do love the real estate that you get with the 12.9, especially when it's sitting on the keyboard cover and being used in landscape, but I also feel like it's a bit unwieldy in weight for more casual iPad use. I think an important part of the decision will come down to the overall size with the new design and how much weight it potentially drops.
 
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richpjr said:
I have both the 10.5 and 12.9 iPad Pros now and there is a big difference in size. I use the 10.5 for reading and casual couch web surfing/email/gaming. I use the 12.9 for watching movies, TV, light document editing using the keyboard and drawing. I will be very interested to see the bigger size screen on the 11 and the smaller footprint on the 12.9 (if the rumors are true) to decide if it's worth trying to consolidate on a single device.
Click to expand...

I'm in the exact same position - I'm actually contemplating just going with the new 12.9 but think I'll need to get hands on in-store with them first. If the difference still feels substantial then I'll end up picking up both again.
 
Boil said:
12.9" iPad Pro is the best size for reading digital comics...
Click to expand...

Several of the magazines/or online newspapers don't really work well on my 10.5. Wired magazine would be a good example.

I find the fonts too small, and the pics less enjoyable. Yes, I can expand the page, but it loses that magazine quality. Kind of like reading through a keyhole ;) I'm also an amateur photographer, and I can see where a larger screen would be helpful for editing while traveling.

The thing is I really have to see the new 12.9 to determine if it is too big to carry or not. I owned the original 12.9 and thought it was cumbersome. So I sold it for the original 10.5.
 
Boil said:
12.9" iPad Pro is the best size for reading digital comics...
Click to expand...
What format of digital comics are you reading? Most modern digital comics offer a panel-by-panel view. In this mode, the 12.9 Pro is a bit overkill. My comic/magazine/catalog reading consists of .cbz/.cbr/.pdf scans of vintage material. That is where the 12.9 Pro can help, but if the scans are low-res, then it looks a bit worse. I find these more enjoyable on the 2018 iPad.

Having said that, yes, high-res scans look amazing on the 12.9 Pro.
 
I found the 12.9 not to be as holdable as 10.5 and my use case is that I'm holding the iPad more then using it on a desktop. I know everyone is different but I found the 12.9 to be just too big. YMMV
 
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Still wonder if the smaller ipad will go to 11 inch screen or Stay 10.5 and shrink. Guess I'll know at this time tomorrow.
 
Jimpilot said:
Still wonder if the smaller ipad will go to 11 inch screen or Stay 10.5 and shrink. Guess I'll know at this time tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Curious about this as well - we really don't have a definitive rumor/answer this close to the event which is pretty interesting.
 
For me, the 10.5" is perfect for what I use it for (media consumption, web browsing, iMessage, FB Messenger, email, reading NYT). I have a MB for anything I know will take longer or if I'm using MS Word/Excel.
 
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