New Sixth-Generation iPad vs. 10.5-Inch iPad Pro

[sracer]

What matters is the output and the ease of achieving the same output.
You are still caught in comparing the interaction mode. If you want to do the same old thing on an iPad that you did on a laptop, then no it can't do.
But if you want to do a job, can an iPad better serve you in doing that? For many it can. For example teachers, sales men, students, doctors, sports coaches, etc have specific apps that help them do their job better, in a more mobile way. Doing spreadsheet on a laptop is more of a chore that these people want to avoid, than a requirement they love doing. If they used a laptop, they will be using a spreadsheet. On an iPad they have better apps to do that. What you are asking is, can they do spreadsheets on an iPad? First of all, if they must, they can. But the entire point is to find better ways to work.

Yes, "think different" is important when looking to use a different piece of tech to accomplish tasks. Focusing on WHAT needs to get done rather than HOW to do it usually bears fruit. However, there are limitations to that which are directly related to the limitations of that target device.

No amount of "thinking different" can overcome the hard limitations of a particular device. "Workarounds" are just that... working around the deficiency, which by definition takes more time or resource to accomplish. Now whether the cost of those workarounds are outweighed by the benefits of the new device, that is highly subjective.

 

[Michael Goff]

Yes, "think different" is important when looking to use a different piece of tech to accomplish tasks. Focusing on WHAT needs to get done rather than HOW to do it usually bears fruit. However, there are limitations to that which are directly related to the limitations of that target device.

No amount of "thinking different" can overcome the hard limitations of a particular device. "Workarounds" are just that... working around the deficiency, which by definition takes more time or resource to accomplish. Now whether the cost of those workarounds are outweighed by the benefits of the new device, that is highly subjective.

That’s an argument I can get behind. A shame most discussions wrap around the “nobody can do it” or “everybody can do it” mentality.

 

[ColdShadow]

Because this product isn’t called iPad Pro and costs $329. Basically you just want an iPad Pro that’s cheaper.

is the old iPad Air 2 called Pro?
because it has laminated display which is much nicer than 2018 iPad.
how about that?

 

[DesertNomad]

I am really hoping for an iPad mini 5 as are a huge number of pilots. The 7.9" mini fits perfectly on an airplane yoke and displays approach charts and other navigational charts. The 9.7" is too wide to fit comfortably between the yoke horns.

Please give us a new mini.

 

[EvilEvil]

Wow. Apple totally gimped the camera on the new iPad LOL. Too many SKUs once again.

 

[iReality85]

Anyone else notice that the 9.7” and the 10.5” are the same weight? How is that, when the 10.5” has a much larger body, screen, more components, etc?

Magic?

 

[Michael Goff]

Wow. Apple totally gimped the camera on the new iPad LOL. Too many SKUs once again.

So you think they should have thrown a high end camera on an iPad that’s the cheapest full tablet out there?

 

[pdaholic]

12.9 incher to rule them all!

 

[winglet69]

I'm perfectly happy with my iPad Air 2 for what I mainly bought it for - portable media consumption. The productive work all happens on the MB Pro with the tablet filling in with the odd email or whatnot. I'll leave the laptop vs tablet squabbling to the rest of you.

But as a serious amateur photographer, my one motivation to possibly upgrade to a Pro of either size is the ability to use it as a Wacom replacement with Duet or Astropad or the like. And that has me mildly interested in this new one solely for its addition of Pencil compatibility.

Note that I am not intending to use either the new one or a Pro for the actual editing, so I'm not overly concerned with processing power. Mainly as a cheap Cintiq replacement to make selections on photos and the like. In that context I'd be curious to know how critical the (alleged?) reduced RAM, and lack of a laminated screen might be. I have a feeling that the compromises they might entail for my usage scenario would be well worth it for the large price differential. And if so, the makers of the aforementioned apps just got a huge boost, and time to short Wacom stock!

If responses could be limited to those who actually know what a Wacom, Cintiq, making pixel selections of a photograph, etc are talking about I'd be grateful!

 

[mi7chy]

But, these are educational devices. The apps will be limited to Apple and school apps, so I'm not sure they will be stressed like even a family iPad would

Unlike consumer devices, educational devices have additional student and device management software overhead that take away available system memory. Out of the 2GB total, ~512MB is reserved for video memory, ~1GB for iOS and ~256MB for student/device management so that leaves ~256MB for apps and datasets. Ok for Angry Birds but good luck trying to run anything more complex like high resolution 3D anatomy, AR, split screen apps, switching between apps without reloading, etc. Add iOS update bloat over time and it'll be obsolete after 1 year. Why do you think Apple put 4GB in iPad Prosumers?

 

[Michael Goff]

Unlike consumer devices, educational devices have additional student and device management software overhead that take away available system memory. Out of the 2GB total, ~512MB is reserved for video memory, ~1GB for iOS and ~256MB for student/device management so that leaves ~256MB for apps and datasets. Ok for Angry Birds but good luck trying to run anything more complex like high resolution 3D anatomy, AR, split screen apps, switching between apps without reloading, etc. Add iOS update bloat over time and it'll be obsolete after 1 year. Why do you think Apple put 4GB in iPad Prosumers?

I’m going to assume you haven’t actually used an iPad with 2GB of RAM.

 

[jeremiah256]

Unlike consumer devices, educational devices have additional student and device management software overhead that take away available system memory. Out of the 2GB total, ~512MB is reserved for video memory, ~1GB for iOS and ~256MB for student/device management so that leaves ~256MB for apps and datasets. Ok for Angry Birds but good luck trying to run anything more complex like high resolution 3D anatomy, AR, split screen apps, switching between apps without reloading, etc. Add iOS update bloat over time and it'll be obsolete after 1 year. Why do you think Apple put 4GB in iPad Prosumers?

I’m going to assume you haven’t actually used an iPad with 2GB of RAM.

I'm going with @Michael Goff here. My 9.7" 2016 iPad Pro is still smooth with 2GBs and I guarantee I'm pushing it pretty hard. The extra RAM seems be required for 10" and 12" iPads that have better displays.

 

[Michael Goff]

I'm going with @Michael Goff here. My 9.7" 2016 iPad Pro is still smooth with 2GBs and I guarantee I'm pushing it pretty hard. The extra RAM seems be required for 10" and 12" iPads that have better displays.

I’m going to actually partially disagree with you here. Aside from a couple apps, there is no reason to have 4gb of RAM. You get more Safari tabs, better gaming, and really heavy productivity apps (say, rendering 4K video).

 

[BenTrovato]

I get people saying you don't need 4gb of ram on iOS, 2gb is just fine but you know what? Having 4gb is really nice. No tabs ever need to reload, I never lose any data. I can switch between 4 or 5 apps I've been using and not lose any information between them. Do you need the extra 2gb of ram? No. Is it ridiculous how quickly the devices with 2gb of ram lose data? Yes. I wouldn't go back, but I understand the savings.

 

[deanthedev]

Unlike consumer devices, educational devices have additional student and device management software overhead that take away available system memory. Out of the 2GB total, ~512MB is reserved for video memory, ~1GB for iOS and ~256MB for student/device management so that leaves ~256MB for apps and datasets. Ok for Angry Birds but good luck trying to run anything more complex like high resolution 3D anatomy, AR, split screen apps, switching between apps without reloading, etc. Add iOS update bloat over time and it'll be obsolete after 1 year. Why do you think Apple put 4GB in iPad Prosumers?

Apparently you have no idea how RAM is managed by iOS, based on the numbers you literally pulled out of....

I can run multiple Apps in real time (multitasking) on an A7 equipped iPad Mini with 1GB of RAM. Something that should be impossible according to you.

 

[Michael Goff]

I get people saying you don't need 4gb of ram on iOS, 2gb is just fine but you know what? Having 4gb is really nice. No tabs ever need to reload, I never lose any data. I can switch between 4 or 5 apps I've been using and not lose any information between them. Do you need the extra 2gb of ram? No. Is it ridiculous how quickly the devices with 2gb of ram lose data? Yes. I wouldn't go back, but I understand the savings.

Completely agree, four gigs of RAM is nice. And if you have the money, you should get it. I can only wonder what will happen is Apple ever makes an iPad with 6 or 8. Imagine how much heavier apps could be with more RAM.

 

[RogerWilco]

ePad => cripple creek.

For all those claiming the graphics performance isn't needed and 2GB of RAM is no problem, then how the heck are these wunderkinder supposed to use ARKit? Schiller pulls this crap all the time and gets away with it.

 

[jeremiah256]

I’m going to actually partially disagree with you here. Aside from a couple apps, there is no reason to have 4gb of RAM. You get more Safari tabs, better gaming, and really heavy productivity apps (say, rendering 4K video).

Granted, I'm haven't kept up on hardware as I used to, but I thought both the CPU and GPU share the same RAM on iOS devices. Doesn't that correlate to needing more RAM the larger the display?

Not arguing, trying to learn.

 

[halluxsinister]

True tone doesn't change brightness just annoying yellow tint colour temp and even the 10.5 is just a big iphone nothing special about ipads

True Tone actually is not what you think. It isn't "Night Shift," which more closely matches what you insisted True Tone is. Instead, True Tone automatically and dynamically adjusts the white-point of the screen to account for the color temperature of ambient light, so that the screen displayed looks the way it's SUPPOSED to, accounting for the color of background light reflecting off the screen. In short, it adjusts screen color so that it will LOOK like what it's supposed to look like, a bit like the phenomenon of audio noise reduction. You can think about it as noise-reduction for the screen. If you have two completely different light sources, one tinted heavily towards the red end of the visible spectrum, and the other towards the blue, and you have an Apple device with Night Shift, as you flip the two lights on and off, the display should change based on the average light color temperature received, to keep the appearance it's dislaying the same.

It sounds like Night Shift is the "annoying yellow tint colour temp..." you were referring to, and these are two completely different things. As for it being just a big iPhone, you're wrong. I have both, and one is an iPHONE, the other an iPAD, and while they run most of the same apps, and in theory are running (kinda) the same operating system, they are very much NOT the same device, any more than a motorcycle is basically the same as an SUV, because they both run on gasoline and can carry a person around. Also, hard to make phonecalls on an iPad.

 

[jamesrick80]

I’m going to assume you haven’t actually used an iPad with 2GB of RAM.

Right on, 2 gb ram is a mess on android but not iOS (tab reloads in safari would be a issue though). And I’m not a fanatic.

 

[mabhatter]

the biggest take away is that now Pencil is officially Standard on iPads. that opens up iPads for a lot more uses than before being limited to expensive Pro models. I expect the mini will eventually drop off. 7" tablets are margin bin stuff at Black Friday now and your not going to make a device cheaper just by making it smaller.

remember other Apple strategies too.. like moving off old chip designs (A10 was the first of a new GPU core) and the possible rumors of iOS apps on Macs soon. This new iPad is the "beginner point" for iPads now. That's insanely scary technology versus the budget Android tablets that just are grabbing whatever 3 year-old processors are on warehouse sale in China.

 

[Michael Goff]

Granted, I'm haven't kept up on hardware as I used to, but I thought both the CPU and GPU share the same RAM on iOS devices. Doesn't that correlate to needing more RAM the larger the display?

Not arguing, trying to learn.

Possibly yes, but likely no. The way that integrated graphics works is that it takes a certain amount from an overall pool. Having more RAM would allow them to throw more at the GPU, but I doubt that the GPU is using more than 512mb (if it uses that much)

My reasoning for this is that 512mb is what a MBA used (and even a 13” MBP for a while, I think they upped the 8gb model to using 768 or 1024 at some point).

I’m actually going to try to figure out how much RAM the A10X graphics chip uses and how much the A9X uses (there being no 2GB devices with the 10X and I think the 9.7 Pro has 2GB.

Right on, 2 gb ram is a mess on android but not iOS (tab reloads in safari would be a issue though). And I’m not a fanatic.

Safari is the thing that is going to use the most RAM for most people.

 

[krause734]

is the old iPad Air 2 called Pro?
because it has laminated display which is much nicer than 2018 iPad.
how about that?

iPad Air 2 (2014) is still better than this "New New" cheapo iPad and was cheaper ($299 on Black Friday 2 years ago)

 

[deanthedev]

ePad => cripple creek.

For all those claiming the graphics performance isn't needed and 2GB of RAM is no problem, then how the heck are these wunderkinder supposed to use ARKit? Schiller pulls this crap all the time and gets away with it.

ARKit requires and A9 and up processor. The A10 was a significant jump in performance from the A9. Not sure how putting in a processor that's 40% faster across the board is "pulling crap".

 

[anthony13]

surprised to see all the hate for tru-tone. It’s actually the main reason i got the iPhone X. In fact I’d go as far to say that it’s been the purchasing reason for both my iPhone and iPad. I find tru-tone subtle and natural. Night shift on the other hand is truly awfull. Sometimes I have this argument and discover people don’t realize the difference between the two.

To the topic at hand, the pro motion, screen size, smart connector and tru tone still make the 10.5 the iPad to beat for me. While the new iPad is a bargain, I love my iPad Pro and consider it my favorite device.