iPad Upgrading from iPad Pro M2 to iPad Air M3 – Worth It?

[maymeow]

Hey everyone, 👋


I’m considering upgrading my iPad Pro M2 (11-inch) to the new iPad Air M3 (13-inch), but I’m unsure if this would be a good move or if I should just wait.


A few things on my mind:

• Size Upgrade: Moving from 11-inch to 13-inch – will this be a noticeable and worthwhile change for productivity and media consumption?
• Performance Difference: How much of a real-world difference is there between the M2 and M3? I know M3 has some efficiency improvements, but does it justify upgrading?
• Pro to Air Transition: Has anyone switched from an iPad Pro to an iPad Air? How does it feel in terms of display quality (120Hz vs. 60Hz / or it is 90HZ now?), speakers, and overall experience?

I mainly use my iPad for media, note-taking, light productivity, occasional drawing (not an pro artist), and occasional gaming. Would love to hear thoughts from anyone who has experience with both!

Thanks!

 

[Coolpher]

OK, so for me at the time I had current iPad and I skipped the first generation Air and then I tried the iPad Air 2 before returning it within the two week. Period because I’m pretty sure Apple had announced the iPad Pro 12.9 and I knew for me myself that was going to be the iPad for me moving forward that I could get rid of my MacBook Pro. which there was a six month grace period where I was using both the MacBook Pro and the iPad Pro before I decided to sell the Macbookpro and I’ve never looked back since I have jumped into Mac mini’s just so I can follow the progress. I just recently picked up the new M4 Mac mini and I love it as a secondary device to my M4 iPad Pro 13 inch which I use on a daily basis almost all day at home at work and then back home.

 

[JCCL]

For me the 120 hz is way more impactful than any potential benefits from M3. m2 isn’t really crippling the iPad Pro, iPadOS is. Any performance gains will be negligible except in very specific use cases.

 

[jazzer15]

[Deleted]

 

[jazzer15]

Hey everyone, 👋


I’m considering upgrading my iPad Pro M2 (11-inch) to the new iPad Air M3 (13-inch), but I’m unsure if this would be a good move or if I should just wait.


A few things on my mind:

• Size Upgrade: Moving from 11-inch to 13-inch – will this be a noticeable and worthwhile change for productivity and media consumption?
• Performance Difference: How much of a real-world difference is there between the M2 and M3? I know M3 has some efficiency improvements, but does it justify upgrading?
• Pro to Air Transition: Has anyone switched from an iPad Pro to an iPad Air? How does it feel in terms of display quality (120Hz vs. 60Hz / or it is 90HZ now?), speakers, and overall experience?

I mainly use my iPad for media, note-taking, light productivity, occasional drawing (not an pro artist), and occasional gaming. Would love to hear thoughts from anyone who has experience with both!

Thanks!

To me the change from the 11 inch to the 13 inch would be the biggest difference. I have a 2018 11 inch Pro and am thinking of getting either the 13 inch M3 Air or the Pro. Part of my use is fairly specific (reading music) and the larger size would be beneficial. I doubt even with the old iPad I would notice much of a performance difference for what I use it for.

For you, I would think a 13 inch for note taking and productivity (even light) would show some benefit and might be worthwhile. But you do lose something in terms of portability. So, that is probably the thing that I would consider. If you really want the larger size and feel you would benefit, then the "upgrade?" might be worth it. Otherwise, I doubt it would be much different (although I know some swear that the promotion difference is huge).

Since I have a Pro now, the one thing I think I would miss is face detection. It is a small thing in the scheme of things, but I love the fact that most of the time I don't have to do anything other than look at the iPad to log into websites.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

 

[Greenmeenie]

If you were just upgrading from the M2 to the M3 for a speed increase, i'd say no. Don't waste your money. But you said you want a bigger screen. Now that is a totally different reason. And in that case, I'd say yeah, if screen size is important to you, upgrade for sure. But you probably could get a great deal on a 13" M2 ipad air now that the M3 ipad airs were announced. Again, the speed increase is negligible and you'd be saving $$$. 👍

 

[QCassidy352]

IMO that's a downgrade when you consider screen tech and speaker set up. I guess if you want to move up in size then Ok, that's a reason, but the iPad Pro M2 is a better overall device than Air M3.

 

[RoadWarrior56]

I would not go from an M2 pro to an M3 Air, if it were me. Plus I think the performance increases over a single generation of Apple Silicon is marginal and iterative in any case. I have been using a 5th Gen Ipad Air M1 that I bought in the fall of 2022. It still runs great for my purposes, and I see no need to upgrade it for either the iPad Pro or a newer iPad Air for the foreseeable future. The only thing that might make me upgrade my iPad in a year or so is not the processor, but the fact that I have hammered its battery. I use my Air a lot, and its battery life is not what it used to be.

 

[teohyc]

Main reason is for the bigger display.

But you have to give up 120Hz, Face unlock, 4-way speakers.

Unless there's something you can't do with the 11-inch, or it's tedious to do on an 11-inch, keep the iPad Pro

 

[SnowCrocodile]

Main reason is for the bigger display.

But you have to give up 120Hz, Face unlock, 4-way speakers.

Unless there's something you can't do with the 11-inch, or it's tedious to do on an 11-inch, keep the iPad Pro

Pretty much this.

I doubt that you would see any real world difference between M2 and M3. Or even M1 and M3. Or even M1 and M4. iPadOS simply can’t use these chips to their full potential. It’s like arguing whether you put a Corvette or a Ferrari engine into a car that’s limited to driving at 40 mph and accelerating from 0-60 no faster than 8 seconds.

I accidentally destroyed my 11” Pro (M1) and replaced it with the 11” M2 Air. I don’t see the difference in speed at all. I don’t see the difference in display either - it’s probably there but it’s not noticeable to me (I don’t play any games that would make the refresh rate stand out). I don’t care about the speakers because I very rarely use them. The only difference I do see is TouchID vs FaceID.

 

[jazzer15]

Pretty much this.

I doubt that you would see any real world difference between M2 and M3. Or even M1 and M3. Or even M1 and M4. iPadOS simply can’t use these chips to their full potential. It’s like arguing whether you put a Corvette or a Ferrari engine into a car that’s limited to driving at 40 mph and accelerating from 0-60 no faster than 8 seconds.

I accidentally destroyed my 11” Pro (M1) and replaced it with the 11” M2 Air. I don’t see the difference in speed at all. I don’t see the difference in display either - it’s probably there but it’s not noticeable to me (I don’t play any games that would make the refresh rate stand out). I don’t care about the speakers because I very rarely use them. The only difference I do see is TouchID vs FaceID.

How much does the lack of FaceID matter to you? You are in sort of the same situation as me, I think. I currently have an older 11 inch Pro and I want to get a 13 inch for music reading, so it needs to be a Pro or Air. Most of the additional stuff on the Pro doesn't matter much to me, but I'm afraid I may find logging in to be a bit annoying after getting used to FaceID on my iPad and iPhone. Not sure that alone is worth a few hundred dollars, though.

 

[SnowCrocodile]

How much does the lack of FaceID matter to you? You are in sort of the same situation as me, I think. I currently have an older 11 inch Pro and I want to get a 13 inch for music reading, so it needs to be a Pro or Air. Most of the additional stuff on the Pro doesn't matter much to me, but I'm afraid I may find logging in to be a bit annoying after getting used to FaceID on my iPad and iPhone. Not sure that alone is worth a few hundred dollars, though.

It’s an annoyance but not a major one, certainly not enough for me to pay double the price for the iPad Pro. Touching the TouchID button takes less than a second.

Otherwise I see no difference in usability.

 

[maymeow]

Thanks to everyone who responded! I really appreciate the insights.


My main reason for considering the upgrade was moving to a 13-inch display, but since the M2 and M3 chips are quite similar, I’m now thinking it’s not really worth it.


The 120Hz ProMotion display is a "good to have" feature for me—I like it, but it’s not a dealbreaker. I’m still unsure about the differences in speakers between the Pro and Air models, but I know that’s another area where the Pro has an edge.


As for Face ID vs. Touch ID, I do prefer Face ID (I have an iPad mini with Touch ID and find Face ID more convenient), but again, it’s not a dealbreaker.


With all the pros and cons considered (I see there is more cons than pros - 13-inch display for me), I’ll probably wait until next year and upgrade to the 13-inch iPad Pro instead.

Edit: I'll probably miss those iPad PRO features, but I'm not sure until I test it... And since I'm in a country where we don't have an Apple Store, I can't get the device I trade in back after I receive the new device (the price for the new device is discounted in advance), I think it's not worth the hassle for me...

 

[alecgold]

Good plan to wait on the next Pro iPad, probably somewhere this year or early next year.

About 13 or 11…
Don’t ask, but I’ve got a M4 13” pro and an M4 11” pro.
Things I’ve noticed between the 13 and the 11 are:
- between a naked 13 and 11 the weight difference is hardly noticeable in real life
- 13 is much better for productivity, I use stage manager on the 13 but never on the 11.
- 13 is hardly any heavier then the 11, certainly when you have the 13 in hand.
- Magazines, A4/letter size, comics/manga are much better on the 13, on the 11 you keep on zooming and moving.
- Handwriting (Goodnotes/Notability/Nebo) on the 13 is nicer, but the 11 is almost always good enough.
- The 13 is rather big in bed.
- The 13 takes up considerable more space in my bag even though it isn’t thicker on days I need to bring the windows laptop it’s a lot, the 11 is much nicer then.
- Drawing, designing, making diagrams, brainstorming, mindmapping on the 13 is surprisingly nice, you still are zooming, but less and the overview is better.
But also:
- 11 is more portable, but the difference is less then I thought.
- 11 is easier to move and use when walking through house/office/public transport.
- Movies on the 11 are not that much smaller (is the ratio different?).
- The 11 fits in almost any backpack, briefcase, messenger or tote and even in some slings.
- the 11” with MKB is noticeable lighter then the 13” with MKB


For me the 13” wins, but for a rather odd reason: I need to be able to use windows on it and the virtual machine is rather secure, I can’t even change the ratio’s/screen size/letter size and other things.

 

[It’s always something]

Good plan to wait on the next Pro iPad, probably somewhere this year or early next year.

About 13 or 11…
Don’t ask, but I’ve got a M4 13” pro and an M4 11” pro.
Things I’ve noticed between the 13 and the 11 are:
- between a naked 13 and 11 the weight difference is hardly noticeable in real life
- 13 is much better for productivity, I use stage manager on the 13 but never on the 11.
- 13 is hardly any heavier then the 11, certainly when you have the 13 in hand.
- Magazines, A4/letter size, comics/manga are much better on the 13, on the 11 you keep on zooming and moving.
- Handwriting (Goodnotes/Notability/Nebo) on the 13 is nicer, but the 11 is almost always good enough.
- The 13 is rather big in bed.
- The 13 takes up considerable more space in my bag even though it isn’t thicker on days I need to bring the windows laptop it’s a lot, the 11 is much nicer then.
- Drawing, designing, making diagrams, brainstorming, mindmapping on the 13 is surprisingly nice, you still are zooming, but less and the overview is better.
But also:
- 11 is more portable, but the difference is less then I thought.
- 11 is easier to move and use when walking through house/office/public transport.
- Movies on the 11 are not that much smaller (is the ratio different?).
- The 11 fits in almost any backpack, briefcase, messenger or tote and even in some slings.
- the 11” with MKB is noticeable lighter then the 13” with MKB


For me the 13” wins, but for a rather odd reason: I need to be able to use windows on it and the virtual machine is rather secure, I can’t even change the ratio’s/screen size/letter size and other things.

Excellent post. Very helpful! I am going to save it.

 

[throAU]

No.

Not unless you have some very specific needs.

I use my iPad daily for work and noticed little difference going from 10.5 pro to m1.

The software isn’t there yet.

Re pro to air. Don’t. I did. The screen is way worse. I regret the back step. Buy once cry once etc. the cost savings aren’t worth it for the worse screen etc. over the entire life of the device.

 

[blkjedi954]

OK, so for me at the time I had current iPad and I skipped the first generation Air and then I tried the iPad Air 2 before returning it within the two week. Period because I’m pretty sure Apple had announced the iPad Pro 12.9 and I knew for me myself that was going to be the iPad for me moving forward that I could get rid of my MacBook Pro. which there was a six month grace period where I was using both the MacBook Pro and the iPad Pro before I decided to sell the Macbookpro and I’ve never looked back since I have jumped into Mac mini’s just so I can follow the progress. I just recently picked up the new M4 Mac mini and I love it as a secondary device to my M4 iPad Pro 13 inch which I use on a daily basis almost all day at home at work and then back home.

Maybe you could use it to add punctuations to this run-on paragraph..🤣🤣

 

[StoneJack]

ipad's real limitation is iPadOS.
So any ipad is generally good for anything ipadish, it won't do anything beyond some basic tasks anyway