A12Z Bionic Chip in iPad Pro Allegedly a Renamed A12X With Extra GPU Core Enabled

[Tarantularock]

Literally never owned an iPad before. I've been an Apple user my entire adult life working on MacBook Pros, and iPhones.

Just pre-ordered the iPad Pro 12.9 512gb via T-Mobile.

Should I return it and wait it out for the 5G drop?... Or you guys think the $200-$300 valuation loss after reselling is worth it?

- composed on a MacBook Pro 15in 2017 w/ Touch Bar.

Only you can answer that - yes? Can you wait a year if it comes to that?

I use my iPad every day as a supplement to a work-provided MacBook Pro. I just switched down to an 11 inch so I’m not too worried about rumors of a high end 12.9 ... you might be happier finding a refurb or on-sale 2018.

 

[hagjohn]

the real winners here are the ones that purchased a 2018.

Or those who's iPads were older than 2018. My only complaint is the price of the Smart Keyboard but I bought it anyway.

 

[KPOM]

Literally never owned an iPad before. I've been an Apple user my entire adult life working on MacBook Pros, and iPhones.

Just pre-ordered the iPad Pro 12.9 512gb via T-Mobile.

Should I return it and wait it out for the 5G drop?... Or you guys think the $200-$300 valuation loss after reselling is worth it?

- composed on a MacBook Pro 15in 2017 w/ Touch Bar.

I have the 2018 iPad Pro. It’s a great device. It’s as fast as a MacBook Pro and lighter than my 12” MacBook. 5G is still in its infancy. I’d keep your new iPad Pro. I think the 5G version is probably not coming until at least October, and it will be a while before 5G is mainstream. In the meantime your iPad will serve you well for a long time.

 

[hagjohn]

I have the 2018 iPad Pro. It’s a great device. It’s as fast as a MacBook Pro and lighter than my 12” MacBook. 5G is still in its infancy. I’d keep your new iPad Pro. I think the 5G version is probably not coming until at least October, and it will be a while before 5G is mainstream. In the meantime your iPad will serve you well for a long time.

As everyone moves to 5G, 4G will become quicker.

 

[farmboy]

This is what Apple does. When they updated the MacBook 15 inch mid 2019. They were already aware of their plans to release a 16 inch for late 2019. Many companies behave this way.

Of course they have plans well beyond current products. Every (EVERY) business should. Especially when products often take years to develop. This is not a sinister corporate activity, it’s business.

 

[Seoras]

Got my 11" 128G this morning and it's so fast that if it was any faster it would time travel.
Screen is stunning to look at and I just took it outside to try the camera (not that I ever use an iPad camera) and it takes the most beautiful wide screen photos. The combination of that camera and screen makes me think I'll be reaching for it more for family photos and panoramic view shots.

 

[OldCorpse]

This feels more like a speedbump that should've come out 6 months after the 2018 iPP. Whatever. I feel like it's a mistake to make your buying decision by studying the spec sheets in the abstract. Instead, my approach these last few years has been to simply go to the store and check it out myself.

My first ever iPad was the Air 3 I got last year. I didn't buy the first few iPads because they felt too heavy and awkward in my hand. I wouln't have known that by only looking at the weight on the spec sheet. Sometimes you can have the same weight, but it's distributed differently, the gripping surface feels different and so on. So don't just look at spec sheets to compare. I remember way back in the day when phones were being compared and folks were saying "but this android phone has MORE RAM than the iPhone!!!!" - true, but so what, if the iPhone is more efficient and so the android can only accomplish half what the iPhone can do and still uses twice the RAM.

I go into the store and play with the iPad. I don't like to wait on apps to open and video to be choppy, the iPad taking forever to wake up or shut down. I like instant responsiveness - that's very important to me. Just looking at the specs what the video or the CPU speed is tells me nothing - I see how it behaves in practice. If it's slow, I don't care if it's got twice as "fast" a CPU - I'm not buying. That can even be the case with storage - the number can tell you one thing, but by the time you load up the OS and some basic utility apps, the number might be different. So who cares - see what's actually user available.

Go into the store. Check it out. Will it do what you need, like or wish for? OK, then!

I've checked out the 11" 2018 iPP - and I opted out for the Air 3. So far, I'm very pleased by the hardware... I'm not super happy with the available apps out there for iOS compared to the proven quality of MacOS apps, but that has nothing to do with the hardware. And iPadOS still needs a bit of work for me to feel great about it. It's a work in progress. But the hardware? Totally fine.

I doubt I'll get rid of the Air 3 anytime soon given what I use it for. By the time I feel I need something new - it might not even be a strict "need" - sometimes I just like new toys, so sue me, yolo, lol - whatever current iPP at that point is, will probably be a mighty fine machine, and I won't care if something "better" could have been made... I'll get it if I like it in the store. YMMV.

 

[cmaier]

This feels more like a speedbump that should've come out 6 months after the 2018 iPP.

The 2016 IPP came out around 16 months ago. Reasonable point for a speed bump.

 

[TransPNG]

please elaborate? I owned an iPad 3. And the hardware was vastly underpowered for the Retina display. Nothing about this iPad is underpowered. Not in the same ballpark in terms of comparison. Another iPad this year? All rumors. And if the rumors are true, they also state it will be more expensive.

Go read some real world testing on the 2020 vs the 2018. The cooling system has vastly improved performance. The 2018 was throttled during heavy tasks for thermal considerations. 6 gigs of ram. Better WiFi. Double storage at the same price point. Solid update.

The bellyaching is strong in this community. Don’t like this model? Don’t buy it. Keep waiting for “next gen” while I enjoy the here and now.

The iPad 3 also added more GPU into the A5 > A5X, without improve the CPU also.

If you change the new iPad when every new generation release, that's not a problem. Just buy it!

The iPad Pro 2020 runs more sensor, more complex apps / iPadOS will update for this device in the following months.
I don't think the 1-more GPU can handle all the new features in the following iPadOS update.
In my personal view: The 2020 ver. will underpowered and not usable in iOS 15, you may not find the problems for just release (like iPad 3).

 

[brentsg]

The iPad 3 also added more GPU into the A5 > A5X, without improve the CPU also.

If you change the new iPad when every new generation release, that's not a problem. Just buy it!

The iPad Pro 2020 runs more sensor, more complex apps / iPadOS will update for this device in the following months.
I don't think the 1-more GPU can handle all the new features in the following iPadOS update.
In my personal view: The 2020 ver. will underpowered and not usable in iOS 15, you may not find the problems for just release (like iPad 3).

The problem with the iPad 3 is that it had 4x the number of pixels than the iPad 2. The GPU was superior but not enough to push performance forward with that pixel density. It had nothing to do with the OS. It just took a while before the SoC caught up to the resolution.

Your comparison and concern regarding the 2020 model doesn’t hold up. In fact I’d be more concerned about the RAM in the 2018 if I was going to worry about future OS revisions.

Of course the next model will be faster but when will it arrive? And if they add 5G and a possible new display tech, do you want the first model with the tech?

 

[iEimis97]

Picked up refurb iPad Pro 11in for £519 from Apple’s website as I couldn’t see value in what virtually appeared to be the same specs. Will be lucky if I use the camera anyway so that wasn’t a big deal, very happy!

 

[FlyingDutch]

Guess one can't complain too much, it is same price that the 2018 model was when it came out. Marginal upgrades. If you have a 2018 model, it is your own fault for upgrading if you feel disappointed and have buyer's remorse.

Actually you have upgraded storage and lower price on 256/512/1 Tb models.

 

[chucker23n1]

Oh, dear god. This guy has been going on about some mystery performance controller issue that doesn’t really exist for many months. Over and over. No evidence that such a thing even exists, but he brings it up every chance he gets.

I think they wrote some app once that did weird memory stuff, and it behaved poorly on A12(?), and they've been blaming Apple ever since rather than considering that their edge case is kind of on them.

 

[MacFabulous]

No...because likely the poster was anticipating a faster/better chip that IS WORTH plunking down $1000 for a product that hasn't been refreshed in 2+ years. The chip could have had a very similar name AND had much better performance, faster MHz, more cores, or a combination of all 3. Instead, it's just 1 core that was magically enabled by Apple.

Regardless of how people can rationalize Apple's decision, this is a very shady step by Apple. This is a Pro unit which means most of the people evaluating an upgrade are going to look at the tech specs (and not to mention the hefty price tag). This marketing/advertising scam was caught very quickly and Apple should be ashamed and likely will have poor sales.

And someone said here that the "real excitement is the new keyboard in May." Seriously?! People wait 2+ years for an upgrade (on a "Pro" device no less) and a)there's essentially no hardware upgrade and b)I have to wait several more months after the launch for the "real excitement" which c)just turns out to be a bleeping keyboard that d)costs several hundred bucks?!

Wow.

Are you serious? Why should Apple be ashamed? They are so far ahead of the competition with their iPads. Especially with iPad Pro. And still people complain. We should be happy we live in times with such a versatile product, that have so much computing power that no software is able to test it’s limits. The price, if Apple made it even more powerful at this exact time, would skyrocket. And that for NO reason. With the new cursor and trackpad added we soon will see more pro Apps (Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Fullblown Photoshop and more) join the App Store for iPadOS. The power is there already. We just needed sufficient mouse and trackpad support. It’s a great device. Now we have it! The App Store will be filled with Pro Apps this time next year. You just wait and see.

 

[chucker23n1]

Are you serious? Why should Apple be ashamed? They are so far ahead of the competition with their iPads. Especially with iPad Pro. And still people complain. We should be happy we live in times with such a versatile product, that have so much computing power that no software is able to test it’s limits. The price, if Apple made it even more powerful at this exact time, would skyrocket. And that for NO reason. With the new cursor and trackpad added we soon will see more pro Apps (Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Fullblown Photoshop and more) join the App Store for iPadOS. The power is there already. We just needed sufficient mouse and trackpad support. It’s a great device. Now we have it! The App Store will be filled with Pro Apps this time next year. You just wait and see.

I agree on the hardware end, but I don't agree with software. I think I mostly agree with Ben Thompson's take: Apple showed us a glimpse of the future with GarageBand back on the iPad 2, but never really followed up with other apps. As Gruber brought up, third parties briefly did things like Tweetie for iPad, but then the iPad software market kind of imploded.

 

[atomic.flip]

No...because likely the poster was anticipating a faster/better chip that IS WORTH plunking down $1000 for a product that hasn't been refreshed in 2+ years. The chip could have had a very similar name AND had much better performance, faster MHz, more cores, or a combination of all 3. Instead, it's just 1 core that was magically enabled by Apple.

Regardless of how people can rationalize Apple's decision, this is a very shady step by Apple. This is a Pro unit which means most of the people evaluating an upgrade are going to look at the tech specs (and not to mention the hefty price tag). This marketing/advertising scam was caught very quickly and Apple should be ashamed and likely will have poor sales.

And someone said here that the "real excitement is the new keyboard in May." Seriously?! People wait 2+ years for an upgrade (on a "Pro" device no less) and a)there's essentially no hardware upgrade and b)I have to wait several more months after the launch for the "real excitement" which c)just turns out to be a bleeping keyboard that d)costs several hundred bucks?!

Wow.

THIS^^^^. Thank you!
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I agree on the hardware end, but I don't agree with software. I think I mostly agree with Ben Thompson's take: Apple showed us a glimpse of the future with GarageBand back on the iPad 2, but never really followed up with other apps. As Gruber brought up, third parties briefly did things like Tweetie for iPad, but then the iPad software market kind of imploded.

I can say for music professionals, writers, composers (Oddly enough) the software has been vastly impressive. I can do things on the iPad Pro that normally would have taken sitting down at a desktop to do. And they are continuously improving them.

Adobe did finally release photoshop. So there is that. Very late updates to MS Office are showing promise. I think the keyboard with trackpad will rekindle the market.

 

[chucker23n1]

I can say for music professionals, writers, composers (Oddly enough) the software has been vastly impressive. I can do things on the iPad Pro that normally would have taken sitting down at a desktop to do. And they are continuously improving them.

Adobe did finally release photoshop. So there is that. Very late updates to MS Office are showing promise. I think the keyboard with trackpad will rekindle the market.

It's been getting better (but also worse in some places — a lot of apps have reverted to just being blown-up iPhone apps), but we never saw the promised revolution.

It's disappointing for ten years. Look at where the Mac was in 1994. It basically created the desktop publishing market.

(I'm not saying the iPad is awful! The hardware is amazing. The OS has some conceptual issues on the multitasking front. The apps… leave something to be desired.)

 

[atomic.flip]

I would like to add that, careful Apple buyers care about the product lifecycle and its valuation. Apple practice planned obsolesce, therefore, for a given CPU architecture or RAM configuration, from its inception, optimization, discontinuation, extended support, and finally included in the vintage list, is inevitable.

If you buy an iPhone 5 just days before the iPhone 5S launch, then even if the difference isn't major, years later, you will realize the difference when upgrading iOS. Newer features require this and that that you don't have in your devices, like Bluetooth LE, or 64-bit processors.

*It doesn't matter how performant a chip is today, what matters is where the chip is with respect to its product lifecycle.*

Exactly. Well stated.
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It's been getting better (but also worse in some places — a lot of apps have reverted to just being blown-up iPhone apps), but we never saw the promised revolution.

It's disappointing for ten years. Look at where the Mac was in 1994. It basically created the desktop publishing market.

Yeah I know. The music apps are the only ones I can really say are impressing me. But frankly even many of those are cross compatible with the iPhones which tells me a great deal of iPad Pro power is just not being used.

I believe, reading the tea leaves, Apple may have realized the untapped potential for the A series CPUs in the iPad Pros and are shifting gears to supplant Intel in their MacBooks and so on. I do not believe this was always the intention. And in turn they’re turning the iPad pros into more traditional computing devices. For what ever reason the cursor input method of computing has been more desirable for complex user interfaces. Likely due to screen Realestate and the fact that pen based input is a bit fatiguing.

 

[harriska2]

Having spent over $900 on the very first ipp 12.9 - which was nuts - it turned out to be a pretty good purchase. I still have it and use it daily. Also have a 2018 mini but use the ipad pro more. Which is why we just upgraded our adult son (with autism) from an ipad air 2 to the ipp 11” - we keep our stuff for many years. Could have purchased the ipad air 3 for about $450, but for $300 more (which is a crap ton more) you future proof with 2x memory, 2x storage, better screen and video processing, and 1/2 inch bigger screen.

 

[The Game 161]

Literally never owned an iPad before. I've been an Apple user my entire adult life working on MacBook Pros, and iPhones.

Just pre-ordered the iPad Pro 12.9 512gb via T-Mobile.

Should I return it and wait it out for the 5G drop?... Or you guys think the $200-$300 valuation loss after reselling is worth it?

- composed on a MacBook Pro 15in 2017 w/ Touch Bar.

No as theres no guarantee that it’s coming this year....

 

[magbarn]

Happy I got a loaded 2018 iPP 12.9 with 1TB/6gb of ram. Should be good even longer as the 2020 iPP has basically the same specs. The AR kit is about as useful as Tensor cores on RTX geforce (ie by the time if/when there's enough killer apps for it, the initial product it came out with is obsolete)

 

[The Game 161]

Happy I got a loaded 2018 iPP 12.9 with 1TB/6gb of ram. Should be good even longer as the 2020 iPP has basically the same specs. The AR kit is about as useful as Tensor cores on RTX geforce (ie by the time if/when there's enough killer apps for it, the initial product it came out with is obsolete)

Sure but those who wanted 6GB of ram can now get it on the 128GB paying like £500 less...

 

[26139]

Maybe it’s not financially prudent to update every new product cycle?

 

[ingambe]

Happy I got a loaded 2018 iPP 12.9 with 1TB/6gb of ram. Should be good even longer as the 2020 iPP has basically the same specs. The AR kit is about as useful as Tensor cores on RTX geforce (ie by the time if/when there's enough killer apps for it, the initial product it came out with is obsolete)

Actually Tensor cores on RTX are super useful, I do use it for ML projects

 

[Falhófnir]

Maybe it’s not financially prudent to update every new product cycle?

They've got a strict budget for each device, if the extra cost of developing a slightly faster (probably unnoticeable for the vast majority of applications) A13X for this model meant the base unit couldn't have the 128GB storage and/or 6GB RAM upgrades I think I know what I'd rather have!