Currently I have an iPad Pro 2020 11 inch A12Z that I was generously given by my university during the COVID pandemic, which I have used ever since. However, it’s definitely starting to feel its age: I’m lucky to get a day out of a full charge, and it’s starting to feel a bit sluggish when it comes to tasks like app switching. I’ve tried the iPadOS 26 beta on it and it also felt very slow (understandably, it’s not final software of course).
An iPad Pro as an upgrade would be absolutely overkill - I have an M1 MacBook Air and a Windows desktop for power user tasks, and I don’t do things that need an iPad Pro like digital art. I also have a 16 Pro Max phone-wise. Upgrade possibilities are the three lower-end iPads I think, which means I have to give up ProMotion and would need to get a new Apple Pencil as none of them work with the Pencil 2 I have at the moment. I also have a Magic Keyboard that’s pretty much on its last legs as well as a Smart Keyboard Folio, but I’m not particularly attached to either.
Thanks in advance for all your help
An iPad Pro as an upgrade would be absolutely overkill - I have an M1 MacBook Air and a Windows desktop for power user tasks, and I don’t do things that need an iPad Pro like digital art. I also have a 16 Pro Max phone-wise. Upgrade possibilities are the three lower-end iPads I think, which means I have to give up ProMotion and would need to get a new Apple Pencil as none of them work with the Pencil 2 I have at the moment. I also have a Magic Keyboard that’s pretty much on its last legs as well as a Smart Keyboard Folio, but I’m not particularly attached to either.
- iPad A16
- Pros: Very cheap to upgrade to considering trade-in values and discounts, nice colours
- Cons: Not laminated screen, doesn’t seem like a huge upgrade on paper.
- iPad Air M3
- Pros: Big speed boost, compatible with the keyboards I’ve got.
- Cons: Most expensive of the three, maybe a bit overkill?
- iPad Mini A17 Pro
- Pros: Size looks really good for reading and note taking, decently powerful, really good companion device maybe?
- Cons: Screen maybe too small, only Bluetooth keyboards, would it overlap too much with Pro Max?
Thanks in advance for all your help