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iPad Pro iPad Pro 12.9 release cycle?

twanj

twanj

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 10, 2015
1,240
1,700
Pompano Beach, FL
I have a iPad Pro 9.7" that I really like. I have no real need to upgrade, but the extra 3.2" of screen real estate seems like it would be nice. Not too sure if the extra size/weight will make it less "portable", but I only use it around the house anyway. I play a few games, read, watch movies, and some browsing. I can pass down the 9.7" to family.

On the forums, I'm reading about the light bleed issues for the first time, & see the rumor of a new model at the end of the year or early 2020.

Seems like the iPad Pro 12.9 is on an approximately 1.5 year release cycle? So potentially a year left. (Macrumors Buyers guide recently switched from Buy Now to Neutral for 12.9, was already Neutral for 11").

Have they fixed the light bleed or other hardware issues I assume?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/new-ipad-pro-in-2020-5g-in-2021.2179246/unread

I don't really have any other USB-C stuff besides tons of chargers at work & a couple 2m Apple cables.
I am planning on a new MBP if Apple ever makes a decent one again, so another USB-C charger will be handy.
 
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twanj said:
I have a iPad Pro 9.7" that I really like. I have no real need to upgrade, but the extra 3.2" of screen real estate seems like it would be nice. Not too sure if the extra size/weight will make it less "portable", but I only use it around the house anyway. I can pass down the 9.7" to family.

On the forums, I'm seeing the light bleed issues for the first time, & see the rumor of a new model at the end of the year or early 2020.

Seems like the iPad Pro 12.9 is on an approximately 1.5 year release cycle? So potentially a year left. (Macrumors Buyers guide recently switched from Buy Now to Neutral for 12.9, was already Neutral fro 11").

Have they fixed the light bleed or other hardware issues I assume?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/new-ipad-pro-in-2020-5g-in-2021.2179246/unread

I don't really have any other USB-C stuff besides tons of chargers at work & a couple 2m Apple cables.
I am planning on a new MBP if Apple ever makes a decent one again, so another USB-C charger will be handy.
Click to expand...

I’m kinda a monitor guru. I love high end displays, and being a PC gamer previously I was always researching and comparing them. “IPS” displays” suffer from light bleed, or glow. Just google it. A IPS monitor or panel without light bleed does not exist. Now, yes the 11” and 12.9” iPads do technically have a IPS panel. It is the best I’ve ever seen in my life. I’ve owned 3 of them, three 11” iPads since January of this year, and neither of them showed any signs of light bleed at all!

What you are reading and finding, is people literally inspecting these displays with a microscope trying to find and slight defect. And it is kinda silly to say the least. Any display is going to have imperfections. Can I see them? No I can’t.

I do not think there will be a new iPad Pro in 2019. I just do not see it. And if they do, it’ll most likely be the cellular capabilities that are updated for 5G support which is something I probably will not see for years from now anyways.

I’d go in to this purchase with a positive attitude. And I wouldn’t worry about some of the things you read. I do not think there is a serious display issue with the current iPad pros.

Also, you are currently (2) generations behind on the iPad Pro. So, you could easily do the same or go longer with the new 12.9” 3rd gen iPad Pro.

Good luck!
 
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tps3443 said:
I’m kinda a monitor guru. I love high end displays, and being a PC gamer previously I was always researching and comparing them. “IPS” displays” suffer from light bleed, or glow. Just google it. A IPS monitor or panel without light bleed does not exist. Now, yes the 11” and 12.9” iPads do technically have a IPS panel. It is the best I’ve ever seen in my life. I’ve owned 3 of them, three 11” iPads since January of this year, and neither of them showed any signs of light bleed at all!

What you are reading and finding, is people literally inspecting these displays with a microscope trying to find and slight defect. And it is kinda silly to say the least. Any display is going to have imperfections. Can I see them? No I can’t.

I do not think there will be a new iPad Pro in 2019. I just do not see it. And if they do, it’ll most likely be the cellular capabilities that are updated for 5G support which is something I probably will not see for years from now anyways.

I’d go in to this purchase with a positive attitude. And I wouldn’t worry about some of the things you read. I do not think there is a serious display issue with the current iPad pros.

Also, you are currently (2) generations behind on the iPad Pro. So, you could easily do the same or go longer with the new 12.9” 3rd gen iPad Pro.

Good luck!
Click to expand...
I’m curious, why don’t think they will update it this year? They have done a 2016,2017 and 2018 update so far. Why skip this year?
 
UnLiMiTeD558 said:
I’m curious, why don’t think they will update it this year? They have done a 2016,2017 and 2018 update so far. Why skip this year?
Click to expand...

There’s usually 18-20 months in between a new model iPad Pro.

The iPad Pros were released 2015 Q4, 2017 Q2, 2018 Q4 2020 Q2 looks like a pattern to me.

So, if a new iPad Pro came out in 2019, that means the current model would be 12 months old on 11-29-2019. (It would be The shortest lived iPad Pro ever)

The iPad Pro 2017 was about 18 months old when the 2018 iPad Pro came out.

I don’t get why people don’t understand this. Lol


So, if we say 17 months life cycle on the 2018 iPad Pro 11” at a minimum, then we will see a new iPad the soonest at April 2020 maybe even June 2020.

It’s simple. iPad pros are not on a iPhone life cycle.
 
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tps3443 said:
Yes but that wasn’t a new model. It was just a smaller 2015 model with half the ram the 2015 model had. Apple now release both sizes at once now I guess
Click to expand...
All I’m saying is since Apple has released the pro model line, they have released a new model every year. Was hoping to get a new pro this year and avoid the chance of a bent LTE model lol
 
AutomaticApple said:
The 12.9 inch IPP is heavier?
Click to expand...

Why would the larger iPad weigh less? ;)

9.7" (2016) : 0.96lbs (437g)
12.9" (2015) : 1.59lbs (723g)
10.5" (2017) : 1.03 pounds (469 grams)
12.9" (2017) : 1.49 pounds
11" (2018) : 1.03 pounds (468 grams)
12.9" (2018) : 1.39 pounds (631 grams)

So ~40% heavier.

Pretty amazing how much weight they've shaved off the 12.9" already.
 
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Yes the longer cycle time in the 12.9 pro line is why I felt comfortable buying one on Swappa just recently. The price was really approachable for a 1TB with cellular, so I couldn’t resist. Even if they now move to annual, I’m happy with this purchase.
 
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twanj said:
I have a iPad Pro 9.7" that I really like. I have no real need to upgrade, but the extra 3.2" of screen real estate seems like it would be nice. Not too sure if the extra size/weight will make it less "portable", but I only use it around the house anyway. I play a few games, read, watch movies, and some browsing. I can pass down the 9.7" to family.

On the forums, I'm seeing the light bleed issues for the first time, & see the rumor of a new model at the end of the year or early 2020.

Seems like the iPad Pro 12.9 is on an approximately 1.5 year release cycle? So potentially a year left. (Macrumors Buyers guide recently switched from Buy Now to Neutral for 12.9, was already Neutral fro 11").

Have they fixed the light bleed or other hardware issues I assume?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/new-ipad-pro-in-2020-5g-in-2021.2179246/unread

I don't really have any other USB-C stuff besides tons of chargers at work & a couple 2m Apple cables.
I am planning on a new MBP if Apple ever makes a decent one again, so another USB-C charger will be handy.
Click to expand...

Next iPad update is 1st quarter of 2020... only unknown is if it will be an update to all iPads: iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad mini, or just The iPad. But a refresh is going to happen between Jan-May of 2020 with maybe a sneak peak at an October or September event. Its the 10-year anniversary and while iPhone changed the world more than iPad... Apple perfected the "tablet" and made it highly sought after so they will be sure to give it some shiny new features.

As for light bleed on the iPad Pro 3 (I couldn't find any light bleed from the 4-5 I had to return due to the touch sensitivity bug) and I tested all the screens and not a single one had light bleed shadowing, or different color panels (like top is warm and bottom is cooler.)
The Liquid Retina tech they use seems to be a good elixir (not absolute cure) but a so far successful way of not having light bleed.

I LOVE my iPad Pro. I like this more than the first gen because it has no stupid home button, bass and tweeters in each speaker, 120hz refresh rate, thinner, lighter, and all around better. I feel the price could have been 200-150 less though.

I highly recommend the 12.9" now as it is significantly smaller than the original 12.9" and feels like a regular sized iPad for me, lol.

Kallum.
 
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Kal-037 said:
Next iPad update is 1st quarter of 2020... only unknown is if it will be an update to all iPads: iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad mini, or just The iPad.

I LOVE my iPad Pro. I like this more than the first gen because it has no stupid home button, bass and tweeters in each speaker, 120hz refresh rate, thinner, lighter, and all around better. I feel the price could have been 200-150 less though.

I highly recommend the 12.9" now as it is significantly smaller than the original 12.9" and feels like a regular sized iPad for me, lol.
Click to expand...

iPads are on a different release cycle than the Pros from what I've seen. But maybe they'll coincide for the 10 year anniversary?

I'm with you on price. iPad w/ keyboard should be less than a Macbook/MBA not close. Now that the Pro 12.9 is on sale at $850 it seems more reasonable.

How is the new 12.9 smaller than the original? Just the smaller bezels make that much difference?
 
UnLiMiTeD558 said:
All I’m saying is since Apple has released the pro model line, they have released a new model every year. Was hoping to get a new pro this year and avoid the chance of a bent LTE model lol
Click to expand...


But they haven’t released a pro model every year. They announce a new iPad Pro every 18 months since 2015.

Just because one item is 2019 and the next item is 2020 doesn’t mean it is a year old. The 2019 item could have launched in January, and the 2020 product in December. That would make it 23 months old practically 2 years old, even though one is 2019 and the other is 2020.

Based on the launch of the iPad Pro 2018, and the fact that it has had a normal customer return percentage no higher than other iPad Pro models. It will most likely be mid June of 2020 before we get a new iPad Pro.

Not many people upgrade an iPad every year. So Apple could care less about making a new iPad every 12 months.
[doublepost=1556472045][/doublepost]Oh and the 2015 iPad Pro 12.9 was not replaced with a new iPad Pro until after 20 months.

2017 iPad Pro was out for 18 months, before the 2018 model was released.
 
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UnLiMiTeD558 said:
All I’m saying is since Apple has released the pro model line, they have released a new model every year. Was hoping to get a new pro this year and avoid the chance of a bent LTE model lol
Click to expand...

So then why didn’t you buy one this year? You can hope and wish all day long but at the end of the day all you have to do is roll the dice and buy one. Fyi, my 12.9 LTE is not bent in any way. I bought it sight unseen directly from the Apple Store online.
 
Yeh, that release cycle is just about right.

Like I said mine is 3 years old & there's no real need to upgrade. It would just be nice for the larger screen (I'm assuming). Releases every year would be a bit overkill.
 
baypharm said:
So then why didn’t you buy one this year? You can hope and wish all day long but at the end of the day all you have to do is roll the dice and buy one. Fyi, my 12.9 LTE is not bent in any way. I bought it sight unseen directly from the Apple Store online.
Click to expand...
Because my iPad will spend half it’s life in and out of my work bag, so some kind of durability is something I would like to have from it. Many iPads never leave people’s houses, that’s not my case for sure. But yea I might just shoot for one this year and hope for the best. But really don’t have time to run back and forth to an Apple store either if I have to play the bend lottery
 
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UnLiMiTeD558 said:
Because my iPad will spend half it’s life in and out of my work bag, so some kind of durability is something I would like to have from it. Many iPads never leave people’s houses, that’s not my case for sure. But yea I might just shoot for one this year and hope for the best. But really don’t have time to run back and forth to an Apple store either if I have to play the bend lottery
Click to expand...


No matter what iPad releases. There’s always going to be some kind of nitpicking problem going on with every iPad to come out. I’m happy with mine. Regardless of what experiences the very very small percentage of people are having with them. And the same will happen with the next iPad.

Either way, I can snap any iPad model in half with my bare hands easily. Why would I not be able to snap the 2020 iPad in half too?
 
My 2018 6th gen is very rigid. You can’t twist the frame easily like I’ve seen in videos on the pro models where they have decent flex to them. If I didn’t use my ipad for gaming then I wouldn’t care much about getting a pro but it’s definitely a draw knowing the graphical horsepower is a significant jump
 
UnLiMiTeD558 said:
My 2018 6th gen is very rigid. You can’t twist the frame easily like I’ve seen in videos on the pro models where they have decent flex to them. If I didn’t use my ipad for gaming then I wouldn’t care much about getting a pro but it’s definitely a draw knowing the graphical horsepower is a significant jump
Click to expand...

My 11” is just as rigid as my sons 6th gen iPad.
 
tps3443 said:
My 11” is just as rigid as my sons 6th gen iPad.
Click to expand...
Well if you’re just going to lie about it then I can’t really take your word for it. It’s fine you think the pros are durable enough as they are but don’t need to inflate the facts either.

Anyways said what I need to say.
 
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UnLiMiTeD558 said:
Because I own the 6th gen and ive played with the iPad Pro before and there’s basically zero flex on my 6th gen and the pro flexed with minimal force. Which is why I have concerns about its durability
Click to expand...
When I took my old iPad Air 2 out of its case to sell along the top part which was plastic (cellular version) it was really warped, I had it from launch and it was always in the Apple smart case. My 1TB 12.9 cellular has some flex but nothing major, I tried flexing the Air 2 and that two had some flex and would have been easy to bend, basically the bigger that iPad the easier it is to flex but its still as straight as when I got it and its used every day. Best iPad I have had and I'm not at all concerned about durability, its in a great STM sleeve (super padded and water resistant) for when I go out and its also in the Apple folio too. I was concerned about durability, but I'm more than happy with my purchase.
 
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