Hello all, a newbie to the site with 32 years in Engineering and IT. So if my first post ruffles a few feathers I'll take the weak wristed slap in the face that accompanies it.
I've read through several of the posts here, and love the hateful Apple is flawless banter, it makes people think (or not). The majority of my computer time has been with Microsoft products, although I got on the Linux bus in 1991, and have been on and off the Apple bus so many times I'm not sure what city I'm in. My current Apple footprint is the 2019 iPad Air and the iPhone 11. I've had every iPhone thanks to that being my one long time career company provided phone. Always loved the contact manager, but we were on AT&T so service was always subpar. I have likewise had most of the iPads, up to and including the iPad Pro 11 with 128 Gb, and my current bedside reader (as stated). Also have had the last three Mac Pro including the Trashcan (no offense intended - base model, single CPU, no upgrades). And a 2014 MacBook Pro along the way. For whatever reason, I am more productive on a Windows PC than a MAC. This is not a slap at BSD/Next/IOS but a derivative of my long tenured experience with DOS and Windows. There, I'm caught up.
Now for my issues and disappointment with the 2020 iPad Pro. I had a lot of issues with my 2018 iPad Pro, and started to see a bit of warping in the case, so I listed and sold it. My current 2019 iPad Air was purchased entirely to be a stopgap for the 2020 iPad Pro 12.9, and learning about the new May release keyboard had me all in. Then I started reading the tech specs, and that got me to looking for the differences. As I see it, 4 more cores on the GPU, 2 Gig additional RAM, a new camera array (won't spend any time on this because I have my iPhone 11, and a Canon 90D for video), and slightly better temperature management. The issues come in when I compare the similarities, if not exact component migrations. The tech world is abuzz in the fact that the CPU is the exact same with the four cores that were already there now being opened for business. The benchmarks for performance are the exact same (within a margin of error), although those who love it take the highest average scores, and those who are upset take the lowest average scores. The external chassis is exactly the same, the battery is exactly the same, the ports are exactly the same, and by all accounts the performance is exactly the same. This had to be a choice by Apple, and there is not a lot of advertising that casts massive differences between the two platforms, so I have to believe the next iteration is not to far behind.
The reason I'd buy it: Honestly the only reason(s) I'd spend the additional $100-$300 between a 2018 and a 2020 is for RAM or to increase my internal storage. I want that new keyboard. Mouse and Trackpad incorporation (but that now works on my iPad Air with 13.4.
The reason I'm not going to buy it: I've been around Apple long enough to read the tea leaves, and when I hear the leaks about the A14X are valid, and the potential for mini LED's is enticing enough to wait. A 2 year old CPU, but Apple did that with all of the old Intel Chips, as they were a minimum of one gen behind. The same awesome display. No battery improvements. The camera I have to pay for and never use (hell, I'd buy a 2018 or 2020 NOW if I could get one without a camera). While I never had a problem with speed or refresh issues with my Pro 11, Apps continue to increase demand, and my tech needs to have stepped increases before I lay out a couple truck payments for a slightly better device than I already own.
To the fella who starts with Mr. Engineer, YES? I'm a EE, and spent 10 years designing, building, implementing data centers around the world, as well as documenting (FDA) the operational practices from power and cooling, to switching (Cisco and Juniper), structured wiring, fiber plants (single and multi-mode), NetApp and other mass storage, data security, data bases (SQL and Oracle), mesh networks, and backups (both remote and onsite tape libraries).
Let the hounds of hell and the lashings begin.
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"One more thing." I think Apple has been so busy with the Apple Spaceship that they have allowed tech innovations to take a back seat.
