I suspect you just chaffed the knickers of some of the pre-M4 ProMotion crowd.
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Review: Three Weeks With the M2 iPad Air
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Well...figuratively.
Yes, when nothing is moving. But in motion it is starkly better. I also understand that video content is not 120Hz either, most content isn't.
However, scrolling and cursor movement are noticeable. It doesn't have to be 120Hz, but I have enough high refresh rate displays now between my MacBook, iPhone, iPad Pro, and desktop monitor, that when I see one that is 60Hz it looks almost broken. It's fine, but I wouldn't want to deal with it on my own personal displays anymore.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of reason for Apple to not offer at least 90Hz standard. That is still noticeably better than 60 to the point that it doesn't look bad like 60 does to me now. As far as I've seen, especially on mobile, literally every other vendor is now 90Hz or better on anything over $300, if that.
Apple still gets its displays from third party vendors, at some point they will have to move just because it will be cheaper to use the same technology everything else is.
i am not 100% sure how to confirm it on iPadOS but can anyone confirm if the M2 iPad Air has the ProRes media engines because when I look on Apple's spec sheets they don't mention like they do on the M2 Pros or M2 MacBooks.
This is deliberately so. Apple (I think) wants to convert a lot of Mac purchases to iPad. Why? AppStore commissions. I mean, the latest chip in an iPad first, nice keyboard and landscape camera. This is supposed to be your next laptop.
All M2 chips are build the same (although Apple bins broken GPU cores into separate 8c, 9c, and 10c variety). So all M2 chips have the same media engine.
EDIT: Both chips support ProRes via media engine but what the iPad Pro can do, but not the iPad Air, is allow the 12MP 4K wide camera to shoot 4K in a ProRes format. So its a camera difference but not a chip difference.
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I looked at both Air and Pro, boy, the screen is the difference, it's just awesome on the Pro. If I had the cash right now, I would definitely go Pro. I have the pro from 2017, the battery just has juice for 4 hours, but the Air isn't what I want, I want the Pro, because of the display, it's just awesome. I don't need the power, the display makes all the difference.
Not sure that's right. Mini 6 has USB-C only and works fine off my TB3 dock.
TouchID is WAY more reliable than FaceID. My SE opens every single time I touch the power button. My iPad Pro 12.9 is so hit and miss with FaceID. Glasses on. Glasses off. My finger is too close to the camera. Slightly at the wrong angle. No option when it fails the first time to just skip to entering the PIN and instead I have to go through the process a second time before it finally lets me enter the PIN. So, in the end, turned it off. 1234 and straight in.
So am I right in thinking the M2 chip just hasn’t got Hardware Acceleration enabled for ProRes in iPad Air but the Media Engine is present to support playback?
On both Air and Pro, the M2 media engine can both encode and decode to ProRes. So if you want to take footage from a Sony or Fujitsu camera and encode it to ProRes for editing in Final Cut Pro, you can do that using the 3x hardware acceleration of the media engine—just like an M2 iPad Pro or M2 MacBook Air.
What you can't do is use your iPad Air's wide-angle camera and shoot footage in 4K ProRes. It will only shoot in what I assume is HVEC (H.265) like previous iPads. So its only the camera that is limited, not the M2 chip.
You've clearly not done a side by side. I ordered an M2 Air and a refurb M2 Pro at the same time. The latter was $150 cheaper and is the far better device to use day to day. The display difference is enormous. Plus FaceID, plus much better speakers.
I was in Best Buy to check out which new iPad to replace my 2017 iPad Pro. I looked at the iPad Pro first and it looked great, then I stepped over to the Air and the very first thing I noticed was how bad the screen looked. The lack of ProMotion really stood out, and the screen quality looked much worse compared to the iPad Pro.
That said, after the initial shock I could probably get used to going back to the 60Hz screen if I really really had to.
Meanwhile the majority of the time people here are using computers at libraries or at work and I guarantee they never cared about ProMotion.
ProMotion makes sense on an iPhone because the display is small so you are constantly scrolling. But on an iPad you're probably staying on a webpage without scrolling at least 4x as much than on an iPhone. Meaning on an iPhone you're probably scrolling every 15 seconds when reading an article or browsing the web, while on an iPad you're probably scrolling every minute because there is much more to read and view in one screen.
ProMotion makes sense on an iPhone because the display is small so you are constantly scrolling. But on an iPad you're probably staying on a webpage without scrolling at least 4x as much than on an iPhone. Meaning on an iPhone you're probably scrolling every 15 seconds when reading an article or browsing the web, while on an iPad you're probably scrolling every minute because there is much more to read and view in one screen.
I understand upselling the 120hz, but not the variable refresh rate, unless you mean Apple is upselling better battery efficiency due to the variable refresh rate. But that doesn’t seem like what attracts most people to ProMotion as much as the 120hz does.
Or maybe the battery life improvement is only worth it for 120hz displays since they are double the refresh rate of 60hz. Maybe for 60hz the energy savings would be too negligible so it’s not worth implementing.
Regarding the "cores" mistake....
Of course! Even they get confused with all these marketing bull**** that basically serve only to quickly empty people's wallets. This is the real 'magic' of Apple.
Of course! Even they get confused with all these marketing bull**** that basically serve only to quickly empty people's wallets. This is the real 'magic' of Apple.
dude, do you know that Pro Motion is 1hz-120hz? meaning it can be waaaayyyyyyy more battery saving than constant 60hz.
Can't say I notice it too much on my 2018 iPad Pro, but it's extremely noticeable on my 144Hz desktop monitor. Every time I scroll a document / web page.
As with certain other features, withholding 120Hz for the Pro models is simply about market segmentation - they have to offer enough differences to justify the higher pricing tier. I doubt 120Hz panels cost much more. Especially on the iPhone, where all models already use OLED, with its fast pixel response.
As with certain other features, withholding 120Hz for the Pro models is simply about market segmentation - they have to offer enough differences to justify the higher pricing tier. I doubt 120Hz panels cost much more. Especially on the iPhone, where all models already use OLED, with its fast pixel response.
Okay, that explains why my monitor feels so smooth when running with my PC but not when I plug my Macbook into it.
Yeah, I notice blurring when I scroll web pages on the Air 4, so a Pro screen would be desirable, but more so the better Pro speakers would be really useful for music making.
I guess getting better speakers, faster processor, better screen, double storage, better camera etc. for an extra £500 is probably a fair price, but just too much of a stretch for me unfortunately.
Not sure if you're joking, but your MBP should be able to drive the monitor at the same refresh rate as your PC. I assume it's a high refresh monitor?
The comment about pixel response only related to the LCD panels used by specific iPads.
It’s really noticeable. I tried two new Airs in an Apple shop. Coming from a 2018 Pro I could see the difference. Moving from Home Screen to screen was stuttering, as was opening apps and going into multitasking mode. It was awful after 5 minutes so I couldn’t imagine having that experience for years.
I’ll probably get a used M2 Pro as the M4 Pro is too expensiv.
Thank you for this, was incredibly helpful and taught me something new 😀
Admitted after it was highlighted…. That’s how errors are found!