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iPad Pro 11” vs 12.9”

slyronit

slyronit

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 7, 2020
382
327
Just a rant because I wasted a lot of monies in the last year on different iPads.

First I bought a used 12.9” 3rd Gen iPad Pro, but found it too big and sold it at a slight loss.

Then I bought a used 11” 1st Gen iPad Pro. But ended up gifting it to a friend.

I was without an iPad for 7-8 months and then bought an iPad Air 5th Gen. I tried, but couldn’t get used to the lowly refresh rate especially when compared to my iPhone 14 Pro.

I then bought an iPad Pro 11” 4th Gen and liked it mostly, till I made the mistake of going to an Apple Store and looking at the latest 12.9” model. There’s no comparison, the contrast on the 11” model looks poor in comparison. So I sold it within 2 weeks of buying it.

Finally, I bought an iPad Pro 12.9” 6th Gen. It does feel big and bulky, but I think I will get used to it.

End of rant.
 
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Different display tech in the IPP 11” vs 12.9” and contrast specs can be looked at on Apple’s website.
 
Yeah, the 12.9" feels kind of wide and takes a little adjusting to, but it was absolutely worth getting used to mine
 
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You might just need to buy them all and change them like some people change shoes 🤣

That's a lot of changing iPads within an extremely short period of time.
 
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When the new iPad Pro models are announced I will be going from a 12.9" iPad Pro to the 11" size class.

I fully bought into the iPad all-in-one idea, but that quickly faded as many things I prefer to do on macOS. Then I realized that the 12.9" size, while manageable, wasn't optimal for grab-and-go tablet use. I ended up getting an iPad mini and then an iPhone Pro Max and realized that I was reaching for one of these nearly every time other than watching TV on the treadmill. Back when I had a 10.5" iPad Pro the iPad was about 70% of my total device usage. Since getting the larger model it's now 20% or less.

My own natural tendencies have shown me that I prefer a lightweight compact device. I'm hoping that the 11" with the new scaling makes it service for the few times I need to push it just a bit farther.
 
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Flowstates said:
Went from 12.9 to Mini to settle on my current M2 11' that I am currently planning to sell.

Those devices just are not useful within my lifestyle =(.
Click to expand...
Ha ha but it feels so good to own one. I use mine for reading magazines and newspapers on Magzter, for which the 12.9” is perfect. I also read books on kindle in landscape for which the 11” was definitely better.
 
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slyronit said:
Ha ha but it feels so good to own one. I use mine for reading magazines and newspapers on Magzter, for which the 12.9” is perfect. I also read books on kindle in landscape for which the 11” was definitely better.
Click to expand...
It is very neat, such a shame that I am irritated to navigate my computing using my indexes whilst also being more efficient on MacOS.

It boiled down to that in my case.
 
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Flowstates said:
It is very neat, such a shame that I am irritated to navigate my computing using my indexes whilst also being more efficient on MacOS.

It boiled down to that in my case.
Click to expand...
Luckily I don’t have a MacBook. Plan to buy the Magic Keyboard that launches next year if it is backward compatible with the 12.9” iPad Pro.
 
I think I have gotten more or less used to the 12.9” size.

In tablet mode, I prefer the “default” zoom level. However, when mounted on the Magic Keyboard, I prefer the “More Space” zoom level.

It would be great if there’s a setting that can enable auto switching when connecting or disconnecting from the Magic Keyboard.

I submitted a feature request to apple on this today.
 
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I rarely use my M2 MBA and M1 iPad Pro either at the moment, they are more summer devices for outside use when the weather is good.

I only use the 16" M1 Max MacBook Pro with external monitors and the iPhone 15 Pro Max these days.
 
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i think i will remain with the 12.9 due to how good it is to watch content. Even if i only use it for that it's worth it to me. While it's a handful to hold i think it just depends on how you do so and where. If you're holding it then yeah it's a problem but on your lap there are no issues.
 
The Game 161 said:
i think i will remain with the 12.9 due to how good it is to watch content. Even if i only use it for that it's worth it to me. While it's a handful to hold i think it just depends on how you do so and where. If you're holding it then yeah it's a problem but on your lap there are no issues.
Click to expand...
It’s not perfect to watch content either, because the aspect ratio of the screen is 4:3 and most content out there is 16:9. So you end up with black bars above and below.

The 11” is closer to the 16:9 ratio, but it’s display is sub-par
 
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Having owned both, the issue is really the inability to have one for all needs, and i dont wanna be Mr. Tablet for all the separate use cases. I loved the 12.9 display and all around workflow of a large pane of glass… but I’m a weirdo that uses his iPad to video.. so the 11” was better (if they made a 2TB Mini with high refresh rate and mini LED, I would be in hog heaven.) Point is, I get it. I’ve owned a lot of iPads going back to the very first one (5 minutes with it and I knew it was a game changer.) In the end, the answer is KNOWING your use case for it 95% of time so that last 5% doesn’t gnaw at you
 
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BB1970 said:
Having owned both, the issue is really the inability to have one for all needs, and i dont wanna be Mr. Tablet for all the separate use cases. I loved the 12.9 display and all around workflow of a large pane of glass… but I’m a weirdo that uses his iPad to video.. so the 11” was better (if they made a 2TB Mini with high refresh rate and mini LED, I would be in hog heaven.) Point is, I get it. I’ve owned a lot of iPads going back to the very first one (5 minutes with it and I knew it was a game changer.) In the end, the answer is KNOWING your use case for it 95% of time so that last 5% doesn’t gnaw at you
Click to expand...
Thanks. I am more or less now used to the 12.9”. Just had to give it time. I don’t think I can go back to 11” anymore
 
slyronit said:
I think I have gotten more or less used to the 12.9” size.

In tablet mode, I prefer the “default” zoom level. However, when mounted on the Magic Keyboard, I prefer the “More Space” zoom level.

It would be great if there’s a setting that can enable auto switching when connecting or disconnecting from the Magic Keyboard.

I submitted a feature request to apple on this today.
Click to expand...
I found a compromise. I set the display as “More Space” and play around with the font size. The font size can be changed from both the control centre and using shortcuts.
 
slyronit said:
It’s not perfect to watch content either, because the aspect ratio of the screen is 4:3 and most content out there is 16:9. So you end up with black bars above and below.

The 11” is closer to the 16:9 ratio, but it’s display is sub-par
Click to expand...

Even with black bars you’re still getting noticeably more screen on everything you watch
 
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I bought the 12.9” strictly for the screen tech, but now I couldn’t imagine going back to 11” because I used the MKB all the time. I’d like to complement it with an OLED Mini though.

I’ve been through so many iPads over the years…1, 2, 3, Air 1, Pro 9.7, Pro 10.5, new Mini which I sold quickly after not liking the screen, and now this one.

I still have the 2021 but I don’t think even OLED on the new Pro models will tempt me. MiniLED has its advantages.
 
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