Thanks! Let’s say I try it out at the Apple store and can’t tell the difference. Does that mean it’s okay and I should just buy the air?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
2019 10.5-Inch iPad Air vs. 2017 10.5-Inch iPad Pro
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Maybe. My guess is the 2019 Air will get iOS updates for 1 year longer than the 2017 10.5” Pro.
However, for me, the Pro features outweighed the possible (but not guaranteed) extra year of updates.
Note that for me the cost between the two would have been exactly the same at CAD$619. (Edu for Air and refurb for Pro)
Last edited:
A12 has a 2,000 point higher cpu (9,000 to 11,000) but the a10x has a better gpu (21,000 to 29,000 ish) and then the air has a neural engine which is good for future.
Real life usage I can’t tell the difference in performance when switching from my IPhone Xr and my 10.5 pro
[doublepost=1553524915][/doublepost]
Maybe. My guess is the 2019 Air will get iOS updates for 1 year longer than the 2017 10.5” Pro. And the Air gets Animoji and Memoji too.
However, for me, the Pro features outweighed the possible (but not guaranteed) extra year of updates.
Note that for me the cost between the two would have been exactly the same at CAD$619. (Edu for Air and refurb for Pro)
Doesn’t Memoji and Animoji require Face ID ?
Good point. That would make sense, and this page confirms that:
https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT208190
The Air has the Neural Engine, but it's useless without Face ID for Animoji/Memoji. I have corrected my post.
I was watching some video reviews on the iPad Pro 11" and a few commented they couldn't even tell the difference between the 10.5" and 11" performance until they started using heavy duty multimedia content creation applications. For OS navigation and more mainstream tasks, the performance felt exactly the same.
OTOH, for those content creation applications, like for video export or whatever, the 11" was often roughly twice as fast.
Last edited:
I wonder how the Air will fair with those content creation application with just the A12 processor, not the A12X that the 11" pro has. How much of the content creation, etc is helped with the faster GPU?
Bought the iPad Pro 10.5 at bestbuy today for $499. Can’t live without the 120hz and 4 speakers. The “new” iPad Air speakers seemed tiny in comparison. The iPad Air actually seemed a bit slower due to the 60hz screen in real world use. For Pro-editing I have my MacBook Pro and a powerful PC so it was a no brainer for me.
Yes, the 60 Hz makes the other models feel stuttery, which can be perceived as slow. The 120 Hz of the 10.5" really makes it feel like a premium device.
BTW, the weight of the accessories really adds up:
iPad Pro 10.5"
Apple Smart Keyboard
MoKo Flexible Shockproof TPU Transparent Back Cover Case
JETech tempered glass screen protector
All together this weighs roughly 1.8 lbs. Meanwhile, my 12" MacBook is 2 lbs.
The only thing I am adding is the cover case. I use the iPad to present my work to clients besides media consumption. So it should be good.
I was off by 0.1 lbs. I checked the weights today on a high end scientific scale:
469 g / 1.03 lb - iPad Pro 10.5" WiFi (according to Apple)
617 g / 1.36 lb - iPad Pro + glass screen protector + MoKo TPU cover
105 g / 0.23 lb - MoKo TPU cover
246 g / 0.54 lb - Apple Smart Keyboard (245 g according to Apple)
Total: 863 g / 1.90 lbs
I didn't measure the screen protector alone, but it can be calculated: 617 - 469 - 105 = 43 g / 0.095 lb
Also, my ProCase padded sleeve is 141 g / 0.31 lb
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
And let's be totally honest, who of ANY of us is going to keep a 3-4 year old iPad to see if the newer ones gets more updates?? We'll undoubtedly move on.Maybe. My guess is the 2019 Air will get iOS updates for 1 year longer than the 2017 10.5” Pro.And the Air gets Animoji and Memoji too.
However, for me, the Pro features outweighed the possible (but not guaranteed) extra year of updates.
Note that for me the cost between the two would have been exactly the same at CAD$619. (Edu for Air and refurb for Pro)
The ProMotion display is gold to me. Just ordered a 10.5" Pro for $325 on eBay and I'm thrilled to receive it. I'm convinced I'll have a better overall experience than those buying the Air.
Is MacRumors planning to do a benchmark comparison between the iPad Pro 10.5-inch and the iPad Air 2019? I would love to see what the performance differences are before I pull the trigger on a purchase. I'm still sitting on the fence about whether to get the Pro or the Air and seeing benchmarks would help me make decision. I can't find anyone who has posted them yet.
Well, FWIW we already have iPad Air benchmarks with Geekbench 4 at least.
iPad Pro: 9600 multi-core
iPad Air: 11600 multi-core (or 10550 in the video below)
I generally keep my devices for a long time. I just upgraded from my iPad Air 2, which I bought in 2014, so five years for my last iPad. Granted, I strategically chose that model because of its killer SoC for the time and its 2 GB RAM, ensuring it would last a long time. Similarly though, I strategically chose the iPad Pro 10.5”... in 2019... because of its cost vs. specs. It’s reasonably priced after the price drops, it has 4 GB RAM, and it gets near 10000 in Geekbench multi-core. In fact, it scores over 1/3rd higher than my 2017 Core m3 12” MacBook Retina, which I also plan on keeping a long time, hopefully five years or more. I just bought a keyboard for the iPad Pro as well, and a couple of different cases, so I’m now vested. Overall, unless it breaks before then, my intent is to wait at least 3 years until 2022 or later to get a new 11” iPad Pro, hopefully with 6 GB RAM and A16X, as well as a reinforced frame that doesn’t suffer the bending issue that current models have.
Right now the two things I think the iPad Pro 10.5” lacks that would have some impact on me would be the lack of Face ID, and the missing 164 horizontal pixels in landscape mode, but given the prices I paid on the 10.5” with reduced price on the keyboard, it would have cost me roughly US$350 more to get the 11” Pro + Smart Keyboard, and would lose the headphone jack at the same time. (The headphone jack is not critical, but it’s a bonus, since my headphones on the plane are wired Bose QC25 noise cancellation headphones. It was easier to justify CAD$150 on those than CAD$450 for the QC35 II wireless model, and no need to deal with yet another dongle.
Last edited:
See several people mentioning which to buy for student use. Unless you are a hard core content creator, I would argue neither is needed and a lot of college students would benefit from the 6th gen iPad 32GB that is compatible with the Apple Pencil and $250 on Amazon. Sure, it's not as sexy as the 10.5 pro or this newer Air, but savings are nice.
Problem with these models though is that 32 GB can be quite restrictive. Even with just a bunch of apps and a few big games, and very little other multimedia content, it's not difficult to fill up 32 GB.
Very true, but I think if the student has limited needs, specifically for school, they can still get a lot of great things done regarding note taking and annotating PDF's etc. I would never recommend to purchase one this small if the student did not have a full laptop for other work as well. The other bonus is since Apple hasn't made the first gen Apple Pencil obsolete with the current product line (yet), there is still some use beyond the life of these cheaper low-volume iPads.
Sorry to resurrect this thread 😁 but everyone says how wonderful the pro 10.5 speakers are. Well 2 weeks ago I bought one for £40 less than the air 3 brand new. I was prepared to be blown away by the speakers but I’m not sure if mine is faulty or not because I get no volume at all until I turn them up to halfway then from there they get really loud. Is this normal or should I return? I still have 2 weeks to do so. Thank you.
A little late to the party but had to comment. The Apple iPad Pro 2017 is hands down the best tablet I have ever used let alone owned.
I had mine sitting in a drawer for a couple months not sure why? Finally started using it and the pencil; I am blown away.
My other tablets include the $2000 Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Gen 3 and the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.
I tried using Xournal and One Note etc to take effective notes the pen on the lenovo would often "stick" and the fludity just was not there. To annotate pdfs and epub were no bueno. The Kindle Fire is that tablet I use if I am doing something in the kitchen etc and there may be spills since it is cheap.
Very, very impressed with my ipad pro....my use of pen and paper will decline significantly and I can now fully immerse myself in my reading!
I had mine sitting in a drawer for a couple months not sure why? Finally started using it and the pencil; I am blown away.
My other tablets include the $2000 Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Gen 3 and the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.
I tried using Xournal and One Note etc to take effective notes the pen on the lenovo would often "stick" and the fludity just was not there. To annotate pdfs and epub were no bueno. The Kindle Fire is that tablet I use if I am doing something in the kitchen etc and there may be spills since it is cheap.
Very, very impressed with my ipad pro....my use of pen and paper will decline significantly and I can now fully immerse myself in my reading!