Upgrade from 12.9" 2015 iPad Pro to 2018 iPad?

[dan-K]

Hi guys,

Currently have a 2015 original iPad Pro 12.9".

It's great and find I'm using it more lately, but I only have 32gb storage on it, so downloading Netflix shows on it for when I don't have wi-fi is almost impossible. I also find it a bit bulky for what I need it for.

I'm thinking of upgrading to an 11" iPad Pro 2018. Do you think this would be a good idea? My main uses are web browsing, e-mail, netflix etc.

 

[Hym tix]

that 11" is darn sexy, for sure. I bought one based on that. ...and I returned it cause I couldn't go back to a smaller screen. movies, web pages, everything looks so great on the 12.9 (as you know).

Thats just my experience though. I'm sure some people put portability as a higher priority and were happy to downsize to an 11" screen.

 

[dan-K]

Apart from screen size, do you think there's a big enough difference between 2015 and 2018 iPad Pro to warrant an upgrade? I hear the screen quality on the new iPads are way better?

 

[Hym tix]

For "web, email, netflix, etc" no I would not say there is any noticeable performance improvement, based on what I've read.

For demanding games, video and photo editing, music production, etc probably so.

Others will have to comment on screen quality. I didn't test the 11" outside or in unusual lighting.

 

[BoneHead001]

I had the 2015 first generation 12.9 inch iPad Pro. The build quality was equal to that of a dog turd. The backlight bleed was horrible and it had a warm streak down the center of the display. I was very glad to get rid of it and get the the 2018 12.9 inch iPad Pro — what a huge difference in quality.

 

[davegoody]

Hi guys,

Currently have a 2015 original iPad Pro 12.9".

It's great and find I'm using it more lately, but I only have 32gb storage on it, so downloading Netflix shows on it for when I don't have wi-fi is almost impossible. I also find it a bit bulky for what I need it for.

I'm thinking of upgrading to an 11" iPad Pro 2018. Do you think this would be a good idea? My main uses are web browsing, e-mail, netflix etc.

I had the exact same iPad Pro 12.9". I upgraded to the new 12.9" and is AMAZING. It's a bit faster, but it overall feels like a far smaller device by losing the bezels and the home button. It's remarkable. Despite hearing about "bendgate" with the new Pro's mine is perfect in EVERY way, (sorry I sound like Mary Poppins), and the build quality and industrial design are incredible. Once you have had an iPad with a large screen, anything else seems tiny.

 

[sracer]

Hi guys,

Currently have a 2015 original iPad Pro 12.9".

It's great and find I'm using it more lately, but I only have 32gb storage on it, so downloading Netflix shows on it for when I don't have wi-fi is almost impossible. I also find it a bit bulky for what I need it for.

I'm thinking of upgrading to an 11" iPad Pro 2018. Do you think this would be a good idea? My main uses are web browsing, e-mail, netflix etc.

I went from a 128GB 2015 12.9 iPad Pro to the 128GB 2018 iPad (non-Pro). Although I loved the 12.9 Pro and used it heavily daily, I'm using the 2018 iPad even more (because of the portability). The greater choice for covers and cases was an added bonus.

 

[tps3443]

I’d pass on it.. Honestly I was happy with my iPad Pro 11” 3rd gen. I’ve had it for exactly a week and I was loving it! Now, I’m getting little issues with the touch screen. Certain letters not typing, and things of this nature.

I was all for the iPad Pro, defending it against all the bent drama you read online even.

But, after this it has just totally changed my mind. I don’t have time to keep swapping devices, and troubleshoot with warranty BS. I just want a device that works. And this isn’t the device.

If you buy one, buy locally so you can return it for your money when it messes up.

 

[Macalway]

Certain apps benefit a lot. Anything that is cpu intensive. It's substantial. The thing is, IOS devices aren't usually associated with power use. The are plenty of cases of it though.

I upgraded, and for the apps I use it's a major upgrade. Expensive though. (I got a good deal )

Also, since i'm a power user, it didn't really matter that much with one I bought as far a size, so I went with the cheaper one which mitigated the crazy premium price a little.

 

[Marshall73]

I went from a 2015 12.9 pro to a 10.5 pro and have now gone to the 3rd gen 12.9 pro. It’s superb, I use it for loads of stuff including:

Browsing
Reading
Drawing
Remote support
Watching shows/movies
Email
2nd screen for my MacBook Pro

It is much better than the previous 12.9 by having a smaller footprint and better than the 10.5 by having the bigger display. I wouldn’t bother with the 11, too close to the 10.5 and many apps have still to support the new screen ratio.

 

[blasto2236]

Personally, I’d say if you are primarily using it for browsing the web and Netflix, you could save yourself upwards of $1,000 just getting the regular $329 iPad.

Unless you’re dead set on the 12.9” screen size, but I just can’t see investing the extra money if you’re not going to get the most out of extra mileage afforded by it over the base model. It looks like you’re already considering downsizing to the 11”, so if screen size isn’t a concern, I’d wait to see if the $329 model gets refreshed in the next few months. If it goes to the 10.5” and stays the same price, that’s all the iPad you need and saves you about $1,000.

 

[mikehalloran]

Hi guys,

Currently have a 2015 original iPad Pro 12.9".

It's great and find I'm using it more lately, but I only have 32gb storage on it, so downloading Netflix shows on it for when I don't have wi-fi is almost impossible. I also find it a bit bulky for what I need it for.

I'm thinking of upgrading to an 11" iPad Pro 2018. Do you think this would be a good idea? My main uses are web browsing, e-mail, netflix etc.

Check it out at the Apple Store before making the decision. You’ll know what to buy..

 

[Dave245]

For what you’re doing I would say no, I think if you were going to edit photos, video or anything like that then yes. I’m personally considering upgrading from my 2017 iPad Pro, but I use the Apple Pencil a lot for notes, drawing and I also edit photos in Pixelmator in both my iPad Pro and iMac.

Also gaming, the new Tropico game is brilliant on the iPad Pro

But for just web browsing, Netflix and email I would get the normal iPad.

 

[AlexCipriani]

I don’t think most people use the iPad Pro for video editing or anything else that is cpu intensive. I use mine mostly for note taking. If you have the 2015 version I don’t think the upgrade is warranted you can do almost anything you do on the 2018 so I don’t see how can one justify the $1k

 

[tps3443]

It is a drastic difference from the 2015 iPad Pro. You will instantly notice the 120Hz display, and how much smoother the experience will be right out of the box. I bought the 1TB 11” cellular model, because I too was tired of being limited on storage space. Now I can store anything I want, with plenty of room for growth during the life of owning the device.

You may not need that much storage space, but still the difference will be day and night.

The 11” iPad Pro is rediculously thin at 5.9mm, and it is very light too, it has minimalistic bezels that make it mostly all screen. So, the footprint will be smaller and lighter then what your used to.

Obviously the CPU and GPU in the iPad are beastly to say the least. It’ll run circles around the average persons laptop. It is extremely efficient with a 7NM manufacturing process.

It is the latest and greatest in iPads with a long life cycle to go with it!

If you want one, go get one.

 

[AlexCipriani]

Assuming one has no iPad is a different story but in case they do its all relative to what they currently posses so please let me know which features from the 2015 to 2018 are so good that are worth $1000?

 

[MacDevil7334]

I’d pass on it.. Honestly I was happy with my iPad Pro 11” 3rd gen. I’ve had it for exactly a week and I was loving it! Now, I’m getting little issues with the touch screen. Certain letters not typing, and things of this nature.

I was all for the iPad Pro, defending it against all the bent drama you read online even.

But, after this it has just totally changed my mind. I don’t have time to keep swapping devices, and troubleshoot with warranty BS. I just want a device that works. And this isn’t the device.

If you buy one, buy locally so you can return it for your money when it messes up.

It is a drastic difference from the 2015 iPad Pro. You will instantly notice the 120Hz display, and how much smoother the experience will be right out of the box. I bought the 1TB 11” cellular model, because I too was tired of being limited on storage space. Now I can store anything I want, with plenty of room for growth during the life of owning the device.

You may not need that much storage space, but still the difference will be day and night.

The 11” iPad Pro is rediculously thin at 5.9mm, and it is very light too, it has minimalistic bezels that make it mostly all screen. So, the footprint will be smaller and lighter then what your used to.

Obviously the CPU and GPU in the iPad are beastly to say the least. It’ll run circles around the average persons laptop. It is extremely efficient with a 7NM manufacturing process.

It is the latest and greatest in iPads with a long life cycle to go with it!

If you want one, go get one.

You seem to have had quite the change of heart on this iPad over the last month...

To answer the OPs question, the reduction in size and weight on the 3rd gen 12.9” was enough to get me to upgrade from the 2017 model. It’s a fantastic device. I’d say the jump from the original model will be even bigger (0.2 lbs lighter, ProMotion, P3 display, etc.). Go for it if you can stomach the price hike.

 

[AlexJoda]

Wanted to upgrade my 2015 iPP with the 2018 iPP 12.9 and bought the 2017 iPP 12.9 instead! They offered me a refurbished 512GB Cellular with only 11 battery cycles for less than half the money that I have to spend for the 2018 iPP.

The 2017 iPP is the bigger jump from the 2015 iPP than to 2018 version. Is has the same display with 120MHz ProMotion and P3 than the 2018 iPP (love this feature!) and the performance difference is negligible with the current IOS and apps in my eyes. So there is no real functional improvement apart from the design. The 2017 is even lighter and thinner together with the cover which I have on most of the time and I can reuse my old cover and pencil.

To buy a brand new iPP it needs a new iPad OS (I did not write IOS intentionally) with much more productivity features to be a real notebook replacement. I can’t justify an $2000 iPad just for couch surfing and watching Netflix or YouTube and act as a „big iPhone“ (at least I need a mouse or trackpad). If I have to wait for a new iPad OS anyway I can also wait for the new hardware. Until then I enjoy my 2017 iPP.....(and my Surface Go which I bought in desperation because of the lack of these productivity features)

 

[maddogsrfr81]

Wanted to upgrade my 2015 iPP with the 2018 iPP 12.9 and bought the 2017 iPP 12.9 instead! They offered me a refurbished 512GB Cellular with only 11 battery cycles for less than half the money that I have to spend for the 2018 iPP.

The 2017 iPP is the bigger jump from the 2015 iPP than to 2018 version. Is has the same display with 120MHz ProMotion and P3 than the 2018 iPP (love this feature!) and the performance difference is negligible with the current IOS and apps in my eyes. So there is no real functional improvement apart from the design. The 2017 is even lighter and thinner together with the cover which I have on most of the time and I can reuse my old cover and pencil.

To buy a brand new iPP it needs a new iPad OS (I did not write IOS intentionally) with much more productivity features to be a real notebook replacement. I can’t justify an $2000 iPad just for couch surfing and watching Netflix or YouTube and act as a „big iPhone“ (at least I need a mouse or trackpad). If I have to wait for a new iPad OS anyway I can also wait for the new hardware. Until then I enjoy my 2017 iPP.....(and my Surface Go which I bought in desperation because of the lack of these productivity features)

I have the 2017 12.9 iPad Pro as well. I have been debating upgrading or even trying a smaller one. The only negative is I constantly travel via plane and the 12.9 is cumbersome on the seat back tray to actually work on. So my idea was to maybe trade up for a new one or get a second smaller 10.5 or whatnot for the plane or tight places.

A negative about the 2017 IPP was lack of accessories from the start. I had to hunt for the apple sleeve(Atlanta airport had them) and amazon has 2 back covers that work with the smart keyboard. I have had it since its release and have had zero issues and love the screen size.

I keep going to pull the trigger on the new ones but the cost of a 512gig 12.9 with LTE is excessive.

The IPP line is making it make sense to own a MBA in addition to a MBP as they are cheaper and more functional.

 

[sracer]

I have the 2017 12.9 iPad Pro as well. I have been debating upgrading or even trying a smaller one. The only negative is I constantly travel via plane and the 12.9 is cumbersome on the seat back tray to actually work on. So my idea was to maybe trade up for a new one or get a second smaller 10.5 or whatnot for the plane or tight places.

A negative about the 2017 IPP was lack of accessories from the start. I had to hunt for the apple sleeve(Atlanta airport had them) and amazon has 2 back covers that work with the smart keyboard. I have had it since its release and have had zero issues and love the screen size.

I keep going to pull the trigger on the new ones but the cost of a 512gig 12.9 with LTE is excessive.

The IPP line is making it make sense to own a MBA in addition to a MBP as they are cheaper and more functional.

Am I understanding you correctly that you are saying that it makes more sense to: own an MBA + MBP than a 12.9 iPad Pro + MBP?

If so, what are the reasons for owning 2 mobile macOS devices?

 

[Dave245]

Am I understanding you correctly that you are saying that it makes more sense to" own an MBA + MBP than a 12.9 iPad Pro + MBP?

If so, what are the reasons for owning 2 mobile macOS devices?

My personal thinking would be it’s better to own an iPad Pro and MacBook Air.

Personally my usage is an iPad Pro 2017 and iMac 2012 at the moment, I like my iMac for my desktop usage, while the iPad Pro is used for drawing and photo editing. I did have a 2011 MacBook Pro that died late last year, I’m considering the new MacBook Air as my portable Mac.

Different machines have different purposes for different people. The iPad is what I use the most, however the iMac i also use daily. Great machines in my opinion