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transpo1

macrumors 65816
Jul 15, 2010
1,049
1,722
Yep, iPad only.
I've been waiting on a A14x iPP 11 but pulled the trigger on a 2020 256GB model last week during Apple's gift card event. Trading in my 2016 iPP 9.7" = $170 off at apple.com, plus the $100 gift card (to put towards 2nd gen Apple Pencil), plus a $25 apple gift card I had laying around. On top of that, used Apple Card which nets another $28 or so in cash back, so I'm really only paying $625 when all is said and done. Not bad. This thing will last years even if they come out with A14X next spring, and if I decide to upgrade, can still probably get up to $500 off with the 2020 model.
 

dumastudetto

macrumors 603
Aug 28, 2013
5,532
8,311
Los Angeles, USA
I've been waiting on a A14x iPP 11 but pulled the trigger on a 2020 256GB model last week during Apple's gift card event. Trading in my 2016 iPP 9.7" = $170 off at apple.com, plus the $100 gift card (to put towards 2nd gen Apple Pencil), plus a $25 apple gift card I had laying around. On top of that, used Apple Card which nets another $28 or so in cash back, so I'm really only paying $625 when all is said and done. Not bad. This thing will last years even if they come out with A14X next spring, and if I decide to upgrade, can still probably get up to $500 off with the 2020 model.

The current iPad Pros are absolute beasts in terms of performance. I'm sure they will be good for years to come for those who choose not to upgrade. I expect most of us will be seduced into buying the 2021 models though. :p
 

The Game 161

macrumors Nehalem
Dec 15, 2010
30,991
20,174
UK
The current iPad Pros are absolute beasts in terms of performance. I'm sure they will be good for years to come for those who choose not to upgrade. I expect most of us will be seduced into buying the 2021 models though. :p

I’m sure all the iPad fanatics will be buying the 12.9 mini led pro...
 
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rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,921
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The current iPad Pros are absolute beasts in terms of performance. I'm sure they will be good for years to come for those who choose not to upgrade. I expect most of us will be seduced into buying the 2021 models though. :p
Lol, true.

Besides, I do want the 5G Qualcomm modem. I don't know if it's due to 5G, modem or antenna config but I ran Speedtest on my iPhone SE 2 and my brother's iPhone 12. I got 10 Mb/s down while his phone got 25 Mb/s, both on AT&T.
 
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transpo1

macrumors 65816
Jul 15, 2010
1,049
1,722
The current iPad Pros are absolute beasts in terms of performance. I'm sure they will be good for years to come for those who choose not to upgrade. I expect most of us will be seduced into buying the 2021 models though. :p
If the 2021 models have an 11" or slightly larger 12" model with 15-20 hours battery life, I will definitely upgrade. The battery life would be the best new feature they could put into it. :)
 
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rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,921
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If the 2021 models have an 11" or slightly larger 12" model with 15-20 hours battery life, I will definitely upgrade. The battery life would be the best new feature they could put into it. :)

The extra battery life on the MacBooks didn't come for free.

MacBook Pro 13
Battery: 58.2 Wh
Weight: 3.0 lbs

MacBook Air
Battery: 49.9 Wh
Weight: 2.8 lbs

iPad Pro 11
Battery: 28.7 Wh
Weight: 1.04 lbs
 

JM91Six

macrumors regular
Apr 22, 2019
121
93
There are rumors that the 12.9" will be the only Pro getting mini-LED, which could mean the 11" Pro getting discontinued at the next update, especially with the new Air having much the same form factor. If you are set on the 11" size and the current one is more than powerful enough for you, I would probably consider just getting it now.
I can’t Imagine them getting rid of the 11” pro. So many people like that form factor... but I guess the new 10.9” is basically the same.. that would be a bummer imo :(
 
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Astonish_IT

macrumors regular
Sep 1, 2017
155
147
I can’t Imagine them getting rid of the 11” pro. So many people like that form factor... but I guess the new 10.9” is basically the same.. that would be a bummer imo :(

I agree with you, it would be weird for them to fase out their best seller iPad model. It is true that the new iPad Air, form factor wise is close to the iPad Pro 11” but it is not a replacement for 11” pro, especially when the 2021 models come out with A14X, ith 6 or may be even 8 gb ram, once or if more pro apps get released for the iPad OS.

It will for sure run them, and run them very well, but a power user or people using it for professional work, will prefer the 11” Pro over the iPad Air. Today they are very compareable because iPad Pro is still using 2 years old processor with minor modifications.
 
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Dovahkiing

macrumors 6502
Nov 1, 2013
483
473
If the 2021 models have an 11" or slightly larger 12" model with 15-20 hours battery life, I will definitely upgrade. The battery life would be the best new feature they could put into it. :)
I'll be the first to say I'd love to be proven wrong here, but I'm not sure A14X will improve battery life *that* much compared to A12X/Z. The Macs went from a 14nm generically manufactured chip to a 5nm chip that was custom designed for the software. The iPad Pro is already on a 7nm process and custom designed silicon. No doubt A14X will be better, but most likely by the traditional incremental margins seen in most refreshes. I don't think it will be mind blowing like what they were able to achieve by switching to M1 on the mac.
 
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rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,921
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I'll be the first to say I'd love to be proven wrong here, but I'm not sure A14X will improve battery life *that* much compared to A12X/Z. The Macs went from a 14nm, generically manufactured, chip to a 5nm chip that was custom designed for the software. The iPad Pro is already on a 7nm process and custom designed silicon. No doubt A14X will be better, but most likely by the traditional incremental margins seen in most refreshes. I don't think it will be mind blowing like what they were able to achieve by switching to M1 on the mac.

Yep. The biggest gain is going from hot and power hungry Intel to the more efficient ARM-based Apple chipset.

If you just go by linear calculations based on advertised battery life and battery capacities you get following power consumption:

MacBook Pro: 2.9 W/hr
MacBook Air: 2.8 W/hr
iPad Pro 11: 2.9 W/hr

Mind, I know Apple only advertises 10 hours of web browsing on the basic iPad and iPad Air but at same settings and similar usage, I get better battery life from iPads with non-X/Z chipsets versus iPad Pros.
 

BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
14,032
Yep. The biggest gain is going from hot and power hungry Intel to the more efficient ARM-based Apple chipset.

If you just go by linear calculations based on advertised battery life and battery capacities you get following power consumption:

MacBook Pro: 2.9 W/hr
MacBook Air: 2.8 W/hr
iPad Pro 11: 2.9 W/hr

Mind, I know Apple only advertises 10 hours of web browsing on the basic iPad and iPad Air but at same settings and similar usage, I get better battery life from iPads with non-X/Z chipsets versus iPad Pros.

Yeah and as a super light reader (iBooks) with low brightness, I can read for 6 hours on my 2018 iPad 11 Pro and not even hit 85%. iPad Pro 11 battery life is amazing. My last non-Pro iPad was the iPad 3 so I can't really talk bout the non-X/Z chipsets.
 
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Falhófnir

macrumors 603
Aug 19, 2017
6,146
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Yep. The biggest gain is going from hot and power hungry Intel to the more efficient ARM-based Apple chipset.

If you just go by linear calculations based on advertised battery life and battery capacities you get following power consumption:

MacBook Pro: 2.9 W/hr
MacBook Air: 2.8 W/hr
iPad Pro 11: 2.9 W/hr

Mind, I know Apple only advertises 10 hours of web browsing on the basic iPad and iPad Air but at same settings and similar usage, I get better battery life from iPads with non-X/Z chipsets versus iPad Pros.
I'm interested to know if that will also prove true with the new Air, it seems to significantly outperform the A14 phones in graphics (it actually pips the A12Z on geekbench) so I wonder if Apple isn't letting the chip stretch its graphics legs a bit more when in the larger enclosure, and with a battery with more robust sustained power delivery? The iPad often does a little better than the iPhone with an equivalent chip, but I don't think we've ever seen that much of a discrepancy, unless it's a bug or unreliable result from GB or something?
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,921
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Yeah and as a super light reader (iBooks) with low brightness, I can read for 6 hours on my 2018 iPad 11 Pro and not even hit 85%. iPad Pro 11 battery life is amazing. My last non-Pro iPad was the iPad 3 so I can't really talk bout the non-X/Z chipsets.

That's good to know. Certainly seems more efficient compared to my experience with A9X (1st gen Pro) and A10X (2nd gen Pro). Did you have airplane mode on or something? Granted, I do think it takes a very long time to drop from 100% and battery drain is quicker after so it's pretty iffy that percentage drop to onscreen time is sustainable. 15% drop in 6 hours translates to ~40 hours onscreen time with a single charge.

iPad 3 A5X, 42.5 Wh battery (I believe bigger than current iPad Pro 12.9 battery)
12 hours onscreen time browsing mostly forums and reading ebooks/comics on low brightness

iPad 4 A6X, 42.5 Wh battery
~16 hours onscreen time with same usage as above, ~40 hours as LTE hotspot with display off

iPad Air A7 to iPad Pro 10.5 A10X, 27-32 Wh batteries
10-12 hours onscreen time with same usage

iPad 5 A9, 6 A10, 7 A10 and Air 3 A12, 30-32 Wh batteries
~16+ hours onscreen time with same usage
 
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rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,921
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I'm interested to know if that will also prove true with the new Air, it seems to significantly outperform the A14 phones in graphics (it actually pips the A12Z on geekbench) so I wonder if Apple isn't letting the chip stretch its graphics legs a bit more when in the larger enclosure, and with a battery with more robust sustained power delivery? The iPad often does a little better than the iPhone with an equivalent chip, but I don't think we've ever seen that much of a discrepancy, unless it's a bug or unreliable result from GB or something?

Yeah, quite likely less thermal and power limitations on Air 4 than on iPhone 12. While the A14 can stretch its legs better on the iPad, I expect A14X/Z will still have more cores, etc. increasing power consumption.

Personally, I don't game or do anything particularly GPU-heavy so even if it's capable of faster performance, I expect most times, the chipset is just on low power/idle on my iPad.
 
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BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
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That's good to know. Certainly seems more efficient compared to my experience with A9X (1st gen Pro) and A10X (2nd gen Pro). Did you have airplane mode on or something? Granted, I do think it takes a very long time to drop from 100% and battery drain is quicker after so it's pretty iffy that percentage drop to onscreen time is sustainable. 15% drop in 6 hours translates to ~40 hours onscreen time with a single charge.

iPad 3 A5X, 42.5 Wh battery (I believe bigger than current iPad Pro 12.9 battery)
12 hours onscreen time browsing mostly forums and reading ebooks/comics on low brightness

iPad 4 A6X, 42.5 Wh battery
~16 hours onscreen time with same usage as above, ~40 hours as LTE hotspot with display off

iPad Air A7 to iPad Pro 10.5 A10X, 27-32 Wh batteries
10-12 hours onscreen time with same usage

iPad 5 A9, 6 A10, 7 A10 and Air 3 A12, 30-32 Wh batteries
~16+ hours onscreen time with same usage
I'm probably not a good person to make statements like this. I love my iCarez matte screen protector (no reflection) and reading in low light with low brightness (no eye strain for me) - so I have a cellular 2018 iPad Pro 11 - but I sit next to the wifi router on low screen brightness and read for HOURS. I love reading. :p

And yeah, you're right, it's like a fuel gauge. Sits at 100% for hours.
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
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I'm probably not a good person to make statements like this. I love my iCarez matte screen protector (no reflection) and reading in low light with low brightness (no eye strain for me) - so I have a cellular 2018 iPad Pro 11 - but I sit next to the wifi router on low screen brightness and read for HOURS. I love reading. :p

And yeah, you're right, it's like a fuel gauge. Sits at 100% for hours.

Mine's at very low brightness as well (pretty much the only reason I get higher than advertised battery life). Typically 0-20% during the day and at night it's even dimmer/lower contrast at 0% with Reduce White Point set to 50-70%.
 
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BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
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Mine's at very low brightness as well (pretty much the only reason I get higher than advertised battery life). Typically 0-20% during the day and at night it's even dimmer/lower contrast at 0% with Reduce White Point set to 50-70%.
Agreed! I thought I was the only one doing this stuff. :)

I apologize for throwing this thread a little --- reduced whitepoint doesn't help battery life right? At least that's what I thought.

Thanks for the info!
 

KittyKatta

macrumors 65816
Feb 24, 2011
1,058
1,212
SoCal
I don't think it does. Reduce white point does prevent my eyeballs from being seared though. :p
Its amazing how many people don't use (or know of) Reduce White Point. I set the triple click shortcut for all family members but they never use it and it drives me crazy. People use full brightness in movie theaters, in dark cars, theme parks etc. Maybe my eyes are sensitive but I dont understand how I am blinded by the light from other peoples phones yet their right in front of it and are just fine. ?
 
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BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
14,032
Its amazing how many people don't use (or know of) Reduce White Point. I set the triple click shortcut for all family members but they never use it and it drives me crazy. People use full brightness in movie theaters, in dark cars, theme parks etc. Maybe my eyes are sensitive but I dont understand how I am blinded by the light from other peoples phones yet their right in front of it and are just fine. ?

What REALLY bothers me is on airplanes during late / early flights. People with MAX brightness. I'm sitting there with black background, grey text, brightness almost all the way down, and the person next to me has an iPhone on max brightness - and it hurts my eyes lol. I don't know how they do it.

Reducing white point and lowering brightness significantly reduces my eye strain and allows me to read for very long periods of time.
 
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Falhófnir

macrumors 603
Aug 19, 2017
6,146
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Yeah, quite likely less thermal and power limitations on Air 4 than on iPhone 12. While the A14 can stretch its legs better on the iPad, I expect A14X/Z will still have more cores, etc. increasing power consumption.

Personally, I don't game or do anything particularly GPU-heavy so even if it's capable of faster performance, I expect most times, the chipset is just on low power/idle on my iPad.
I’ve noticed over the last 6 months or so my battery doesn’t seem to be lasting as long as it used to. I’m not sure if that’s battery fatigue from being almost 5 years old or if the chip is being pushed a bit harder now, and the lack of low power cores on the A9X makes low power tasks sub optimal. Probably a bit of both.

Interestingly the iPad 3 and 2015 12.9 have similar battery capacity, and about the same rated use time (when new) the 3 actually seems to still have good endurance when I power it up from time to time, despite being the best part of a decade old. Shame it didn’t hold up nearly so well in performance!
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
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I’ve noticed over the last 6 months or so my battery doesn’t seem to be lasting as long as it used to. I’m not sure if that’s battery fatigue from being almost 5 years old or if the chip is being pushed a bit harder now, and the lack of low power cores on the A9X makes low power tasks sub optimal. Probably a bit of both.

Interestingly the iPad 3 and 2015 12.9 have similar battery capacity, and about the same rated use time (when new) the 3 actually seems to still have good endurance when I power it up from time to time, despite being the best part of a decade old. Shame it didn’t hold up nearly so well in performance!

When I got my Pro 9.7, it could barely do 10 hours onscreen time even with my low brightness setting. After a year or so of heavy daily use, it already dropped to 9 hours. It still does around 8-9 hours now but I expect the only reason it hasn't deteriorated more is because I've gotten newer iPads so it's barely seeing any use now. The Pro 10.5 is similarly worn out since it was on primary duty until I picked up the iPad Air 3 last year.

We traded in the iPad 3 like three years ago. Even when the iPad Pro 9.7 was brand new, the 5-year old iPad 3 still had better battery life than it.

Chipset efficiency has helped a lot but it's really still a compromise: thicker/bigger and heavier device with lotsa battery versus thin and light with shorter battery life. I doubt we'll see miraculous improvements in battery life going from A12X/Z to A14X/Z.

With that said, I checked battery usage stats on my Air 3 A12 and it's more impressive than I had thought. I got 13 hours of onscreen time with 60% battery drain. No wonder it's the one I use most (primarily because it's the one that always has charge). My Pro 10.5 drains relatively quickly both in use and standby albeit it's still way better than my iPhone or laptop. Looking forward to see how A14(X/Z) fares.
 

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Marlon DLTH :)

macrumors 6502
Mar 4, 2020
410
761
When I got my Pro 9.7, it could barely do 10 hours onscreen time even with my low brightness setting. After a year or so of heavy daily use, it already dropped to 9 hours. It still does around 8-9 hours now but I expect the only reason it hasn't deteriorated more is because I've gotten newer iPads so it's barely seeing any use now. The Pro 10.5 is similarly worn out since it was on primary duty until I picked up the iPad Air 3 last year.

We traded in the iPad 3 like three years ago. Even when the iPad Pro 9.7 was brand new, the 5-year old iPad 3 still had better battery life than it.

Chipset efficiency has helped a lot but it's really still a compromise: thicker/bigger and heavier device with lotsa battery versus thin and light with shorter battery life. I doubt we'll see miraculous improvements in battery life going from A12X/Z to A14X/Z.

With that said, I checked battery usage stats on my Air 3 A12 and it's more impressive than I had thought. I got 13 hours of onscreen time with 60% battery drain. No wonder it's the one I use most (primarily because it's the one that always has charge). My Pro 10.5 drains relatively quickly both in use and standby albeit it's still way better than my iPhone or laptop. Looking forward to see how A14(X/Z) fares.

Yes, it looks like iPads with non-X/Z chips have noticeable better battery life. My 11 inch Pro gives me about 12 hours onscreen time with a full charge.
 
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blkjedi954

macrumors 6502
Feb 15, 2012
409
314
Florida
I am definitely waiting. Like you my needs don’t warrant such a beast BUT it is nice to have!
Update: Found a monster of a deal for 1TB 12.9 IPP Cell (2020 model) 4th gen. $900. Inspected and purchased. Like new condition and 11 months left of original AppleCare. Too sweet of a deal to pass up.
 
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