I never had the fan problem on my Surface Pro 3 (Core i3) (in fact, I don't recall the fans ever going off...), but it would occasionally (maybe 2 or 3 times a year) get hot (though not oppressively so).
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For now I am done with the Surface. iPad all the way!
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I never had the fan problem on my Surface Pro 3 (Core i3) (in fact, I don't recall the fans ever going off...), but it would occasionally (maybe 2 or 3 times a year) get hot (though not oppressively so).
The problem with what you're saying is that can be easily disproven. You can look at previous posts from me, for instance, going back to when I joined as a member in 2002. I've been using Apple products since the inception of Mac OS X.
You're right that I don't understand the direction of Apple's products, however. It used to be Apple had a clear path on their products, with a very organized product line. Now let me provide you some examples of confusion:
- The iPad Pro 9.7 inch has truetone, the iPad 12.9 inch doesn't
- Both iPad Pros do not have screens with haptic feedback but the iPhone has for two generations (even my MacBook Pro touchpad has it)
- The iPhone doesn't have a headphone jack but the iPads do
- My iPhone 6 Plus can have 6 apps in a row but even the iPad Pro 12.9 has less apps in a row
- The iPad 12.9 was released on 11/15 but the iPad 9.7 was released 3/16.
- Both iPads have only an A9X but the new iPhones have more powerful A10 chips
- The iPad 9.7 has only 2 gigs of RAM which is the same as the low end iPhone SE and less than the iPhone 7 plus
- Apple one of the main reasons they won't support a touch screen on a laptop is the gorilla arm effect, but that's exactly what they are promoting with the iPad Pro and keyboard combo. You'd think that would mean Apple would add remote trackpad support or mouse support to stay consistent, but apparently not
- People consistently report only 6 to 8 hours of battery life for the iPad 12.9 yet the iPad 9.7 consistently reports well over 10 hours for most users
You have to understand, people who have invested time in using Apple products over the years are seeing an Apple that is going in a very different direction, and they are concerned. If you love Apple you should be vocal and you should oppose the way the company is run today. I'm not going to argue Apple is "doomed", but if Apple keeps this up they will no longer be relevant. Make no mistake, Microsoft has lost much of its relevance, but its fighting to get it back. Apple can either adapt or move out of the way.
The new iPhones are just that, newer. Every product in their lineup doesn't get updated at the same time. So obviously some have newer tech, even though they're ostensibly lower on the totem pole.
And although I agree that iPP + keyboard is a confusing message, it remains an optional accessory.
As Gustave has pointed out, much of the "confusion" would be cleared up by putting the products in a timeline. Newer features get put on newer devices, and iPad tech is generally behind the iPhone (because the iPhone is the flagship product).
To "clear up" some specific points...
- Haptic feedback is generally supported (for now) in smaller devices (phone, watch) and less complex (trackpad). Does it make sense not to put it on the iPad? I honestly don't know - I don't really think it makes sense in anything except the watch.
- They haven't released an iPad since the iPhone 7. Maybe future iPads will have it, maybe they won't. Again, the iPhone is a flagship product as well as a test bed. It will be very telling to see if the iPads have it or not.
- I don't know how you're getting "6 apps in a row" on your iPhone (unless you're using it horizontal). The iPad has the same number of apps in a row, EXCEPT the "Home Row" (not sure what it's called) - the iPad can support 6 (while the iPhone only supports 4).
- Yes, the new iPhone has a more powerful chip... because it's NEWER. Again, the iPhone is the flagship product.
- I don't know why they released the 9.7" Pro with "only" 2 GB of RAM, but I also don't see it as an issue. Yes, the larger Pro has 4 GB RAM. BFD. And, yes, new devices have upgraded specs.
- Apple doesn't support touchscreen on OS X because OS X isn't built for a touchscreen. Beyond that, the keyboard is not a confusing accessory at all - namely because it's an accessory, it's removable, and you can fold it completely back - you're not going to use the touchscreen with the keyboard attached and in keyboard mode all the time. Most of the time you're still going to use the iPad as a tablet but will occasionally use it to enter large amounts of text. Again, not confusing.
- Battery life on the 12.9" iPad Pro has a HUGE flux. There's a LOT more that affects battery life than any other iPad and it really depends on how you're using it. If you're using the Pencil a lot with the keyboard attached, WiFi, Full screen brightness, and 4G LTE, then you're going to drain the battery faster. The Pencil drains BOTH Pro models battery at a faster rate, but yes (with the bigger screen) the larger device will discharge faster. I imagine they made some improvements to Pencil-to-Pro interaction with the 9.7" because, you know, it's a newer device.
People complain that "Apple doesn't care about Pros (what ever that means) anymore!"
Absolutely TRUE. Why? Remember Steve's original vision? To bring computer products to the individual. The "computer for the rest of us". That's what Apple is making - computers for people who aren't computer enthusiasts. Admittedly they're for people who can afford it, but still not a huge focus. Even back when Apple was about "Pro Gear", ever since Steve Jobs returned he was trying to bring it to regular people.
So, how can the new MacBook Pro be such a failure and a success at the same time? Computer enthusiasts are balking about it not being an upgrade, but there are plenty of other people buying it. How can that be? Well, because there are consumers outside of people who thought they were Apple's "trusted inner circle".
Lastly, I really don't see how you can say "Microsoft has lost much of it's relevance." Love them or hate them, Microsoft is still HUGELY relevant - they may have lost some of their monopoly, but they still have a near monopoly on desktop/laptop machines, Office is still the standard, Xbox is still a dominant force - the ONLY place they've lost relevance is in the Mobile space - a space I'd argue they never had dominance, just a "presence". In effect, Microsoft has been trying to "break into" mobile since before Mobile was a thing (all the way back to Windows CE). If anything, Microsoft has thrown off the chains of "boring enterprise monopoly" to "hey, we can be cool AND provide enterprise solutions!"
You don't see as an issue the only 2GB of RAM? Well, it might not be an issue now, but you are not future-proofing yourself with this device. It is annoying to make a serious investment of money on a "Pro" device that comes with this limitation. This limitation will be showing its effect on your workflows more and more as time goes by. That is the main reason I didn't buy a second iPad pro in 9.7in (already have the 12.9).
Given that the 9.7 iPad pro was a newer device with new features like the true tone, it is difficult to understand why they decided to give to it inferior characteristics c/w the previous gen model (iPad pro 12.9).
I don't agree that Apple is 100% committed in the consumer. If they were, they would have brought earlier some important features of iOS such as the side by side app, they would have already made improvements on the iOS functionality for real work, etc.
You're only fooling yourself if you think that extra 2 GB of RAM is "future proofing" your device. There is NO SUCH THING as "future proofing"!! There are so many factors that go into performance of a device - and it's pure speculation on what factor is going to cause a slowdown in future revision of iOS. Considering the device as a whole, the larger model (with a larger screen) requires more RAM - meaning you could be taking the same performance hits in the future with the smaller model because of the hardware requirements.
I have both models of the Pro and there is NO DIFFERENCE in performance between the two. I run the same apps, swap files between the two and everything works perfectly fine on both models.
Also... "Pro"? The word is meaningless. Don't read into it any more than a product category differentiation. "Pro" means it's the iPad that can use the Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard - nothing more.
Addition - You disagree on my assessment that they're fully committed to the consumer and follow up with the reasoning that they would have made improvements to iOS for "real work"? Interesting...
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I have had a Surface Pro 3 and am on a 4 now. When the fans did actually turn on which was rare, it wasn't loud at all. The SP 3 did get a little worm. First thing I noticed after using the SP4 was it has never gotten hot and I'm not sure I've heard the fans actually go off ever.
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While I will agree with most of what you are saying, this is the one thing I have to disagree with. More ram is absolutely future proofing. I don't know how may iBooks, PowerBooks, MacBooks, and MacBook Pros I have breathed new life in just buy changing the ram out and was like a whole new computer even though it had an old processor in it. The only reason I can see with Apple not putting 4gbs ram in the 9.7in iPad Pro is to save a few extra dollars and that's expected from a CEO that didn't have any technical knowledge in computers and was previously the CFO of the company. Cook knows budgeting, inventory, sales margins and he is really good at it. He was probably using Windows PC's all the time in the supply chain business and when the iPad came out and started using it to check most of the stuff he needed on it, he probably fell love crazy for it and that's what he's attached to. Or.... They just don't care anymore unless its profitable.
Except you can't apply traditional computer reasoning to the iPad - it's a different beast than OS X laptops. Apple could kill support for both Pros at the same time based solely on the processor. It's all speculation at this point on which future version of iOS will obsolete the Pros.
At BEST, it may mean that, in some future version of iOS, the larger pro may be SLIGHTLY less laggy than the smaller one (And yes, I'm aware that there are some who consider even a slight stutter to mean the whole thing is "unusable".)
Generally speaking the RAM isn't what will decide an iOS devices compatibility with future OS updates, it's the processor.
A possible reason for the 12.9" iPad Pro getting more RAM is that it has almost 2.5 million more pixels to push around compared to the 9.7" iPad Pro. Which isn't a kick in the arse of double the amount, so twice the RAM makes sense in that way.
Apple doesn't ever advertise the RAM of an iOS device for a good reason, it's not such a big deal compared to a "traditional" computer. iOS is incredibly memory efficient and while some people will consider even the slightest downgrade in performance to render the device unuseable, others won't.
I was using my iPhone 6+ with its paltry 1GB of RAM right up until a few months ago (I only upgraded to the 7+ for the cameras and development purposes) but while I was using that 6+, despite being a heavy user and using it for development, I never had an issue with it. Yeah I'd have to wait half a second now and again while a web page reloaded in Safari, but I'm not so impatient that that ever bothered me, not with the ridiculously fast 4G I have.
In my experience the majority of the iOS buying public (that means real people outside of forums such as this) don't know or care what's inside their iPads or iPhones, they couldn't tell you if it had an A9 with 2GB of RAM or a magic pixie and half a haddock inside it. They just care that it works and does what they need it to and in general it does for several years, they're happy with that.
Possibly to help with the dual camera setup, giving it more memory to aid in processing twice the image data and possibly also because the iPhone 7 Plus has almost twice as many pixels as the smaller iPhone 7.
I think that by your comment you support my point that the 2GB RAM of 9.7 iPad Pro make it a suboptimal, long term option
you just said that RAM is needed for image processing apps...
you emphasized the importance of RAK to support the graphics of a device that has much less pixels than iPad Pro...
Not really, it's rather the opposite. My point is that the devices which have the higher RAM also happen to be the devices with a significantly higher pixel count than their counterparts.
In that scenario 2GB of RAM in the 9.7" iPad Pro is perfectly fine as it has literally millions less pixels to push around and so needs less RAM to do that.
Likewise the 2GB of RAM in the standard iPhone 7 is perfectly fine as it has half of the pixels to deal with than the 7 Plus.
When I'm making apps the assets for the devices such as the 12.9" iPad Pro and the 7 Plus are created in a higher resolution than those of the smaller counterparts which have less pixels.
So the devices with the higher pixel count get assets which take up more memory than the assets for the smaller devices, in such a case the need for more memory in a device with a high pixel count is very apparent and it also shows why the smaller counterparts require less memory to deal with their assets.
Why does it matter?
Do you actually have a legit need for 4 GB RAM or is it all based on pure speculation of some future event where the iPad chokes on a task you're performing 4 years down the line and you can't buy a new one?
Seriously - people who freak out over specs tend to buy a new one every two years or so (or move on to new hardware) and it doesn't matter. People who hold on to their devices rarely use it to their full potential anyway.
If you NEED an explanation, then here it is: The 12.9" iPad Pro is an anomaly. The iPhone will get hardware upgrades before the iPad. If the iPhone is going to 3 GB, then expect the iPad to follow suit. The "normal" hardware upgrade progression begins with the iPhone and ends up in the iPad. The larger Pro has a bigger screen, needs more RAM, thus the anomaly. I wouldn't expect the 9.7" or the Mini to get 4 GB for years - unless there's new hardware that requires it.
I agree. I think that there may be a little more to the 4GB RAM of the 12.9 Pro than just the bigger screen. When factoring in the resolution of the 12.9 Pro compared to the other iPads, 3GB relatively speaking would've been sufficient to provide the same level of performance as 2GB on the smaller iPads. The iPhone 7+ has 3GB RAM. So that shows that Apple's architecture can support RAM capacities that aren't factors of 2.
So why 4GB in the 12.9 Pro? That's a mystery on par with "how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?"
When Apple released the 9.7 Pro w/2GB RAM, it was a significant statement. They were essentially saying that the 2GB RAM tier will continue to have a useful productive life.
They couldn't keep Metro because of some company having the rights to "Metro" that's why they changed the name to "Modern UI" There was an article about it a couple years back
Given that it's Microsoft, I'm still surprised they didn't either (A) keep the name and say "Go ahead - sue us" or (B) Buy the company just to keep the name.
In some ways, yes. In some ways no.
I may regret my decision, I may not but as of Tuesday I'll have sold my MBP and gotten a 12.9" iPad Pro in it's place. I'm not really looking for a laptop replacement necessarily for a couple years until Apple wakes up and improves their computers again, but that's an argument for another time. I had researched the SP4 for a few weeks, went to the Microsoft store at the Prudential Mall here in Boston a few times, as well as the Apple store for trying out the iPad. Finally decided after spending more time trying both out this past Saturday that the SP4 just doesn't entice me. I don't need a gimmick pen, and while I don't loathe Windows 10 I just can never quite feel comfortable enough within it so, iPad Pro it is for me. Will see how things work out over the next couple of weeks.
Keep us updated. It'll be interesting to hear your opinions on this and how they evolve over time
the surface pen is a gimmick? what is the apple pencil?
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More interesting is that MS did not register the trademark before releasing the product in beta. The whole idea of windows 8 is so audaciously insane: all users would dispense with windowed apps and work full screen with apps purchased in the Microsoft store. Existing x86 applications were relegated to the "off to the side" legacy desktop world. The idea--i guess--is that the desktop would wither and MS would become the toll keeper of all windows software. But users rebelled and the brave new world got put on hold.
Win 8 wasn't "insane". On the surface it was an attempt to modernize a 20 year old UI; predictably people who don't like change fixated on that. But under the hood they made huge optimizations and security improvements. I remember installing Win 8 Pro on an HP atom netbook with XP and 1GB of RAM (!), and it was instantly like a new machine.
That is so true, people couldn't get over the fact that it looked different, but underneath it was a vast improvement over 7.