All iPads Each Size of iPad - A Different User Experience

[Yebubbleman]

In light of how many multitasking features are exclusive to M1 and M2 versions of iPad Pro and iPad Air, the small, but growing number of features that are exclusive to the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and how little of it seems even remotely likely to end up on the iPad mini (given that there doesn't seem to be a seventh generation iPad mini imminently on its way and that the current iPad mini misses out on all of said features) it's starting to seem like each size category of iPad is being positioned towards different kinds of intended user experiences.

I think that, given this, iPadOS is on track to eventually fragment based on which kind of iPad a user gets. You have different use cases and different hardware features coming to each of the three size categories of iPad as it is. Eventually, it won't make sense for the iPad mini to be running the same operating systems that the 12.9-inch iPad Pro runs because the two will be positioned to be two very different iPads. Similarly, even though this size category now has FOUR models of iPad, and while there is overlap in users and use cases of both the mini and the 12.9-inch Pro with the 10.2-11-inch iPads, there are still going to be things that middle size won't be as optimal for. Unless iPadOS is to remain a big-tent OS for these varying use cases, it'll likely continue to fragment until it results in either different operating systems or fragmented experiences that are only "iPadOS" in common by name only.

At the current rate, it eventually won't make sense to give an iPad mini the same OS or even just UI as a 12.9-inch iPad Pro. And, in many cases, the user experience is already different. Similarly, it eventually won't make sense to treat an 10.9-11-inch iPad as the same kind of device for the same kinds of folks as either a 12.9-inch iPad Pro or an iPad mini. The fragmentation factor is increasing and I think it's going to lead to Apple making interesting decisions for iPadOS and iPads in general from this point onwards.

 

[BeatCrazy]

What are the features exclusive to the M1/M2 12.9" that aren't on the 11"?

 

[rui no onna]

What are the features exclusive to the M1/M2 12.9" that aren't on the 11"?

As far as I'm aware, you get software parity with M1/M2 12.9" and 11" (Stage Manager, More Space and swapfile are available on both). Main difference between the two is the Mini-LED display. The 10.9" Air 5 have all the same software features as well.

I run Windows 10/11 just fine on 11" laptops up to a 40" 4K TV.

Mind, I can see Stage Manager with fullscreen external display support making its way to the iPad mini in the future when it gets more RAM and the newer A-series chipset are able to match up to older M-series particularly in terms of connectivity.

 

[BeatCrazy]

As far as I'm aware, you get software parity with M1/M2 12.9" and 11" (Stage Manager, More Space and swapfile are available on both). Main difference between the two is the Mini-LED display. The 10.9" Air 5 have all the same software features as well.

I run Windows 10/11 just fine on 11" laptops up to a 40" 4K TV.

Mind, I can see Stage Manager with fullscreen external display support making its way to the iPad mini in the future when the A-series chipset can match up to older M-series and it gets more RAM.

Yes, I'm aware of the display technology differences. But OP topic was software, and I was/am struggling to think of a UI/software difference.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Yes, I'm aware of the display technology differences. But OP topic was software, and I was/am struggling to think of a UI/software difference.

Reference Display Mode and Reference Display Mode via Sidecar are the two features I was thinking of. It's minor now, but, especially with the larger iPad Pro size being the exclusive for the platform's most high-end displays for two generations/releases now, it seems as though Apple is moving to keep the 12.9-inch iPad Pro a separate class of device from its 11-inch sibling as well as the other iPads in that size category.

I don't see much of a point in the fragmentation that exists among all of the 10.2-11 inch iPads; other than to offer those that don't care about multi-tasking and high-end features the 10th generation iPad instead of the 5th Generation iPad Air. But, I 100% see a point to specializing each size category of iPad (where even just the screen size and weight automatically make some models better or worse for certain use cases than others.

 

[darngooddesign]

I don’t think every size has a different use case. The Mini has one, the 13” iPad has one, and the middle sized iPads will be used either like the Mini or like the 13”.

 

[Jessica Lares]

They can handle it the same way as macOS which runs on everything from a Mac Mini to a Mac Pro. The app fragmentation from a separate OS wouldn't work for both users and developers.

I see the iPad Air becoming the base iPad (with the Mini) going forward anyway. It could be that this next Mini is the last too. It's not THAT small of a device though, and can benefit from some of the same UI changes.

 

[Yebubbleman]

I don’t think every size has a different use case. The Mini has one, the 13” iPad has one, and the middle sized iPads will be used either like the Mini or like the 13”.

There are many more places that I will take an iPad mini than a middle-sized iPad. Incidentally, I do not require external displays, a physically attached keyboard, or anything like Stage Manager on something like an iPad mini; where I'm wondering why the hell I don't have better multi-tasking capability on a middle-sized iPad because what would've sufficed on the mini seems lacking on the middle sized iPads. I can't imagine I'm alone in this.

That's not to say that there aren't some for whom a middle sized iPad won't overlap with either a mini or a 12.9-inch Pro. But there are definitely use cases and UI conventions that make the most sense on a 12.9-inch iPad Pro and don't make any sense an iPad mini and vice versa.

They can handle it the same way as macOS which runs on everything from a Mac Mini to a Mac Pro. The app fragmentation from a separate OS wouldn't work for both users and developers.

There wouldn't need to be app fragmentation. There already isn't much in the way of app fragmentation between iPadOS and iOS that wasn't already there before the two formally split into two differently named OSes.

The UI is already being fragmented. iPadOS 16 is here and there are already tons of software features that are exclusive to M-series iPads. You can't buy the latest iPad mini and get these features; and the latest iPad mini isn't as old as the first M-series iPads.

I see the iPad Air becoming the base iPad (with the Mini) going forward anyway. It could be that this next Mini is the last too. It's not THAT small of a device though, and can benefit from some of the same UI changes.

The next iPad mini being the last one would be an interesting notion. And apart from putting in an M-series SoC (or at least something to grant it comparable features to the M-series iPads) into the iPad mini, nixing the line altogether is likely the only way they can prevent this fragmentation from furthering.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Well, the iPad Mini came out at the time that 7-inch Android tablets were the norm. They had to grab some of that marketshare, especially as everyone was talking about these things as the "second screen". This was at the peak of eBooks and digital magazines, and just as the phones were getting bigger. The bigger phone ended up being enough for most people, and the majority of them don't actually want to consume traditional content to the point that Amazon is themselves going after devices like the Remarkable with Kindle Scribe. You have to remember that there's also the Nintendo Switch that's been around for more than half a decade now too.

So it's that original consumer market that is basically gone now and the move to "desktop class" apps that has me thinking that it's going to go away after the next one.

UI and software features are two different things, BTW. Personally I think there's room for them to bring whatever they do on the Springboard on the bigger iPads to the Mini. But it gets really hot to the point that if you have it plugged in it'll pop up a notification saying it has to wait for it to cool down to start charging again. So like if it's the size of it, I'm not sure how a M1 chip and more RAM would really work anyway if the use case would be to plug it into an external monitor. It would not be worth making that work well on the Mini instead of focusing on the actual device you want your customers who want to be using that kind of setup to be using.

 

[Jessica Lares]

They can handle it the same way as macOS which runs on everything from a Mac Mini to a Mac Pro. The app fragmentation from a separate OS wouldn't work for both users and developers.

I see the iPad Air becoming the base iPad (with the Mini) going forward anyway. It could be that this next Mini is the last too. It's not THAT small of a device though, and can benefit from some of the same UI changes.

This seems the case now that Final Cut Pro shipped with support starting at the 5th generation Air. They couldn't do the same with Logic Pro because there is already a thriving audio ecosystem that supports the current Mini, and it's probably that there's going to be an API for audio unit extensions that's going to be universal. You get people to buy the extensions now and then a bigger iPad when the next version of their DAW releases and implements all the big desktop APIs properly. Logic is their competition, so they aren't not going to add support for the extensions immediately.

There's some other apps, like the 3D modelers, that would have the same effect. Especially with there now being enough power in these devices for rigging. That and people who will want to move from Playgrounds to Xcode.

So it's basically now a product for artists, photographers, writers, musicians, videographers, people who aspire to make video games, and people who will build their own tools for the apps like people already do on the desktop.

 

[spiderman0616]

The newer mini models though, especially the newest one, are so powerful that they really can stand in well for an iPad Pro when hooked up to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. I do it all the time with mine--in fact, I do it so much more than I thought I would that I hope Apple continues down the current path with the mini where it's small but premium not small but cheap. In other words, I think there's a really good case for a mini with an M chip. Doesn't have to be in the Pro lineup, but then it could at least support some of the newer mirroring features.

 

[Atomic1977]

In my honest opinion who gives a rats arse about this? I think the 9th gen ipad is the perfect size and form factor. I don’t see a need for anything else.

 

[subjonas]

My iPad Mini is to me much more like my iPhone than my 12.9” iPad. I use it almost exactly like my phone—holding it almost all of the time, usually one-handed (with a pop socket), never with a keyboard. The Mini was actually my first iPad, because I found all larger iPads too big and heavy to use like this, how I wanted to use a tablet. So because of this it does seem like a fundamentally different device than other iPads—of course especially the 12.9”, which I basically use like a laptop with a keyboard the majority of the time (except when I’m using the Pencil, or reading long PDF documents in portrait, which are the reasons I got the 12.9”).
I don’t see myself using something like Stage Manager on the Mini, even if it was available. But I do like that it has more multitasking than the iPhone, like split screen and slide over. I don’t use them all the time, but often enough.
So I agree, the Mini seems like it could be on its own track. The key reason being, again, it is the only iPad small and light enough that I want to hold it almost all of the time, which makes it a very different experience than other iPads. I think because all the other iPads are large enough that I would mostly use them on some sort of stand, I can see them all having roughly the same experience.