A different focus on Pro 10.5 Vs 12.9 threads

[Mousesuck]

There are multiple x vs y threats about which would be better and most of them focus on screen real estate in landscape mode for multitasking.

What about If you plan to use your IPad Pro mainly on portrait mode for studying the old way (reading thousands of A4 Pages in pdf, so many that you don’t have neither the luxury or the time to take notes)?

An Ipad that primarily would neither be used for multitasking, neither for doing assaigments with a word processor or even for taking notes.

In this use case the Apple Pencil would be mainly used for underlining the documents and maybe a short 5 word note here and there.

The Ipad would mainly be used in portrait mode because If you are reading you obviously want to see the whole page, not half the page or a microscopic page.

Also pitching and zooming although an option is not ideal and I would prefer not having to use that option very often.

So this being said, obviously the 12.9 being almost the same size of an A4 page wins in this situation and the others.

The problem starts when you factor portability into the equation...is the IPad Pro 10.5 real estate good enough?

I’m not asking If It is better or worse, obviously It is smaller so not so good in this situation...but is It a sufficiently good size to read comfortably in a portrait orientation, without having to zoom all day?

Thanks

Edit: Just went to the Apple store to try the IPad Pro with the documents I will be studying in portrait mode.

The 10.5 seamed absolutely perfect for my needs. Obviously with the 12.9 the pages were bigger but the readability on 10.5 was very good, no need for pitching and zooming so in my opinion anybody who has the same needs as me will be totally satisfied with the iPad Pro 10.5.

 

[IpadsRIpads]

The question you have to ask yourself is HOW you're going to be taking the iPad from place to place. Are you going to be carrying it in a backpack or strictly by itself. If in a backpack the 12.9 is a beauty for reading. If taking just the iPad by itself (like I will be doing here soon), get a lifeproof case and take the 12.9". I held the 10.9 in my hand and it didn't feel any more substantial or better than the air 2 I currently have, not enough to quantify purchasing it. The 12.9 on the other hand had everything I needed and really felt like a step up from my current set up.

 

[wib]

I was tempted to get the 12.9 because it's just so much bigger (that means better, right) and my brother was strongly suggesting I buy it and try it and would want to keep it. I really wasn't sure, so spent some time in the shop trying them both out for size. It was beautiful and I was tempted, but realised I automatically held it in landscape mode because in portrait it didn't feel right to me.

I think I might be a bit strange but I prefer using my devices in portrait mode, so the 10.5 was the perfect one for me.

Regarding studying and reading pdfs, it will be fine! I used to read on the Mini 2 which I had been patiently waiting for for the retina display. The additional screen estate on the 10.5 would only improve on this. Although you may think you won't need to make notes, I highly recommend getting the pencil too. When I had my mini, I used a stylus and could mark up my pdfs, highlight important bits for reference when I wanted them for writing assignments, writing in the margins, putting post-its on etc. It was SO useful, even back before the pencil. - I used Notability, which I love, but other people can recommend other apps depending on your needs. I would imagine on the 10.5 with a pencil, it would be even smoother and better.

This is just my experience though and you and others may well feel differently. The best thing you can do is to physically try holding both, in portrait, and see how you feel.

 

[Donka]

The 10.5 is absolutely fine for your needs i.e. a single page at a time in portrait.
I have both devices and I'm not a fan of the 12.9 for this kind of use. It is great for media consumption, working on the likes of spreadsheets or creative documents like presentations, editing apps like photo or movie editing, extensive note taking, artistic apps and general multitasking.
When it comes to reading documents or surfing, the 10.5 is my go to device. This is all a personal preference of course but I just find the bigger screen, while great for getting lots of content on, is not the best when it comes to reading as your eyes/head need to work more when using the full screen. Add in the lighter, more portable format of the 10.5 and it is a no brainer for me.

 

[fb3]

I was wondering the same (plan on reading loads of scientific articles and stuff). I went to the store yesterday and fooled around. Unfortunately the installed apps were either restricted or not present (I tried to download a PDF with safari and use GoodNotes or similar, did not work)...
Anyways, I think holding the 12.9 in portrait for long is not gonna work (12.9 owners correct me if I'm wrong here). I can imagine that if you rest it on your lap it's OK...?

Reading some academic papers in portrait on the 10.5 looked perfectly fine for me! Much better than on my iPad Air 1 (20% screen extra seems to help a bit).

Surprisingly the weight of the 12.9 was no issue for me while testing. It's raster holding it one-handed at the side where I struggled (leverage I guess). I do not plan to use it as a laptop replacement (have a 2016 rMB 12") and did order the pen but not the ASK.

The 12.9 screen in split view is amazing though!!! I have a 10.5 coming and will test it for myself with a bunch of apps (GoodNotes, Papers3, LiquidText, ...) and see if the 10.5 is big enough for me...

I plan to take more notes than you apparently, but I also want it to go everywhere with me...

12.9 is sold out for +3 weeks here anyways, so I will test-drive the 10.5 and see how I like it

 

[parseckadet]

The screen size in relation to a piece of paper is less relevant when you're talking about tablet devices. You can always zoom in as much as you like. I did a ton of work this last weekend submitting insurance documents on my 10.5, and not once did I wish that the screen was bigger.

Finally, it's not exactly the same situation you're describing, but I read the entire Game of Thrones series of books on my non-Retina iPad Mini. If I can do that without my eyes bleeding, then I think you'll be just fine on the 10.5 no matter what the content.

 

[fb3]

Yeah, had a quick chat with my colleague who owns the 12.9" mark1 and he also has the 10.5" on order.
Gives me confidence in my decision .
I was just in awe with the huge screen and being able to doodle on such a large canvas in the Apple Store I guess.

Mine should arrive tomorrow and I shifted work duties around so I can get on with testing it out right away!

 

[Analog Kid]

The screen size in relation to a piece of paper is less relevant when you're talking about tablet devices. You can always zoom in as much as you like. I did a ton of work this last weekend submitting insurance documents on my 10.5, and not once did I wish that the screen was bigger.

Finally, it's not exactly the same situation you're describing, but I read the entire Game of Thrones series of books on my non-Retina iPad Mini. If I can do that without my eyes bleeding, then I think you'll be just fine on the 10.5 no matter what the content.

Depends on the formatting of the paper. A lot of technical papers are formatted 2-column, and there's not an easy way to manipulate them. For typical full page formatted papers, you can go landscape and read half a page at a time just great, but 2 column is a bit of a nuisance. I do it on the smaller device, because I value that portability, but it's not ideal.

 

[fb3]

Depends on the formatting of the paper. A lot of technical papers are formatted 2-column, and there's not an easy way to manipulate them. For typical full page formatted papers, you can go landscape and read half a page at a time just great, but 2 column is a bit of a nuisance. I do it on the smaller device, because I value that portability, but it's not ideal.

This is true. 2 column papers (the norm in my field) were annoying on the iPad Air 1 (Papers3). Hope 20% extra screen + being able to annotate will make it work. I also plan on using it everywhere so portability > screen estate I guess

 

[malikkamran]

why does apple not improve battery life

 

[The Game 161]

12.9 just makes the most sense for me from using it like a computer/browsing or watching programs. It’s exactly what I need a tablet/computer to do.


9.7 was a great tablet but even the 10.5 I don’t think the size is big enough for my needs anymore. I take my 12.9 on the go in my bag and use it at work from e-mails/browsing to news updates e.t.c


If I need to use it for data on the go I will use personal hotspot which I get 8GB of data from

 

[Mousesuck]

The screen size in relation to a piece of paper is less relevant when you're talking about tablet devices. You can always zoom in as much as you like.

The thing is that right now I’m studying from printed black and white A4 pages and use the Iphone 5s to see the corresponding color PDFs on the google drive since there are important color images I need to study.

Which means I’m a very experienced zoomer and that is something I would prefer not to do again (often).
Unfortunately It is not practical, It is an extra step.

Then there is the problem of two column documents, a pain in the ass to read If you need to zoom and pan.

It is like the 12.9 biggest strength is the biggest weakness...the perfect size is too big.

And your comment on reading the entire series on the IPad mini made me more positive about the 10.5

Thank you all

 

[lbass]

Hi fb3 I want to use an iPad for the exact same purpose so I am interested to hear how you get on with the 10.5".

 

[sbb155]

12.9 is amazing in the work environment with notability or onenote on oneside and mail on the other

 

[44267547]

why does apple not improve battery life

Why do they need to? The 12.9 iPad and 10.5 are rated at 10 hours pending usage. Most iPad users don't have continual use of 10 hours worth of battery in one sitting while not being tethered for charging. I have never had a complaint with the iPad battery life, as that's always been managed fairly efficiently and in with the addition of the coprocessor has also helped assist with the battery longevity.

 

[malikkamran]

thanks

Why do they need to? The 12.9 iPad and 10.5 are rated at 10 hours pending usage. Most iPad users don't have continual use of 10 hours worth of battery in one sitting while not being tethered for charging. I have never had a complaint with the iPad battery life, as that's always been managed fairly efficiently and in with the addition of the coprocessor has also helped assist with the battery longevity.

 

[MiniMe77]

I find it a pain if I am reading a pdf and have to keep zooming in and out all the time. I used to read that way on my phone on the train to work but it was just a strain on the eyes. Of course with the 10.5 it wouldn't be anywhere near as bad as the phone, but the 12.9 is a joy to use. Yes, it's a bit unwieldy holiding it but when I'm reading I usually have it resting on some part of my body. Have yet to really read for any extended amount of time yet but will give it a try the next day or two, been too busy since I got it getting everything just how I want it. I downloaded the pdf handbook to using Procreate so I will read that tonight. Next on the list is to go through the Affinity Photo tutorials. On holiday next week so will take some workd pdfs to read and see how that goes.

 

[fb3]

Hi fb3 I want to use an iPad for the exact same purpose so I am interested to hear how you get on with the 10.5".

Bloody UPS is late for delivery. Been waiting here for hours... Hopefully still getting here today.
Yes, so already get my apps ready. Still confused about LiquidText (free + IAP = 20, paid enterprise version that should be the same but intended for volume purchases = 10?!?).

I'll let you know how it goes...

 

[sracer]

There are multiple x vs y threats about which would be better and most of them focus on screen real estate in landscape mode for multitasking.

What about If you plan to use your IPad Pro mainly on portrait mode for studying the old way (reading thousands of A4 Pages in pdf, so many that you don’t have neither de luxury or the time to take notes)?

An Ipad that primarily would neither be used for multitasking, neither for doing assaigments with a word processor or even for taking notes.

In this use case the Apple Pencil would be mainly used for underlining the documents and maybe a short 5 word note here and there.

The Ipad would mainly be used in portrait mode because If you are reading you obviously want to see the whole page, not half the page or a microscopic page.

So this being said, obviously the 12.9 being almost the same size of an A4 page wins in this situation and the others.

The problem starts when you factor portability into the equation...is the IPad Pro 10.5 real estate good enough?

I’m not asking If It is better or worse, obviously It is smaller so not so good in this situation...but is It a sufficiently good size to read comfortably in a portrait orientation?

Thanks

Is toting dead-tree versions of A4 documents an issue? If not, then why does a 12.9 Pro pose a portability issue?

"Sufficiently good" is highly subjective. Depends upon the quality of one's eyesight as well as the material being viewed. You can always use the 10.5 or 9.7 and employ pinch-zoom. If portability is that much of an issue, pinch-zoom is a small price to pay.

This whole "12.9 is an unwieldy behemoth" is more psychological than physical. It's only because a smaller form-factor exists that there is even this question. The 9.7 iPad was fine for virtually everyone when no smaller option existed, but once smaller alternatives appeared (primarily 7" Android tablets) THAT was the time that people began considering the 9.7 iPad as being too large and demand for an iPad Mini grew.

A 12.9 iPad Pro + smart cover + clear skin on the back is insanely thin and light for a device that size. I do a lot of reading on my 12.9... primarily scans of vintage comics (Gold Key, etc.), magazines (Famous Monsters of Filmland, Starlog, etc.), and department store catalogs (Sears, Montgomery Ward, etc.). It is an absolute joy. I used to read those on a 9.7 iPad but had to often pinch-zoom since the original material was much larger.

 

[MiniMe77]

I wouldn't call it a behemoth but I can see why people think it's too large for them. Personally after having mine almost two weeks I couldn't imagine ever going back to something smaller, except a mini for reading books on the go maybe.

 

[spiderman0616]

iPhone 7 Plus seemed huge to me at first, and now it just seems like a normal sized phone. The human brain is pretty great at adjusting to things like that.

 

[Mousesuck]

Is toting dead-tree versions of A4 documents an issue? If not, then why does a 12.9 Pro pose a portability issue?

Thank you for your answer.

Although the substitution of 900 A4 pages on your backpack for a 12.9 is a clear win...lighter, slimer and in the long run cheaper, I would still carry with me a very big device.

For home use I’m sure that is not a problem but It is a very big device to take with you every day.
Not impossibly big like my 15’ MacBook Pro from 2010 but undisputably big.

Maybe with foldable screens we will have the solution for big screens in small form factors.

Anyway, today I went to the apple store and the 10.5 was perfect to read the kind of documents that I needed.

 

[sracer]

Thank you for your answer.

Although the substitution of 900 A4 pages on your backpack for a 12.9 is a clear win...lighter, slimer and in the long run cheaper, I would still carry with me a very big device.

For home use I’m sure that is not a problem but It is a very big device to take with you every day.
Not impossibly big like my 15’ MacBook Pro from 2010 but undisputably big.

Maybe with foldable screens we will have the solution for big screens in small form factors.

Fair enough. Would the 12.9 Pro be the largest thing you take with you every day?

 

[Mousesuck]

Fair enough. Would the 12.9 Pro be the largest thing you take with you every day?

Yeah, that would be right, actually I wouldn’t need to live home with anything else besides my wallet, my phone and the Ipad.
Although I have chosen the 10.5 which will still be the largest thing I will take with me everyday.

My life will be much more simple (the Ipad a first world problem solver)

 

[Mathias Denichi]

Fair enough. Would the 12.9 Pro be the largest thing you take with you every day?

2nd largest.