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Siobhan98

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 26, 2016
44
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Hey

What is the best iPad Pro model to buy the 12.9" or the 9.7" I have the 12.9" and wondering if I really need the 9.7" and what are the main difference if any.

Thanks
 
They both have their advantages and disadvantages. If you need a bigger screen size, go for the larger one. The larger one is also likely more future proof with the higher clocked processor and greater amount of RAM. The camera is lacking in the larger iPad, but I have no intention of ever taking pictures with it.
 
Hey

What is the best iPad Pro model to buy the 12.9" or the 9.7" I have the 12.9" and wondering if I really need the 9.7" and what are the main difference if any.

Thanks
For me
I have the 12.9" it's nice big as long as you using it around you desk. but if you need to move with it such as go to school or to use it as a scratch pad you better go with the 9.7"
 
Hey

What is the best iPad Pro model to buy the 12.9" or the 9.7" I have the 12.9" and wondering if I really need the 9.7" and what are the main difference if any.

Thanks

This is only one reason why the 12.9" screen is amazing.
image.jpeg
 
I justb[Ickes up the 12.9.
here is what I have for toys:
IPP 12.9
Air 2
Mini 4
6+s
6

For he phone the 6+s hands down.
iPads - well I was thinking about this/
With the 12.9 the 9.7 is almost dead to me.
The mini is great for out and about.
The 12.9 has its challenges in handling. Typing - it's taking a little getting used to as the key board is much larger. Pecking the keys requires the hands to have to travel a lot ore distance. The icon set up on the home page is ridiculous; they should have allowed for more icons.
The extra real estate makes it feel much more like a laptop.
The larger split screen is incredibly useful.
Working on word and excel is now manageable.
Editing photos doesn't require so much pinching and spreading.

The 12.9 was boxed up and going back.
I rethought the situation and started playing with those apps that I stopped using on the 9.7.

Summing it up. The 12.9 is a usable tool and closer to a laptop replacement.
9.7 is useful however, he 12.9 is more useful in he productivity realm.
Movies, watching NHL games, surfing the web, photo/video editing, office apps, action games and FaceTime are much better on the 12.9.

The 9.7 does reign while sitting on the toilet.
[doublepost=1459118550][/doublepost]Now I can surf and watch.
The picture of the game is perfect. The puck is visible and can easily be followed.

I also just connected the apple keyboard.
It feels kinda cheap but easy to type on.
Next up is the pen and the camera connection.
The 9.7 is losing my love more and more.
The keyboard arrows adds a lot to the ability for Word and Excel.
Now if there was a mouse, hmmmmmm
 

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I sold my iPad Pro 12.9" because it proved to be too unwieldy and essentially became a desktop device. I was going to get an Air 2 but glad I waited to be able to get the iPad Pro 9.7".

They have their pros and cons but I want something that's more portable. I already have a computer at home so I don't need another one that is kind of more portable. I'm downsizing from a 6 Plus to the SE as well so the size gap between my two devices will be similar to the 6 Plus and the 12.9" Pro.
 
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Obviously, money is an issue, for those to whom money is not an issue then many of the arguments about hitting a price point for a certain need don't matter. I swear to god, it seems like half the people buy the apple pencil and the 12" iPad pro to browse Facebook and make posts like "After I got the big screen I could never go back to the iPad air which feels like a toy!" (These fall under "money doesn't matter" purchases. Obviously, duh, a big screen is going to make watching Season 5 of Louie CKs new show great....but, its a "pro" device you're using as just a big iPad air and you spent $100 for an extension to your finger).

Get the big one if:

1. if you feel like multi-tasking split screen is something you will do a lot of with your work.
2. if you are a graphic designer/artist and feel that the larger real estate will be put to good use.
3. You want to use the onscreen keyboard and appreciate the larger layout.
4. you're old and have bad eyesight and your default font is giant letters on your phone.

Get the small one if:
1. you won't be using a lot of split screen work, but feel that you can use the productivity of the pencil to good use (otherwise buy a regular iPad).
2. a better camera and the "true tone" idea appeals to you aesthetically.
3. you will also use your device for reading your kindle books, watching videos etc (see point 2 above).
4. You want to save some money.

TL;DR: easier split screen multitasking vs. portability, price and latest gimmick.
 
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Spec wise/performance wise the 12 incher is probably smoother

I'm sorry but that is a total load of crap. Not sure how anyone can infer the performance of an unreleased device that only has a few synthetic benchmarks which don't reflect real world use.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2016/03/a-day-with-the-9-7-inch-ipad-pro-and-its-accessories/

Anecdotally, all the previews seem to indicate performancewise the 9.7 is as much of a beast as the 12.9 for general use.

There "may" be a delta tied to wider memory and more memory when you start looking at professional applications like CAD, 4K video editing, uber photo editing, etc... because you're dealing with more layers, bigger layers, complex models.

Don't get me wrong, it is very disappointing Apple skimped on RAM and USB 3.0. My guess the RAM and USB miss is tied to profit mitigation for decreasing iPhone revenues.

I am a bit torn like many, bought every iPhone and iPad iteration, felt suckered by the iPad 3. Going in Apple Store, the 12.9 felt unwieldy i.e. it doesn't seem to be a device you can kick back with like the 9.7. So you always have to have the 12.9 propped. The extra screen real estate was great but the 9.7 seems to be the ideal size for more use cases.
 
I'm keeping my 12.9" but I think it's a bit too big. Obviously a matter of preference. I have a MBP so I do most of my work there. For the casual use I give it, lighter is better. I also have a mini, but find it too small. The 9.7" seems like the Goldilocks device.
 
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They both have their advantages and disadvantages. If you need a bigger screen size, go for the larger one. The larger one is also likely more future proof with the higher clocked processor and greater amount of RAM. The camera is lacking in the larger iPad, but I have no intention of ever taking pictures with it.

100Mhz/6% isn't going to buy you any real future proofing. Anything that hits the A9X is gonna hit both equally, the RAM is more important for future proofing.
 
100Mhz/6% isn't going to buy you any real future proofing. Anything that hits the A9X is gonna hit both equally, the RAM is more important for future proofing.
You have to consider that the higher resolution plays a part, too. How much and which matters more? No idea.

However, just look at iPad 2/1024x768/512MB and iPad 3/2048x1536/1GB. For me, the iPad 2 seemed to age more gracefully than the iPad 3 despite lower RAM.
 
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You have to consider that the higher resolution plays a part, too. How much and which matters more? No idea.

However, just look at iPad 2/1024x768/512MB and iPad 3/2048x1536/1GB. For me, the iPad 2 seemed to age more gracefully than the iPad 3 despite lower RAM.

This is a good point.

People seem to overlook the fact that the 12.9" iPad is pushing almost double the pixels.
 
That 12.9' is a total beast. Nice device, but huge. If it could actually replace a macbook, then I'd choose that, as the size would justify it for me. However, since it can't truly replace a Macbook, then I don't want it to be as large as a macbook. If I'd still need both, it makes more sense to me to have a tablet that's more portable.
 
This is a good point.

People seem to overlook the fact that the 12.9" iPad is pushing almost double the pixels.
People who are 4GB over 2GB aren't overlooking that fact. Besides, your number is off.

edit: looks like my numbers were off as well. :eek:

The 9.7 Pro has 3,145,728 pixels on the screen. 12.9 Pro has 5,595,136. The 12.9 Pro doesn't have twice as many pixels, it has (was:56%) 79% more pixels.

If the 12.9 Pro had 3GB RAM, then your assertion would have merit. (there would be an equivalence between pixel count and RAM ratios) But with 4GB, there is more headroom on the 12.9 than there is on the 9.7.
 
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You have to consider that the higher resolution plays a part, too. How much and which matters more? No idea.

However, just look at iPad 2/1024x768/512MB and iPad 3/2048x1536/1GB. For me, the iPad 2 seemed to age more gracefully than the iPad 3 despite lower RAM.
The gpu is what killed the iPad 3 more than anything else as I quickly replaced it with the iPad 4 when it came out. The 64 bit cpu in the Air 1 made the iPad 4 seem like it had more ram as the 32 bit apps used up less ram. Saw the same effect with the iPhone 6+ vs my iPhone 5.
 
People who are 4GB over 2GB aren't overlooking that fact. Besides, your number is off.

The 9.7 Pro has 3,145,728 pixels on the screen. 12.9 Pro has 5,595,136. The 12.9 Pro doesn't have twice as many pixels, it has 56% more pixels.

If the 12.9 Pro had 3GB RAM, then your assertion would have merit. (there would be an equivalence between pixel count and RAM ratios) But with 4GB, there is more headroom on the 12.9 than there is on the 9.7.

The 12.9 has almost 79% more pixels than the 9.7. The 9.7 has almost 44% less than the 12.9.
 
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If the 12.9 Pro had 3GB RAM, then your assertion would have merit. (there would be an equivalence between pixel count and RAM ratios) But with 4GB, there is more headroom on the 12.9 than there is on the 9.7.

So, here's the thing, you can run 1GB + 2GB, or 2GB + 2GB, or 1GB + 1GB + 1GB. But physical space (and cost) would make the third option a poor one. And the first can't benefit from interleaving, and now I have two part numbers to order, which may negate some of the cheaper cost of the 1GB parts. So if I'm bumping the RAM, I'm more likely going to bump to 4GB rather than 3GB. Especially if I have the room for the chips on the logic board.

That said, I do agree that the 12.9 gets more headroom as a result (since not all memory use is related to the screen). But not nearly as much as people think.

Oh, and yeah, someone pointed out its more like 1.79x the pixels. They are right.
 
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