All iPads 2021 iPad Air (M1) vs. 2018 iPad Pro 12.9 (A12X)

[Student of Life]

The 12.9-inch iPad Pro is no longer an option. After going back and forth and talking to my wife she made the excellent point that it would be too large for two occasional yet important use cases: on airplanes and in the car attached to a mount entertaining our toddler daughter on long trips.

It's basically down to either the 2020 iPad Pro 11 (A12Z) for $609 (Apple Refurbished) or the 2022 iPad Air (M1) for $599 now. I will have to go see that 120 Hz display in action first though and compare it to a regular 60 Hz display to see what all the fuss is about before I make that decision.

I would like to thank everybody for their input again, this thread has been very helpful in keeping me from making a rash decision.

I have used the 12.9 on an airplane with my baby with no problem, also depending the mount you can easily fit it behind the car seat so your daughter will like it. Either choice you pick please get apple care, kids and iPads are not a great match.

 

[Dfds]

The 12.9-inch iPad Pro is no longer an option. After going back and forth and talking to my wife she made the excellent point that it would be too large for two occasional yet important use cases: on airplanes and in the car attached to a mount entertaining our toddler daughter on long trips.

It's basically down to either the 2020 iPad Pro 11 (A12Z) for $609 (Apple Refurbished) or the 2022 iPad Air (M1) for $599 now. I will have to go see that 120 Hz display in action first though and compare it to a regular 60 Hz display to see what all the fuss is about before I make that decision.

I would like to thank everybody for their input again, this thread has been very helpful in keeping me from making a rash decision.

Personally I’d go for the 2020 Pro for FaceID & the better screen.

 

[mj_]

So I was able to directy compare a 2020 iPad Pro 11 to my iPad 6th gen yesterday, and I have to admit that I did not really see or feel any difference between the two displays. Yes, subjectively the Pro did seem every so slightly smoother than the iPad when scrolling through text (although that may have been expectation bias), and when using the pencil and drawing very fast the lag was noticeably shorter on the Pro than the iPad but all things considered I would never have been able to tell the displays apart if I wouldn't have known which one was which. I really don't understand what all the fuss is about, 60 Hz looked perfectly smooth and fine to me. Guess I'm not the right audience for this "pro" display ?‍♂️

The Pro's speakers blew me away though. It's really down to power (longevity) and Center Stage (comfort) on the 2022 M1 Air vs. storage (longevity) and speakers (comfort) on the 2020 11" Pro now. Everything else (120 Hz display, better rear-facing cameras including Lidar sensor, and Face ID vs. Touch ID on the Pro) I couldn't care less for. Thanks again everybody for your input. I will sleep on it and make my decision in the next couple of days whenever I find the time to do so.

 

[Htsi]

The air makes most sense. It will last much longer and get all the new iOS features due to the CPU & RAM. I don’t find my 2018 lacking in speed, but only in RAM.

 

[MikeDr206]

I went from a first generation iPad Pro (10.9) to an iPad Air 4th Gen 256gb six months ago. Just traded it in for a third generation iPad Pro 11 inch 128gb after having recently upgraded my iPhone from an 8 Plus to a 13 Pro.

I missed the faster refresh rate of the Pro, and have really begun to appreciate FaceID. I only use around 80gb of storage, so 128 was sufficient.

Speed wise I couldn’t tell the difference in speed. And could care less about the better camera (who really takes photos with their iPad anyway?). But the better screen, the FaceID, and the better sound are big pluses to me.

 

[Isamilis]

I went from a first generation iPad Pro (10.9) to an iPad Air 4th Gen 256gb six months ago. Just traded it in for a third generation iPad Pro 11 inch 128gb after having recently upgraded my iPhone from an 8 Plus to a 13 Pro.

I missed the faster refresh rate of the Pro, and have really begun to appreciate FaceID. I only use around 80gb of storage, so 128 was sufficient.

Speed wise I couldn’t tell the difference in speed. And could care less about the better camera (who really takes photos with their iPad anyway?). But the better screen, the FaceID, and the better sound are big pluses to me.

I also went from iPad Air 3 to iPad Pro (2021) few months ago. I really appreciate its smoother screen when reading (my eyes is quite sensitive) and smoother taking notes using Apple pencil.

 

[mj_]

I have just ordered the 2020 iPad Pro 11 with 128 GB of storage from Apple's Refurbished Store for $609 instead of the iPad Air M1 with 64 GB of storage for $599.

In the end it was the unexpected realization that I might actually need much more storage space than I thought I did that made this call. I looked at my storage requirements and realized that 64 GB simply ain't gonna do it. In my initial post I stated that most of my current iPad's 32 GB are free, which unfortunately turns out to be incorrect (apologies for that). I honestly thought they were because I have barely anything installed and saved on the iPad but as it turns out I only have 3 GB of its 32 GB left. I managed to fill it up completely in just four years with mostly photos and videos (iCloud Photo Library and shared family photo albums) and a handfull of kids show episodes downloaded through the Prime app. At this rate I would run out of space on the 64 GB iPad Air in three to four years tops, and what good is an immensely powerful and fast M1-powered iPad Air with no storage space left? The 128 GB iPad Pro should last much longer, and I'd rather have a slightly slower tablet than one where I constantly have to deal with insufficient storage.

Once again I would like to thank everybody for their input and insights. It saved me from jumping the gun and buying the wrong device.

 

[iZollo]

i just bought the iPad Air 5 cellular. I have the 12.9inch iPad Pro for home use with the magic keyboard. The 120hz display is noticeable but not needed as I don’t find myself wishing the iPad Air 5 had it. The 60hz display is fine on the iPad Air. Day to day use you don’t notice the speed difference but Geekbench results of the iPad Air 5 are incredible compared to my pro.

 

[nfl46]

I have just ordered the 2020 iPad Pro 11 with 128 GB of storage from Apple's Refurbished Store for $609 instead of the iPad Air M1 with 64 GB of storage for $599.

In the end it was the unexpected realization that I might actually need much more storage space than I thought I did that made this call. I looked at my storage requirements and realized that 64 GB simply ain't gonna do it. In my initial post I stated that most of my current iPad's 32 GB are free, which unfortunately turns out to be incorrect (apologies for that). I honestly thought they were because I have barely anything installed and saved on the iPad but as it turns out I only have 3 GB of its 32 GB left. I managed to fill it up completely in just four years with mostly photos and videos (iCloud Photo Library and shared family photo albums) and a handfull of kids show episodes downloaded through the Prime app. At this rate I would run out of space on the 64 GB iPad Air in three to four years tops, and what good is an immensely powerful and fast M1-powered iPad Air with no storage space left? The 128 GB iPad Pro should last much longer, and I'd rather have a slightly slower tablet than one where I constantly have to deal with insufficient storage.

Once again I would like to thank everybody for their input and insights. It saved me from jumping the gun and buying the wrong device.

Enjoy!

 

[Shanghaichica]

I can’t even tell the difference between 120HZ and 60hz. I have the iPad Pro 11, iPad mini 6 and iPhone 12 Pro Max. I can’t tell the difference. I think maybe if I had an A15 device without pro motion an an M1 device with pro motion I might be able to tell the difference.