iPad Pro 2020 11" iPad Pro, 2020 iPad Air, or Apple Certified Refurbished 2018 11" iPad Pro?

[Yebubbleman]

I am going to be in the market for a full-sized iPad. My primary use for it will be to watch video. Certainly, there will be some Hearthstone being played on it, e-mail being checked on it, Safari being surfed on it, and iMessages and SMS being responded to on it. But the main use will be to store and play my media. I'm torn between the iPads mentioned in the post title.

My only requirements for this thing are that it have a minimum of 256GB of storage (which all three will accomodate) and that I have sound coming out on both sides of the iPad if I'm watching video using internal speakers (which all three will accomodate). I would imagine that the A12X, A12Z, and A14 probably all perform similarly (considering the A14 is a step up from A12, but A12X and A12Z have higher cores, and with the A12Z likely having more RAM in tow than either the A12X [I wouldn't be shopping for the 1TB model] or A14). Though, longevity of support (and smooth operation) of iPadOS releases is an important factor too.

No one has actually picked up and played with the new iPad Air, and therefore can't attest to the speaker setup. But certainly if the speakers are substantially worse on the Air than either generation of 11" Pro, that could be a deal-breaker. Especially without immediate access to USB-C headphones all the time, good on-board sound will be a must.

My reasons for being wary of the new iPad Air: I don't know how well the new TouchID functions and/or if there'll be any kind of issues with it. That and, as is the case with all new iOS and iPadOS screen resolutions, you sort of have to wait for developers to optimize for the new screen size. I'm also unsure if 256GB of storage will be enough (I'd probably want to get 512GB just to be safe). I do know that I can easily fill up a 128GB iPad.

My reasons for being wary of an Apple Certified Refurbished first generation (2018) 11" iPad Pro: I'm unsure how much less support time I'm going to get for buying an iPad with 4GB of RAM instead of 6GB (again, I wouldn't be getting the 1TB model in either case).

My reasons for being wary of getting the second generation (2020/current) 11" iPad Pro: Pricing.

Which of the three would you lean towards?

 

[AutomaticApple]

I would imagine that the A12X, A12Z, and A14 probably all perform similarly

The A12Z still has a big graphical advantage over the A14.

 

[Freakonomics101]

IMO, the 2018 Pro is the best deal. If you don’t care about the camera, the 2018 Pro is the way to go. The 12X and 12Z chips are 99% equivalent. You won’t notice any difference at all.

 

[Stoianski]

The A12Z still has a big graphical advantage over the A14.

When talking about grapfical advantage, does this also refer to huge PDF files with annotations?
Thanks

 

[Tsepz]

Always go for what has the most RAM when it comes to these devices, the one issue a lot of people have had in the past is that in later iOS releases the OS takes more RAM and despite the SoC being fast, it gets more difficult to keep more apps in RAM so the SoC advantage falls away.

In terms of A12Z vs A14 I think we need to wait for benchmarks to be safe, but the A12Z is rocking an Octa Core (8 core) GPU versus Quad Core (4 core) in the A14, so the A14 may fall short in graphics substantially, we are also not sure how much RAM the Air has, many speculating 4GB RAM which would put it Behind the iPad Pros.

Now more than ever the question is what exactly will you be using the device for because I can honestly say that most people will probably be happy with the Air 2020 over the iPad Pro, unless you want all the top specs and plan on doing very graphics intense stuff then go for iPad Pro in that case.

 

[sracer]

I would not be concerned about any issues with the Touch ID on the new Air. Apple has plenty of experience with Touch ID and I'm confident that moving it to the power button will be just fine.

Based on what we currently know about it, the new Air seems like the best value proposition for those who are looking for a Pro-like form factor.

I'm not a fan of refurbished Apple devices. Depending upon where a person lives, it is often possible to buy a new unit for the price that Apple charges for refurbs.

 

[*~Kim~*]

I would rule out the 2020, as both the 2018 Pro and the new Air come close to it. 2018 Pro is probably the better deal money wise (and that also gets you Pro Motion) but I’m a sucker for the new colours. Wasn’t going to upgrade my Mini 5 until refurbs, but if a Mini 6 gets the same treatment as the Air, I’ll probably find it hard to resist even though I’ll miss the headphone jack.

 

[MisterMillz]

My vote is for 2018 iPP. Just got one from Amazon renewed not too long ago. Saved roughly $500 off the same model retail. Looks/operates like new. 12X/Z are the same processors. The latter just has an extra gpu core enabled. With the money saved I bought the Magic Keyboard and don’t feel as bad for its eye-watering price. It also came with 4 months of AppleCare+ left. So, that was a bonus.

 

[rui no onna]

If you can actually find it in stock, I think the Apple certified refurb 2018 iPad Pro offers best value. At $549/64GB and $679/256GB, it's much better priced than Air 4 or 2020 Pro while offering similar performance.

 

[kazmac]

I’d go with a 2020 iPad Pro. You have the option of more RAM.

Says me who doesn’t ‘need’ a Pro.

I bet we’ll see some 2020 iPP sales as the Air gets closer to release.

 

[hr10]

Will you use the MK down the road? If yes, go w/ the pro, the Face ID w/ MK make the overall experience so seamless.

 

[ascender]

Any of them will do what you need so I'd go for most bang for buck depending on best deal you can find.

 

[TheIntruder]

If you can actually find it in stock, I think the Apple certified refurb 2018 iPad Pro offers best value. At $549/64GB and $679/256GB, it's much better priced than Air 4 or 2020 Pro while offering similar performance.

That's really the sweet spot, and pitting it directly against the Air 4, the overall package is clearly better, unless one really prefers Touch ID over Face ID.

I think people are making too big a deal of the A14 vs A12X (or Z), while ignoring that the latter has eight cores total (four big, four little), vs. six on the A14 (two big, four little), and GPU-wise, seven cores vs. four cores. The Air 4's RAM figure has yet to be confirmed, but chances are, it will be 4GB as well, making them equivalent in that respect.

The Air 4 may be quicker in simple tasks, but the Pro has more headroom.

For me, one thing that's hard to ignore is the buttery-smooth 120hz screen, which signals there's no messing around.

60hz is perfectly fine, and in isolation not lacking at all, but put them side-by-side like at the store, and it's hard to resist.

Touch ID never worked particularly well for me, so Face ID is my preference, but I do think the longer/narrower sensor or the Air 4 may work better than the round ones on iPhones, in addition to general advancements in the technology.

But I suspect that no matter what, there will be no instant gratification. Refurbs get snapped up. New Pros are on 3-4 week backorder. And whether they're being coy, or just conservative, Apple didn't commit to a specific date for the Air.

 

[sonicrobby]

IMO, the 2018 Pro is the best deal. If you don’t care about the camera, the 2018 Pro is the way to go. The 12X and 12Z chips are 99% equivalent. You won’t notice any difference at all.

I second this. I would definitely not choose the 2020 iPP > 2018 iPP if you have no use for LIDAR. As far as the iPP vs air, that will be cost vs preference. I am much more in favor of faceID especially when paired with the magic keyboard. I think it would get cumbersome reaching up to the side of the iPad each time to log in vs basically just staring at the screen.

The only real question is what your expectation for the longetivity of this device is. Either way though, I’m sure if Apple were to phase these out from future updates, I believe you may see one year, maybe two of extra iOS updates. But by that point you wont have the holographic display projector with AR interactivity features coming in the 2030 iPads anyway 😂

 

[rui no onna]

That's really the sweet spot, and pitting it directly against the Air 4, the overall package is clearly better, unless one really prefers Touch ID over Face ID.

I think people are making too big a deal of the A14 vs A12X (or Z), while ignoring that the latter has eight cores total (four big, four little), vs. six on the A14 (two big, four little), and GPU-wise, seven cores vs. four cores. The Air 4's RAM figure has yet to be confirmed, but chances are, it will be 4GB as well, making them equivalent in that respect.

The Air 4 may be quicker in simple tasks, but the Pro has more headroom.

For me, one thing that's hard to ignore is the buttery-smooth 120hz screen, which signals there's no messing around.

60hz is perfectly fine, and in isolation not lacking at all, but put them side-by-side like at the store, and it's hard to resist.

Touch ID never worked particularly well for me, so Face ID is my preference, but I do think the longer/narrower sensor or the Air 4 may work better than the round ones on iPhones, in addition to general advancements in the technology.

But I suspect that no matter what, there will be no instant gratification. Refurbs get snapped up. New Pros are on 3-4 week backorder. And whether they're being coy, or just conservative, Apple didn't commit to a specific date for the Air.

The A14's 6 cores get 4000 on GB5 multi vs A12X/Z's 8 cores with 4600. That's just 13% difference and is going to be less noticeable than the A14's single core advantage. 5nm iPhone chipset with iPad body and cooling could translate to better sustained performance as well.

It's GPU heavy tasks such as gaming where the A12X/Z has a huge advantage.

Mind, these are all very fast chipsets. I don't see any performance issues with any of them for typical use. For me, it's really more that the 2020 iPad Pro doesn't seem worth the asking price versus refurb 2018 iPad Pro or iPad Air 4.

 

[thimplicity]

I have answered the same question for myself with the answer most people give here: 2018 iPP. Now I am struggling to find one 😂

 

[Act3]

after using iPad with promotion, anything without it is off my list.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Before I get into inline replies, does anyone know if the iPad Pro "Bendgate" issues improve in the 2020 models over the 2018 models? That would influence my decision for sure. Pending that:

The A12Z still has a big graphical advantage over the A14.

Always go for what has the most RAM when it comes to these devices, the one issue a lot of people have had in the past is that in later iOS releases the OS takes more RAM and despite the SoC being fast, it gets more difficult to keep more apps in RAM so the SoC advantage falls away.

In terms of A12Z vs A14 I think we need to wait for benchmarks to be safe, but the A12Z is rocking an Octa Core (8 core) GPU versus Quad Core (4 core) in the A14, so the A14 may fall short in graphics substantially, we are also not sure how much RAM the Air has, many speculating 4GB RAM which would put it Behind the iPad Pros.

Now more than ever the question is what exactly will you be using the device for because I can honestly say that most people will probably be happy with the Air 2020 over the iPad Pro, unless you want all the top specs and plan on doing very graphics intense stuff then go for iPad Pro in that case.

The RAM disparity between the 2018 11" Pro and the 2020 11" Pro is the only thing that makes me want to lean toward the latter. Apple will inevitably make 6GB of RAM the minimum required amount of RAM for an iPadOS release just as iPadOS 13 and 14 mandated a 2GB minimum, in which case they'll kick out the 2018 Pro and only support the 2020 for however much longer. Were it not for that, I'd probably just go for the 2018 Pro. If the Air also has 6GB (which I get would be pretty unlikely, that would definitely be an incentive.

I would not be concerned about any issues with the Touch ID on the new Air. Apple has plenty of experience with Touch ID and I'm confident that moving it to the power button will be just fine.

Based on what we currently know about it, the new Air seems like the best value proposition for those who are looking for a Pro-like form factor.

I'm not a fan of refurbished Apple devices. Depending upon where a person lives, it is often possible to buy a new unit for the price that Apple charges for refurbs.

I've had okay luck with them (albeit much more so with Macs than with iPads). But I'd be getting AppleCare+ on whatever I buy anyway.

My vote is for 2018 iPP. Just got one from Amazon renewed not too long ago. Saved roughly $500 off the same model retail. Looks/operates like new. 12X/Z are the same processors. The latter just has an extra gpu core enabled. With the money saved I bought the Magic Keyboard and don’t feel as bad for its eye-watering price. It also came with 4 months of AppleCare+ left. So, that was a bonus.

I'm certainly leaning more towards the 2018 Pro, for sure. Again, my only concern is RAM.

I’d go with a 2020 iPad Pro. You have the option of more RAM.

Says me who doesn’t ‘need’ a Pro.

I bet we’ll see some 2020 iPP sales as the Air gets closer to release.

RAM is the only thing stopping me from going all-in on a 2018 right now. I know Apple will eventually cut off iPads that have less than 6GB of RAM and that will result in an iPadOS release that is compatible with the 2020 iPad Pro, but not the 2018 Pro.

Will you use the MK down the road? If yes, go w/ the pro, the Face ID w/ MK make the overall experience so seamless.

MK?

That's really the sweet spot, and pitting it directly against the Air 4, the overall package is clearly better, unless one really prefers Touch ID over Face ID.

I think people are making too big a deal of the A14 vs A12X (or Z), while ignoring that the latter has eight cores total (four big, four little), vs. six on the A14 (two big, four little), and GPU-wise, seven cores vs. four cores. The Air 4's RAM figure has yet to be confirmed, but chances are, it will be 4GB as well, making them equivalent in that respect.

The Air 4 may be quicker in simple tasks, but the Pro has more headroom.

For me, one thing that's hard to ignore is the buttery-smooth 120hz screen, which signals there's no messing around.

60hz is perfectly fine, and in isolation not lacking at all, but put them side-by-side like at the store, and it's hard to resist.

Touch ID never worked particularly well for me, so Face ID is my preference, but I do think the longer/narrower sensor or the Air 4 may work better than the round ones on iPhones, in addition to general advancements in the technology.

But I suspect that no matter what, there will be no instant gratification. Refurbs get snapped up. New Pros are on 3-4 week backorder. And whether they're being coy, or just conservative, Apple didn't commit to a specific date for the Air.

I have had no problem with traditional TouchID. But the location of the sensor might make it less ergonomically viable. Also, it's not like I get my home button back for the privilege.

ProMotion is definitely cool; but not something that ultimately matters for my use cases. If the RAM is similar between the Air and the 2018 Pro, that could be something. I'm still leaning more towards the 2018 Pro.

And yeah, I don't have the money for this iPad just yet, so there won't be instant gratification regardless. I did set up a Refurb.me alert for 2018 11" iPad Pros with either 256GB or 512GB sold on the Apple Certified Refurbished section of the online store.

I second this. I would definitely not choose the 2020 iPP > 2018 iPP if you have no use for LIDAR. As far as the iPP vs air, that will be cost vs preference. I am much more in favor of faceID especially when paired with the magic keyboard. I think it would get cumbersome reaching up to the side of the iPad each time to log in vs basically just staring at the screen.

The only real question is what your expectation for the longetivity of this device is. Either way though, I’m sure if Apple were to phase these out from future updates, I believe you may see one year, maybe two of extra iOS updates. But by that point you wont have the holographic display projector with AR interactivity features coming in the 2030 iPads anyway 😂

Hah! Yeah, I guess it's worth the cost savings even if I end up replacing it one or two years sooner than I otherwise would. It's $220 difference between a 256GB WiFi-only 2018 11" Pro versus the 2020 one and it's a $250 difference between the 512GB of both models. $220-250 is not insubstantial.

The A14's 6 cores get 4000 on GB5 multi vs A12X/Z's 8 cores with 4600. That's just 13% difference and is going to be less noticeable than the A14's single core advantage. 5nm iPhone chipset with iPad body and cooling could translate to better sustained performance as well.

It's GPU heavy tasks such as gaming where the A12X/Z has a huge advantage.

Mind, these are all very fast chipsets. I don't see any performance issues with any of them for typical use. For me, it's really more that the 2020 iPad Pro doesn't seem worth the asking price versus refurb 2018 iPad Pro or iPad Air 4.

For sure. I'm basically coming to that realization now in talking it out with you all. Especially when it comes to my use cases.

 

[zhenya]

While more RAM is certainly better, it will be a long, long time before an iPad Pro with 4GB of RAM is cut off from iPadOS updates given the huge number of low end iPads Apple is still selling today with less than 4GB.

I agree that a refurbished 2018 is probably the sweet spot while they can still be found. The fact that we are saying this shows how advanced this device was when it was released nearly two years ago! It’s still by far my fastest and most used device. Use the money saved to add a Magic Keyboard.

 

[macdogpro]

Buy now for normal usage: air 4
buy now for heavy lifting performance per dollar: refurb pro 2018.
can wait until march: wait for 2021 pro.

can not wait and need the heavy lifting performance (gaming / video editing / multi tasking) get the pro 2020.

no, the 2020 bendiness is not better than the 2018.
the air 4 extra thickness case might. yet to be proven.

MK is magic keyboard, will work more charmingly with face id combo than touch id.

4gb ram should be plenty for few years to come.

again, are you going to use the ipad for heavy tasking?
if you worry about future proof, i‘d say wait for march.

 

[Yebubbleman]

While more RAM is certainly better, it will be a long, long time before an iPad Pro with 4GB of RAM is cut off from iPadOS updates given the huge number of low end iPads Apple is still selling today with less than 4GB.

I agree that a refurbished 2018 is probably the sweet spot while they can still be found. The fact that we are saying this shows how advanced this device was when it was released nearly two years ago! It’s still by far my fastest and most used device. Use the money saved to add a Magic Keyboard.

For sure. I'm now strongly leaning toward that direction. The fact that it's a $220-250 difference (depending on 256GB or 512GB) or a $170-200 difference when comparing to academic pricing all for 2GB of RAM, an extra GPU core, and LiDAR which I likely won't use is definitely causing me to lean that way. The only thing that could give me pause, at this point (swaying me to either the Air or the 2020 Pro) is if the liklihood of a bent chassis out of the box is more reduced with the other options here. If not, then refurbished 2018 11" Pro it is.

As for the Magic Keyboard, I've found that the only iPad Pro keyboards I have an okay time typing on are that of the 12.9" Pros. And I may very well get a 12.9" iPad Pro down the line specifically for that kind of note-taking/lightweight computing purpose, but that's certainly not taking the place of what I'm debating getting here.

Buy now for normal usage: air 4
buy now for heavy lifting performance per dollar: refurb pro 2018.
can wait until march: wait for 2021 pro.

can not wait and need the heavy lifting performance (gaming / video editing / multi tasking) get the pro 2020.

no, the 2020 bendiness is not better than the 2018.
the air 4 extra thickness case might. yet to be proven.

Solid breakdown.

The Air 4 would likely suit me fine. I'm never a fan of adopting a brand new iOS/iPadOS screen resolution on the first go (the experience is usually better after developers have time to optimize their apps for the new resolution). However, there's no 512GB option and the main reason I'm wanting this is to store and playback media without constraint. Refurb 2018 Pro sounds solid so far. For the same reason why I likely won't gravitate towards the 2020 Pro's 6GB of RAM, I'm probably cool with getting something like the 2018 Pro now knowing that there's likely to be new A14X/Z iPad Pros coming in the Spring. Then again, Apple's release timing with the 2020 Pros was a bit odd, all things Apple Silicon considering.

 

[MisterMillz]

Keep in mind, the 2018 models with 1TB of storage also have 6GBs of RAM. I got a 2018 11” 1TB with cellular for $849. That’s a steal in my books.

 

[rui no onna]

Keep in mind, the 2018 models with 1TB of storage also have 6GBs of RAM. I got a 2018 11” 1TB with cellular for $849. That’s a steal in my books.

That's an awesome price. Lowest I've seen is around $1100. Of course, that's for brand new or Apple certified refurb.

 

[thimplicity]

Keep in mind, the 2018 models with 1TB of storage also have 6GBs of RAM. I got a 2018 11” 1TB with cellular for $849. That’s a steal in my books.

Where and when?

 

[MisterMillz]

That's an awesome price. Lowest I've seen is around $1100. Of course, that's for brand new or Apple certified refurb.

Where and when?

Yeah, I noticed Apple had some models on the refurb store this morning. I got mine via Amazon Renewed this past Sunday. Was pleasantly surprised to see it still had Applecare+ attached to it. I took the device to Apple yesterday to check the battery and found it to be at 100% capacity with only 5 cycles (My charges). Definitely a worthwhile investment.