Wise Purchase or Mistake?

[BigAppleNYC123]

A few months ago, I began to feel my iPad Mini 4 was too small. I knew an iPad refresh was on the way, so I waited till 2017 9.7 debuted to see what to do.

I didn’t like that the 9.7 iPad didn’t have the quad speakers. For a device that is supposed to be "simply fun", I though that was a huge omission. I also did not want to pay $900 for a new iPad pro, but I really wanted one. I have a 2015 13” MPB with 16GB RAM, the iPad is a couch device (sorry Tim). I bought a second-hand iPad Pro 9.7 128 Verizon, for $567. I thought it was a good deal. Even now, I can’t replicate that price on third party sites.

I knew a new iPad Pro would be coming out, but I had also read it would be more expensive, and the old IP P 9.7 would be canceled, not reduced in price. Both of those panned out. I also had read the IPP 12.5 doesn’t have a lot of optimized apps, an issue which I hypothesized would effect the 10.5 also.

Reading the forums here, it seems like the primary difference between the 9.7 and 10.5 IPP is that the 9.7 might not benefit from all the three-app multitasking of the 10.5. Is it possible this is a limitation of the beta? It is always sad to see your new technology become old, but to be honest.. I do not think this update was that momentous from a hardware perspective, and that I got my IPP at 30% discount makes me feel better about it.

The A10X is a smaller upgrade than A8X to A9X. Agree or disagree?
iPad Air 2 -> IPP 9.7 was a larger update than 9.7 IPP - 10.5. Agree or disagree?

Should I have waited and paid full price for IPP2?

 

[Cosmo M3]

The A10X is a smaller upgrade than A8X to A9X.

Have you looked at the spec sheet between the A9X and the A10X?

I don't know what to tell you to make you feel better but the new 2017 iPad Pro processors are a significant upgrade over the previous gen. Whether or not you'll take advantage of the extra power depends on you.

 

[ardchoille50]

Does your current device serve your needs? I purchased the iPad Pro 9.7 a few months ago and don't plan to upgrade until that device no longer serves its intended purpose. No matter what you buy, there is always going to be an upgrade on the horizon. My advice: buy the device that serves your needs and keep it until it no longer does so.

 

[masotime]

Reading the forums here, it seems like the primary difference between the 9.7 and 10.5 IPP is that the 9.7 might not benefit from all the three-app multitasking of the 10.5. Is it possible this is a limitation of the beta? It is always sad to see your new technology become old, but to be honest.. I do not think this update was that momentous from a hardware perspective, and that I got my IPP at 30% discount makes me feel better about it.

Way too early to speculate on the multitasking limitations, if any, of the 9.7" iPad Pro. Although less RAM means Safari tabs will indeed reload more often, it's not clear if actual functionality is limited by 2GB RAM at this point.

 

[960design]

Does your current device serve your needs? I purchased the iPad Pro 9.7 a few months ago and don't plan to upgrade until that device no longer serves its intended purpose. No matter what you buy, there is always going to be an upgrade on the horizon. My advice: buy the device that serves your needs and keep it until it no longer does so.

This...
I've had my iPP9.7 since the day they came out... the 10.5 arrives in couple of days.

 

[bufffilm]

What are you second guessing?

I will say this though...any iPad Pro...I hope you buy it on sale. Paying full price is unnecessary and ill-advised. But hey, it's only money, right?

If you bought the ordinary iPad...at least that is more reasonably priced, although I would wait for a sale on that too. Expect it to be discounted less maybe...no one ever really knows.

But it will never be on the same standing as the Pros.

There will always be better on the horizon. Don't get too wrapped up in the hype.

 

[BigAppleNYC123]

Have you looked at the spec sheet between the A9X and the A10X?

I don't know what to tell you to make you feel better but the new 2017 iPad Pro processors are a significant upgrade over the previous gen. Whether or not you'll take advantage of the extra power depends on you.

I am comparing differences... A9X VS A8X.... A9X vs A10X..

Which difference is greater?
[doublepost=1496772115][/doublepost]

Way too early to speculate on the multitasking limitations, if any, of the 9.7" iPad Pro. Although less RAM means Safari tabs will indeed reload more often, it's not clear if actual functionality is limited by 2GB RAM at this point.

Thank you. Do you have any thoughts on whether Air 2 to 9.7 was a bigger or smaller update than 9.7 to 10.5?

 

[masotime]

Thank you. Do you have any thoughts on whether Air 2 to 9.7 was a bigger or smaller update than 9.7 to 10.5?

Well you seem to be mainly focused on processor speed, but it really depends on your use case. Are you intending to do anything extremely processor intensive? if so, the 10.5" is probably a better bet. But it seems you consider the iPad a "couch device"? Then do you really need all that power?

If not, then you just need to consider whether the screen improvements really matter to you. If they do, then you should get the new one. If not, stick with what you have, it should be fine.

 

[BigAppleNYC123]

Seems like I made the right choice. thanks for your input

 

[Mcdevidr]

What is this three app multi tasking people are talking about? It seems one app is covered so even if the two background apps remain active you can't use three apps at the same time anyways or am I missing something?

 

[BigAppleNYC123]

What is this three app multi tasking people are talking about? It seems one app is covered so even if the two background apps remain active you can't use three apps at the same time anyways or am I missing something?

You could still use parts of the app which are not covered by the pop-up app. It is not a big deal to me.. I just hope that the ipad expose view or whatever they call it is very snappy on A9X.

 

[JPack]

I am comparing differences... A9X VS A8X.... A9X vs A10X..

Which difference is greater?

There's far too much we don't know about A10X yet such as whether it has a 128-bit memory interface. In relative terms, A10 was still a big upgrade.

A6 to A7 - massive architectural upgrade
A7 to A8 - big architectural upgrade
A8 to A9 - bigger architectural upgrade
A9 to A10 - minor architectural upgrade but massive clock speed upgrade

 

[BigAppleNYC123]

Very helpful post. Totally what I was looking for.

What usage cases will the clock speed updates benefit most?

Of the transitions you posted, which had the greatest graphical capabilities increase?

Seems like A9X is biggest recent leap.. but I may just be trying avoid cognitive dissonance! Haha