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iPad Pro or iPad 2017? Dilemma.

0989383

0989383

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Original poster
May 11, 2013
469
272
This might seem silly, but hear me out. Here's my situation.

I currently have a ThinkPad which, once sold, the money will be going toward a new iPad. I'm currently using the iPad Air 2 16GB LTE which is fast and reliable. However, the storage space is quite small and I'm planning to give this to my mother soon as she now has work requirements to access the internet / email at a level that will take more than her 2013 Kindle Fire! I figured the Air 2 will be a great upgrade for her. So as soon as the ThinkPad sells I'm giving her the Air 2 and looking for a new iPad.

Most people say don't get the 2017 iPad, the screen is worse and the performance boost is minimal for the money! Which is totally right. But since I'm now obligated to give this Air 2 to my mum and the storage is too small to get serious with plenty of apps etc plus content I think it's time to move on.

Reasons to get the iPad 2017 are that I can comfortable afford it, it works with current accessories and technically speaking it has the power and storage to do my current tasks: games, Office, calendar, email, browsing, photos, music, long battery life. Cheaper to fix if the screen does break assumably. My concerns are that after another update it'll be laggy and perhaps not cope as well as the Pro. I'm also worried about how bad the screen will be without antireflective coating etc.. is it that much worse? When I use one in a store I can see the black line around the screens a hair thicker but other than that it doesn't seem that bad..

Reasons to get the iPad Pro 256GB More storage. More power. Better screen with true tone. Smoother scrolling.. Better speakers. I like the Apple Pencil but won't buy one because I can't justify it for something that's ''fun'' as opposed to needed. Also not interested in the Smart Keyboard connector. Thing is, I'd be spending a little more than I can afford right now and given the £709 price tag I'd also be a bit more weary should it break etc. One iPad Pro in a local store has a row of dead pixels!!!

My Requirements:
Daily use and dependence as it's a main device.
8000+ Photos on iCloud
Apple Music
Gaming
Browsing
Organisation: Notes, Calendar, Reminders etc.
Word, PowerPoint, Excel
Password Management
Email
File Management (iOS 11 yay!)
A smooth experience
Must last approximately 3 years before the next big investment!

So what's your opinion? Suffice with the basic iPad 2017 128GB and save some cash or splurge on the hot new iPad Pro with luxury features and power to spare? Interested to hear all takes on this before deciding to do anything!
 
If you don't need "new" you can probably find some good deals on 9.7" Pros that bring it down close to the price of the non-Pro. If you can find one that is still under the original warranty, you can add AppleCare to get another year of coverage. I had the same dilemma & that's the route I took -- found a good one on Swappa.
 
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Given your concerns with the non Pro 9.7 - it does not seem like it would be a good fit for you. I'd say wait for sales or refurbs of the 10.5" iPad Pro. That way, you'll have a new model and pay less than retail.
 
Just get the 2017 iPad. You can get the 32GB version for $329 or 128GB for $429. I think that the 128GB version has enough storage for you.
 
The lack of laminated display on the 2017 iPad is a draw back in my opinion. But for the price point, it's tempting. The biggest advantages for the 2017 9.7 iPad is the battery life have reported very good results and the A9 processor seems to be plenty of Power for this iPad model.

However, I would opt for the 10.5 Pro. THe reason I say this model is you're seeking longevity and you seem to have quite a few requirements when it comes to files, gaming, music and storage would play a role. At least you would have an appreciation for longer support and how iOS 11 is tuned for the new Pro.

I think you would have appreciation for the 120 Hz Promotion display and 4 GB of Ram. The quad speakers and Tru-Tone display are really nice advantages.

Being you will also be investing time into notes/editing , Microsoft word and power points, you may be interested in the Apple Pencil eventually to take advantages of these features and better your experience.
 
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SB-MBP said:
This might seem silly, but hear me out. Here's my situation.

I currently have a ThinkPad which, once sold, the money will be going toward a new iPad. I'm currently using the iPad Air 2 16GB LTE which is fast and reliable. However, the storage space is quite small and I'm planning to give this to my mother soon as she now has work requirements to access the internet / email at a level that will take more than her 2013 Kindle Fire! I figured the Air 2 will be a great upgrade for her. So as soon as the ThinkPad sells I'm giving her the Air 2 and looking for a new iPad.

Most people say don't get the 2017 iPad, the screen is worse and the performance boost is minimal for the money! Which is totally right. But since I'm now obligated to give this Air 2 to my mum and the storage is too small to get serious with plenty of apps etc plus content I think it's time to move on.

Reasons to get the iPad 2017 are that I can comfortable afford it, it works with current accessories and technically speaking it has the power and storage to do my current tasks: games, Office, calendar, email, browsing, photos, music, long battery life. Cheaper to fix if the screen does break assumably. My concerns are that after another update it'll be laggy and perhaps not cope as well as the Pro. I'm also worried about how bad the screen will be without antireflective coating etc.. is it that much worse? When I use one in a store I can see the black line around the screens a hair thicker but other than that it doesn't seem that bad..

Reasons to get the iPad Pro 256GB More storage. More power. Better screen with true tone. Smoother scrolling.. Better speakers. I like the Apple Pencil but won't buy one because I can't justify it for something that's ''fun'' as opposed to needed. Also not interested in the Smart Keyboard connector. Thing is, I'd be spending a little more than I can afford right now and given the £709 price tag I'd also be a bit more weary should it break etc. One iPad Pro in a local store has a row of dead pixels!!!

My Requirements:
Daily use and dependence as it's a main device.
8000+ Photos on iCloud
Apple Music
Gaming
Browsing
Organisation: Notes, Calendar, Reminders etc.
Word, PowerPoint, Excel
Password Management
Email
File Management (iOS 11 yay!)
A smooth experience
Must last approximately 3 years before the next big investment!

So what's your opinion? Suffice with the basic iPad 2017 128GB and save some cash or splurge on the hot new iPad Pro with luxury features and power to spare? Interested to hear all takes on this before deciding to do anything!
Click to expand...
If you are looking at a minimum of 3 years before the next big investment then you really need to go with any iPad Pro that has 4GB RAM. Although the 2017 IPad has 2 GB, that mean that ram level should be good for basic use for another 2 years maybe 3. Since you are looking for it to be you main device then the 2017 iPad will probably start gasping within a year or so.
 
Quite honestly, I think the realistic choices are:
  • splurge on the iPad Pro 10.5 A10X/4GB RAM
  • spend just nearly half the cost on the iPad (5th gen) A9/2GB and save the money towards a future iPad

Given you mentioned the cost of the Pro would be stretching the budget, I'd opt for the cheaper iPad. Mobile devices have progressed at a very fast pace so older devices went obsolete quite quickly. With mobile chips practically matching Intel processors now, I think we're going to start seeing a slowdown in improvements. If I remember correctly, the A9 is probably comparable to lower clocked Core 2 Duo level.

Besides, the A9X on the Pro 9.7 that you're considering isn't leaps and bounds faster than the A9 on the iPad 5 in tems of general processing performance. It's primarily the graphics performance where the huge disparity is. I don't expect A9X will last much longer than the A9.
 
I was in a similar dilemma and I went ahead with the iPad 2017. My use case for the iPad was casual browsing, youtube and some smaller games. It was intended to be a device that's by my side for performing tasks that are slightly inconvenient on the iPhone and something for which I did't really want to open my MacBook pro. For example, say I wanted to plan a couple of days vacation to an adjacent city or browse some hiking trails nearby etc. (you get the drift)

In some corner of my mind, I had the idea that since I could afford the iPad pro, I should get it instead of the 2017 model. Then I read a post somewhere (perhaps reddit) where someone had said that since the price point of the two iPads were almost double and since the iPad 2017 is expected to hold up for 2-3 years, we're better off getting the cheaper version now and upgrade it to a "newer version" in 2-3 years time. Splurging 2 times the money on a pro does not in anyway guarantee being "future proof" for twice the time (say 6-7 years) of the iPad 2017 - so why not save some cash now.

Based on my usage, it seemed fair assessment and I went ahead with the iPad 2017 (non pro).

In your case, I see you do not intend to use the pencil or the keyboard. So you are essentially planning to buy it for the hardware - the screen and the RAM. Plus you seem concerned about the price tag of the pro. If I may suggest, take a look at the iPad and iPad pro in person at a store like bestbuy and see if you can live with the iPad 2017. If you absolutely cannot live with it, consider the pro. If not, iPad 2017 will suffice for the next 2-3 years and depending on your situation/need, you can get the latest model prevalent at that time.
 
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I think for you there is a chance you might regret buying the iPad 2017.

Having come from the Air 2 i think you may be unhappy with the lack of laminated display. Plus you are already showing concern about future updates slowing your iPad. I think 2GB is going to be a problem in the future more so than the A9 chips power.

The 3 year requirement you stated makes the 10.5 Pro a no brainer i think.
 
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CatherineVeraGat said:
But the iPad Pro has 2GB of memory. It wouldn't make sense that it will make that big of a difference.
Click to expand...

The 9.7 Pro has 2 GB of Ram. The new iPad Pro's are assumed to have 4 GB of Ram. Depending on performance, 4 GB can make a significance difference.
 
How do you know that the new iPad Pro 10.5 inch is going to have 4GB of memory meanwhile it comes out with 2GB of memory? The benchmarks aren't out yet for both iPad Pros.
 
CatherineVeraGat said:
How do you know that the new iPad Pro 10.5 inch is going to have 4GB of memory meanwhile it comes out with 2GB of memory? The benchmarks aren't out yet for both iPad Pros.
Click to expand...

It's been confirmed by Serenity Caldwell from iMore. Both models will have 4 GB of Ram. The 12.9 already has 4 GB of Ram from the 2015 Pro and now the 2017 12.9 iPad Pro will also retain 4 GB of Ram. The 10.5 will also incorporate 4 GB of Ram.

https://www.imore.com/ipad-pro-2?amp
 
So many reasons to do both...

The single thing putting me off the iPad 2017 is the 2GB of RAM..
The single thing putting me off the iPad Pro 256GB is the price!!!
 
SB-MBP said:
So many reasons to do both...

The single thing putting me off the iPad 2017 is the 2GB of RAM..
The single thing putting me off the iPad Pro 256GB is the price!!!
Click to expand...
Another thing to consider... Apple released that iPad in 2017 with 2GB. This is an indicator that Apple is extending the useful life of the 2GB RAM tier for quite a bit longer. The Air 2 is still running fine for many uses 2.5 years later. I think the 2017 iPad will be good for at least 2 years. (splitwindow stuff would really tax it though)

If I weren't still on a mission to push my Pro towards acting like a converged device, I'd ditch my 12.9 Pro, Mini 4, and pick up a 2017 iPad, a Belkin ultrathin keyboard case, and use my DotPen for notes. And depending how iOS 11 plays out, I might actually do that. :D
 
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Honestly I'm leaning towards the 2017 iPad right now. I'm still considering every one of the excellent points made on the thread and look forward to taking onboard more peoples opinions and advice as they keep coming!

And when I do finally make a choice I'll make a thread and possibly a review of the experience going from Mac to Air 2 to final choice of iPad!
 
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