Thinking of upgrading my 2016 iPad pro. Will I notice much difference? Thanks
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iPad is the 2020 pro 11" a worthy upgrade over the 2016 9.7" pro.
- Thread starter richard371
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Enormous difference IMO. YMMV. Depends what you use it for, and your preferences though of course.
I’d say yes, but only if you get/need the magic keyboard. It’s been a couple years since I handed off my 2016 IPP WiFi+LTE to a family member, but I don’t remember hating it. I did not, however, love the Smart Keyboard. I realize I’m only speaking to an accessory but I’m sure the experts on here can speak better to the difference in performance of the iPad itself, which for the light stuff I do (web browse, YouTube, Netflix, email, some photo editing) is amazing! If you’re looking for a machine closer to a laptop, but still an iPad, it’s definitely worth upgrading IMO.
Even the Smart Keyboard size is a big improvement.
Most ergonomic recommendations suggest that proper key spacing for an ergonomic keyboard is in about the 18-19 mm range. It just so happens that the 11" is 18 mm, and the 12.9" is 19 mm, and I suspect this was intentional on Apple's part. IOW, I think Apple came up with this form factor in order to reach 18 mm key spacing.
In contrast, the 9.7" Smart Keyboard is considerably smaller, with correspondingly less comfortable key spacing. It's not below 17 mm, which I actually find painful, but it's still not ideal IMO.
I went from a 9.7 pro to a 2020 11" and its a massive difference. everything about it is better 10x to 100x.
Its definitely a worthy upgrade. You wont regret it whatsoever!
Like a poster above, it’s been a little while but I went from a 9.7 iPP to a 2018 11” and have loved it. With the 11” I use it much closer to a full PC replacement with much smoother multitasking. The Magic Keyboard only made this even better. I think this is the first Apple accessory that made my hardware purchased in 2018 feel brand new again!
I did this upgrade last week and have no regrets. I got a smart keyboard which I didn‘t have before which is a great help, but the bigger difference is being able to use Apple Pencil 2. The new charging and magnetic storage make it something I use constantly rather than keeping in a case and bringing out (and losing, twice) occasionally. If you can afford it and find one in stock I’d say definitely go for it.
9.7 to 10.5 is night and day.
10.5 to 11 2018 is massive.
11 2018 to 11 2020 is a small to medium jump.
10.5 to 11 2020 is massive.
All of this assumes both iPads in question are new. If your 9.7” is older than a year, just upgrading to a brand new 9.7” will improve battery life by 50-100%. So night and day.
10.5 to 11 2018 is massive.
11 2018 to 11 2020 is a small to medium jump.
10.5 to 11 2020 is massive.
All of this assumes both iPads in question are new. If your 9.7” is older than a year, just upgrading to a brand new 9.7” will improve battery life by 50-100%. So night and day.
thanks just picked it up. Very impressed the 120hz, bigger screen, 6gb, Face ID sideways, smaller bezel. Only downside is another type of connector to remind to carry. Usb-c is the way to go Though. I’ll be glad when everything is usb-c. Went with the 256gb lte. Don’t need the lte/gps but being a techno nerd it will bug me if it’s not there lol.
That was the iPad I skipped. It was only given a measly 2GB of ram. That was the nail in the coffin. The 2020 has 3x that. It's a huge upgrade.
The 2017 iPad Pro 10.5 had 4 GB RAM. Same as iPad Pro 2018 11".
I think he was referring to the OP’s iPad Pro 9.7.
Truthfully, I also thought the 2 GB RAM in the 9.7” Pro was just lame, esp. considering it came out in 2016 despite the iPad Air 2 getting 2 GB RAM way back in 2014, and the 12.9” Pro getting 4 GB RAM in 2015. Even my iPhone 7 Plus released the same year as the 9.7” Pro has 50% more RAM. I personally stopped using my iPad Air 2 last year, after being annoyed with its RAM limitations for over a year.
That said, it all depends on needs and expectations. The iPad Air 2s are still fine for my young kids, and with the keyboards I got them, I hope they’ll be able to use those iPads for a few more years before needing an upgrade.
So now good is the new $300 keyboard? I dont really think I’d use it much but am curious. I have the regular portfolio case now. One you and everything up I’ll be in MacBook Pro 13 territory.
The Magic Keyboard is excellent. For me, it has increased my iPad usage and makes it much easier to type on versus the screen. If you don’t think you would use it, you can save the $300. I paid $289 for it on Amazon. It is also covered under AppleCare+ with my new iPad Pro 11.
We're talking about the 2016 9.7 iPad Pro. We all know how Apple skimped on ram for that model.
Thats key - the RAM has always been a sticky issue with iPads. My 6th gen has 2GB but its feeling older these days. Stil works good but Im getting the itch. Might have to scratch it soon.
No time like the present. Don’t procrastinate. Be a leader and show others what they are missing with a new iPad Pro (2020).Thats key - the RAM has always been a sticky issue with iPads. My 6th gen has 2GB but its feeling older these days. Stil works good but Im getting the itch. Might have to scratch it soon.
Bar the early models which just didn't have enough even for a single task paradigm (<=1GB RAM), storage has always been more of a sticking point for me than RAM.Thats key - the RAM has always been a sticky issue with iPads. My 6th gen has 2GB but its feeling older these days. Stil works good but Im getting the itch. Might have to scratch it soon.
I regularly alternate between Pro 9.7, Pro 10.5, Air 3 and 7th gen. They've all been fine for my usage.
Of course, comic and ebook reading don't require tons of RAM and I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that apps and Safari tabs will refresh sooner or later. I don't think that's likely to change unless we get 16GB RAM on iPads or iOS starts using flash storage for virtual memory.
Well, at least you can just buy a model with more storage if you need, up to a point. With RAM, there is only one option (aside from the iPad Pro 2018 1 TB model).