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All iPads iPad -vs- iPad Pro

scottct1

scottct1

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 7, 2012
317
618
Connecticut USA
Hi there,

I am turning 50 this year and my wife asked me what I wanted for my birthday. Since its a special birthday I was thinking of asking for a new 12 inch iPad Pro.

However before I do that, I already have an iPad which is a year old with Apple Pencil. So I am just wondering what can I do on the new iPad Pro that I can't do with my current iPad?

I really don't want her to spend that much money if I can't really do any more than I can do now.

Can I get some honest opinions here. Thanks!
 
Unlikely you can do more per se (at least unless we find out something special come the next event), but it’s likely to better in most respects, certainly screen and power wise. If you use pro apps, it’s likely to be a significant difference. But as it stands, you can do essentially the same thing on them all.
 
it depends on what you do with your iPad or what you want to do with it.... So my daughter wants to learn how to animate, 13y... she already does really well on Procreate, on her 6gen iPad with gen 1 pencil.... For the past few days, she has been using my 2018 11" iPP to draw and animate. We are doing the lessons on Skillshare together... SO I am going to give her either my 11" or 12.9" to use, I did order me the new 12.9" today!!!

Now I looked at how many layers your could do in Procreate on different iPads. The Air 4 is supposed to be close to the specs on my 11", but it could only do 1/2 of the layers that the Pros can do.

So it might depend on the software and how you use it.....
 
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Momof9 said:
it depends on what you do with your iPad or what you want to do with it.... So my daughter wants to learn how to animate, 13y... she already does really well on Procreate, on her 6gen iPad with gen 1 pencil.... For the past few days, she has been using my 2018 11" iPP to draw and animate. We are doing the lessons on Skillshare together... SO I am going to give her either my 11" or 12.9" to use, I did order me the new 12.9" today!!!

Now I looked at how many layers your could do in Procreate on different iPads. The Air 4 is supposed to be close to the specs on my 11", but it could only do 1/2 of the layers that the Pros can do.

So it might depend on the software and how you use it.....
Click to expand...
I just mentioned this in another thread actually, the layers in procreate depend on the amount of ram. The pros have more, hence why she can get more layers verses the air.
 
At the moment I mostly use it to watch TV like Sling TV, Peacock TV, browse Facebook, read emails and the main use it to work on my servers over SSH. I don't think any of it is heavy duty use.

I do use my MacBook Pro now to do Zoom and Teams meetings. And I use my iPhone to take pictures.

I do minor video ending a few times a year in iMovie. Nothing too complex.

But I would like to use it more like a laptop. (and maybe not carry a laptop anymore) and I do the same basic things on my laptop. But would love the 5G connectivity and the ability to work on my servers anywhere and no longer have to carry a laptop with me.

Maybe I will ask for a iPhone 12 Max instead. (I have an iPhone 11 now)
 
Hmm, yeah, as was previously stated there are very few hard-lined functional differences between the standard iPad and the iPad Pro. The only one I can think of is the ability to use the Magic Keyboard, which is an incredible typing experience with an awesome trackpad.

At the end of the day the standard iPads vs Pro lines is like comparing a Honda to a Ferrari. They're both going to get you from point A to point B and have mostly the same functionality. But the Ferrari / iPad Pro is going to get you there in a completely different way - it takes all the things that are great about the iPad and amplifies them: brighter screen with a better contrast ratio and faster refresh rate, clearer/louder speakers, improved camera system, subjectively improved design, etc. etc.
 
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You don't sound like the kind of guy that would take advantage of an iPad Pro. No offense. The iPad you have now will serve you well for several years. Maybe go on a romantic weekend somewhere exotic.
 
Tbh the significantly bigger screen itself would be worth the upgrade. Just bear in mind the size might be a bit awkward if you‘re not used to it.
 
Just my two cents: a gift for your 50th birthday is something that’s important snd significant. An iPad as any kind of tech gadgets is something that will last only few years before upgrade it. If I will be in your position, considering my interesting and hobbies, I‘ll probably ask for something more “durable” like a fountain-pen (or a good mechanical watch, if I will be able do dismiss my dependence about AW 😂).
 
scottct1 said:
Hi there,

I am turning 50 this year and my wife asked me what I wanted for my birthday. Since its a special birthday I was thinking of asking for a new 12 inch iPad Pro.

However before I do that, I already have an iPad which is a year old with Apple Pencil. So I am just wondering what can I do on the new iPad Pro that I can't do with my current iPad?

I really don't want her to spend that much money if I can't really do any more than I can do now.

Can I get some honest opinions here. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Let her spoil you with a 2021 12.9inch iPad Pro 2TB Cellular (5G), you will not need another iPad for years to come after that lol.
 
I don't know which iPad you have but I'll share our situation. I've had a 9.7" Pro for a bit less than 5 years. It streams video fine as long as I have solid internet service. I have no problem surfing the web, checking email, or doing all of the day-to-day stuff most of us do. I'm looking to upgrade. Battery life on mine is not what it once was, though that's not been much of problem for me since I've not been traveling during the pandemic. An 11" screen in a form factor that is very nearly the same as the 9.7" would be a big plus to me. I'd really like the spatial audio feature of the newer iPads. And I think I'd get some use out of a Pencil and don't want to spend money on the original pencil to use with an older iPad. I can see the 12.9" screen being very appealing to many but the smaller form factor is better suited to MY lifestyle. My wife had an old iPad that she really didn't use much but it had become really dated. At Christmas I was going to buy her an iPad Air but she also wanted a few other kind of pricey things so I opted to buy her a regular 8th generation iPad. Kind of wish I'd gotten her the Air. Not because the 8th gen is not a nice device. It's a heck of a device for the money and she likes it a lot. But simply because she's started using it a whole lot more than I thought she would. Based on your description there's probably nothing you can't do with your current iPad that you could do with a new Pro. Now a larger or better screen or something like that might be attractive. As I've gotten older travel is increasingly important to me. One of my great regrets is not traveling more. Are there any places you really want to visit or things you really want to do? We're all different, of course. FWIW, 50 is just a kid. I started skiing a week before my 50th birthday and started Kayaking at an even more advanced age.
 
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