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iPad Pro Why I Went for the 13" M4 iPad Pro vs the 11" M4 iPad Pro

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wmadan

macrumors member
Nov 14, 2013
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The reason I went with the 11-inch IPP is because it fits better into the tablet slot on my elliptical that I use 6 times a week. I fear that the 13-inch will be too close to my arms swinging back and forth and that I could knock it off. I realize there is AppleCare+ for that, so I am mulling that over as a solution here. The other thing is fitting the IPP on an airplane tray table when I fly. Many say the 13-inch IPP will fit, but I have never tried it. The 11-inch is perfect for that.
 
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madat42

macrumors 6502
Mar 25, 2011
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wmadan said:
The reason I went with the 11-inch IPP is because it fits better into the tablet slot on my elliptical that I use 6 times a week. I fear that the 13-inch will be too close to my arms swinging back and forth and that I could knock it off. I realize there is AppleCare+ for that, so I am mulling that over as a solution here. The other thing is fitting the IPP on an airplane tray table when I fly. Many say the 13-inch IPP will fit, but I have never tried it. The 11-inch is perfect for that.
Click to expand...
There are so many use cases. The 13” will absolutely fit on an airline tray table but how much room you want left for food, drink and other items might affect your choice. In the end, you can’t go wrong with either model.
 
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Surfsalot

Surfsalot

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madat42 said:
There are so many use cases. The 13” will absolutely fit on an airline tray table but how much room you want left for food, drink and other items might affect your choice. In the end, you can’t go wrong with either model.
Click to expand...
it's one or the other imo on a tray table, and that's with a 11" too.
 
N

Nikhil72

macrumors 68000
Oct 21, 2005
1,620
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madat42 said:
There are so many use cases. The 13” will absolutely fit on an airline tray table but how much room you want left for food, drink and other items might affect your choice. In the end, you can’t go wrong with either model.
Click to expand...
Yeah I definitely wouldn’t have food or drinks right next to my iPad on something unstable like an airplane tray imho. One bump or recline is enough to destroy at least the MK regardless of size.
 
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AppleTech22

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Jul 10, 2010
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Rafterman said:
The biggest advantage of the 11 used to be weight, But now, .98 vs 1.28 lbs, the weight difference with the M4 is negligible.
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This wound up being a key factor in my decision. I’ve long had an 11” iPad Pro that I would use for content consumption, light web browsing, and reading eBooks. The 11” form factor is wonderful for reading, but with the reduced weight now of the 13”, there is not a huge difference in terms of comfort when holding these two in a reading type of setting imo.

The advantages gained in multitasking, Magic Keyboard typing comfort, and video playback size far outweigh the slightly easier to handle 11”.

What really sold me was using the two Magic Keyboards side-by-side at the Apple Store. On the 11”, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was pecking at the keys and trackpad, whereas the 13” feels natural.

—

Pairing the 13” Pro now with a 16” MBP. Would love to make the leap to having only the iPad as a personal machine (work Mac excluded here) as I reach for it 80% of the time for most daily tasks, but the more limited nature of apps like Creative Cloud and MS Office just force me to keep a Mac in the house. Add to that list a lack of DevTools capability and a more refined file browser. If, and or when, iPad apps become a bit more capable and files are easier to work with, the gap will get narrowed.
 
S

Sheepish-Lord

macrumors 68030
Oct 13, 2021
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Someone mentioned it earlier about the iPad being a middle device intended for media consumption. However, that was 14yrs ago and running iOS, if that tells you anything about its use case.

These days studies show the most popular sized devices are 13-15” and the web is definitely built for that. The iPad mini is a mess with UI scaling, the 11” is hit or miss regardless of orientation or desktop web pages only setting, which leaves the 13” that does web browsing the closest to native. As some who owns all of the above it’s obvious the more Apple pushes iPad as a desktop use then the more it becomes geared towards laptop level UI.
 
L

lsquare

macrumors 6502a
Jul 30, 2010
680
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Time to give my opinion after spending a bit of time playing with the 11" at the Apple Store.

I do like the size. Text size isn't an issue for me. I have a 20/20 vision. I even selected the "more space" option and I can still read comfortably.

The smaller size definitely makes it more portable, but I'm not convinced it'll make a difference in the real world. It's still too heavy to hold with one hand for a prolonged period. I purposely played with the tablet by holding it with one hand and the Pencil in the other. I felt fatigued between the 5-10-minute mark.

One other major negative that has been pointed out is that websites often load up the mobile version in Safari. Only the 13" consistently display the desktop version. Very annoying! My eyes are more than good enough that I want the desktop version to be displayed at all times!
 
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Pezimak

macrumors 68040
May 1, 2021
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Kahnforever said:
I know there's some threads on this topic, and I've participated in them. I thought to write my reasons for why, after many days of going back and forth to the Apple Store and using the 13" M4 iPad Pro and the 11" M4 iPad Pro, I settled on the 13". I was actually close to decided on the 11" but I kept going back to the Apple Store and doing a bunch of things on each. Overall, I've spent several hours at the Apple Store testing both screen sizes. I also realize this is a personal choice, but for many it appears a very difficult choice. I hope my review helps people make a decision.
  • Everything is scaled smaller on the 11". Yes, that may be obvious to some, but that includes UI elements, icons on the homescreens, text in Google Search results, etc. You can try and make text larger in Settings but it's not consistent everywhere, and not all Apps will obey that... and icons aren't getting bigger either. Overall, scaled down content causes much more pinching and zooming, which is time consuming and inefficient for the User.
  • There is less content on screen, and that also leads to more scrolling which is time consuming and wasteful for the User.
  • I tried the "More Content" setting on the 11" to try and fit more on the screen and that just further scaled everything down even smaller than it was to begin with. Text, UI elements, etc. were just too small for my liking.
  • The speakers are not as good on the 11" vs. the 13".
  • The drawing experience on the 11" with the Apple Pencil isn't as good as the 13" offers a larger canvas. I'm 6'2" and have decent sized hands so this is a factor, especially resting my hand on the screen while drawing. Less screen is covered up with my hand on the 13" when doing this and there is less scrolling around on the 13" to make room for more content in drawing apps compared to the 11".
  • As the 13" is now noticeably thinner and lighter than the previous iPad Pro, it makes a big difference when using it as a tablet. This was a pivotal deciding factor for me. I was able to hold it with one hand for several minutes while using the small onscreen keyboard with slide typing. I didn't feel fatigued, but with the old 12.9" iPad, I would have.
  • Typing with the MKB on the 13" is materially better than the 11". It's still good on the 11", but it's less cramped on the 13" as the 11" has some reduced size buttons and there is just a very small palmrest on the 11". The trackpad on the 11" is also smaller than the 13". The 13" feels very similar to a MacBook trackpad and keyboard which makes using the iPad in "laptop mode" quite good.
  • Multi-tasking with things like Stage Manager is hands down better on the 13" iPad compared to the 11" iPad. The increased screen real estate matters in this regard.
  • Being able to now hold the 13" in one hand for longer periods of time because of how thin and light it is and using the small keyboard with the other hand using slide typing won me over as well. I find that the full size keyboard in portrait orientation on the 13"... which is how I like to hold the tablet, is very awkward. But the small keyboard with one-handed slide typing works very well so this was also a deciding factor.
  • When the 11" and 13" are folded up in the MKB case, they are both very compact. I don't find the 13" that much less portable than an 11". Compared to my 16" MacBook Pro, the 13" iPad combined with MKB is extremely compact and travel-friendly.
  • More Websites render as mobile versions on the 11” whereas they are mostly desktop versions on the 13”. Mobile versions suck on the 11”.
I have a 16" MacBook Pro which is big and heavy and just sits on a desk plugged into monitors. I have a 15" M3 MacBook Air that I use on the couch and for personal business and travel. I have an iPhone Pro Max. So the idea that somehow because I have larger screened Apple devices I should opt for the 11" doesn't make sense. I want to use the iPad on a recliner to do long-form reading, some light work, art, some other content creation and travel with it when I can with the MKB. In the end, while the 11" is nice to hold in the hands, there are just too many compromises with it such that you can't cheat reality: all of the content and UI elements are scaled noticeably smaller than the 13" and that causes endless and repetitive pinching and zooming and scrolling which is much less necessary on the 13". Trying to fiddle with the 11" screen settings to make text larger, etc. is not consistent and a poor experience.

13" it is.

View attachment 2382951
Click to expand...

You mentioned the one thing as a plus that would make me consider the 13” more, the fact it’s now a lot thinner but also Lighter. Also webpages on my M1 11” are very annoying. After I’ve got my new Mac I’ll be eyeing up the new iPad Pro’s and will most likely spend just as much time as you have choosing which size to buy.

I will say I think for the Pro iPads Apple has got the sizing right, apart from a Mini Pro of course, but I don’t know how many would actually buy a 15” model.
 
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Surfsalot

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Returning the 13” too big to use as a 100% tablet only as I do.
If you want a desktop with keyboard maybe.

After a day with 11” again seems too small, back on the 13” lol
 
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Surfsalot

Surfsalot

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Never once after 4 years with a 11” have considered web pages don’t render properly lol
 
L

lsquare

macrumors 6502a
Jul 30, 2010
680
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Pezimak said:
You mentioned the one thing as a plus that would make me consider the 13” more, the fact it’s now a lot thinner but also Lighter. Also webpages on my M1 11” are very annoying. After I’ve got my new Mac I’ll be eyeing up the new iPad Pro’s and will most likely spend just as much time as you have choosing which size to buy.

I will say I think for the Pro iPads Apple has got the sizing right, apart from a Mini Pro of course, but I don’t know how many would actually buy a 15” model.
Click to expand...
I think a Mini Pro would make a lot of sense. Apple seems to think small sizes should be designated as a lower-tier tablets.
 
L

leifp

macrumors 6502a
Feb 8, 2008
522
501
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Broke down and went for the 11”. It really does feel similar to the older, smaller iPads. We’ll see how I feel about that after a few weeks and months…
 
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Kahnforever

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May 20, 2024
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Pezimak said:
You mentioned the one thing as a plus that would make me consider the 13” more, the fact it’s now a lot thinner but also Lighter. Also webpages on my M1 11” are very annoying. After I’ve got my new Mac I’ll be eyeing up the new iPad Pro’s and will most likely spend just as much time as you have choosing which size to buy.

I will say I think for the Pro iPads Apple has got the sizing right, apart from a Mini Pro of course, but I don’t know how many would actually buy a 15” model.
Click to expand...
Get the 13”. I was back at the Apple Store yesterday, started playing with the 11”, and websites were displaying as mobile. It was very annoying. But there are many reasons to go 13” as mentioned.
 
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Kahnforever

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May 20, 2024
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leifp said:
Broke down and went for the 11”. It really does feel similar to the older, smaller iPads. We’ll see how I feel about that after a few weeks and months…
Click to expand...
Our hands are still extended out of the back of the 13” iPad we are driving in, as you’re running to catch up. It’s not too late to grab our hands and for us to pull you aboard…

;);)
 
L

lsquare

macrumors 6502a
Jul 30, 2010
680
64
Surfsalot said:
Cause you can’t try it as you use it at home or wherever you use one, not hard to work out ;)
Click to expand...
I don't think the one-handed usage will get any better. I think if the basis to get the 11” is on the one-handed usability and it doesn't exist, one should go for the 13”.
 
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