First time iPad owner… iPad Pro (1st gen/9.7”) on iPadOS 16, anything I should know?

[MrRom92]

I’ve never even really desired an iPad before, but recently it started making much more sense to buy one and dedicate it to business use.
Using my personal iPhone and regularly switching between personal/business accts for so many things was becoming a pain. And needing access to apps, I tried running an android emulator on PC, but that was a struggle too, and very buggy even when I could manage to accomplish basic tasks. Not a great situation, so.., iPad it is!

I got what I believe to be a decent deal on a used iPad Pro 9.7”. I believe this is the oldest generation of iPad to still allow me to install iOS 16. So long as I can run current apps this should be fine for my needs; even for the foreseeable future if it doesn’t get any more updates. So long as the current versions of apps keep working.


Since I haven’t been really keeping up on what’s what on the iPadOS side of things like I have always done for the iPhone, I’m very out of the loop. In fact I know next to nothing about the iPad in general. Is there anything I should know about iPadOS 16, especially when it comes to running it on this older device? Are there any major new features of iPadOS that don’t make it onto older hardware despite receiving the update?

 

[MBAir2010]

do you have a study cover or a flip one that puts the ipad to sleep?
apple has nice ones while amazon is hit or miss in quality.

then back up the iPad with a computer.

the iPod is a fun and comfortable to use
and you can get a thumb drive that can store data as well
i have a 128GB one i use a lot!

have fun!

 

[MrRom92]

do you have a study cover or a flip one that puts the ipad to sleep?
apple has nice ones while amazon is hit or miss in quality.

then back up the iPad with a computer.

the iPod is a fun and comfortable to use
and you can get a thumb drive that can store data as well
i have a 128GB one i use a lot!

have fun!

Thanks! No cover yet but I’ve been eyeing a few on Amazon, especially the ones with an integrated keyboard and trackpad. I’m sure the quality isn’t great but, as someone without a real laptop, if I could Remote Desktop into my liquid cooled powerhouse of a PC from anywhere, that’ll be pretty amazing in itself. Having a mouse or trackpad would be great for that.

I’d consider getting the pencil too but I’m honestly not sure if it would really do anything for my purposes as I’m not like, drawing or sketching stuff. Maybe I’ll come across a use case that would make sense for it though.

Before committing to any accessories I’ll probably try to feel it out for a couple of weeks and just get used to using it by itself first.

Mainly I’m just going to be airdropping stuff over from my iPhone and managing social media accounts that I won’t be logged into on my iPhone. So the 32GB of internal space might even be more than I need!

 

[MBAir2010]

I’d consider getting the pencil too but I’m honestly not sure if it would really do anything for my purposes as I’m not like, drawing or sketching stuff. Maybe I’ll come across a use case that would make sense for it though.

i draw comics since 2017 on my iPad and never used a pencil (yet)
somehow i get better results with a finger
maybe because that is an extension of me?

enjoy the iPad!

 

[FreakinEurekan]

There are a bunch of options for remote controlling your computer. Personally I use Screens but lots of choices.

 

[MrRom92]

I’ve used RD for a long time but actually something recently changed and it no longer works when I am away from my own local network, which largely defeats the purpose. So I may have to look into an alternative solution anyway.

 

[edubfromktown]

I have an older Mini 4th gen that can't go beyond 15.7.1.

I too scored a 9.7" iPad Pro primarily because it is the same form factor as the Mini that works nicely with my old Logitech keyboard (along with the newer logi flip case it came with).

The only way (as far as I'm aware of) to get Apple Pay notifications on the iPad is by upgrading to 16 so here we gooooo

 

[MrRom92]

Update: it looks like I might not be a first time iPad owner after all… it’s been 6 days since I won the item, no communication from seller and it’s still not shipped yet even though eBay still claims I’ll be receiving it on or before the 9th (today) 🙄

 

[rui no onna]

Mainly I’m just going to be airdropping stuff over from my iPhone and managing social media accounts that I won’t be logged into on my iPhone. So the 32GB of internal space might even be more than I need!

Do keep in mind that iPadOS + cache files normally take around 15-20GB nowadays so that only leaves you with around 10-15GB usable.

Not sure how much you got the Pro 9.7 for but iPad 8th or 9th gen are much better options for probably just a little bit more.

 

[MrRom92]

Do keep in mind that iPadOS + cache files normally take around 15-20GB nowadays so that only leaves you with around 10-15GB usable.

Not sure how much you got the Pro 9.7 for but iPad 8th or 9th gen are much better options for probably just a little bit more.

I’m all for more storage on a real daily driver device, I have the 1TB 14 Pro Max and I’d gladly get a 2TB iPhone if it ever came out. But I think even 10-15GB of usable space would be sufficient, for my personal needs, on what is essentially a secondary device mostly dedicated to social media management.

The files I’d be airdropping over would be maybe 70-100MB at the absolute most, for video posts. Pictures, much much much less. I could fit quite a few of those. And even then, they could be deleted without consequence since they’re all on my iPhone already anyway.



The iPad came out to $104.50+$8 shipping and about another $10 in tax on top of that.


If anything, I’d want to spend *less* money instead of more, as I still really can’t afford this, but at this point it is looking like I’ll need to pick something else up if this eBay seller doesn’t actually ship the iPad. It’s been 6 days since I won the iPad and I have no communication from them.

 

[rui no onna]

Maybe check out deals for the 2019 iPad 7th gen (A10/3GB), too. The 2016 iPad Pro 9.7 was top of the line when it was released so prices of used slightly newer basic iPads might be on par.

 

[MrRom92]

Maybe check out deals for the 2019 iPad 7th gen (A10/3GB), too. The 2016 iPad Pro 9.7 was top of the line when it was released so prices of used slightly newer basic iPads might be on par.

6th gen is also A10 and basically the same feature/spec wise, I think I should be able to get that for slightly less. Even a 5th gen would be suitable and could still run iOS 16 - but out of all these options I think a Pro 9.7 would be my first choice.
I’m a little bummed that I basically got scammed because after thinking that I purchased one, I ignored other listings for other iPads that I could have bid on as well but ended. It really is such a waste of time. Now the only remotely affordable IPP won’t be ending for another couple of days and there’s no telling it won’t get priced out of reach by that point.

 

[FeliApple]

6th gen is also A10 and basically the same feature/spec wise, I think I should be able to get that for slightly less. Even a 5th gen would be suitable and could still run iOS 16 - but out of all these options I think a Pro 9.7 would be my first choice.
I’m a little bummed that I basically got scammed because after thinking that I purchased one, I ignored other listings for other iPads that I could have bid on as well but ended. It really is such a waste of time. Now the only remotely affordable IPP won’t be ending for another couple of days and there’s no telling it won’t get priced out of reach by that point.

Yeah, if you want a 9.7-inch iPad, I agree, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro is the best iPad with the original form factor ever released. That said, for social media management? Practically any iPad will do.

 

[MrRom92]

Yeah, if you want a 9.7-inch iPad, I agree, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro is the best iPad with the original form factor ever released. That said, for social media management? Practically any iPad will do.

I’m mainly looking at the 9.7” IPP again, it doesn’t help that I got attached to the one I thought I was getting in the first place! But the fact that it will still run iOS 16 is a huge plus, so I can still download current versions of the various apps. I don’t want to buy the absolute cheapest ipad I can find only to find I can’t install a usable version of Instagram because it’s stuck on iPadOS 11 or whatever.

I opened a claim through eBay but they are forcing me to wait another week before they refund me. Hopefully that clears soon afterwards so I can purchase another. In the meantime I guess I will have to wait for some other listing to end at an affordable price but it doesn’t seem like there are many.

 

[FeliApple]

I’m mainly looking at the 9.7” IPP again, it doesn’t help that I got attached to the one I thought I was getting in the first place! But the fact that it will still run iOS 16 is a huge plus, so I can still download current versions of the various apps. I don’t want to buy the absolute cheapest ipad I can find only to find I can’t install a usable version of Instagram because it’s stuck on iPadOS 11 or whatever.

I opened a claim through eBay but they are forcing me to wait another week before they refund me. Hopefully that clears soon afterwards so I can purchase another. In the meantime I guess I will have to wait for some other listing to end at an affordable price but it doesn’t seem like there are many.

Yeah, the Air 2 (runs iPadOS 15) onwards should be fine for that, but I see why you’d want an updated one. Older versions of apps work just fine, I have iOS 12 and they work perfectly, however. I use an iPhone on iOS 10, too. Older versions typically work fine, but I wouldn’t want to use an Air 1 on iOS 12 at this point.

The 9.7-inch iPad Pro is the oldest model still updated (well, alongside its larger brother. Same generation, anyway) and I can see why it’s appealing.

 

[MrRom92]

I just won another auction, this time for a 10.5” 64GB. It was a bit more than I really wanted to (or can) spend, but I already lost too much time waiting for the other one to never get shipped out.

I guess on the bright side at least I get a boost in capacity, screen size, brightness, framerate and processor. Though all in, it is nearly double what I paid for the 9.7”. Will I make use of any of this for it to be worth the additional cost? Remains to be seen