It’s the perfect size and packed with power. I am rocking the smart folio and Apple Pencil with it. I also own the 12.9 LTE but prefer the 11 LTE. This is the iPad that i have always wanted. Does anyone else think so?
Sort of. I bought the 12.9” which will be my main computer (I might keep an iMac for the few things I cannot do on an iPad but in truth I lived over a years previously just doing my work on the 12.9” and I loved it — 95% of the time).
I am an academic and I tell you grading student essays with the 12.9” and the Apple Pencil makes student writing more digestible. Also if you read a lot of academic articles and annotate them, you’ll know that some don’t render well on the smaller screen.
Having said that, right now I own also the 11” — both 3rd gen. I am trying to see if I can justify keeping both. The 11” will always be the “companion” device for me, but it
is a really beautiful, really compelling size. On the bus and sometimes on the armchair I can see picking it over the 12.9”. Basically, for portrait-orientation reading, I find the 11” better. But the 12.9” is a productivity workhorse in landscape. I can do work-related things on it better even than on a 13” laptop. They are basically two different categories of devices. See how close I am to convincing myself here??
I bought the 12.9 and used it for almost two weeks. I was enamored by it but also overwhelmed at times by the amount of content on the screen at the distance in which I like to hold from my face. It was fine on a desk, bothersome everywhere else. I used split screen often on the 12.9, sometimes for productivity which was great, but at other times, just to break up the content to better process what I’m seeing. I purchased the 11 a few days ago, and while I feel embarrassed for purchasing two sizes, I’m glad I did. After a few days of using it and going about my day in school, the small and inconspicuous vibe I got from it helped me with my decision. I returned the 12.9 and kept the 11. The 11 is larger than my 9.7 pro, but still very much familiar in regards to how I like to use the iPad.
Here, too, I’m reading this post and finding further evidence that I may have to keep both. You are absolutely right about the 12.9” being
too big for certain kinds of content. And yet it is equally true that the 11” is
too small for other kinds of content... there is only one viable solution here.
12.9 is too big and unwieldy to use in anything but landscape
So the 11 is perfect
This is simply not true in my experience. Again, grading students for example. The 12.9” in portrait is almost exactly like a sheet of paper, hence grading with the Pencil is almost exactly like printing out the essays and annotating them with an actual red pen.
Occasionally, when writing with a bluetooth keyboard, I prop the 12.9” in portrait mode, to see the whole page. But that’s more of a one-off.
the thing is the 12.9 is still has a big enough a footprint that you might as well just carry your laptop, add the heavy keyboard case and it weighs more than a laptop lol
This is also not true. The 12.9” has more screen area than Apple’s 13.3” laptops (because its aspect ratio is 4:3). And yet, with the Smart Keyboard Folio, it weighs 1.04kg, as opposed to 1.25kg for the MacBook Air 2018 and 1.37kg for the MacBook Pros. The only laptop lighter than a 12.9” iPad Pro + Smart Keyboard Folio is the 12” MacBook. But the 12” MacBook has roughly 60% the display area of the 12.9”.
You are right, of course, that the footprint of the 12.9” Pro is close to that of the 13” laptops. But I suspect most people who use it (myself included) either use with an iMac or, if they do have a 13” laptop, do not take both out at the same time on a regular basis. Yes, if you plan to use it as a companion device to a laptop, then probably the 11” makes the most sense.
I do use it also as my primary email and note taking device, calendar and I use Evernote a lot!
