iPad Pro What would lead to less buyer’s remorse…

[Atiumite]

So I picked up an iPad Pro 11” M1 with 128 storage (it was a price point decision to go with the base model), my first foray back into iPads of any kind since my old (and now thoroughly dead) iPad mini 2. I’ve been pretty happy with the purchase so far - but a part of me is emotionally worried about the storage running out before I’m ready to replace the iPad. I‘m seeing that the previous gen iPad Pro is being sold refurbished, with the 256 coming in actually a good deal cheaper than the base M1 iPP.

My question is… what is more likely to become an issue first - not running out of storage, or wishing I had a more advanced chip?

Primary uses for me are Procreate, light iMovie & GarageBand, games, Google/Microsoft docs, and browsing, with some streaming media consumption. Not sure how much I will be traveling with it, but the 11” screen size seems to hit a sweet spot for me in terms of overall usage.

Would appreciate any thoughts/advice

 

[vddobrev]

Keep the M1, get external USB-C SSD when you run out of storage. Or better yet get cloud storage - your data will be secure and backed up.

 

[0128672]

Your two questions are real for sure, but know that those doubts are exactly what Apple's marketing aims at to nudge buyers into buying more storage or an updated device. You bought an awesome iPad Pro and there's every reason to feel confident and enjoy using it.

How much storage space are you using on it now? Are you storing files in iCloud or another cloud service? If at some point 128 is cramped, you can get external storage too. You've got options, but don't let some potential point on a future horizon make you doubt the model you bought (and sounds like fits in your budget).

 

[1BadManVan]

Make use of icloud and external storage. You have a thunderbolt usb c at your disposal. The M1, the extra ram and the faster storage speed is going to be great for future proofing

 

[capathy21]

I agree with the others, keep the M1. You can always use iCloud or external storage but you can't do anything to upgrade your internals later on.

 

[ian87w]

Imo for the general consumers, even the A12X/Z will still be powerful for long time to come. It it was me, I would opt for the higher storage model.

 

[Chaparral02]

Not having enough storage would drives me nuts..Having to choose what to delete/uninstall all the time

Am the kind of person that chooses what storage size i need by thinking how much storage i need and buying the next size up

I.E
If i think i need 128GB then i would buy the 256GB version

 

[rui no onna]

My question is… what is more likely to become an issue first - not running out of storage, or wishing I had a more advanced chip?

Primary uses for me are Procreate, light iMovie & GarageBand, games, Google/Microsoft docs, and browsing, with some streaming media consumption. Not sure how much I will be traveling with it, but the 11” screen size seems to hit a sweet spot for me in terms of overall usage.

Personally, storage but that's because 256GB is the lowest that I find semi-comfortable (512GB is good, 1TB preferable/worry-free).

That said, I'm also more likely to regret not spending the extra $100-200 for the latest model.

iPad Pro 11" 256GB Wi-Fi
$600 1st gen A12X, 4GB RAM, Apple Certified Refurb
$690 2nd gen A12Z, 6GB RAM, Apple Certified Refurb
$800 3rd gen M1, 8GB RAM, Amazon brand new

iPadOS 13-14 is more bloated than iOS 12, and 15 feels even more RAM-heavy. 4GB RAM is just good enough nowadays. Meanwhile the 2nd gen with 6GB RAM feels like an awkward in-between.

 

[Hunter5117]

As others have mentioned, get iCloud and turn on optimize storage. iPadOS is very good at managing your files on iCloud. I have been using 2, 2018 64gb iPads, and I keep and store a lot of files and data, and I have never even thought about needing more space or deleting files.

The only thing that might negate this is if you keep a lot of really big files, like movies.

 

[Atiumite]

Thanks for the thoughtful responses. I had not even considered external storage as an option (like I mentioned, it’s been a minute since I regularly used an iPad of any sort). Curious how it works… Can you store apps on the external drive, or download Netflix shows onto it/view from it? Or access iMovie projects to work off it? Or is it a passive storage option, and to use the stored assets they need to be copied back over to the iPad?

 

[vddobrev]

Thanks for the thoughtful responses. I had not even considered external storage as an option (like I mentioned, it’s been a minute since I regularly used an iPad of any sort). Curious how it works… Can you store apps on the external drive, or download Netflix shows onto it/view from it? Or access iMovie projects to work off it? Or is it a passive storage option, and to use the stored assets they need to be copied back over to the iPad?

As far as I know, apps cannot be installed on external drive. And downloading content - I think that is left to the particular app implementation, be it Netflix or other. What I know is that when you connect an external drive, its contents are available via the Files app. But I am not sure if it is possible to add those files to a library, like Music, Photos, TV.

That is why I go for iCloud storage - for a minimal monthly fee, all your content is online. Your iPad will manage its storage, offloading less used content, and downloading content on demand, while keeping your iPad storage almost full, but not to the point where it will prevent updates etc.

Moreover, your iCloud storage is backed up, while your iPad and external drive is not, unless you keep a backup to another kind of media. Should your iPad or drive fail or malfunction, you are screwed unless you kept a copy elsewhere. Not so with iCloud - your data is safe and sound.

 

[rui no onna]

Can you store apps on the external drive, or download Netflix shows onto it/view from it?

No. Same goes for iTunes/Apple TV, Amazon Prime Videos, HBO Max, Disney+, and other DRM content.

Or access iMovie projects to work off it? Or is it a passive storage option, and to use the stored assets they need to be copied back over to the iPad?

Depends on the app.

 

[capathy21]

As far as I know, apps cannot be installed on external drive. And downloading content - I think that is left to the particular app implementation, be it Netflix or other. What I know is that when you connect an external drive, its contents are available via the Files app. But I am not sure if it is possible to add those files to a library, like Music, Photos, TV.

That is why I go for iCloud storage - for a minimal monthly fee, all your content is online. Your iPad will manage its storage, offloading less used content, and downloading content on demand, while keeping your iPad storage almost full, but not to the point where it will prevent updates etc.

Moreover, your iCloud storage is backed up, while your iPad and external drive is not, unless you keep a backup to another kind of media. Should your iPad or drive fail or malfunction, you are screwed unless you kept a copy elsewhere. Not so with iCloud - your data is safe and sound.

Same here. I always get the base model of storage. I have the 2TB iCloud storage for the family and everything is there.

 

[sublunar]

Doesn't seem like the LIDAR sensor on the 2020 is an issue, the only other thing going for the 2020 model is 6Gb RAM at all storage capacities (the 2018 has just 4Gb RAM, the M1 2021 has 8Gb below 1Tb storage).

The extra RAM might be good for heavy duty apps (extra layers for Procreate perhaps).

What concerns me is onboard storage. 128Gb is a bit low for apps that go beyond content consumption and basic office work.

I have a 64Gb 2018 iPad Pro and it's definitely too little capacity for stuff like video or photo editing which I might be interested in.

I've not tried an M1 iPad out but I'm fairly certain slower performance isn't going to win out against insufficient capacity.

I've found that low storage is a potential barrier to maximising the potential of the iPad Pro. However, as capacities increase the price increases - bringing it into the firing line with the M1 MacBook Air.

At higher capacities a refurb M1 MacBook Air - if you already have the macOS software - is a more compelling option if you do anything more professional. This is especially the case if you're gravitating towards a Magic Keyboard.

If I were doing this all over again I might look towards a refurb 2018 with 256Gb storage.

The M1 is a big performance step up, with loads of RAM. But I would feel too stuck with insufficient storage to use it at its best.

 

[1BadManVan]

Doesn't seem like the LIDAR sensor on the 2020 is an issue, the only other thing going for the 2020 model is 6Gb RAM at all storage capacities (the 2018 has just 4Gb RAM, the M1 2021 has 8Gb below 1Tb storage).

The extra RAM might be good for heavy duty apps (extra layers for Procreate perhaps).

What concerns me is onboard storage. 128Gb is a bit low for apps that go beyond content consumption and basic office work.

I have a 64Gb 2018 iPad Pro and it's definitely too little capacity for stuff like video or photo editing which I might be interested in.

I've not tried an M1 iPad out but I'm fairly certain slower performance isn't going to win out against insufficient capacity.

I've found that low storage is a potential barrier to maximising the potential of the iPad Pro. However, as capacities increase the price increases - bringing it into the firing line with the M1 MacBook Air.

At higher capacities a refurb M1 MacBook Air - if you already have the macOS software - is a more compelling option if you do anything more professional. This is especially the case if you're gravitating towards a Magic Keyboard.

If I were doing this all over again I might look towards a refurb 2018 with 256Gb storage.

The M1 is a big performance step up, with loads of RAM. But I would feel too stuck with insufficient storage to use it at its best.

I’ve found 256gb is the sweet spot for me so far. I’ve had that on my last 2 phones and now on my M1 pro. Also a big jump in speed for the m1 iPads is the storage speed itself

 

[Ubele]

My 2017 standard iPad has had 90 GB of stuff on it for a long time. When I decided to get a new iPad last month, I wasn’t sure how much storage to get. 128 GB probably would have been enough, but since I opted to go for a 12.9” iPad Pro to replace my 2015 MBP with a 1 TB SSD, I decided to get 256 GB to be on the safe side, especially since I keep my devices for a long time.

 

[1rottenapple]

Go for storage. Unless you do heavy video editing and picture processing you’re not going to notice a big different in processor. I’m using a 2018 iPad Pro (bought one in 2018 12 in, and another 2018 in 2020 11 in). Guess what there’s no big performance difference. I actually got a 2020 iPad Pro but returned it since it was a waste of money. I got the 2018 refurbished and very happy with it.

 

[kristalsoldier]

No. Same goes for iTunes/Apple TV, Amazon Prime Videos, HBO Max, Disney+, and other DRM content.


Depends on the app.

Can you explain this a bit more please? For example, let’s say I have an external drive in which I have movies in mp4 format, can I view them on the iPad? And, if yes, what app would I need to use?

 

[rui no onna]

Can you explain this a bit more please? For example, let’s say I have an external drive in which I have movies in mp4 format, can I view them on the iPad? And, if yes, what app would I need to use?

You can’t download Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, iTunes, etc. shows to external drives (app limitation). iTunes movies downloaded via PC/Mac won’t be playable from external drive on iOS either.

Watching DRM-free mp4 or mkv (e.g. from ripped Blu-rays or “unofficial” sources) from external is fine though. I personally use Infuse Pro. nPlayer is another app that works with external drives. I believe you can also play mp4 from Files app but I remember finding the built-in player to be quite limited.

Beware, I’ve had some drive corruption issues with iOS + FAT32/exFAT. Make sure you have backups of any drive you’ll connect to the iPad.

I mostly use Windows PCs so I bought a 128GB and a 1TB USB-C flash drives for use with iPad (didn’t want iOS to mess up my Samsung SSDs). The 128GB (exFAT, read/write) is for when I need to copy to/from iPad. The 1TB (NTFS, read-only on iOS) contains a selection of movie favorites and items on my watchlist (copied from the 20TB NAS at home).

 

[kristalsoldier]

You can’t download Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, iTunes, etc. shows to external drives (app limitation). iTunes movies downloaded via PC/Mac won’t be playable from external drive on iOS either.

Watching DRM-free mp4 or mkv (e.g. from ripped Blu-rays or “unofficial” sources) from external is fine though. I personally use Infuse Pro. nPlayer is another app that works with external drives. I believe you can also play mp4 from Files app but I remember finding the built-in player to be quite limited.

Beware, I’ve had some drive corruption issues with iOS + FAT32/exFAT. Make sure you have backups of any drive you’ll connect to the iPad.

I mostly use Windows PCs so I bought a 128GB and a 1TB USB-C flash drives for use with iPad (didn’t want iOS to mess up my Samsung SSDs). The 128GB (exFAT, read/write) is for when I need to copy to/from iPad. The 1TB (NTFS, read-only on iOS) contains a selection of movie favorites and items on my watchlist (copied from the 20TB NAS at home).

Thanks. My interest is specifically in DRM-free mp4/mkv file. I’ll look up Infuse Pro and nPlayer. Again, thanks very much for the info and the tips.

 

[Wizec]

I would stick with the M1 for sure.