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iPad Pro What will it take for you to upgrade to iPad Pro 2021?

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bscheffel

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 17, 2008
369
683
I love my iPad Pro 2018 12.9" and use it everyday, but when I think about whether I am willing to shell out $1200+ for the new 2021 one, its a hard sell. Mini-LED, A14 processor, and 5G alone are not going to do it. The 2018 iPad Pro screen is great, the A12x is plenty fast, and 5G right now is no real advantage. I never use the back camera on my iPad so camera means nothing to me.
iPadOS has it's limits so comparing the price to a new M1 MacBook makes the sell even harder.

The one thing that would make me upgrade in a heartbeat? Give it 8GB of RAM and let me bootcamp my iPad into Big Sur with a mouse and keyboard when I need a desktop class OS. Instant buy.
 
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S

sparksd

macrumors G4
Jun 7, 2015
10,019
34,401
Seattle WA
I also have the 2018 12.9 Pro. I can't foresee anything in the next gen that would get me to upgrade - my current device works quite well for me and the high price point for the Pro devices that I want to stick with is such that I'll go longer between upgrades.
 
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thisismyusername

macrumors 6502
Nov 1, 2015
476
729
Given the latest iPad Air update, I can't see any possible update that would make me want to go with a Pro version again. All the issues I have with the iPad lineup in general (e.g. poor external monitor support) are all software related and thus a Pro model alone wouldn't address them.
 
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Zazoh

Zazoh

macrumors 68000
Jan 4, 2009
1,518
1,122
San Antonio, Texas
Same price as iPad Air. iPhone and iPad prices have crept up too high, relative to a full computer.
Eh, I'm lying. When I bore with the MBA M1, I'll get a 12.9 pro. :cool:
 
D

Digitalguy

macrumors 601
Apr 15, 2019
4,659
4,495
At this point, after I just bought a 1TB cellular 11in pro and replaced the battery in my 12.9, I am done with those. The only thing that would make me buy another pro is a bigger one, 15in for instance. At this point I more waiting to replace my 11.6in macbook air with some new M1 12in macbook with magsafe, cellular etc if it ever happens
 
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MacBird

macrumors 65816
Apr 1, 2010
1,315
1,714
My 2017 10.5'' iPad Pro still works really well. There would have to be something really impressive to justify buying a new version.
 
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SkiHound2

macrumors 6502
Jul 15, 2018
458
377
Upgrade from what? Probably not much reason for most folks with 2018 or 2020 Pros to upgrade. Will mini LED be a real difference maker? We won't really know till we see it, but the screens on current iPads are dang good. The difference in processor speed won't likely be meaningful for most users. Chasing the latest and greatest technology is kind of like chasing your tail. You can catch it but you can't really hold on to cause there's always something newer coming in the future. I have an original 9.7" Pro. Still works pretty well for most of what I do. I'm intending to upgrade to either a 4th generation Air or some 11" pro variant in the not too distant future. The larger screen in a similarly sized device is very compelling to me. I'd also like something that supported the spatial audio.
 
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P

profets

macrumors 603
Mar 18, 2009
5,165
6,313
I think a significant display change would cause me to upgrade - OLED or micro LED, though I don’t think those are coming any time soon given the rumour of mini LED.

I think what I might go for is an 11” to use in addition to my 12.9”, or possibly a refreshed mini with iPad Air design/spec.

Seanm87 said:
A new design. I'm a sucker for having the latest design. Sad I know.

Thankfully I think they'll stick with this design for a while saving me some money.
Click to expand...

Same here, 100%. The 2018 iPad Pro was perfect timing. It’s over 2 years old, there’s been a single, minimal update, and even this update in its 3rd year doesn’t seem like it’ll have much (biggest thing I’d say being a mini LED display + increased thickness). I’ll be quite happy holding onto my 12.9 for even longer.
 
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Digitalguy

macrumors 601
Apr 15, 2019
4,659
4,495
There is a lot of talk about OLED, I think OLED is similar to 120hz, some people will say it's amazing and there is no going back, other will not care much or at all. The reason is that some people are very sensitive to visual aspects while for others these are so secondary to the contents the "consume", that it matters relatively little.
I have never given much importance to 120hz and still almost don't care. OLED is more important, but still not very important. I have it on my Samsung tablet and while comparing it to the iPad pro is like comparing an iphone 11 to an iphone 12 (nicer colors, deeper blacks), when not used side by side, I don't care. I guess some people will not care and others will say it's one of the best feature in the world...
Another thing where people are different is size. Some don't care much about size others do.
I do. For me size is very important. I couldn't watch a youtube video, let alone a movie, on a phone, it's way too small for me, even the biggest phone. Even the iPad mini is small for most videos for me.
If I had to choose between an 8in OLED and an 11in IPS to watch a video, I would pick the IPS with no hesitation (if the difference is just one inch it may be different though...)
 
MPclk2006

MPclk2006

macrumors 6502a
Sep 20, 2013
523
364
Texas
bscheffel said:
I love my iPad Pro 2018 12.9" and use it everyday, but when I think about whether I am willing to shell out $1200+ for the new 2021 one, its a hard sell. Mini-LED, A14 processor, and 5G alone are not going to do it. The 2018 iPad Pro screen is great, the A12x is plenty fast, and 5G right now is no real advantage. I never use the back camera on my iPad so camera means nothing to me.
iPadOS has it's limits so comparing the price to a new M1 MacBook makes the sell even harder.

The one thing that would make me upgrade in a heartbeat? Give it 8GB of RAM and let me bootcamp my iPad into Big Sur with a mouse and keyboard when I need a desktop class OS. Instant buy.
Click to expand...
There is nothing that would make me upgrade my iPad in 2021, I just got the 2020. In a few years maybe once a few generations in between and there is a lot of upgrade differences.
 
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TraceyS/FL

macrumors 601
Jan 11, 2007
4,174
316
North Central Florida
I’ve been pondering this a lot. I have a 2017 12.9 with backlight bleed and sone other touchscreen issues, and have been trying out my daughters M1 mbp. Now I’m torn... Air + M1 mbp For myself? Pro and no m1? I’m waiting for the new round of Pros to be released then I guess I will decide. Oh and this is only my 3rd iPad, original, Air1, 2017 pro 12.9. I don‘t get to upgrade often - and the direction I go this year will need to last awhile. Which translates to me as “most ram on the iOS device as possible”. So I wait and see.
 
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sparksd

macrumors G4
Jun 7, 2015
10,019
34,401
Seattle WA
NastyMatt said:
This. True external screen support.

Not much else would make me upgrade as I love my 2020 12.9" IPP.
Click to expand...

I would expect external screen support (I assume this means aspect ratio matching) would be integral to iPadOS and not tied to any particular model.
 
0

007p

macrumors 6502a
Mar 7, 2012
992
662
sparksd said:
I would expect external screen support (I assume this means aspect ratio matching) would be integral to iPadOS and not tied to any particular model.
Click to expand...
Yeah probably but then how would they get people to upgrade their old device? ;)

My list for upgrading:

Better Apps - Xcode / terminal
Bigger screen
More RAM
Proper external display support
Multiple USB C ports

I expect none of these anytime soon so will be sticking to my 2018 iPad Pro. Shoving MacOS on one of these things with a little more RAM would be instant purchase like you said, no matter the price. But too many people hate that idea so guess I’m stuck waiting out what is probably at this rate another decade for some of the above.

Why not just get a MacBook? Because for 80-90% of the time the iPad form factor is perfect, I can add a mouse/keyboard when it isn’t. I’m not carrying round a whole additional device on the off chance I need it. If I could remove the keyboard from the MacBook, then I’d buy one ?
 
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rui no onna

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,921
13,273
I'm still on the 2017 iPad Pro 12.9 512GB LTE. At this point, there are enough changes to make it worth upgrading for me.

Also, I've been a little bit desensitized to the $2K+ price point for top storage+cellular ($1899 + 10.25% tax) versus when the 2018 iPad Pros were first released.
 
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