iPad Pro The 12.9 iPad pro is a bad product (in my opinion)

[BugeyeSTI]

Love my M1 12.9 iPad with AMK.. Obviously not the right product for the Op

 

[sparksd]

How many of these threads do we need?

As in the answer to everything - 42.

 

[MacPeasant123]

I bought a used 2018 iPad Pro (12.9") in early 2020 and it has served me very well.

I generally don't use it on a sofa, but instead I put it on a desk/table for the most part: it's a very portable second monitor for my MacBook Pro, which is the main reason I bought it. I also bought a stand for the iPad Pro later on and I can use it to stream online videos (like sporting events) when I want a little entertainment on the side while I do my work. For what I use it for, the big iPad Pro is great. It also does general iPad things when I want it to. The OP doesn't have to like it, but plenty of other people have different uses for it that perhaps doesn't suit the OP.

 

[GuruZac]

Absolutely love my 12.9. It’s an M1 model and I’ve no intention replacing any time soon. Will just pick up a Mini 7 when that launches

 

[Populus]

Its more of a laplet than a tablet.

Yep, that's why I like my 11" iPP, an I would personally love a 10" or slightly smaller one.

 

[Macalway]

Seems really like you're talking to yourself.

 

[Yebubbleman]

The 12.9" iPad Pro (when paired with a Smart Keyboard/Smart Keyboard Folio) is the best note-taking device I've ever owned. Better than any other iPad. Better than any phone. Better than any computer. I recognize that is a highly subjective stance. But so far, that's been my experience.

Past that and there are a number of flaws with the experience of owning one:

1. The number of iPad compatible apps in which landscape mode is not supported is utterly atrocious. This is a problem for all iPads (the iPad mini, arguably the least), but it's most egregious on an iPad that is, most likely, used predominantly in landscape mode.

2. The aspect ratio of the 12.9" screen, when watching video means that less of the screen is actually playing back video and is just showing black bars (when compared to, say, a 13.3" laptop like a 2020 MacBook Air or any 13.3" MacBook Pro from 2016-2022).

3. The cost. A 256GB model brand new as of today is $1200. A 512GB model is $1400. A 1TB model is $1800. That's not affordable! Now, if a 12.9" iPad Pro is a required tool for work (because you use Procreate or similar other artistic tools), then that's one thing. But if it isn't, those are steep prices to pay! A refurbished M1 256GB model might be something I consider; but even that costs $979! It's a hard value proposition.

They're otherwise okay MacBook Air replacements, depending on what you need to get done! But I can see why they're not for everyone (and therefore are hard sells).

 

[steelestar]

I love my 12.9 iPP so hard. It serves every purpose I require in my personal life (it has lots of work-related functionality as well). My personal laptop has not left my home from the day it was purchased. I'm single and travel quite extensively for business and pleasure and have taken it virtually everywhere. I refer to it (only half-jokingly) as my BFF... and it has proven to be more reliable than many people in my life if just to prove that point.

 

[rkuo]

I wouldn't say the 12.9" is bad, just a bit more niche. It is not a good standalone tablet ... as in I would not want to use it without a keyboard. It's one of my favorite devices to use for casual lap usage, tho.

 

[profcutter]

The 12.9 iPad Pro's are a nightmare from a usability standpoint.

• It weighs like a brick (without the Magic Keyboard) so you can't put it in the palm of your hand and hold it one-handed and scribble with the pencil with the other hand. There's no table near you? Too bad.
• Neither of the Magic Keyboard or the Smart Folio can make the tablet stable on your lap.
• It's terrible för watching content because the aspect ratio is not optimised for watching films/tv. The image is compressed and you get huge aspect ratio boxes at top and bottom.
• Safari on the iPad is terrible compared to Chrome on desktop. Websites are buggy, sometimes you touch buttons or links and they don't respond because it's not optimised for Safari.
• You might think annotating with the pencil would be great on this big screen but think again. It's really fun to use the pencil and the animations are smooth and fun but that joy dissipates quickly when you need to browse the web. Oh no. Reality kicks in. You HAVE to have a laptop next to this device if you want to do anything else than using a pencil. Now you have two huge devices taking your workspace.
• Forget browsing the web on this device, typing to LLM's like ChatGPT, constantly looking up words online or searching the web in general. Text input is a nightmare without the Magic Keyboard. You get quickly tired of typing on that big ass on-screen-keyboard. A lot of the time when you have the pencil in your hand and touch input fields, the on screen keyboard doesn't pop up. It expects you to scribble in the text field to input text. Wait it gets better. The OS doesn't turn this off until you attach the Pencil back to the side of the iPad.

I'm sorry, I can't for the life of me understand why people even buy this device. The only thing I can think of is professional drawing with the pencil and that's it. For watching content and browsing the web, a laptop is vastly more ergonomic. For annotating and taking notes, which is 1 of 2 things this device is mainly good at, you can get away with buying a much cheaper iPad.

I am flabbergasted. I'd like to know how people who use and like this device get around these huge shortcomings of such an expensive device.

I dunno, man. I mean I got mine because I needed something to do live drawing on zoom during the lockdown in 2020. I use mine constantly. I also have an M1 Max 16 inch I use for heavy lifting. The quality of the Magic Keyboard was pretty substandard, the top cover of mine started peeling pretty quickly. I eventually just tore if off, but I’m still using the keyboard. I use Safari all the time, sure it’s buggy sometimes, but I’d rather deal with that than Chrome’s insatiable hunger for resources. It’s good for the minimal gaming I do. Fine for quick emails. I grade my students’ papers with the Apple Pencil. It’s not perfect, but fine. I do get some slowdowns from time to time, but I will say it’s overpriced for what you get.

 

[FrozenDarkness]

i love my ipad 12.9.

that said it's love hate relationship. Apple really needs to figure out productivity because multi-tasking is a pain. i just can never figure out how to move windows around. Google apps all aren't great.

 

[iPadified]

As in the answer to everything - 42.

And I guess we always have 42 left?

 

[BanjoDudeAhoy]

3. The cost. A 256GB model brand new as of today is $1200. A 512GB model is $1400. A 1TB model is $1800. That's not affordable! Now, if a 12.9" iPad Pro is a required tool for work (because you use Procreate or similar other artistic tools), then that's one thing. But if it isn't, those are steep prices to pay! A refurbished M1 256GB model might be something I consider; but even that costs $979! It's a hard value proposition.

I agree with this. It’s a strange proposition to have to spend that sort of money and then you still need the keyboard and pencil separately if you want to make use of it “properly” or get closer to a laptop replacement, which drive the price up even higher. (The Magic Keyboard alone costs almost 500 euros here. I can get a used MBA for that )

But maybe that’s where the rumored 12.9” iPad Air comes in.
At least for me, if I was still interested in the size, I could easily forgo Pro Motion and Face ID to save some potentially serious money.

 

[fatTribble]

Just because a product doesn’t suit your particular needs doesn’t make it bad.

 

[rkuo]

A lot of people here say the iPad Pro is overpriced. I mostly agree. However, I've mostly bought used or refurbished iPad's lately. The extra storage and cellular features are all heavily discounted in the used market, making it easier to get the right config at the right price. I expect my M1 iPad's (16GB RAM) will last quite a while, barring any sort of major innovation in the iPad space. OLED won't be it ... the ability to run macOS would be.

 

[darngooddesign]

The 12.9 iPad Pro's are a nightmare from a usability standpoint.

• It weighs like a brick (without the Magic Keyboard) so you can't put it in the palm of your hand and hold it one-handed and scribble with the pencil with the other hand. There's no table near you? Too bad.

• 
  
  Easy peasy, but if I did that a lot I’d have a different iPad.
  
  

 

[ChrisA]

I'd like to know how people who use and like this device get around these huge shortcomings of such an expensive device.

You are not the typical user. Most users will be either watching YouTube or shopping on Amazon. They prefer the iPad because it works like their phone. Macs are too complex for them, they prefer the familiar IOS interface.

The remaining 1% use the iPad for a very diverse range of things, like editing media, Garage Brand, Note taking, and artwork using a pencil.

 

[sparksd]

You are not the typical user. Most users will be either watching YouTube or shopping on Amazon. They prefer the iPad because it works like their phone. Macs are too complex for them, they prefer the familiar IOS interface.

The remaining 1% use the iPad for a very diverse range of things, like editing media, Garage Brand, Note taking, and artwork using a pencil.

Where do you come up with those percentages?

 

[sracer]

• It weighs like a brick (without the Magic Keyboard) so you can't put it in the palm of your hand and hold it one-handed and scribble with the pencil with the other hand. There's no table near you? Too bad."

NOT TRUE. Remember when people use to take notes/do checklists with pen and paper while walking and holding a clipboard? Remember how you were supposed to hold the clipboard as if you were cradling it, the front of the elbow around the middle, whilethe lower border resting on your chests? Well, that is EXACLTY how you are supposed to take notes while holding the iPad with one hand.

TRUE (*). You are correct in that clipboards with paper and pen are held that way, but that is not always possible with the iPad Pro due to the slim bezels. The iPad's touch-rejection doesn't always work as expected.

• It's terrible for watching content because the aspect ratio is not optimised for watching films/tv. The image is compressed and you get huge aspect ratio boxes at top and bottom."

PARTIALLY TRUE. Yes you are right in the sense that there are other Tablets (e.g Galaxy S9 Ultra) that have a much more optimal aspect ratio for content consumption, but those are arguably even more cumbersome to use as tablets for other non-media consumption purposes. For example, the 12.9 MBP, due to its aspect ratio, when in landscape gives me more vertical space when web-browsing, document writing than a S9 Ultra. So its all a tradeoff.

SPOT ON. This is often ignored when people talk about watching videos on their tablets. If a person watches video from various sources, there is a higher probability that their video content will be letterboxed or pillarboxed than ever before. There's no escaping that. The widescreen aspect ratio is so poor for productivity tasks that even Samsung has slightly adjusted the aspect ratio of their tablets to be less widescreen.

• Safari on the iPad is terrible compared to Chrome on desktop. Websites are buggy, sometimes you touch buttons or links and they don't respond because it's not optimised for Safari."

UHM... ARE YOU AWARE THAT YOU CAN PERFECTLY RUN CHROME IN AN 12.9 IPP???? NOT ONLY THAT, DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN ACTUALLY REQUEST PRETTY MUCH ANY WEBSITE TO RUN IN DESKTOP MODE IN BOTH THE CHROME AND SAFARI iPadOS APPS??? MAKING SAID WEBSITE TO RUN VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL AS IT WOULD ON A DESKTOP??? I'm sorry but what you are mentioning is absolutely a non-issue.

INCORRECT. The iPad OS version of Chrome is NOT the same Chrome that is available on Android, Windows, Mac OS, Chrome OS, or Linux. Due to Apple's restrictions, Chrome is simply and Chrome-like wrapper around the WebKit browser engine. There is no support for extensions in the iPad OS version of Chrome.

Desktop Mode on iPad OS is NOT the same as a desktop-strength web browser. It is better than not having that mode, but it falls far short of having a true desktop experience. Samsung's Internet web browser is an example of a true attempt to bring desktop browsing to a mobile device.

Look, you might think that me bashing all your criticisms might come from the point of view of an Apple fanboi. I can assure you I am not. I do have many criticisms towards how Apple has conceived the iPP 12.9 but none of those are related with your gripes. They have more to do with the exorbitant price Apple is taking for them, their bad battery life and how they are purposely gimping it through a subpar OS instead of letting it flourish as a true laptop alternative.

For you to have an idea, the only reason why I own a 12.9 is because I had some leftover money on my research grant that I WAS OBLIGATED to spend in hardware because that is how it was budgeted on the research proposal grant. If I didn't use that money then they would discount it from my next research grant (yes it's weird, don't get me started on that). I couldn't use that money on a MBP because I has already used some money from it on a MBP, and they would never allow me to buy two of the same type of device. So it happens that I calculated that the base M2 iPP 12.9 + Logitech Combo Touch + Apple Pencil was almost exactly the amount of leftover research money I had to spend. So I went ahead and ordered by justifying it as " a device for taking field notes during field research", it went through and I got it. I initially didn't care much for it..... in fact I remember wishing I could use that money on something more useful, like some software apps I needed or attendance to an international conference, but alas, that is not how that money was budgeted so I couldn't. So I remember receiving it and being resentful of how their stupid system basically forced me to buy something that I THOUGHT BACK THEN I didn't really need.

But OMG was I wrong. Using it the way described above filled a niche in my work-life that was previously being filled by my iPhone.... but doing these on the 12.9 IPP is so, but oh my god so much better and comfortable than doing it omy phone.

So, look, its completely fine for you to hate the device for your own reasons. I just tried to explain why your reasons don't apply to my usage case scenario, they actually contradict it. But the most important part is that my opinion comes from a place of initial doubt of the whole idea of a 12.9 tablet... but after giving it a chance I realized it does make a lot of sense in certain usage case scenarios....

FANTASTIC! This is the thing that many often overlook. The iPad is not THE device for everyone. But for those use cases and workflows that can best be done on the iPad there is no alternative that is better.

 

[Digitalguy]

TRUE (*). You are correct in that clipboards with paper and pen are held that way, but that is not always possible with the iPad Pro due to the slim bezels. The iPad's touch-rejection doesn't always work as expected.

Touch rejection works extremely well in my experience, contrary to Android tablets where there is none, and the only way to avoid unwanted touches is using third party apps that create virtual bezels (same with Windows tablets, but there you don't even have the third party apps)

SPOT ON. This is often ignored when people talk about watching videos on their tablets. If a person watches video from various sources, there is a higher probability that their video content will be letterboxed or pillarboxed than ever before. There's no escaping that. The widescreen aspect ratio is so poor for productivity tasks that even Samsung has slightly adjusted the aspect ratio of their tablets to be less widescreen.



INCORRECT. The iPad OS version of Chrome is NOT the same Chrome that is available on Android, Windows, Mac OS, Chrome OS, or Linux. Due to Apple's restrictions, Chrome is simply and Chrome-like wrapper around the WebKit browser engine. There is no support for extensions in the iPad OS version of Chrome.

Desktop Mode on iPad OS is NOT the same as a desktop-strength web browser. It is better than not having that mode, but it falls far short of having a true desktop experience. Samsung's Internet web browser is an example of a true attempt to bring desktop browsing to a mobile device.

Absolutely true, Chrome on iPad uses the same engine. On Android you have something even closer to a desktop browser than Samsugn internet. Kiwi browser can install any chrome extention.

FANTASTIC! This is the thing that many often overlook. The iPad is not THE device for everyone. But for those use cases and workflows that can best be done on the iPad there is no alternative that is better.

Android tablets can be a good alternative depending on the use case. I use both because both have advatanges over each other, but I am not sure what I would keep if I had to only keep one. For my use case I guess it might be and Android tablet, because some apps and features are extremely important to me, but I would be very sad as the iPad offers me things that Android tablet do not have.

 

[The Game 161]

Don’t get this reasoning at all

I use my 12.9 on my lap all the time and use the folio cover often with Apple Pencil. Not sure why you need to be holding it in your hands

 

[Hallstar]

Don’t get this reasoning at all

I use my 12.9 on my lap all the time and use the folio cover often with Apple Pencil. Not sure why you need to be holding it in your hands

Mine (Gen 4 / A12Z / 2020) is always in a folio case with Apple Pencil and travels with me to most places for almost daily use.

When the new iPP is announced, I will be looking to upgrade to the same/ comparable size and spec.

Hopefully on Monday!!

 

[Pierre535]

Well you know what they say, opinions are like……., everyone has one.

 

[Harry Haller]

Have enjoyed my '18 12.9 the last 6 years.
Hardware A+.
iOS D.
iPadOS B-.