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iPad Pro w/ companion iPad?

FineFuturity

FineFuturity

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 19, 2012
107
71
MA, United States
This sounds like a weird question, sure, but I'm just curious: do any of you use a companion iPad -- say, an iPad mini -- with your iPad Pro? Because, despite me already owning the 9.7" LTE model, I'm getting the urge to purchase a mini for lighter tasks. But on the other hand, with the 9.7" model being the more portable of the two Pros out right now, a mini also sounds a bit redundant.

Those of you who have this set up already: how does the companion iPad fit into your life?
 
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Well I have an iPad Air 2, not an iPad Pro, but I also have an iPad mini 4 to complement it. My iPad Air 2 is used exclusively at home and I bring my iPad mini 4 with me when I want to go out and bring an iPad with me.
 
I own both iPad Pros, and I felt pretty weird about it for awhile, haha. I still do when I think about it, honestly.

But I think it makes sense for me. I don't own a TV, so I use the 12.9" for watching Netflix. I also like the extra real estate when I'm trying to use 2 apps at once while getting stuff done (usually this is writing in GoodNotes while using another app along side of it).

Most of the time, though, I use the 9.7". I have the Smart Keyboard for it, and it's become my main computer that I use many hours a day. I also throw it in my backpack and take it with me whenever I leave the house.

Sometimes I think about how I might even like the Mini for some tasks...but then I tell myself I'm crazy :)
 
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I have a mini 4 and 12.9" pro, which I personally think is the perfect combination: the mini is highly portable and the perfect size for an e-reader and the Pro is the perfect size when I want to get some work done or watch a video
 
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Phil A. said:
I have a mini 4 and 12.9" pro, which I personally think is the perfect combination: the mini is highly portable and the perfect size for an e-reader and the Pro is the perfect size when I want to get some work done or watch a video
Click to expand...

this is the way i'm going. got my large Pro for serious and office work, but will purchase a mini for portible stuff - ereading, vacation stuff, couch messaging etc.
 
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Personally I cannot see another use case between my iPhone and my iPad. But then, life is short. Get the stuff you want and enjoy.
 
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4004786 said:
I own both iPad Pros, and I felt pretty weird about it for awhile, haha. I still do when I think about it, honestly.

But I think it makes sense for me. I don't own a TV, so I use the 12.9" for watching Netflix. I also like the extra real estate when I'm trying to use 2 apps at once while getting stuff done (usually this is writing in GoodNotes while using another app along side of it).

Most of the time, though, I use the 9.7". I have the Smart Keyboard for it, and it's become my main computer that I use many hours a day. I also throw it in my backpack and take it with me whenever I leave the house.

Sometimes I think about how I might even like the Mini for some tasks...but then I tell myself I'm crazy :)
Click to expand...
If you were able to get by with split screen on your smaller Pro, for the money you spent on the larger Pro, you could get a decent TV and a Chromecast to watch all the Netflix you want on a much larger screen.
 
I have the 12.9" pro and a mini 4. I mainly use the 12.9", take the mini with when traveling light. If they get pencil support for the mini, I will probably use it more.
 
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after i got my pro 12.9, i told my ipad 3 that if it doesn't want to get kicked out of the house, it needs do the mundane boring tasks. so now like a good little robot that's past it's prime, it does the background stuff like music, airplay videos, and workout timers.

the pro does everything / goes everywhere else (for "goes" i mean on vacation or long trips; i don't carry either around outside the house on a daily basis, that's what the phone is for)
 
Channan said:
If you were able to get by with split screen on your smaller Pro, for the money you spent on the larger Pro, you could get a decent TV and a Chromecast to watch all the Netflix you want on a much larger screen.
Click to expand...

Yup, definitely true. I don't think of it as a trade, though. I'm just not interested in owning a TV.
 
I have the large iPad Pro. But when the refresh comes out I likely will get the smaller one, as a companion iPad. I do not regret my larger iPad in the slightest. It is easily the best device I have ever owned for school and education. But there are some things I just want a smaller device for, like just casual reading and listening to music doesn't require all that screen size. I like that I would be able to carry it with me in addition to my phone likely, and it be like a personal notepad. My larger pro just doesn't fit in like that.
Oh and I think the smaller one will need to have LTE too because I'd want a computer on the GO like completely untether and not worry about draining my iPhone battery.
 
I also owned both iPad Pro units but ditched the 12.9 and purchased an additional 9.7. One for home by the Lazyboy and the other in the SUV for field work. The 12.9 was nice but just too big for my liking.
 
I wen to best buy today to get the 9.7 pro to compliment the 12.9 pro. It's soooo much smaller. It feels like a mini. I'm not sure yet if I'm going to keep it.

In my mind I'd use it when out and about but right now I take my 12.9 pro with me almost everywhere and while the 9.7 is lighter, the 12.9 doesn't feel as cramped.
 
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I already have a mini2 with the 12.9 pro but find it too slow on ios 9 and 10 (it was great when new on ios7). Would really like the mini4 but A7 to A8 seems not a good enough upgrade, would rather wait for A9 but then Apple might ditch the mini!
 
What tasks do you need for companion work?

I have 2 setups really. An iphone as companion to my 9.7.

And a moleskin notebook as a companion as well. Bouncing around screens and remembering stuff not my thing. Mind not the alert steel trap it used to be lol. So I jot down notes as I go along. If really good info, goes back into a note app on the ipad later.

And I like the aspects of the older days of a good notebook and pen. Nice notebook with paper with a texture and feel that is nice, a good but reasonably price pen....stuff that turns stationary geeks like me and members of the society of anachronism on. Tried a few note apps that try for real paper texture, none have nailed it just right. Something about real ink on good paper...digital can't touch that sometimes.

There is the 3rd option where all the above can be companions to the 15" MBP. Main reason I never bit the 12.9 line. I reasoned it almost be like carrying my MBP around. Size wise anyway. Weight...I don't mind a few grams. Main hobbies are photography and videography. Carrying Nikon higher end, and heavier, dslr bodies and glass around makes you stronger lol.
 
Capt T said:
I have the 12.9" pro and a mini 4. I mainly use the 12.9", take the mini with when traveling light. If they get pencil support for the mini, I will probably use it more.
Click to expand...
I'm currently traveling with my 12.9 Pro... 2nd trip that I've taken with it, first time on a plane. This trip is convincing me that I could benefit from a mini Pro. (7.9)

The 12.9 is simply too large to use on a plane. And it is unwieldy to use while standing. (Most of my usage up to this point has been sitting... at a desk or in an armchair.)
 
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for those saying the ipp12.9 is too large for travel -- have you never had to suffer through the days of carrying / using a laptop through the airport and/or on a plane? THAT was a pain in the ass (think dell inspiron 500m or macbook circa 2009). the ipp12.9 is a piece of paper compared to those things. i LOVE whipping out the 12.9 on a plane and killing 3-4 hours on it
 
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sracer said:
I'm currently traveling with my 12.9 Pro... 2nd trip that I've taken with it, first time on a plane. This trip is convincing me that I could benefit from a mini Pro. (7.9)

The 12.9 is simply too large to use on a plane. And it is unwieldy to use while standing. (Most of my usage up to this point has been sitting... at a desk or in an armchair.)
Click to expand...
But will the mini pro actually happen, I am thinking a mini4 now but can't decide. The mini2 lags a lot now with ios9/10 and is frustrating but the difference of A7 to A8 is not huge so I am still on the fence!
 
I have the iPad Pro 12.9 and the iPad Pro 9.7 and they make a terrific team! I am typing right on on the larger device, sitting outside on my balcony enjoying some incredible weather -- the IPP 12.9 is propped on a stand on my table and I'm typing on the older version of the Apple BT wireless keyboard. I tend to use the larger iPad at home. Yesterday, I was out-and-about and had my 9.7 iPad Pro with me; stopped in for a late lunch at a Panera and after lunch spent a little time catching up on email and forums (including this one) on the iPad, taking advantage of the restaurant's WiFi. On trips I usually take the 9.7 iPad, too, as then I can carry it with me all the time and not leave it in the hotel room.

I used to have the iPad Mini, followed by the iPad Mini 2, but realized that although the portability was terrific that I really just preferred the larger 9.7 all the way around, even as my carry-with-me-everywhere device.
 
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I did a post yesterday on another thread:

I bought the 12.9 the day it came out, to read lot's of PDF's for my law study that I started last year. It's brilliant for that, legal sizes and A4 sized scanned documents from the 1900's-1980 aren't always that good readable and certainly not digital beside scanned pdf's. But as it happens I could use the big iPad for much more. I'm a consultant for SME's and I always disliked the screen of a laptop standing in between the customer and me. I like to write with a pen, yet I'm not going to write notes during a meeting only to type them out again afterwards. Here the big ipad Pro shine's. It's so much like a A4 paper-notepad, but with the MySync Nebo app it translates my writing to text. So the iPad Pro became my main work machine as well.
But al my law-study-books, readers and assignments are digital as well and I found that summarizing them by writing notes is the best way to learn what is in them. So I bought the iPad Pro 9.7 as well just a few weeks ago. Could have gone with the Air 2 perhaps, but I had the money and the 12.9 was so brilliant that I didn't want to skimp and be sorry later on. And it was a present to myself for having a more then fulltime job and getting all my points from the first year at the university and being allowed to enter a specific second year course.

When I need to pop out I take the iPad Pro 9.7 with me. Has everything, a bit cramped keyboard, a pencil and half the real-estate when compared to the 12.9, but it has all the data, LTE, I can write and type on the screen etc.
When I need to go to a client, I take both with me. Sometimes the client hasn't prepared so I can let him read on my 9.7 while I use the 12.9.
When I'm in the office I use the 12.9 and the 9.7 together. One for writing, mailing, iMessage etc, one for reading/reference.
When I'm studying, I'll use the 9.7 for reading the books/reader/assignment and the 12.9 for writing my answer/summary

Is it expensive? Hell yes, but together they where just as expensive as the top-of-the-line Macbook Pro 13"
Is it luxurious? Absolutely!
Is it over the top? I don't think so. Often at the end of the day both my iPads batteries are (almost) empty, so I use them well.

Apps I use a lot on iOs: notability, goodnotes 4, PDF expert/Documents 5, AirMail and since a few days Nebo.
Nebo is still a work in progress, but it shows soooo much promise. It works stunningly with the the main feature: handwriting recognition. but lacks several features that would make it really shine (sync, stability and better export functions are the most important to me).

One disclaimer, I still use my macbook pro with 27" screen for huge Excel-sheets and I still haven't found a really good OCR app for PDF's, so every now and then I need to do this on my macbook. Think about once a week. But it also happens that I don't use it for weeks.


https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/anyone-using-ipad-pro-as-main-device.2007716/#post-23745281
 
My ipad pro 9.7 with Logitech/Create keyboard is my main computer. I bring it at school as a tracher. Otherwise i use my 6s+ While im in the bus
 
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