Purchase help - iPad 2018 or iPad Pro 10.5?

[thebookmagpie]

Hi, I'm hoping someone on here might be able to help me as I'm very confused. I've never had an iPad before and it's been some time since I've used any Apple products regularly.

I'm going back to uni in September and I'm looking into an iPad and Apple Pencil for note taking. I've had a look at both in person and I don't think the lack of laminated screen on the 2018, and same with other features such as the speakers and faster refresh rate. I'm really concerned about it coming with only 2GB of RAM. I'm generally a Windows/Android user and this seems really low - but I am aware that iOS devices are generally better optimised to not need anywhere near as much RAM as the equivalent Android device, for example.

I guess what I'm asking is how futureproof regular iOS users would expect 2GB of RAM to be? Ideally I want to be able to use this device for 3+ years without significant slowdown. I don't have enough knowledge of iOS devices to really know what I'm looking at in terms of what the specs mean in a practical sense.

If there's any other information I can provide that would help please just ask! I appreciate any assistance you can give me.

 

[kazmac]

Hi, I'm hoping someone on here might be able to help me as I'm very confused. I've never had an iPad before and it's been some time since I've used any Apple products regularly.

I'm going back to uni in September and I'm looking into an iPad and Apple Pencil for note taking. I've had a look at both in person and I don't think the lack of laminated screen on the 2018, and same with other features such as the speakers and faster refresh rate. I'm really concerned about it coming with only 2GB of RAM. I'm generally a Windows/Android user and this seems really low - but I am aware that iOS devices are generally better optimised to not need anywhere near as much RAM as the equivalent Android device, for example.

I guess what I'm asking is how futureproof regular iOS users would expect 2GB of RAM to be? Ideally I want to be able to use this device for 3+ years without significant slowdown. I don't have enough knowledge of iOS devices to really know what I'm looking at in terms of what the specs mean in a practical sense.

If there's any other information I can provide that would help please just ask! I appreciate any assistance you can give me.

Here's a question: do you know what applications you will be using?

I have a 12.9 iPP I am using for college and art. Based on experiences with this iPP and my 7+ running notability, blackboard (a University app for taking classes online), email and safari, I have run into throttling on my 7+ running 11.1.2 My iPad Pro on 11.3.1 with 4gb ram handles all of that like a champ.

This may not be your usage case however, but you might want to consider more storage and ram out of the gate, if you're looking to future proof. iPPs have 64 gb versus 32 gb storage.

I would say watch the stores for sales and continue to test both. You might not need all of the bells and whistles of the iPP, if I was in your situation, I would definitely take that over the 2018 iPad just for RAM and storage alone.

 

[thebookmagpie]

Here's a question: do you know what applications you will be using?

I have a 12.9 iPP I am using for college and art. Based on experiences with this iPP and my 7+ running notability, blackboard (a University app for taking classes online), email and safari, I have run into throttling on my 7+ running 11.1.2 My iPad Pro on 11.3.1 with 4gb ram handles all of that like a champ.

This may not be your usage case however, but you might want to consider more storage and ram out of the gate, if you're looking to future proof. iPPs have 64 gb versus 32 gb storage.

I would say watch the stores for sales and continue to test both. You might not need all of the bells and whistles of the iPP, if I was in your situation, I would definitely take that over the 2018 iPad just for RAM and storage alone.

This sounds roughly the same as my use case - definitely at least running something along the lines of Noteability/Goodnotes, being able to use stuff from Moodle/Blackboard (starting a different uni from my undergrad so not sure which one they use) plus Safari/email/FB messenger etc. I have a desktop PC for essay writing, and I need to keep things as light as possible as I have joint problems in my shoulders and hands, so the 12.9 is out (I know it's not that much heavier but everything I can do to keep weight down helps!)

I've managed to find some at round about £495 which is a pretty good chunk off the RRP. So I'm leaning that way but then wondering if I'm crazy to spend the extra! Like I said, I'm so used to using more resource-intensive operating systems that I find it hard to judge.

Thank you though

 

[JD2015]

You will need to factor in cost also of Apple Pencil and a keyboard (picked up a 2nd hand Smart Keyboard on eBay recently for 40 pounds) for your needs. I would recommend the 10.5 inch 64gb Ipad if you can afford it. If not then by all means go for the 9.7 model leased this year. Will be fine with your needs. I have a 9.7 iPad Pro which i bought 1.5 years ago. All apps run fine and quick enough. I use iThoughts, Microsoft office, omnigraffle, writing apps etc. All work fine in split mode and are adequate. What the 10.5 gives you is better screen and more RAM which helps with keeping apps and web pages loaded. Depends if that is important for you.

 

[crodonline]

Here's a question: do you know what applications you will be using?

I have a 12.9 iPP I am using for college and art. Based on experiences with this iPP and my 7+ running notability, blackboard (a University app for taking classes online), email and safari, I have run into throttling on my 7+ running 11.1.2 My iPad Pro on 11.3.1 with 4gb ram handles all of that like a champ.

This may not be your usage case however, but you might want to consider more storage and ram out of the gate, if you're looking to future proof. iPPs have 64 gb versus 32 gb storage.

I would say watch the stores for sales and continue to test both. You might not need all of the bells and whistles of the iPP, if I was in your situation, I would definitely take that over the 2018 iPad just for RAM and storage alone.

Your 7+ is running a different version of the iOS? Maybe that’s why there was throttling. Tricky Apple wants us to update the OS so sometimes devices on the lower end of the OS act up. That’s not always a RAM issue. Plus some apps work better on an iPad than an iPhone and vice versus. There are a lot of things you can do on the iPhone that you can do the iPad but there are some things you aren’t going to easily do on the iPhone so the comparison may not be the best case.
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Hi, I'm hoping someone on here might be able to help me as I'm very confused. I've never had an iPad before and it's been some time since I've used any Apple products regularly.

I'm going back to uni in September and I'm looking into an iPad and Apple Pencil for note taking. I've had a look at both in person and I don't think the lack of laminated screen on the 2018, and same with other features such as the speakers and faster refresh rate. I'm really concerned about it coming with only 2GB of RAM. I'm generally a Windows/Android user and this seems really low - but I am aware that iOS devices are generally better optimised to not need anywhere near as much RAM as the equivalent Android device, for example.

I guess what I'm asking is how futureproof regular iOS users would expect 2GB of RAM to be? Ideally I want to be able to use this device for 3+ years without significant slowdown. I don't have enough knowledge of iOS devices to really know what I'm looking at in terms of what the specs mean in a practical sense.

If there's any other information I can provide that would help please just ask! I appreciate any assistance you can give me.

I think it all depends on what you can afford and what you’ll be using, especially in addition to what you mentioned. I think the 2018 iPad compared to other iPads that are not the Pro is doing pretty good. I went to school with an iPad mini 2 and then a mini 4 later on, only 16 GB in each. I was on Moodle, emails and browser all the time. A 32 GB iPad would have been a dream but I got my iPads through my mobile carrier and I needed an affordable way to have an iPad.

Now I can afford a little more so I did 2018, 128 GB cell model because the pro was still out of reach, but I needed an iPad ASAP.

Will you be getting WiFi only or getting a cellular model? That makes a difference too. If you are doing WiFi only and want more that 32 GB but less than 128 or 256, then a WiFi 64GB 10.5 Pro would work if that price works for you. You don’t have to get a Smart Keyboard, any good Bluetooth keyboard will do, that way it’s only the pencil and the iPad.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I have the 2018 model, and it is pretty nice for the price. Regarding RAM, the iPad manages it pretty well. The main times you’ll notice the lesser RAM is when you do a lot of multitasking, and then you’re hit with a little more load time after and App gets flushed from RAM. If your Apps aren’t that intensive, you may never even notice. If 3 years is your goal, consider we have an original Air that is 3+ years old now and still works just fine with 1GB RAM. It’s a little slower, but it works fine for browsing and the like.

That said, I wouldn’t mind moving up to the Pro eventually. The laminated screen and extra speakers would be nice, IMO. Apple products have pretty good resale value, so upgrading isn’t so expensive if you take good care of your devices.

 

[kazmac]

This sounds roughly the same as my use case - definitely at least running something along the lines of Noteability/Goodnotes, being able to use stuff from Moodle/Blackboard (starting a different uni from my undergrad so not sure which one they use) plus Safari/email/FB messenger etc. I have a desktop PC for essay writing, and I need to keep things as light as possible as I have joint problems in my shoulders and hands, so the 12.9 is out (I know it's not that much heavier but everything I can do to keep weight down helps!)

I've managed to find some at round about £495 which is a pretty good chunk off the RRP. So I'm leaning that way but then wondering if I'm crazy to spend the extra! Like I said, I'm so used to using more resource-intensive operating systems that I find it hard to judge.

Thank you though

As someone with arthritis from my neck to my knees, I sympathize. Not carrying the Apple Smart Keyboard (or ASK which has been useless for me), has helped a little bit during the commute, but I also need a smaller iPad (I would rather not spend the money since my Mac needs replacing), so I am waiting to see if Apple release anything new in the Fall. I do know I will not buy the ASK again.

If it means your health and future proofing, then it's not crazy to spend the extra.

As far as weight, I found the 10.5 and the 2018 iPad to feel almost the same weight. I could be wrong here, but I actually preferred holding the 10.5.

I have an iMac to do the heavy lifting. But for note-taking, marking up PDFs and starting home work assignments, the iPad Pro has been a plus these past few months when I actively started using it for university. And I get to draw on it which has been a huge boon.

Your 7+ is running a different version of the iOS? Maybe that’s why there was throttling. Tricky Apple wants us to update the OS so sometimes devices on the lower end of the OS act up. That’s not always a RAM issue. Plus some apps work better on an iPad than an iPhone and vice versus. There are a lot of things you can do on the iPhone that you can do the iPad but there are some things you aren’t going to easily do on the iPhone so the comparison may not be the best case.
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True, it might not be RAM, but I saw a lot of page outs as well. Granted, I keep my 7+ on low power for the most part so throttling might come from there, but even when it's not on low power, it suffers from crashes etc. I've taken very good care of it the almost 15 months I've had it and do not want to to update to 11.4 given the crappy performance that 11.3.1 is on my iPad Pro.

You bring up a good point that the iOS might not work so well too.

 

[s2mikey]

I have the 2018 model, and it is pretty nice for the price. Regarding RAM, the iPad manages it pretty well. The main times you’ll notice the lesser RAM is when you do a lot of multitasking, and then you’re hit with a little more load time after and App gets flushed from RAM. If your Apps aren’t that intensive, you may never even notice. If 3 years is your goal, consider we have an original Air that is 3+ years old now and still works just fine with 1GB RAM. It’s a little slower, but it works fine for browsing and the like.

That said, I wouldn’t mind moving up to the Pro eventually. The laminated screen and extra speakers would be nice, IMO. Apple products have pretty good resale value, so upgrading isn’t so expensive if you take good care of your devices.

Yep, I also have the 2018 "base" model 9.7 and it’s quite a solid performer for my moderate use cases. I browse, consume content and do some gaming. A little productivity here nd there with numbers and pages too. No issues at all. I’m not a big multitasker but the few times I’ve had a few apps open I didn’t feel the device was struggling. I was "scared" of the 2GB of ram in the base model but so far after a few months of use my fears have been quelled. Of course, power users, big time photo editors or video editors, that kind of user may want to go with the pro. But I suspect that the vast majority of users will be fine with the base model.

 

[nia820]

I say get the iPad 2018 . I purchased the 32gb iPad 2018 last week and couldn’t be happier. It works great for my needs. I browse the web, YouTube, Netflix and a causal games.

I’ve experienced no stuttering so far.

The only thing I don’t like is there is front facing camera. The quality isn’t that great as the Pro model. But I have an iPhone X I can use for FaceTime.

If you plan on photo and video editing or heavy gaming then go for the 10.5 model.

 

[thebookmagpie]

I think I'm swaying towards the 10.5 IF I can get it for under 500 quid or so - I've seen it on sale for that price a few times now.

Has anyone here purchased one of the Apple refurbs? Any idea how they fare? They're pretty attractive as they're about £530 and you can get them on a years 0% finance.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I think I'm swaying towards the 10.5 IF I can get it for under 500 quid or so - I've seen it on sale for that price a few times now.

Has anyone here purchased one of the Apple refurbs? Any idea how they fare? They're pretty attractive as they're about £530 and you can get them on a years 0% finance.

I have a refurb iMac and it’s perfect. You’d never know it was used, and I was even able to upgrade to AppleCare. The iOS refurbs get new batteries, IIRC.

 

[Zazoh]

I'm 55 and used to agonize on purchases and upgradability. No more. With Apple products, buy the least you need and update every year or two. Treat them as disposable devices and don't look back. New technologies are released about every 18 months.

Many folks wrongly purchase the Pro models and rarely if every need the power and storage they think they need. My wife is the opposite so I suppose there is a balance in there.

I purchased the 2018 iPad with Pencil, Wife purchased the Pro we do the same things and both work fine, mine was a few hundred less and I won't feel bad when I go back and get the latest and greatest item in about 18 months.

I have a 2016 12in rMB as well, I'm a programer, iOS, Linux, and web, and also VPN into work. I have an external monitor because the difference between a 12/13/15 is nominal but when I am at my home office, I can plug in to a 27" monitor and not worry about it.

In my opinion, coming too far off of the base model on an Apple product does not prove have a proven return on expense for me.

There are exceptions. If you live and breathe on an app that creates elaborate videos or graphics, go 180 in the other direction.

 

[thebookmagpie]

Thanks - interesting to have another perspective! I guess I've been looking at it from the point of view that I am probably more likely to want to upgrade if I don't have the ideal device (eg I got a Kindle Paperwhite, then upgraded to the Kindle Voyage because it was perfect for me, so I shouldn't have bothered with the PW in the first place) so I'd spend less in the long run. We'll see though, I'm still monitoring prices to see what the best deal I can get is (from a trustworthy source ofc!)

 

[MistrSynistr]

There are lots of comparison videos on youtube of these two products, and almost every reviewer says the difference is negligible, especially the speed, and the only real thing you may notice is the gap in the screen vs the Pro, which will go away in 5 mins after using it.


EDIT: I have the 2018 iPad w Pencil. It is fantastic. No lag. Blazing fast.

 

[rui no onna]

Thanks - interesting to have another perspective! I guess I've been looking at it from the point of view that I am probably more likely to want to upgrade if I don't have the ideal device (eg I got a Kindle Paperwhite, then upgraded to the Kindle Voyage because it was perfect for me, so I shouldn't have bothered with the PW in the first place) so I'd spend less in the long run. We'll see though, I'm still monitoring prices to see what the best deal I can get is (from a trustworthy source ofc!)

What made you prefer the Voyage to the Paperwhite? Also, which PW generation? I think Voyage vs PW3, the differentiating factors are primarily weight, auto-brightness and page press.

Aside from the RAM difference, you can view a feature comparison here:
https://www.apple.com/ipad/compare/

Personally, storage is a deciding factor so between the two, the Pro 10.5 (512GB) wins by default for me. Mind, storage is something I use now (if Apple releases a 1TB iPad, that would most likely be a day 1 purchase).

Future proofing? Not as helpful when it comes to tech. I remember pricing a dual-CPU Westmere build ($3K, iirc?) and am glad I built something much more modest. It would've been depressing to see a $1K Sandy Bridge build trounce it in gaming and general use just one year later.

 

[Mainsail]

I have the 2017 iPad 32GB with a Logitech Slim Folio keyboard case and Adonit Dash 3 Pen. I paid about $300 for the iPad, $80 for the case and $40 for the Pen.....so, $420 total. This set-up, along with my iPhone 6s, basically handles all of my computing needs. Of course, the 2018 iPad is more powerful and allows Apple Pencil support, if you want a better drawing experience.

Anyway, I find the basic iPad more than sufficient for routine computing needs, and when coupled with a BT keyboard and pen, it can be reasonably effective for note taking, creating, editing, and annotating documents, spreadsheets and presentations. My needs are pretty simple: creating property management spreadsheets, producing slides for a review committee, marking-up/editing documents and PDFs, etc... The 2017 iPad has plenty of power for this kind of thing, so the 2018 iPad would work as well.

I might run into trouble if I really taxed the system with video production or other design projects that use a lot of RAM and processing power. Then I would be better off with the iPad Pro, but this really is not an issue for me.

While mobile, if you frequently need significant screen real estate so you can have multiple Apps open, or need to have many windows to click around to create large documents, then the larger iPad Pro 12.9 or a MacBook might be a better fit.

 

[spiderman0616]

I will never buy an iPad with a non-laminated screen again, so it's going to be Pro only for me from here on. I use my iPad for everything from simple content consumption all the way on up to music composition and podcast recording/editing/publishing, so I can always use the extra horsepower, nicer screen, and better audio. If you care about those things, you will notice the difference when switching down to a non-Pro.

 

[CrystalQuest76]

Go with the iPad 2018. Saving money is not a crime. You will then have money for more storage (128Gb) software, and a Bluetooth keyboard. You can also get a nice bag and still have money in your pocket.

You are young and buying the most expensive stuff and being in debt is not a requirement of life.

 

[BigMcGuire]

My wife starts PhD school at UCLA in the fall so as a graduation gift, got her a 2017 iPad Pro 10.5 with a pencil last week. It was eye watering expensive ($1200+) for the 256GB model. We traded in her iPad Mini 4 which I believe she got $150 for?

She absolutely loves it. As someone who takes tons of paper notes, she REALLY likes pencil and Good Notes 4 along with a few other apps.

I was so impressed I decided I wanted one too but for the price, there was no way that was going to happen. Spent a day watching iPad 2018 vs iPad Pro 10.5 reviews and settled on a 128GB iPad 2018 with the pencil. My total was $570 including the pencil.

Wow... I’m impressed. After 3 days with this thing, I’m migrating this iPad into my primary device category. Absolutely love it. I’m typing this on my iPad 2018 with a Logitech Bluetooth external keyboard. Love the pencil and am using it a lot more than I thought. Taking notes and brain dumping is so much easier than vs a keyboard. I remember a lot more handwriting too.

$1200 vs $570? Yeah... no contest there really. Comparing my wife’s iPad Pro - it’s a little thinner, tiny bit more responsive, screen tiny bit better but not enough to make me regret my purchase (or hers - she deserves the best) in the least bit. These posters above me are correct - I highly recommend the 128 GB iPad 2018 unless money isn’t an issue.

 

[theadamguy24]

Got a question for you BigMcGuire: have you tried any drawing apps on your iPad and compared with your wife's?