Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPad Air Pro?
Kidding! I’m in the “drop the ‘Air’ moniker from the entire portfolio” camp - which I’m pretty sure is a camp of one. 😜

But a lighter Pro would be welcomed.
+1 :)

The Air is about 5 grams lighter (!) than the 11" which is an overall better tablet for about 50 more in the UK so I don't see the point for myself. I do get that the average user who couldn't care less for specs but cares a lot for colours will love the air though
 
PWM and nobody cares.
Ahh yes. PWM. The new “it’s pentile”… as in, a total non-issue that people simply use as a reason to complain about something. Every computer monitor in the history of computer monitors has been PWM and it’s never been an issue. Before LCD, CRTs flickered even more. But now it’s an issue. No, no it’s not….
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lcgiv
So mini LED was just a stopgap on the way to OLED?
I think the biggest issue with OLED was that the screens couldn't get bright enough. If you look at the S8+/Ultra for example, one of my biggest reasons for sticking with the iPad (other than the aspect ratio and to a lesser extent the lower reflectivity of the iPad) is the fairly dim screen at about 400 nits.

For someone who uses his iPad Pro outside a lot, that close to 600 nits is very welcome.
 
  • Like
Reactions: singhs.apps
Until MicroLED is ready to change the game.
That's just it. Unless peak brightness well over 600 nits is important to you, in terms of image quality microLED may at best just be a small incremental improvement in image quality over OLED by some measures, and no improvement at all by other measures. It's not expected to be same huge jump in image quality that OLED is over mini-LED LCD and traditional LED LCD. The other potential advantage of micro-LED over OLED is the lower risk of burn-in, but if my OLED iPhone and my OLED TV are any indication, I'm not hugely concerned about that for the stuff I do.

OTOH, microLED has been "on the horizon" for something like a decade now, but so far it's remained vapourware and is expected to remain vapourware for many years to come in the tablet space. I can wait 1-2 years for an OLED iPad Pro/Air. I can't wait 5+ years for microLED. I'd buy an OLED iPad Pro/Air in 2024. If a microLED appears in 2030, then great, I can consider that when I upgrade again.
 
I still use the original iPad Air from 8 or 9 years ago.

I don’t know if that’s a testament to Apple’s high quality, or an indicator that for some average (non-pro) users there hasn’t been any really compelling reason to upgrade.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Premium1
iPad Air Pro?
Kidding! I’m in the “drop the ‘Air’ moniker from the entire portfolio” camp - which I’m pretty sure is a camp of one. 😜

But a lighter Pro would be welcomed.
I would love if they made a pro mini as well. Like the size of the mini with the specs of the pro, I think it would be a big seller for apple.
 
I can only imagine what it would be like for me to jump from a 7th gen regular iPad to an OLED iPad Pro. That’s when you really notice advances in technology.
 
There will never be "Air" in product names of Apple's high-end products.

Under Tim Cook, product segmentation is king and the "Air" moniker is reserved for the mid-tier.
"Air"Pods Max are Apple's high-end headphones. 🤣

"I" was the name for mid-tier products after Jobs' return. "Centris" and "Performa" were the names for low and mid-tier products before Jobs came back. And later mid-tier products did not have Pro in their names. But still segmentation.

Segmentation has been king with every CEO Apple has had.

Tim Cook is not doing things differently.
 
Last edited:
I still use the original iPad Air from 8 or 9 years ago.

I don’t know if that’s a testament to Apple’s high quality, or an indicator that for some average (non-pro) users there hasn’t been any really compelling reason to upgrade.
Even several years ago I found the iPad Air 2 a touch slow (A8X) and somewhat laggy (2 GB memory), and that is way better than the original iPad Air (A7 + 1 GB), so I guess we have different thresholds. I gave our two iPad Air 2s to our two kids, and got myself an iPad Pro 10.5 (A10X + 4 GB) and my wife an iPad 7th generation (A10 + 3 GB).

The kids are fine with the iPad Air 2s though.

I can only imagine what it would be like for me to jump from a 7th gen regular iPad to an OLED iPad Pro. That’s when you really notice advances in technology.
In terms of performance I find the iPad 7th generation acceptable. Not blistering fast but more than fine for light mainstream usage. If there is a lot of ambient light, I also find the screen acceptable. However, in low light it suffers since it is IPS LED LCD.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: TechRunner
Even several years ago I found the iPad Air 2 a touch slow (A8X) and somewhat laggy (2 GB memory), and that is way better than the original iPad Air (A7 + 1 GB), so I guess we have different thresholds. I gave our two iPad Air 2s to our two kids, and got myself an iPad Pro 10.5 (A10X + 4 GB) and my wife an iPad 7th generation (A10 + 3 GB).

The kids are fine with the iPad Air 2s though.


In terms of performance I find the iPad 7th generation acceptable. Not blistering fast but more than fine for light mainstream usage. If there is a lot of ambient light, I also find the screen acceptable. However, in low light it suffers since it is IPS LED LCD.
Yes agree the last iOS for it made it a bit slow. But for my kid to do FaceTime and Zoom, it’s good enough.
 
No, even the side bezels are much bigger on the 9.7".
The 11" iPP's bezels are around 1/8" narrower than the 9.7" iPP's side bezels, hardly a difference which will affect your ability to hold it, especially since they ignore accidental touches at the screen edge. When I had both iPads, I didn't notice any difference in that regard.
 
So producing final prototypes but still 2 years away?
There seems to be a weirdly common misconception in which people think apple is working on their new device designs right up until the moment they release. Reminds me of the Series 7 where people think apple "last minute" changed the design as if it wasn't settled 6+ months before it came out. For iPhones they're probably over a year in advance. 2 Years doesn't sound that odd especially considering supply chain issues.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.