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iPad Pro The 12.9" iPad Pro screen size is not great for watching movies and TV shows
- Thread starter Retskrad
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Years ago when Android tablets were trying to become a popular it was demonstrated that 16:9 is better for video, but 4:3 is better for browsing in full screen apps because it shows more vertical content in landscape, and while 16:9 shows more vertical content in portrait, that content is smaller. Whether or not in the days of split screen and stage manager that is relevant enough to drive the aspect ratio, Apple is still painting 4:3 because watching videos isn't the primary purpose of iPads.
to be honest I think the main use of iPads is still watching videos (although nobody has statistics).
But again, bars don't bother everyone... Same with bezels.... What matters to many is the actual size of the video
I live in a studio apartment and I don’t want to bother buying a tv and furniture for it especially when I know I will probably be moving countries in 2-3 years. So in my context an iPad Pro 12.9 connected via AirPlay to my stereo speakers is the best and most practical way to consume content.
Very few devices will play movies without black bars. Many movies are actually in different aspect ratios so there may be larger bars on some and smaller on others.
I have never once complained that my home TV is not worth watching TV or movies because of the black bars. Not sure why I would think anything different for a phone, tablet, or laptop.
Maybe this is partially due to me being older and actually owning a 4:3 CRT TV and watching many DVDs in widescreen with huge black bars. There may have even been some VHS tapes that were widescreen, too. I know my first TV was still a CRT when I moved to Blu-ray, but cannot remember what ratio is was. It still had bars, though.
I have never once complained that my home TV is not worth watching TV or movies because of the black bars. Not sure why I would think anything different for a phone, tablet, or laptop.
Maybe this is partially due to me being older and actually owning a 4:3 CRT TV and watching many DVDs in widescreen with huge black bars. There may have even been some VHS tapes that were widescreen, too. I know my first TV was still a CRT when I moved to Blu-ray, but cannot remember what ratio is was. It still had bars, though.
I thought the worst was when pan & scan was applied to widescreen video to fit it to 4:3.
Hard to carry and power the 60" TV on an 8-hour road trip or air travel.
I'm also near sighted. I can skip wearing glasses with the iPad.
Of course, the 12.9 is great for 4:3 shows - no bars at all, while the 11 has bars on 4:3. The curse of a rectangular screen vs the 12.9's more square-ish screen.
I have all of the original Twilight Zone episodes on disk - they look great on my M1 12.9.
Had one, got rid of it (actually, not all of them - I still have 6 no-longer-used Android tablets).
I do not like 16:9 tablets , portrait mode feels odd...much prefer 4:3...heck more and more laptops are coming out 16:10
It makes me laugh the number of people on MacForums who own an iPhone Pro Max yet couldn’t possibly watch any video on such a small screen and those who own 11” iPads who couldn’t possibly watch a video on something so small either. They have all the gear; a home cinema, MacBook Pro, iPad Pro and iPhone ProMax. Some of that kit must go days unused.🤣
Once upon a time my laptop broke and I ended up using my iPhone 4 for everything and I mean everything. I browsed the web on it and watched films on it as well as the usual smartphone stuff! I got completely used to it and continued the same usage pattern on my subsequent iPhone 5, 6 Plus and 6S Plus. I then moved to Android and did the same with my Note 8 and Note 10 Plus. It was only during the past few years that I have bought an 11” tablet and subsequently an iPad Mini. My phone is a Z Fold 4 so you could say that I’m all about tablets these days. To me watching videos and films on 8” and 11” tablets is perfect.
Once upon a time my laptop broke and I ended up using my iPhone 4 for everything and I mean everything. I browsed the web on it and watched films on it as well as the usual smartphone stuff! I got completely used to it and continued the same usage pattern on my subsequent iPhone 5, 6 Plus and 6S Plus. I then moved to Android and did the same with my Note 8 and Note 10 Plus. It was only during the past few years that I have bought an 11” tablet and subsequently an iPad Mini. My phone is a Z Fold 4 so you could say that I’m all about tablets these days. To me watching videos and films on 8” and 11” tablets is perfect.
Why get worked up over what others do and works for them? So what if it gets unused? It's their $ to do with as they please.
I didn’t say that it works me up or annoys me. Having watched films on an iPhone 4 it just makes me laugh.
Agree there - I don't like them on my 14 Pro Max, I'll tolerate them on my Mini 6, and prefer them on my M1 12.9.
Personally, I’m glad iPads aren’t made primarily for movie-watching. The 4:3 aspect ratio is great for the things I primarily use my 12.9” iPad for.
The family uses the TV for hours every day even if I don't.
My iPhone SE gets at most 10 minutes average onscreen time per week but that one's kinda necessary (to enable SMS forwarding and Wi-Fi calling on other devices). I find the iPhone Pro Max display to be too small still that's why I opted to spend the money on iPads instead.
Honestly, I can't remember the last time I used my M1 MacBook Air. Probably when I needed to fix my Safari bookmarks that got borked by iPadOS 15.4/15.5. That one goes months unused. At least the Windows laptop gets used for WFH and gaming every now and then.
I wouldn't want to rely on just a smartphone. Honestly, I probably would've rushed to the nearest Best Buy to buy a new laptop if I were in your shoes. I hate browsing on the tiny displays on smartphones.
I think a lot of people use it as a mobile background TV while they’re doing something else (me). In which case, you'd think people wouldn’t be such sticklers for quality, but people have different standards even for background video.
People use it as a primary TV too for the reasons people mentioned. But for me, no tablet or laptop can beat the viewing experience of watching on my big screen while sitting on my comfy couch.
I have 4 TVs in my house, and an echo show 15 in my kitchen that I use to watch stuff whilst I’m cooking. I do watch movies on my ipad because sometimes the the TV in the room I’m in is being used by others. So I can just watch stuff on the my ipad. Also sometimes I don’t stay in one room, I move around the house and it’s easier to just take my ipad with me rather than having to start the film again on different TVs in the house.
I travel for work. Which means that I'm often stuck in a hotel room someplace for a week at a time. While I generally carry a Google Chromecast w/ the remote... often I can't be bothered to hook this all up, or the hotel TV has inaccessible HDMI ports or a locked down system where I can't access them.
It is nice to be able to watch some netflix or something after a long day of working. Also, it is quite nice to watch my choice of content on 16 hour plane rides. Binge watched an entire season of breaking bad on one flight to India.
4:3 is generally better for web, productivity both in portrait and landscape. 16:9 in small size is really only good for movies, I’d never go under 16:10 on laptop. So if iPad Pro 12.9 was in 16:9, it would certainly be discussed as its biggest downside.
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