All iPads Yikes (WWDC 2021)

[richpjr]

I don’t think people are angry with the 2021 IPP (only due to software). It’s more that they spec’d out the 2021 IPP (ie with 8 gb ram, thunderbolt connection and an M1). That leads people to rightly speculate that Apple is setting the stage for the IPP to “break out”. What did WWDC bring? Not much! So, people that bought the 2021 IPP at launch are kind of in a strange place. They’re stuck with the best iPad Apple has ever made, but the can’t use It to it‘s full potential!

I‘m an 11 inch IPP guy and if they’d updated the display tech on the 11 inch, I’d have jumped at it and been happy that I had an iPad that would serve as a solid and capable platform for the foreseeable future. I’ll sit tight one more yr with my 2018 IPP...and see if they update the display On the 11 inch. That will be the one to keep for a while!

Several online reviewers have pointed out the timing of the release date and the return window closing the Friday before the Monday keynote. I am not normally a cynical person but I suspect this was definitely done because Apple knew that the reaction to the iPadOS enhancements would be lukewarm or worse and that they’d get a flood of returns.

 

[Regbial]

Reaching a plateau is inevitable... In both software and hardware. Infinite growth is just ...not a thing. (at least in these terms)

 

[portland-dude]

i honestly don't know what everyone was expecting? a new OS??

well, some of us were expecting a focus on quality instead of rushing new half baked features out...but then I woke up and realized that's just how apple is since...forever.

 

[GuruZac]

Tbh, I don’t even remember the keynote for that. Perhaps, I wasn’t really concern with the 2020 model at the time… given the leaks.


It’s more to that… iPadOS hasn’t seen a huge update in quite a long time. It’s as if the stars were align to bring a special feature to M1 iPP users, I woulda took anything…tbh. Multiple audio streams simultaneously… virtualization support, give us something to take advantage of this hardware.

But, nope… nada.

I think I made the right call in replacing my 2017 MacBook Pro with the M1 MacBook Air instead of replacing my 2018 iPad Pro with the 2021 iPad Pro, even though I use my iPad Pro far more.

I think the next iPad Pro will bring a new pencil design and other peripherals.

 

[rasputin1969]

It’s 2021 and the iPad cannot format a USB C pen drive.

 

[Ludatyk]

I think I made the right call in replacing my 2017 MacBook Pro with the M1 MacBook Air instead of replacing my 2018 iPad Pro with the 2021 iPad Pro, even though I use my iPad Pro far more.

I think the next iPad Pro will bring a new pencil design and other peripherals.

Most certainly! I wish I made the right call and kept my 2018 iPP lol. But I made my peace with it, I won't have to be concern with upgrading anytime soon.

I don't think there will be new peripherals with the next iPad Pro, Apple still rocking the same Magic Trackpad 2 and MM2.. both introduced in 2015. The main draw of the next iPP will be s slightly new design... glass back to support wireless charging and reverse charging.

 

[iBighouse]

I thought the Universal Control feature was the best thing about the keynote. Sadly, my 5K 27" retina iMac is a late 2014 model and won't run Monterey so unless I upgrade my iMac (which won't happen unless they release a bigger dsiplay version) I can't use it with my new iPP. :_(

 

[DSTOFEL]

I think I made the right call in replacing my 2017 MacBook Pro with the M1 MacBook Air instead of replacing my 2018 iPad Pro with the 2021 iPad Pro, even though I use my iPad Pro far more.

I think the next iPad Pro will bring a new pencil design and other peripherals.

I’m assuming you had the 13 inch MBP? Sounds like an awesome upgrade to the M1 Air! I’m in a similar boat, but with a 15 inch 2018 MBP (2.6, 16GB ram). I mainly use it for work (IT consulting type stuff)…so lot’s of large spreadsheets so the 15 inch display is nice for that. But….this thing is like a space heater when just working on Excel….fans blazing, legs burning!!! I bet the M1 Air would outperform it while staying cool and silent! I’m keeping my 2018 iPP for another year…hoping for a Mini-LCD display on it!

 

[ericwn]

Pretty much all that happened was what I expected. Incremental feature upgrade without that many changes in my day to day with iPadOS. All in line with what Apple has showed for the last 11 years.

 

[ericwn]

Reasons to justify buying an M1 iPad pro

Same reasons as any iPad Pro so far. Or iPhone Pro for that matter.

 

[ericwn]

View attachment 1788279

 

[rui no onna]

Reasons to justify buying an M1 iPad pro

My 2017 iPP no longer performing according to my needs is reason enough.

 

[ericwn]

I don't know why, but I like this. It's basically an algorithm for upgrading.

It even seems to include some common sense.

 

[ericwn]

All I wanted was full screen external monitor support at the OS level and left disappointed.

But how did you get the impression that that’s remotely on their roadmap?

 

[ericwn]

Universal control was the only thing that really impressed me to be honest.

Am I the only one who thinks Apple is just doing more harm than good, by adding all these features to the "Core-apps" lately? I mean, iMessage has been a mess with all the emoji, memoji keyboards, the GIF-addons et.c already. Now comes the next part with these stacked photos, "Shared with you" et.c. Same can be said for Photos and Notes app.

Also, all these different swipe-motions always being added/changed on the iPad. Where is the cohesiveness?

Am I getting old, or is Apple starting to lose some of that "It-just-works" simplicity? I fear their software lacks a bit of direction lately.

Do you know that feeling you get when you’re watching a movie or tv show and all of a sudden think “I’m no longer the target audience for this”?


This might be similar.

 

[ericwn]

I told y’all the m1 isn’t needed they only put it in there as it’s cheaper to use one chip, apple scammed us

I think we need to clarify what scam means in your world.

 

[GuruZac]

I’m assuming you had the 13 inch MBP? Sounds like an awesome upgrade to the M1 Air! I’m in a similar boat, but with a 15 inch 2018 MBP (2.6, 16GB ram). I mainly use it for work (IT consulting type stuff)…so lot’s of large spreadsheets so the 15 inch display is nice for that. But….this thing is like a space heater when just working on Excel….fans blazing, legs burning!!! I bet the M1 Air would outperform it while staying cool and silent! I’m keeping my 2018 iPP for another year…hoping for a Mini-LCD display on it!

It’s such a nice upgrade. No heat, no fans, blazing fast opening up anything. I upped my RAM to 16GB for any bit of future proofing as I expect to keep it while. My buddy has an early 2020 MacBook Pro and if he opens any app his laptop sounds like an airplane taking off…it’s kind of sad how inefficient the Intel chips are. We all didn’t realize that until the M1 arrived.

 

[Jára Tyky]

It’s such a nice upgrade. No heat, no fans, blazing fast opening up anything. I upped my RAM to 16GB for any bit of future proofing as I expect to keep it while. My buddy has an early 2020 MacBook Pro and if he opens any app his laptop sounds like an airplane taking off…it’s kind of sad how inefficient the Intel chips are. We all didn’t realize that until the M1 arrived.

I really love the idea buying iPad Pro with 16GB RAM especially when iPadOS limits apps for 5GB RAM and the price for these models is like two iPads so what an investment how to burn cash!! They call it future-proof ???

 

[rui no onna]

it’s kind of sad how inefficient the Intel chips are. We all didn’t realize that until the M1 arrived.

Not really. I’ve been watching Apple’s chipset improvements since the A6X. By the time A9X rolled around, I was very impressed with how they got desktop Ivy Bridge/Haswell level performance on an iPad chip. Meanwhile, Intel was struggling to get their performance per watt down. To me, that cemented the ARM Mac rumors.

Even lay people have noticed the difference (faster web browsing, more responsive, doesn’t need to be constantly plugged in to use) even if they don’t word it in terms of efficiency.

I really love the idea buying iPad Pro with 16GB RAM especially when iPadOS limits apps for 5GB RAM and the price for these models is like two iPads so what an investment how to burn cash!! They call it future-proof ???

Been more or less like that since 2018, though. At least now we get better hardware for around the same price.

2018 A12X/6GB
11” 1TB wifi $1549/lte $1699
12.9” 1TB wifi $1749/lte $1899

2020 A12Z/6GB
11” 1TB wifi $1299/lte $1449
12.9” 1TB wifi $1499/lte $1649

2021 M1/16GB
11” 1TB wifi $1499/5g $1699
12.9” 1TB wifi $1799/5g $1999

 

[Jára Tyky]

Not really. I’ve been watching Apple’s chipset improvements since the A6X. By the time A9X rolled around, I was very impressed with how they got desktop Ivy Bridge/Haswell level performance on an iPad chip. Meanwhile, Intel was struggling to get their performance per watt down. To me, that cemented the ARM Mac rumors.

Even lay people have noticed the difference (faster web browsing, more responsive, doesn’t need to be constantly plugged in to use) even if they don’t word it in terms of efficiency.




Been more or less like that since 2018, though. At least now we get better hardware for around the same price.

2018 A12X/6GB
11” 1TB wifi $1549/lte $1699
12.9” 1TB wifi $1749/lte $1899

2020 A12Z/6GB
11” 1TB wifi $1299/lte $1449
12.9” 1TB wifi $1499/lte $1649

2021 M1/16GB
11” 1TB wifi $1499/5g $1699
12.9” 1TB wifi $1799/5g $1999

I buy only Cellular versions and in our country price is 2650$
Firstly I was going for 16GB RAM but after reading reviews I have changed my mind and went with 256GB.
I think in iPad’ s future there will be 8GB RAM enough for next 5years. And when 16GB will be efficient, you will have to buy new device because of battery..

 

[GuruZac]

I really love the idea buying iPad Pro with 16GB RAM especially when iPadOS limits apps for 5GB RAM and the price for these models is like two iPads so what an investment how to burn cash!! They call it future-proof ???

You do realize I am referring to the M1 MacBook Air I purchased not the iPad Pro…

 

[Ludatyk]

2018 A12X/6GB
11” 1TB wifi $1549/lte $1699
12.9” 1TB wifi $1749/lte $1899

2020 A12Z/6GB
11” 1TB wifi $1299/lte $1449
12.9” 1TB wifi $1499/lte $1649

2021 M1/16GB
11” 1TB wifi $1499/5g $1699
12.9” 1TB wifi $1799/5g $1999

I’m puzzled by this. Why couldn’t the 2021 iPP stay at the initial price of the 2020 iPP? It went down in price then up… I understand RAM played apart in the increased price, but the decrease price from 2018 to 2020 models doesn’t make sense.

 

[rui no onna]

I’m puzzled by this. Why couldn’t the 2021 iPP stay at the initial price of the 2020 iPP? It went down in price then up… I understand RAM played apart in the increased price, but the decrease price from 2018 to 2020 models doesn’t make sense.

If you look at Macs, the cost to upgrade from 8GB to 16GB is $200 as well.

In 2020, base iPad Pro got 128GB (up from 64GB) so that adjusted all storage prices down by $50. All models got 6GB RAM and they reduced the +$400 for 1TB (from 512GB) to +$200.

For 2020 -> 2021 iPP pricing differential, we got:
+$100 Mini-LED
+$200 for 16GB RAM
+$50 for 5G

For 512GB Wi-Fi the 2021 11” costs exactly the same as 2020 11” while 2021 12.9” is just $100 more than 2020 12.9”. It’s just the 1TB+ and cellular where we get the bigger price increase.

Personally, my main gripe with the 2017 iPP is lack of RAM. I'm targeting 3 years usage minimum with the 2021 but based on my usage, I feel 16GB will extend the time that I'm content with performance to 5 years or more. If that does happen, then the extra $200 for the RAM would have been money very well spent. Again, I used the 2017 for 4 years (albeit with more frustration on iOS 13+) so at least a year more than that seems fairly reasonable. I was quite content with my Ivy Bridge desktop with 16GB RAM for 8 years so there's that as well.

 

[Ludatyk]

I feel 16GB will extend the time that I'm content with performance to 5 years or more. If that does happen, then the extra $200 for the RAM would have been money very well spent. Again, I used the 2017 for 4 years (albeit with more frustration on iOS 13+) so at least a year more than that seems fairly reasonable. I was quite content with my Ivy Bridge desktop with 16GB RAM for 8 years so there's that as well.

This! And people not realizing how much that 16GB RAM will play a part in future version of iPadOS. We are living in this microwave society not looking down the road. I’m on iPadOS 15 and not trying to justify my purchase, but the new multitasking improvements (primarily the shelf) is beneficially to 16GB RAM users.

New Safari not only gives you shelves for new windows… but snap shots of tabs in use, RAM plays a part in that. I’ll be lying if I said I would of done the same thing (selling my 2018 iPP and favor of this years models), but I would of gave it some serious thought after using iPadOS 15.

 

[HerbertDerb]

But the new multitasking improvements (primarily the shelf) is beneficially to 16GB RAM users.


New Safari not only gives you shelves for new windows… but snap shots of tabs in use, RAM plays a part in that.

How? Is there any proof of this?

You do realise that Safari only is allowed to use MAX 5gb ram? And in "normal" use it's nowhere near that