iPad iPad Pro 10.5 vs iPad Air 10.5 - Value?

[TorontoSS]

Hi there,

I'm one of those extremely lucky people who an ipad pro 10.5 with a bright spot on the screen. it's unfixable, and although I live in the UK, where we get 2 years of warranty instead of one, because I got it in Canada, it won't get fixed here. My plan was to sell the ipad soon (and point it out to the buyer).

I also have a 50 pound voucher which expires with Apple soon. So was thinking now may be a good time to replace it. My question is this:

the ipad 10.5 pro refurb is £539 (the 256 version).
the new ipad 10.5 is £629.

which is a better buy? I'm a normal user. I don't think I use the pro functionality. I already have the pen and i'd continue to use that either way.

On one side I doubt I'd notice any difference with the new ipad. However on the other hand, it would be future proofing a bit, right?

Thoughts?

 

[AutomaticApple]

Hi there,

I'm one of those extremely lucky people who an ipad pro 10.5 with a bright spot on the screen. it's unfixable, and although I live in the UK, where we get 2 years of warranty instead of one, because I got it in Canada, it won't get fixed here. My plan was to sell the ipad soon (and point it out to the buyer).

I also have a 50 pound voucher which expires with Apple soon. So was thinking now may be a good time to replace it. My question is this:

the ipad 10.5 pro refurb is £539 (the 256 version).
the new ipad 10.5 is £629.

which is a better buy? I'm a normal user. I don't think I use the pro functionality. I already have the pen and i'd continue to use that either way.

On one side I doubt I'd notice any difference with the new ipad. However on the other hand, it would be future proofing a bit, right?

Thoughts?

Get the new iPad Air. It seems very promising.

 

[EugW]

Hi there,

I'm one of those extremely lucky people who an ipad pro 10.5 with a bright spot on the screen. it's unfixable, and although I live in the UK, where we get 2 years of warranty instead of one, because I got it in Canada, it won't get fixed here. My plan was to sell the ipad soon (and point it out to the buyer).

I also have a 50 pound voucher which expires with Apple soon. So was thinking now may be a good time to replace it. My question is this:

the ipad 10.5 pro refurb is £539 (the 256 version).
the new ipad 10.5 is £629.

which is a better buy? I'm a normal user. I don't think I use the pro functionality. I already have the pen and i'd continue to use that either way.

On one side I doubt I'd notice any difference with the new ipad. However on the other hand, it would be future proofing a bit, right?

Thoughts?

I have the same question. The 64 GB new Air is CAD$649 but the refurb old 10.5” Pro is slightly cheaper at CAD$619.

The Pro has a better camera and ProMotion. The new Air’s A12 CPU is 20% faster than the 10X multi-core but the 10X’s GPU is about 35% faster.

Both have a headphone jack. The old Pro has Both have a Smart Connector.

The old Pro has 4 speakers. The new Air has 2 I think.

The old Pro has 4 GB RAM. The new Air, I dunno.

 

[AJB1971]

A few quick thoughts.

The new Air doesn't have ProMotion or four speakers. It has an 8 megapixel back camera compared to the 12 megapixel one used in the Pro 10.5 and it doesn't have a flash. The A12 processor should be significantly faster than the A10x -
https://browser.geekbench.com/ios-benchmarks

Interesting to see that you've encountered the bright spot problem. I was lucky enough to get rid of my 10.5 Pro before the issue arose. I'm going to wait for the iFixit teardown to see if they've made any alterations to address this problem.

I'm also in the UK and considering buying from John Lewis as they sometimes include a free three-year warranty although it's only two years at the moment. It gives some peace of mind for the bright spot issue. They will also price match.

 

[oldmacs]

From my perspective:

Reasons for new Air:
- A12 is a bit faster than the A10X (Remember this is a A12 NOT an A12X), but might probably get more support (possibly dependent on RAM)
- Price
- Very Slightly Lighter
- No Camera bump
- Bluetooth 5 (vs 4.2)

Reasons for the 10.5 Pro
- Better camera (12mp vs 8mp) + camera flash (no camera flash on the Air)
- Four Speakers
- Pro Motion display (for me this is a deal breaker)
- (Possible) - Touch ID 2 in the Pro vs Touch ID 1 in the Air (Very likely as Apple specifically mentioned Touch ID 2 on the 10.5 'compare' page, it just says Touch ID on the Air page)
- (Possible) - 4GB of ram in the Pro, but less in the Air (This will also need to be checked)

 

[TorontoSS]

I have the same question. The 64 GB new Air is CAD$649 but the refurb old 10.5” Pro is slightly cheaper at CAD$619.

The Pro has a better camera and ProMotion. The new Air’s A12 CPU is 20% faster than the 10X multi-core but the 10X’s GPU is about 35% faster.

Both have a headphone jack. The old Pro has a Smart Connector.

The old Pro has 4 speakers. The new Air has 2 I think.

The old Pro has 4 GB RAM. The new Air, I dunno.

In your case, you have to grabble with a $30 issue. I think this makes it slightly easier but you have to think about what you'd use it for. If I were in Canada, and knowing my usage, I'd go for the newer one. You're literally paying $30 more.

For $30 CDN, you're getting a better CPU. But you're right we don't know about RAM. But do you listen to your ipad's speakers? I don't. I use the ipad on the plane, so you have headphones on, and at home, I also use headphones unless no one is in the room.

Do you use your ipad for photos? I do use it for facetime but that's it so I don't care for the camera much. which leaves ProMotion. This makes stuff "smoother" right?
[doublepost=1552920112][/doublepost]

From my perspective:


Reasons for the 10.5 Pro
- Better camera + camera flash
- Four Speakers
- Pro Motion display (for me this is a deal breaker)
- (Possible) - Touch ID 2 in the Pro vs Touch ID 1 in the Air (this will have to be checked)
- (Possible) - 4GB of ram in the Pro, but less in the Air (This will also need to be checked)

why is this a deal breaker? I'm asking because I genuinely don't know. I thought it just makes scrolling a bit smoother?

is it something people noticed between earlier ipads and the 10.5 Pro?

 

[EugW]

Pro Motion is 120 Hz. Supposed to make things like video and scrolling much smoother. It’s also supposed to make the Pencil 2 support better too.

In my case I don’t think I’d ever buy a Pencil anyway and for video I’m fine with 60 Hz so it’s probably moot.

PS. The refurb 11” doesn’t exist yet here but even if it were 15% off, it’d still be way more than I would want to spend.

 

[techno-Zen]

Get a refurbished 10.5" pro while you can!

 

[oldmacs]

why is this a deal breaker? I'm asking because I genuinely don't know. I thought it just makes scrolling a bit smoother?

is it something people noticed between earlier ipads and the 10.5 Pro?

I was won over by the 120hz display. Just makes animations and everything lovely and smooth. That being said, this sort of thing is especially important to me. I go between an iPad Pro 10.5 and an iPad Air 1 frequently and it annoys me. The Pro Motion display also makes for a better Apple Pencil experience.

 

[EugW]

I think I’ll hold off until I find out how much RAM is in the new Air.

 

[oldmacs]

I think I’ll hold off until I find out how much RAM is in the new Air.

Agreed. iOS devices are usually overkill in terms of processor performance - RAM is however often skimped on.

 

[EugW]

BTW, the new Air loses the camera flash too.

 

[oldmacs]

Both have a headphone jack. The old Pro has a Smart Connector.

I think the new Air has the old smart connector as well...

 

[EugW]

I think the new Air has the old smart connector as well...

Yes you are right. Fixed my post.

 

[willentrekin]

why is this a deal breaker? I'm asking because I genuinely don't know. I thought it just makes scrolling a bit smoother?

is it something people noticed between earlier ipads and the 10.5 Pro?

ProMotion definitely makes a noticeable difference. It's not just "a bit smoother." The screen feels more responsive, which makes the entire system feel faster. Even games. I'm a big fan of The Room series, and it looks approximately the same, but because of the way you use touch to manipulate objects in the game it feels better.

Caveat: "feels" is the definite word. While 120Hz is objectively faster than 60Hz, the difference of how it actually feels to use is, I think, fairly subjective. I think everyone would notice a difference, but I'm not sure that difference would matter to everyone.

Personal experience: I just upgraded from an Air 2 to a 10.5 pro. I paid ~$600 for a 256gb Space Grey with a keyboard case (refurbished. By way of Amazon). It's a huge upgrade and I think one that I'll be happy with for a long while.

 

[CrazyForCashews]

In regards to value, the 10.5" iPad Pro is a better value IMO.

The 120Hz screen on the 10.5" iPad Pro is still the best hardware feature Apple has ever released on any of their products.

 

[tann]

Refurb 256gb I would personally go for. If you watch a lot of videos etc then the speakers are much better.

As for speed, unless you do serious power user video editing etc, you won't notice the difference.

I have the 256gb Pro 10.5 and it's so fast. I literally have never felt the need for anything more. I mainly use it for browsing, some games and videos.

Good luck with whatever you choose though, either way it'll be something that lasts for a good few years!

 

[EugW]

What are the Apple Stores charging for the iPad Pro 10.5” now?

 

[TorontoSS]

What are the Apple Stores charging for the iPad Pro 10.5” now?

Well the ipad pro 10.5 is now discontinued. you still get it refurbed though. I have noted something here though which is pushing me to purchase the refurb one...

I was looking to just purchase a refurb ipad pro 10.5 in October and sell my old one. But the price then was £649. Now it's £539. with this in mind, it just seems like better value for now for me.

 

[EugW]

Well the ipad pro 10.5 is now discontinued. you still get it refurbed though. I have noted something here though which is pushing me to purchase the refurb one...

I was looking to just purchase a refurb ipad pro 10.5 in October and sell my old one. But the price then was £649. Now it's £539. with this in mind, it just seems like better value for now for me.

I just checked. The old 10.5” Pro is still available in physical Apple Stores here in Toronto. Here is the pricing in Canadian dollars.

$619 new 64 GB Air WiFi edu
$649 new 64 GB Air WiFi retail

$619 old 64 GB 10.5” Pro WiFi refurb
$699 old 64 GB 10.5” Pro WiFi edu
$729 old 64 GB 10.5” Pro WiFi retail

IOW, the edu 64 GB WiFi Air costs exactly the same as the refurb 64 GB WiFi Pro.

Hmmm...

Interestingly, on the refurb store, the $729 price is listed for the Pro as the retail price, not the original $869 retail price.

 

[TorontoSS]

I just checked. The old 10.5” Pro is still available in physical Apple Stores here in Toronto. Here is the pricing

$619 new 64 GB Air WiFi edu
$649 new 64 GB Air WiFi retail

$619 old 64 GB 10.5” Pro WiFi refurb
$699 old 64 GB 10.5” Pro WiFi edu
$729 old 64 GB 10.5” Pro WiFi retail

IOW, the edu 64 GB WiFi Air costs exactly the same as the refurb 64 GB WiFi Pro.

Hmmm...

your prices are so similar to the old and new ipad. And I guess you add 13% tax if you're in Toronto.

Here in the UK:
new ipad 64GB 10.5 £479
new ipad 256 GB 10.5 £629

old 64 GB 10.5 pro wifi - refurb is 449£ (prices include tax here) - I think that's the equiv of about 791 CDN.
old 256 GB 10.5 pro wifi - refurb £539

it appears you're getting better value there!

 

[macduke]

Thoughts?

If you're a regular user, I think you'll want to prioritize longevity, correct?

If so, you might wait until next week for a teardown. Why? RAM. If the new machine has 2GB (unlikely) or maybe 3GB using the package from the iPhone XR, you might be better off going with the iPad Pro 10.5" which has 4GB. If they have the same, go with the iPad Air.

More RAM means you're more likely to have a usable device for many years to come. When Apple stops supporting older devices on a new version of iOS, you'll often notice that the devices break along a common theme: amount of RAM. Not always, but often (one exception I can think of is dropping support for 32-bit processors, and there may be a couple others). RAM helps you multitask better and run more advanced apps more smoothly. Even if you aren't using very complex apps today, in 3-5 years the same apps you use today will likely be much more complex and bloated with feature creep. This is often why machines tend to slow down over time. On iOS, the CPUs are not anywhere close to being the bottle-neck because their chip team designs custom, blazing fast silicon. The RAM is often on the lower side, and even though iOS is very efficient in it's use of RAM, it's one of those things that you feel more over time as apps become more sluggish and previously used apps get dropped from memory which slows down the overall feel of the device. iOS also tends to add more background services over the years to handle new features, and these also eat into RAM.

That all being said, it's entirely possible Apple would drop support for a 4GB of RAM iPad Pro 10.5" before a 3GB of RAM 2019 iPad Air. Why? The 10.5" model came out in like June of 2017. It's almost two years old. Hopefully all this means is that it's more likely we get 4GB in the iPad Air 2019 because it's 2019 so it should have more by this point. But with Apple, you never know for sure. If I were them and trying to balance price/performance, I'd do the 3GB RAM A12 SoC package from the XR in the iPad Mini 2019 and the 4GB RAM package A12 SoC in the iPad Air. The next iPad Pro is likely to move to at least 6GB across the line, which is currently now only used in the 1TB models (likely for overhead managing the larger SSD, or so the theory goes).

 

[EugW]

ProMotion 120 GHz 10.5" vs older 60 Hz iPad Pros:

Summary:

ProMotion Pro has much smoother scrolling, and much lower latency/lag. The latter is true for both finger actions and with the Apple Pencil.

However, while we might expect the 10.5" Pro might have better scrolling than the 10.5" Air, we can't be sure yet if the Pro has lower lag. It's possible Apple could have reduced lag in the Air compared to other 60 Hz iPads.

 

[Falhófnir]

In regards to value, the 10.5" iPad Pro is a better value IMO.

The 120Hz screen on the 10.5" iPad Pro is still the best hardware feature Apple has ever released on any of their products.

The real material benefit was for less latency on the apple pencil, and 60Hz isn't really a dealbreaker if you're not a serious digital artist or something (in which case you'd likely want the larger canvass of the pro anyway). It's of questionable benefit in other areas (scrolling, video, games) and if it comes at significant extra cost arguably it's not a good option for a device like the new Air which aims at being a step up from the basic iPad for not too much more cost. So it's still there with the Pro if you want it, but it's exclusion allows the iPad Air to retail at a competitive price.

 

[sracer]

I think I’ll hold off until I find out how much RAM is in the new Air.

If it has 2 GB RAM do you think that Apple is going to obsolete it soon? The main reason I held out on buying the 9.7 Pro back in the day was because of the 2GB RAM. There were others reasons to give it a pass, but in hindsight, RAM shouldn't have been one of them.

I actually think it would be ENCOURAGING to find out that the new Air has 2 GB RAM. It is an indication that Apple is committed to that RAM level even longer. It means that it is more likely that it will be the CPU that cuts off iOS upgrades rather than RAM levels.

It is common to think that creeping featuritis causes a constant need to increase RAM. That's understandable but it certainly seems like Apple is holding the line at 2GB RAM as a base requirement.

I would have no problem buying either the Air or Mini 5 if they have 2GB RAM.