iPad Pro The M2 iPad Pro is the worst update Apple has ever released

[Digitalguy]

The "year over year upgrade" and how much of an upgrade is enough should be considered looking at the history of the iPad Pro.
2017 pro vs 1st gen:
big upgrade for the small one (one more big core + efficiency cores, larger screen, promotion, double the RAM) although many instances of bright spot, the improvement came with a price increase from $599 to $649 (and increase in storage from 32 to 64)
minor upgrade for the 12.9 (CPU bump, promotion) and many reports of touch issues (no increase in price)
2018 vs 2017:
the biggest upgrade ever, better virtually in everything (new design, more cores, neural engine, USB C, pencil 2) except RAM (and if you got 1TB even RAM was increased). Big price increases: $649 to $799 and $799 to $999
2020 vs 2018:
very minor upgrade, camera improvement, basically the same CPU/GPU, only big improvement was more RAM (for people with 1TB model this was barely an upgrade at all). Double the storage at the base. No price increase
2021 vs 2020:
decent improvement thanks to faster CPU/GPU, Thunderbolt and more RAM (and RAM options), bigger improvement for the 12.9 with mini-led (at the cost of a bit more weight) $100 price increase for mini-led
2022 vs 2021: CPU/GPU bump (+ software feature hover) No price increase in the US

So there have been big jumps like the 2018 one (but came with a big jump in price too), 2022 is probably the smallest upgrade in history, at least in my opinion since I consider a RAM increase more important than CPU bump (but like the other 2 small upgrades, 2nd gen 12.9 and 4th gen, came with no price increase)

The next gen will probably come with a bigger improvement but there will likely be an increase in price, at least for the 11"

 

[The Game 161]

Always good for people's wallets.

 

[Delgibbons]

I really don't know what Apple was thinking here. They clearly only released this iPad because they feel like they have to release a new device every year for each product category. I just don't understand why they released this.

I guess I really don't know what the M2 iPad Pro is or who its for. Apple has made some pointless updates before, but this one might be the most pointless update they've ever made. There is literally zero difference between this model and the M1 iPad Pro. The M2 is not going to be faster than the M1 but literally maybe 1 or 2 seconds when doing heavy video work. There is no improvement in battery life, no improvement in the screen, no improvement in front facing camera...Hover is simply a software feature that Apple could turn on for the other iPads, but of course they won't.

There isn't a single redeeming quality about this device that makes it an appealing buy. And I love Apple products and upgrade pretty often when I feel its warranted. The 2021 model with mini LED was enough for me to upgrade from the 2018 model, so its not like I keep devices long term to squeeze every drop of usage out of them. I like giving Apple my money for upgrades, when they are worthy. The M2 iPad has got to be the laziest iPad Apple has ever released, and that includes the much maligned iPad 3. I mean they tout pro res video but its not even capable without a 3rd party app. Its a total mess of a product.

Even the 11" model, which I don't even use, is comically bad. Apple again used a cheaper screen in that model to try and push people to the larger device. Its ridiculous that they don't put the same screen hardware in both models but still call both models "Pro."

In summary, the M2 iPad Pro will go down as the worst upgrade Apple has ever done with the iPads. And before everyone starts saying "Well its not designed for M1 users," yes I know. Anyone coming from a non-M1 iPad shouldn't buy this either. They should just buy an M1 iPad Pro because you are getting literally the exact same device for far less money. Its a bad product and Apple only released this because they felt like they had to. Its lazy and buy this time next year it will have been the absolute worst buy of any Apple product as it will be replaced with a proper update. I love Apple and their products, but the iPad line has become a complete mess and that is too bad, because its one of my favorite things Apple makes.

To be fair to Apple I think we are getting to the point of diminishing returns…My M1 iPad Pro absolutely screams along using LumaFusion, rendering and editing in ProRes, using AudioLayer for huge audio sample libraries in Cubasis.

The processor technology is not going to have an enormous upgrade year on year now I reckon. Especially in the tablet space.

The M1 is more than powerful enough for most workflows.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

To be fair to Apple I think we are getting to the point of diminishing returns…My M1 iPad Pro absolutely screams along using LumaFusion, rendering and editing in ProRes, using AudioLayer for huge audio sample libraries in Cubasis.

The processor technology is not going to have an enormous upgrade year on year now I reckon. Especially in the tablet space.

The M1 is more than powerful enough for most workflows.

That's what I was saying earlier to the OP. Look, there's only so much you can do with a Tablet or Smartphone. Game changing ideas such as cameras, GPS navigation, Email, Internet and Siri are things of the past. All you are left with are tweaks here and there to give the appearance that they are game changers.

We are at the point that Apple makes a BIG deal from the new special edition colors introduced to its devices or its Dynamic Island idea. You get to the point where it causes new product cycles to grow, such as the iPad or iPod. The reason it doesn't affect the iPhone is because that is their biggest seller and people just feel the need for a new device when that device could serve them well for 4-6 years.

 

[DMG35]

That's what I was saying earlier to the OP. Look, there's only so much you can do with a Tablet or Smartphone. Game changing ideas such as cameras, GPS navigation, Email, Internet and Siri are things of the past. All you are left with are tweaks here and there to give the appearance that they are game changers.

We are at the point that Apple makes a BIG deal from the new special edition colors introduced to its devices or its Dynamic Island idea. You get to the point where it causes new product cycles to grow, such as the iPad or iPod. The reason it doesn't affect the iPhone is because that is their biggest seller and people just feel the need for a new device when that device could serve them well for 4-6 years.

So then what you are saying is that Apple has perfected the design of the iPad and there is nothing they can do to improve it. I'd heartily disagree as they placed the camera in the landscape position on the base model iPad. That seems like something they could do on their high end iPad as well.

 

[Miha_v]

faster chips at the same price, such a letdown

Not where I live. Model with the old chip selling for the same price, while M2 iPad pro seeling for 300 Euros more.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

So then what you are saying is that Apple has perfected the design of the iPad and there is nothing they can do to improve it. I'd heartily disagree as they placed the camera in the landscape position on the base model iPad. That seems like something they could do on their high end iPad as well.

What I am saying is that everything you described are essentially tweaks here and there. There is nothing revolutionary about placing the camera in a slightly different spot or adding a new color or slightly changing the design. The real game changing stuff happened many years ago when the iPhone received Siri, a selfie camera, a rear camera, GPS navigation or Car Play. The ability to send text messages from your phone, create and record videos, send and receive emails, the App Store. What we have today are slight bumps of improvements here and there. In life nothing is perfect. We are not perfect and no design on the planet is perfect. However what you are describing are improvements to a design and nothing that is a revolutionary feature such as Siri or the App Store.

 

[azentropy]

It is unrealistic at this stage in development for the iPad to have radical improvements every year/18 months and keep the same basic price points. So the options for Apple are to either not release updates as frequently OR do what they they have been doing and release very incremental updates. I prefer it this way as at least you are getting some update that is realitively current and also then the previous generations get discounted.

 

[darngooddesign]

I really don't know what Apple was thinking here. They clearly only released this iPad because they feel like they have to release a new device every year for each product category. I just don't understand why they released this.

Worse than the 2020? The 2020 iPad Pro didn't even get a feature like "hover" which is useful to illustrators.

Isn't a crazy world where people complain about devices being made faster.

Just wait for an update you consider worth upgrading for.

 

[jouster]

Major update for me…. Coming from a gen 1 iPad circa 2010

Goodness me. What do you use it for? I still have one and while the hardware is in like-new condition, not much of the software is still useful. It is a good music streamer, but I haven't found other reliable uses.

 

[Silverstring]

Because this is a forum for Apple enthusiasts where we discuss/give opinions regarding Apple products?

And why do you care if I post my opinion?

I don't care if you post it, I'm asking for you to substantiate your rationale beyond yourself.

Your post is telling me I shouldn’t care if the M2 iPad is good or not,

Where is it telling you this?

well why do you care if I comment on it?

For someone who's such an expert on "circular logic", it's difficult to understand how you could miss the point so definitively.

Again, there's no problem with people's opinions and posting and discussing them. As you said, I'm doing it, too.

You don't care about benchmarks? Cool! Great!

...now, that aside, tell me why "no one" should care about benchmarks. THAT is what my post is getting at.

The issue isn't with people sharing their opinions, it's with the projection of opinion onto others.

No one forced you to come into the thread and comment on my post, and yet you cared enough to write a fairly long statement on why others opinions on such matters just baffle you.

Reading comprehension is key, here. I'm not sure how much more simply I can explain it.

Others opinions don't baffle me at all. Is that clear to you, yet?

What's baffling is not the opinion itself, or sharing it, but rather the extrapolation of that opinion beyond oneself. Do you understand the distinction?

Let's use a simple conversation to illustrate what I mean.

Person A: "My opinion on x, is y."

Person B: "Why do you think everyone should share your opinion?"

Person A: (missing the point completely): "Don't tell me I shouldn't post my opinion!"

Do you see the logical disconnect in Person A's response to the question?

Oh, and I never said I cared if anyone else bought it. I gave my opinions on why I think the M2 iPad is a boring upgrade. I’ve even stated as much in later threads.

Great, forgive me for not knowing your personal post/thread history. I asked you a simple question—still unanswered—which you transmogrified completely on your own into a criticism of posting opinions in general. Which, AGAIN, is not what I meant, despite you asserting as much. Tell me, what am I having for lunch today? Since you know my point better than I do, I figure you'd know!

But I’m glad you cared enough about what I wrote to come in and comment.

I'm glad you responded to a made up anti-opinion-sharing argument. Now with that "dunk" out of the way, I'm still asking for an answer to my question:

Why shouldn't anyone, including people you don't know, who's needs and priorities you don't share or understand...care about benchmarks?

 

[Silverstring]

I think it’s because “voting with your wallet” really only works if there’s a critical mass of people that think the way to do and vote the same way. As far as the iPad goes, we’re 10 years into it. At this point there’s MORE of a chance that someone buying an iPad has either used one before and liked it or has never used an Apple product before and so wouldn’t be comparing it to macOS. That means that the folks “voting with their wallets” are buying what Apple’s selling and it would make sense for Apple to keep doing what they’re doing.

I appreciate your thoughtful response to my post, and your willingness to explore/discuss the idea I was getting at. Thank you!

Could be that they’re trying to get a larger group of folks “upset” about the current situation? But, as this MR thread won’t be seen my the vast majority with an iPad Pro in their shopping cart right now, it’s not likely to be effective.

I agree with you! I suppose that's the disconnect—the known futility of trying to foment "discontent" to a subset of a subset of a subset of a subset of a subset of iPad Pro buyers.

However, being effective may not be the point, either. Maybe, it’s just, “There’s a thing happening that I can’t control and I don’t like it.” Which is fine.

You're right, I suppose! People just enjoy yelling into the void as a form of emotional venting, I guess. Not saying that's good or bad, just thought there might be some additional substance and/or purpose there, beyond decompressing emotions.

 

[DMG35]

Wise than the 2020? The 2020 iPad Pro didn't even get a feature like "hover" which is useful to illustrators.

Isn't a crazy world where people complain about devices being made faster.

Just wait for an update you consider worth upgrading for.

I don't care if you post it, I'm asking for you to substantiate your rationale beyond yourself.



Where is it telling you this?




For someone who's such an expert on "circular logic", it's difficult to understand how you could miss the point so definitively.

Again, there's no problem with people's opinions and posting and discussing them. As you said, I'm doing it, too.

You don't care about benchmarks? Cool! Great!

...now, that aside, tell me why "no one" should care about benchmarks. THAT is what my post is getting at.

The issue isn't with people sharing their opinions, it's with the projection of opinion onto others.



Reading comprehension is key, here. I'm not sure how much more simply I can explain it.

Others opinions don't baffle me at all. Is that clear to you, yet?

What's baffling is not the opinion itself, or sharing it, but rather the extrapolation of that opinion beyond oneself. Do you understand the distinction?

Let's use a simple conversation to illustrate what I mean.

Person A: "My opinion on x, is y."

Person B: "Why do you think everyone should share your opinion?"

Person A: (missing the point completely): "Don't tell me I shouldn't post my opinion!"

Do you see the logical disconnect in Person A's response to the question?



Great, forgive me for not knowing your personal post/thread history. I asked you a simple question—still unanswered—which you transmogrified completely on your own into a criticism of posting opinions in general. Which, AGAIN, is not what I meant, despite you asserting as much. Tell me, what am I having for lunch today? Since you know my point better than I do, I figure you'd know!


I'm glad you responded to a made up anti-opinion-sharing argument. Now with that "dunk" out of the way, I'm still asking for an answer to my question:

Why shouldn't anyone, including people you don't know, who's needs and priorities you don't share or understand...care about benchmarks?

I don't even have the strength or time to go through all of that. You win, congratulations.

 

[Silverstring]

I don't even have the strength or time to go through all of that. You win, congratulations.

Hold on…this game has POINTS?!?!? Where do I redeem them?

Even if “winning” is something you can do on a forum with total strangers—which I don’t believe it is—I can assure you I “lost”.

My point was completely missed and my question never answered. What could I possibly have “won”?

 

[robbietop]

Accept all the people who do actually care. The 48mp lens provides significantly more detail and overall, a vastly improved image for those shooting in ProRAW. This is a pro phone and to make an assumption that people don't use or need the extra MP is simply ignorant.

I'm using a M1 Pro 12.9 inch and it works flawlessly for me and is a neat way to manage multi tasking. Not sure why it wouldn't function for you, unless you are blindly looking for things to whinge about if they don't suit your narrative?

That's why Apple added it now, YEARS beyond Android phones. They needed a big feature and the lonely feature still waiting to be picked was the 48 MP jump.

Also, they increased the size of the sensors to accommodate better lighting and they were probably torn between engineering limitations and aesthetic desires.

 

[FoxyKaye]

I'm not saying year over year upgrades have to be a big change. This will be 5 years of the same design. And you can't compare cars to iPads, they aren't a comparable purchase dollar wise.

Also, the big shift the Apple world feels like its undergoing has been from massive YoY hardware changes. So long as the M1 iPad Pro with the same internals, save the processor, deprecates at the same time as the M2, I personally am fine with this. I think the days of exponential tech improvements in all of Apple's product lines are behind us, but that also seems consistent with the current state of the tech industry at large.

 

[Jackbequickly]

”Giant Leaps” will be far and few between. Especially if we have a recession and iPhone sales slow as the R&D dollars will decrease, too. “Incremental“ will rule for a while.

 

[Isengardtom]

I think we’ll see this across most of apple products. MacBook Pro’s will most likely be spec bumps too. iPhone 14 basically was a spec bump too

I think software is where the real evolution will be

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

honestly it's not bad , but what pisses me off is the fact that apple can get away with anything they do .
so they can make a pretty negligible update , or even make it worse than the previous models (aka m2 macbook air ssd ) , and price them higher , people would still buy , because there is no real alternative . and in order to fix/regulate their cognitive dissonance , people will also claim they're happy and it's worth it , and tell those who - legitimately- complain/point out the problems , to simply shut up

 

[jterp7]

my 2018 11" pro constantly refreshes pages now, i suppose the 2x ram would make a difference now but im still waiting for mini led at the least before upgrading

 

[Gengar]

AT&T 3.45 GHz support on the cellular model is greatly appreciated. And that Pencil hover thingy.

 

[johnmacward]

I apologize if my post offended anyone. My point wasn’t to degrade anyone who purchased this device as in and by itself I’m sure it’s a fantastic iPad. I was just really hoping this would solve a lot of the issues I have with the current iPad Pro, as I would love to make it my business only device but can’t due to a number of limitations. Mainly the idiotic camera placement and less than stellar battery life. If Apple would have resolved those two things I would happily buy the new one even with just a spec bump.

Anyway, no offense to anyone who purchased the new one.

Now I’m confused, so apart from some poorly placed camera’s and battery life (an issue for all manufacturers, so hence a non issue) you’d actually be HAPPY to buy it. Which is it ?

From now on can you think maybe twice before you hit post on these original threads. See what emotions are driving you and whether it’s really necessary to have this kind of discussion.

 

[johnmacward]

Of course it’s my opinion. You needed to type that out?

And it’s a forum for discussion and opinion. No one said you had to read it or comment on it, but thank you for your contribution.

I think I agree with KevCube in this one - the sheer anger and frustration and nihilistic, end of the world black and white declarations that comes out means the person is out to rant and spew their emotions as opposed to participate in constructive discussion.

 

[johnmacward]

Apple's New iPad Lineup Causes Potential Confusion With Inconsistent Features

The launch of a new iPad Pro and entry-level iPad means that Apple's iPad lineup is the largest it has been in recent memory. The wide range of...

www.macrumors.com

iPad line-up: Something for everyone, or a confusing mess?

Yesterday saw the launch of the all-new iPad 10, as well as updated versions of the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad...

9to5mac.com

Apple's new iPad lineup is a confusing mess — let us explain which is for you

Let's figure out this new iPad lineup.

www.imore.com

I'm glad Apple's new iPads are confusing everyone else too

The internet's trying to make sense of it all.

www.creativebloq.com

Apple’s iPad Lineup Is Confusing

New interesting products, weird decisions.

medium.com

And I could go on and on. Thank you.

This is where we agree. The iPad lineup in my opinion is absolutely a mess. There are too many options that are too close to each other to be different. Considering it’s Apple hardware and to a great extent a lot of are with Apple for their slimmed down, yet decent choice of devices. The idea that they concentrate their juices on only what matters. Other crappier companies that release cheap plastic tablets will have a raft of tablet options at a raft of price points, some so cheap and slow that looking at photos on them actually is a slow and painful experience. But you buy this one for your 82 year old granddad who can’t tell the difference and will almost never use it.

Apple tends to consolidate its product lineup into something simple to understand - an expensive Pro option and a standard really good option (still expensive but less so).

Examples are iPhone and iPhone Pro, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, AirPods and AirPods Pro etc.

In iPad world there is
- iPad Mini
- iPad normal
- iPad Air
- iPad Pro

Maybe the mini is just about justifiable as a tiny tablet that has its uses but you could combine the two just in an iPhone Plus / Pro Max and have the best of both worlds.

What the hell is the difference between the “iPad” and the “iPad Air”? They’re far too similar to each other to exist as separate categories (or at least were for a long time). iPad Air doesn’t really need to exist and the iPad normal should just replace it - its concept as a product is odd. An iPad is already a ridiculously light yet capable device - unless you use composites or carbon fibre to drop 400g from its weight an iPad can’t become an Air version - it’s not significantly lighter and floatier than it’s cheaper brother. Its existence confuses me against the standard iPad.

Well the pros are the pros but don’t seem very pro for those who want to be real pro - software seems still to be a disaster area. So not even the pros really hit the nail on the head.

All in all for a segment that greatly divides people (tablets are just consumer devices, never really achieving highly useful status except drawing some images) why would Apple soak this segment in so many products that are far too similar to each other. This has always confounded me and I’m not the only one.

 

[johnmacward]

Negative news gets attention. If a company has an Apple news website and they’re NOT being negative about the iPad lineup, they’re missing out on quite a number of ad dollars from page views.

Yes and no - negativity can foster attention and increase clicks but it also might lead to change - endless negative news on our climate is manifesting as climate protests and an electing of green politics in Europe at least which I see somewhat as a positive. Just depends on your level of cynicism.