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iPad Pro The new iPad Pro is practically perfect. What could Apple do to improve it?

iPad is not perfect. It's a moment in time. Here's what a next-generation iPad looks like to me:

  • All week battery life. Like a battery that lasts for days of heavy use with future battery technology.
  • iPadOS greatly enhanced to enable better multi-tasking, better apps, etc.
  • A rollout or foldable screen. So the iPad's screen can become larger or be more portable and can also serve as an additional monitor in some computer setup.
  • Oilproof screen.
None of the above is just around the corner... but potentially something we may see in the future...
 
It needs better file management, multiple user accounts, and the ability to stream 2 audio sources at the same time, at a minimum. The ironic thing is, due to bugs I’ve managed to *accidentally* make the iPad stream 2 audio sources at once, so it IS capable of doing so, Apple just refuses to allow users to do it.

My M4 iPad Pro is FAR from perfect, but I do enjoy it and have mostly replaced my old M1 MacBook Pro with it. I will be using this as my main device for the next several years, but if there are no improvements, I will probably not be buying another iPad.
 
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From purely hardware perspective, I want
  • Higher resolution. iPhones has 460 ppi while iPad pro still has low 264 ppi
  • Thinner bezels. Galaxy Ultra tablets have very thin bezels for comparison
  • Brighter display. Phones are now getting 2500 nits display. iPad Pro has only 1000 nits
  • Better aspect ratio on 13 inch iPad. It has giant black bars when watching movies
  • Better FaceID. When I pick it up to use in Portrait orientation, the face id camera is covered. I wish they put face id cameras on both longer and shorter edge, so that the camera is never blocked.
 
A proper AC passthrough mode on M powered iPads for when you are plugged in and using Stage Manager on an external screen for long durations. (80% charging limit is only a partial solution for this).
 
They may not be practical, but a few hardware-based things I'd like to see are (in no particular order):
  • Second FaceID sensor on the top and/or Touch ID in the power button. Now that I have a smaller iPad Pro I tend to hold it in portrait more and block the sensor frequently.
  • Higher resolution display - PPI - my eyesight isn't the best so I tend to hold the iPad a bit closer than you're probably expected to so it's the least "Retina" of all my device. A higher pixel density would also decrease how noticeable the "grain" is on dark grey areas.
  • Better battery life. The M4 is definitely better than my M1 - but the iPad gets the worst battery life out of all of my Apple device. That's partially because I use it so much and partially because it needs to be thin and light. It's a difficult problem to solve, but it's one that could do better.
  • I'd like some kind of magnetic charging port - preferably more like the MacBook and not the flat version on the iPhone.
  • The bezels are a bit large, even for something where you need room to hold it. I think they could bet reduced by 30% - 50% and be fine and allow slightly larger screens.
  • Headphone jack.
 
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I wanted to wait for the M4 iPad, but I had to replace my M1 last Christmas and ended up with an M2 iPad. Now that Apple has finally fixed some bugs in 17.6.1, I’ve put away my Apple Voodoo Doll—at least until they get lazy again. The top feature I’d love to see in a future iPad Pro is a larger screen. 📺
 
Aka757 said:
This will inevitably turn into a discussion about iPadOS (with some users wanting a port of macOS). I don’t think anyone will argue iPads have best-in-class hardware, but everyone would benefit from software improvements. What constitutes an improvement? That’s the million dollar question; it’s different for everyone.
Click to expand...
I like the iPad running iPadOS
 
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Almost all of my wish list would refer to SW items, save for an extra USB-C port:
  1. A « real » robust user-friendly, powerful file system (feel like I’ve pushed Files and File Browser Pro to the limit. No match for Finder)
  2. A quick way to get back to the Home Screen from the Magic Keyboard
  3. Aforementioned multiple simultaneous audio streams
  4. Improved window management (Stage Manager 2.0)
  5. Do NOT put Mac’s OS on the iPad - invest in development of iPad OS. Exploit the full potential of the iPad.
 
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Runaway Train said:
Almost all of my wish list would refer to SW items, save for an extra USB-C port:
  1. A « real » robust user-friendly, powerful file system (feel like I’ve pushed Files and File Browser Pro to the limit. No match for Finder)
  2. A quick way to get back to the Home Screen from the Magic Keyboard
  3. Aforementioned multiple simultaneous audio streams
  4. Improved window management (Stage Manager 2.0)
  5. Do NOT put Mac’s OS on the iPad - invest in development of iPad OS. Exploit the full potential of the iPad.
Click to expand...
I am with you on everything except stage manager because I don’t use it. What I really really want is Apple to convince more developers to let their apps support split screen. Two screens and impossible slide over at a time are perfect for me especially now that I’m going to have a calculator app on my iPad. If they don’t let the calculator app do split screen, I am going to scream . I would bet many people would benefit from Notes and calculator split although you can do a lot on Notes. And please let the Settings app support split screen.
 
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As far as I'm concerned, they should drop the price and add an extra mm of thickness, and ditch the camera bump. The Air is well and truly thin enough. Give the Pro another mm, and give it great battery life!

Also, the prices are ridiculous here in Australia. The 11" starts at $1500, and the 13" starts at $2200! A 1TB 13" Cellular iPad Pro is $3600!!!
 
dotnet said:
A WiFi-only 13" iPad Pro with 1TB storage costs AU$3249 – without magic keyboard. A 13" MacBook Air with 1TB costs AU$2399. This is insane.
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At this rate, by the time I can afford to upgrade my iPad Air 2, I'll have to make do with an 11th Gen iPad (hopefully they bump it up to an A17 at least!), since even the 11" WiFi M2 Air starts at AU$1000!
 
Bungaree.Chubbins said:
At this rate, by the time I can afford to upgrade my iPad Air 2, I'll have to make do with an 11th Gen iPad (hopefully they bump it up to an A17 at least!), since even the 11" WiFi M2 Air starts at AU$1000!
Click to expand...
iPad 11 is rumored to be A16 (still 6GB RAM will be a decent improvement, but no Apple Intelligence)
 
Runaway Train said:
Almost all of my wish list would refer to SW items, save for an extra USB-C port:
  1. A « real » robust user-friendly, powerful file system (feel like I’ve pushed Files and File Browser Pro to the limit. No match for Finder)
  2. A quick way to get back to the Home Screen from the Magic Keyboard
  3. Aforementioned multiple simultaneous audio streams
  4. Improved window management (Stage Manager 2.0)
  5. Do NOT put Mac’s OS on the iPad - invest in development of iPad OS. Exploit the full potential of the iPad.
Click to expand...
2. World button (bottom left) H
 
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Thank you both! iPad user for the past 13 years, never knew that🤣, not sure how I missed that. One actually can learn some things here.
 
calibrated to be cooler like the LCD ipads. cheaper 16gb version, maybe bring it down to the 512GB? Don't make it a $400 jump, $200 plz.
 
I bought a new iPad M4 Pro and tbh its not much different from my old 1TB 2018 Pro (that was bought at a bargain price new and did well for 6 years) I would like a browser that works without so many bugs, or to be allowed to use a non webkit version like FF with Ublock origin, anything but Safari which I never use on my Mac. also whats the point in the powerful hardware when you cant really use it?

The iPad feels like a in between semi luxury device at this price point that cannot replace for my need for a desktop or laptop with a file system and a choice of browsers. I don't want macOS on myself it but maybe I would like the choice, and for Apple to make it less of a media consumption basic browsing machine and allow more choice for the end user. As far as the new Oled screen in daily use I don't really notice the improvement, I have a Master Series Sony OLED and that blows me away, the iPad is okay but in a blind browsing test with no HDR glitz nope I doubt I could tell the difference between say a my old 2018 and the new one, and that's with Carl Zeiss individual lenses and a new prescription earlier this year so its not my glasses.

Its just not a must have device, its a nice to have device but I cant work out where it fits in the line up of Apple machines, and since I sold my old one for £600 I dont feel ripped off but boy is it iOS 17.6.1 buggy on it. Safari should have a compatibility mode because I know I'm not the only one to find important websites that are not really designed for it still.

Then I go to my Mac mini M2 Pro with Firefox and all is well. So for myself more choice on what I can download and if I want macOS I can have it, because at times it would then be just the perfect all in one to have both options, as it is now its a great facetime and film email and light browsing tool and great for creating AI art with ChatGBT and DALL-E but not as good for watching films as my TV unless I'm on a flight and not as good for browsing as my Mac mini.
 
Lighter

Higher resolution display

Fix the green cast/tint from the OLED panel when in direct sunlight (iPhone doesn't do this, but the iPad panels do)

Better battery life

Multi USB ports

Fix FaceID by placing the sensors somewhere other than where my right thumb sits...
 
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Now the base Macbook Pro 512 go 14’ with nano texture option is around 250 $ cheaper than the iPad Pro 11’ 1 To with nano texture and Magic Keyboard. That doesn’t make sense !

Apple, put the nano texture option in the base IPP, please and lower the price !
IPP is really too expensive. Hope the next iPad Pro will correct this (and get thinner bezels and better autonomy) 🤞
 
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