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avanmanse

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 5, 2019
4
1
Considering the performance being similar to air 3 yet 2 years apart, I was wondering how long the last gen pro will be supported. Is it worth investing in one currently?
 

EugW

macrumors G5
Jun 18, 2017
14,843
12,828
Considering the performance being similar to air 3 yet 2 years apart, I was wondering how long the last gen pro will be supported. Is it worth investing in one currently?
1. How much can you get a Pro 10.5" for?
2. I suspect the Air 10.5" will get updates for 1 year longer than the Pro 10.5". But it's possible it could get iPadOS updates for 2 years longer. I don't expect so, but it's possible.

I bought the 10.5" Pro because it was similarly priced to the Air, yet:

1. It has a much better speaker setup.
2. It has a better camera, with flash.
3. It has ProMotion.
4. It has more RAM.
 
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avanmanse

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 5, 2019
4
1
1. How much can you get a Pro 10.5" for?
2. I suspect the Air 10.5" will get updates for 1 year longer than the Pro 10.5". But it's possible it could get iPadOS updates for 2 years longer. I don't expect so, but it's possible.

I bought the 10.5" Pro because it was similarly priced to the Air, yet:

1. It has a much better speaker setup.
2. It has a better camera, with flash.
3. It has ProMotion.
4. It has more RAM.
It's the 12.9 im currently looking at for around 800-850 USD.
 
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Heateris

macrumors member
Jul 27, 2011
87
1
SEPA
Besides OS upgrades, the 2017 iPP is an all around better device. It has tons of ram and a very powerful chip, I suspect it will be supported for quite a while.

At similar price points, I would have a hard time choosing the Air over the 2017 pro.
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,915
13,258
2. I suspect the Air 10.5" will get updates for 1 year longer than the Pro 10.5". But it's possible it could get iPadOS updates for 2 years longer. I don't expect so, but it's possible.
Probably gonna be chipset-based. A10 was released 2016 and I expect support for A10X will be discontinued around the same time as iPhone 7. Given Air 2 is getting iOS 13, I expect 2-3 more years of updates from now for A10X at minimum.
[doublepost=1559783759][/doublepost]
It's the 12.9 im currently looking at for around 800-850 USD.
If you’re in the US, B&H Photo has pretty good sales on it (2017 12.9 256GB LTE for $680 brand new). If you like the size, I think it’s still a very good device. The 2018 12.9 in similar configuration costs $1300 ($1150 WiFi-only).

There are plenty of 2015 12.9 owners on this board that are still very happy with their iPad’s performance and that one’s even older.
 
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avanmanse

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 5, 2019
4
1
Probably gonna be chipset-based. A10 was released 2016 and I expect support for A10X will be discontinued around the same time as iPhone 7. Given Air 2 is getting iOS 13, I expect 2-3 more years of updates from now for A10X at minimum.
[doublepost=1559783759][/doublepost]
If you’re in the US, B&H Photo has pretty good sales on it (2017 12.9 256GB LTE for $680 brand new). If you like the size, I think it’s still a very good device. The 2018 12.9 in similar configuration costs $1300 ($1150 WiFi-only).

There are plenty of 2015 12.9 owners on this board that are still very happy with their iPad’s performance and that one’s even older.
I'm in EU, so sadly don't have that opportunity. So it'd be a good idea to get the 2nd gen? Or should I fork out the extra for the 3rd gen?
 

EugW

macrumors G5
Jun 18, 2017
14,843
12,828
No ARKit 3 support on iPad Pro 2017
True. But I don't know if anyone actually cares yet.

Also, Air 10.5" has Bluetooth 5.

Probably gonna be chipset-based. A10 was released 2016 and I expect support for A10X will be discontinued around the same time as iPhone 7. Given Air 2 is getting iOS 13, I expect 2-3 more years of updates from now for A10X at minimum.
Well, A10X is very different from A10. Not sure if Apple will consider them different chipsets in this context.
 
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rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,915
13,258
I'm in EU, so sadly don't have that opportunity. So it'd be a good idea to get the 2nd gen? Or should I fork out the extra for the 3rd gen?
This is a very subjective decision. Personally, at $200 extra, I’d opt for the 3rd gen, around $300 is a maybe and $400+ is a hard pass. That’s just me though.
[doublepost=1559798279][/doublepost]
Well, A10X is very different from A10. Not sure if Apple will consider them different chipsets in this context.
Not really. It’s got extra CPU cores and beefed up GPU and yes, devices with A10X also have more RAM. It’s still missing the neural engine, though. I expect cut off will probably be features-based (e.g. 32 to 64 bit) or even purely age-based rather than performance.
 

avanmanse

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 5, 2019
4
1
The 3rd generation?
No the 2nd, its 12.9 and 512 gb second hand but the its a replacement unit so he hasnt opened it yet.
[doublepost=1559832729][/doublepost]
This is a very subjective decision. Personally, at $200 extra, I’d opt for the 3rd gen, around $300 is a maybe and $400+ is a hard pass. That’s just me though.
[doublepost=1559798279][/doublepost]
Not really. It’s got extra CPU cores and beefed up GPU and yes, devices with A10X also have more RAM. It’s still missing the neural engine, though. I expect cut off will probably be features-based (e.g. 32 to 64 bit) or even purely age-based rather than performance.
A new 3rd gen 12.9 excluding case and pen, costs 1430 USD, not sure if I wanna go with that lol
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,915
13,258
[doublepost=1559832729][/doublepost]
A new 3rd gen 12.9 excluding case and pen, costs 1430 USD, not sure if I wanna go with that lol
Lol, I’m eyeing the 512GB - 1TB LTE models so even worse on the pocket. Even the sale prices on those have been higher than I’m willing to pay.

Mind, if the 11-inch had been 2932*2048 326 ppi, that probably would have been a day one purchase even at the full $1699 MSRP. :p
 

Jcmwwe

macrumors regular
Mar 11, 2013
148
22
The iPad Pro 10.5 has a A10x chip where as the iPad Air 3 has a A12. So how does that factor in performance, and how long it will get updates?
 

ACG12

macrumors 6502a
Jun 9, 2015
860
746
The iPad Pro 10.5 has a A10x chip where as the iPad Air 3 has a A12. So how does that factor in performance, and how long it will get updates?

If the future is anything like iOS13/ipadOS, RAM is going to be more important for long term support than what chip your device has. The mini 4 got support while the iphone 6/6 Plus and iPod Touch 6th gen were left out.
 
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Perswee

macrumors newbie
Jun 2, 2019
20
1
I'm in a conundrum at the moment:

2017 iPad Pro 10.5 64GB LTE
2019 iPad Air 3 10.5 256GB LTE

The Air is $47 more than the Pro.
 

y2tech

macrumors newbie
Jun 7, 2019
3
1
Would definitely go for the pro except for the pro's bright spot screen problem.......
 

Shanghaichica

macrumors G5
Apr 8, 2013
14,724
13,245
UK
Probably gonna be chipset-based. A10 was released 2016 and I expect support for A10X will be discontinued around the same time as iPhone 7. Given Air 2 is getting iOS 13, I expect 2-3 more years of updates from now for A10X at minimum.
[doublepost=1559783759][/doublepost]
If you’re in the US, B&H Photo has pretty good sales on it (2017 12.9 256GB LTE for $680 brand new). If you like the size, I think it’s still a very good device. The 2018 12.9 in similar configuration costs $1300 ($1150 WiFi-only).

There are plenty of 2015 12.9 owners on this board that are still very happy with their iPad’s performance and that one’s even older.
Might be ram based as we have seen this year with the air 2/mini 4 vs the iPhone 6/6+.
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,915
13,258
Might be ram based as we have seen this year with the air 2/mini 4 vs the iPhone 6/6+.
Well, not like this is the first time. iPod touch 4th gen and OG iPad were both dropped based on RAM, iirc. In the case of Pro 10.5 vs Air 3 though, I don’t see Apple dropping support for Air 3 before they do Pro 10.5.

Regardless, the 2017 Pros still have several good years left. Even A9X-based devices probably still have at least 2 years left. We have A8X/2GB, A9/2GB, A9X/2GB, A10X/4GB and A12/3GB (XR) devices in the household. The Air 2 can be a bit sluggish with some tasks but the rest, I’m hard pressed to notice a performance difference for typical consumption usage.
 
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4look4rd

macrumors regular
Dec 16, 2009
192
175
If the future is anything like iOS13/ipadOS, RAM is going to be more important for long term support than what chip your device has. The mini 4 got support while the iphone 6/6 Plus and iPod Touch 6th gen were left out.

This is a absolutely important. I bought the first gen 9.7 pro and despite all the comments about “2GB of ram is enough, iOS is great at ram management” proved to be wrong three years out. While I still enjoy the device it struggles to keep up due to ram especially with safari and app refreshes.

I am very tempted to upgrade to a 12.9 pro, but I’m gonna wait until next generation when hopefully 6-8gb will be standard. Unfortunately that likely means only a 2020 upgrade.
 

ericwn

macrumors G5
Apr 24, 2016
12,114
10,906
This is a absolutely important. I bought the first gen 9.7 pro and despite all the comments about “2GB of ram is enough, iOS is great at ram management” proved to be wrong three years out. While I still enjoy the device it struggles to keep up due to ram especially with safari and app refreshes.

I am very tempted to upgrade to a 12.9 pro, but I’m gonna wait until next generation when hopefully 6-8gb will be standard. Unfortunately that likely means only a 2020 upgrade.

On 4 GB RAM I still get the safari reloads. Here’s to hoping that the next versions will feature 8GB.
 

Cookie18

macrumors 6502a
Sep 11, 2014
584
684
France
I love my 12.9" 2017 Pro. It’s ones of the best Apple products I’ve ever owned. I’ve felt zero need to upgrade to the latest one both because mine works like the first day I got it and because the new ones are obscenely expensive. My wife has been wanting to get a 12.9" Pro and she is considering going with the same model as me because they’re frankly a steal these days for what they are. I got my touchbar MBP just before this iPad and I think the iPad will outlast the MBP. It’s just so good.

Also, iPadOS is a whole new game. I’m using my iPad more than anything else now.
 
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