iPad Pro Somebody talk a bit of sense into me, please. Instant buyer's remorse...

[swedefish]

Warning: if you hate inane white vs. black bezel questions, leave now.

A couple of days ago I ordered an iPad Pro 9.7 which is being delivered later today. However since yesterday I have this feeling that I made a mistake in ordering a black one (I think of iPad colour in terms of the bezel, not the back). Black because all my iPads have been black. I mainly use iPads for reading PDFs but I will also use this one with the Smart Keyboard. Looking at reviews I noticed that most are white and somehow it looks as if reading black text on a white background might be nicer on the white one. Or will true tone ameliorate this on the black model? Also, I think the white looks terrible with the keyboard, but ultimately I'm concerned about functionality, not looks.

Someone, please talk some sense into me and/or share your experiences. Thanks!

 

[hojx]

Warning: if you hate inane white vs. black bezel questions, leave now.

A couple of days ago I ordered an iPad Pro 9.7 which is being delivered later today. However since yesterday I have this feeling that I made a mistake in ordering a black one (I think of iPad colour in terms of the bezel, not the back). Black because all my iPads have been black. I mainly use iPads for reading PDFs but I will also use this one with the Smart Keyboard. Looking at reviews I noticed that most are white and somehow it looks as if reading black text on a white background might be nicer on the white one. Or will true tone ameliorate this on the black model? Also, I think the white looks terrible with the keyboard, but ultimately I'm concerned about functionality, not looks.

Someone, please talk some sense into me and/or share your experiences. Thanks!

There's a 14 day return period so feel free to try it out and return it.

 

[swedefish]

There's a 14 day return period so feel free to try it out and return it.

I know. I should have mentioned that I'm about to go travelling next week and over the holidays which is why I ordered it now. I guess I could use it this weekend and then change my mind and still be able to return it on Monday, five days ahead of my travels.

 

[ericwn]

I prefer white bezels on my iPads for the same reasons, I find it nicer to read white papers with text on those.

 

[hkoster1]

I just received my 9.7-inch iPad Pro space-gray with black bezels this week, coming off an iPad Air with white bezels.
I think the black bezels look very classy and I couldn't be happier with my choice.

 

[Channan]

I've been buying all white bezel models since iOS 7 came out. I feel like iOS 7 onward was designed for white bezels.

Only reason I bought a jet black iPhone 7 was because the back and sides of the silver model still look awful with the antenna lines, but I really miss having a white bezel on my phone.

 

[swedefish]

I prefer white bezels on my iPads for the same reasons, I find it nicer to read white papers with text on those.

Interesting! Thanks for the user feedback!

I just received my 9.7-inch iPad Pro space-gray with black bezels this week, coming off an iPad Air with white bezels.
I think the black bezels look very classy and I couldn't be happier with my choice.

May I ask what prompted you to change colour? Also, do you mainly use your iPad for reading of for video/photo media?

I've been buying all white bezel models since iOS 7 came out. I feel like iOS 7 onward was designed for white bezels.

Only reason I bought a jet black iPhone 7 was because the back and sides of the silver model still look awful with the antenna lines, but I really miss having a white bezel on my phone.

I love my white iPhones. I am starting to wonder if the reason why I don't mind staring at the iPhone screen for hours and hours has something to do with the colour of the bezel. Then again, I never had any issues with my black iPads either... until now that I'm seeing (or imagining) this difference. Gah!

I feel like every Apple purchase I've made has been like this, i.e. a big exercise in anxiety but usually with a happy ending!

 

[sparksd]

My Air 2 is my first device that has a white bezel and I find I prefer it from a purely aesthetic perspective. From a functional perspective, I can't see that it makes much of a difference to me wrt reading, watching videos, etc.

 

[bufffilm]

I think it's all in your head. But return it after trying it out for a week.

Maybe the unconscious desire to return it is because of the rumor of a new iPad in March.

you didn't pay full price for it, I hope.

 

[swedefish]

I think it's all in your head. But return it after trying it out for a week.

Maybe the unconscious desire to return it is because of the rumor of a new iPad in March.

you didn't pay full price for it, I hope.

I just picked it up. Will have two days to try it.

Did not pay full price, but seeing as the iPP had a significant price hike here in the UK this autumn, I effectively paid close to the equivalent of its retail price upon launch...

I did a lot of research a few months ago but never got around to buying it. Hence I ordered it without much additional research and wasn't even aware of the rumours. The rumours did not affect me, the idea of an even larger iPP that sits in between the 9.7 and 12.9 doesn't appeal as I really am looking for one that's portable enough to fit my camera bag (and the 9.7 just about fits).

I too suspect that it is all in my head. But there is that nagging thought that maybe I made the wrong choice... I usually get a lot of mileage out of the Apple products I end up loving and keeping so I really want to get it right from the start with this one.

 

[TrueBlou]

Honestly I find the black bezels to be better, I've tried white in the past but for two main reasons I never will again.

The first is just an aesthetic thing, I don't like how prominent all of the sensors and cameras look on the white bezel.

But my main reason is I find the black to be less of a distraction. My eye isn't drawn to it in the way I found it was with the white bezel, usually again to one of the prominent sensors. But in low light and darkness, I do a lot of reading in bed as it helps me sleep, the black bezel just disappears and all I'm left with is the glorious screen. With the white, I could always still see it even at night.

So long story short, I prefer black as it's less of a distraction but at the end of the day there's a reason there's more than one colour. We all have our individual preferences and no one can really decide for you.

 

[clauzzz203]

I have two iPhone 6, one white and one black (from work). Webpages and chat are strenuous on the black one. Also had an iPad Air 2 black, exchanged it for a white one. It's much much more pleasant, even with videos

 

[bensisko]

I have both white and black bezel ipads and here's my take on the whole thing: I hate bezels.

Seriously though, it's totally a personal thing and something you really can't put a lot of "hard evidence" to which is better. For a long time I bought white bezel iPads because I thought it matched my personality. Of late, I've been buying black bezeled iPads (reflecting, I suppose, a change in my personality).

From an experience point of view, I don't notice the bezel color having anything to do with what my eye is drawn to or one being easier to read on than the other or anything other than personal preference.

I will say that I chose a gold color for my iPad Mini 4 and have regretted it since (and will probably never get a color other than black or white ever again).

If anything, scratches and nicks tend to be more visible on the black than the white.

 

[swedefish]

Ok. So I have been playing with this thing for a couple of hours now, in fact typing on it right now. My first impression is that true tone is everything. I am not exaggerating when I say that after only a couple of hours on the Pro 9.7, I cannot fathom how I was even able to look at my old mini retina screen. As for the white/black debate, while I do have a feeling that it matters on iPads of past generations (in terms of use for text vs photo/video media), I sincerely think that is now a moot point. This display is absolutely fantastic and the anti-reflective properties are amazing. I'm keeping this one. What a beautiful piece of technology, engineering, and industrial design!

 

[TrueBlou]

Ok. So I have been playing with this thing for a couple of hours now, in fact typing on it right now. My first impression is that true tone is everything. I am not exaggerating when I say that after only a couple of hours on the Pro 9.7, I cannot fathom how I was even able to look at my old mini retina screen. As for the white/black debate, while I do have a feeling that it matters on iPads of past generations (in terms of use for text vs photo/video media), I sincerely think that is now a moot point. This display is absolutely fantastic and the anti-reflective properties are amazing. I'm keeping this one. What a beautiful piece of technology, engineering, and industrial design!

Good to hear you're so happy with it, makes a nice change hearing from a happy punter. But be careful, positivity towards Apple doesn't always go down well in these parts

 

[swedefish]

Good to hear you're so happy with it, makes a nice change hearing from a happy punter. But be careful, positivity towards Apple doesn't always go down well in these parts

I actually feel a bit ridiculous about this whole thread now, but it was good getting everyone's feedback either way. I admit, I thought true tone was more of a marketing ploy than anything that would significantly impact on usability. Again, after only a few hours I can already tell that this is a game changer.

Indeed, it does seem like the mood on this board has taken a negative turn. I am not really sure why, but I also stopped coming here regularly when Apple bashing over specs became the norm across the board and the online Apple community in general. I am not a creative professional or tech geek so I will never understand the constant obsession over specs for technology that works so well. When I pick up a device I want it to work and for it to last me a few years. And Apple usually delivers on those counts, at least for my use, which I think is still a bit more demanding than the general user's. I also strongly doubt that all the negative rants about the new MBP come from actual creative professionals who have actual busy work schedules to attend to. My only gripe with Apple right now is their pricing, but I blame our lovely Brexiteers as much as corporate greed on that count.

 

[stevemiller]

I'll just chock this up to personal preference. To me a white bezel material next to an emissive white screen has always looked bad. But gauging from responses thats clearly not the case to everyone.

 

[TrueBlou]

I actually feel a bit ridiculous about this whole thread now, but it was good getting everyone's feedback either way. I admit, I thought true tone was more of a marketing ploy than anything that would significantly impact on usability. Again, after only a few hours I can already tell that this is a game changer.

Indeed, it does seem like the mood on this board has taken a negative turn. I am not really sure why, but I also stopped coming here regularly when Apple bashing over specs became the norm across the board and the online Apple community in general. I am not a creative professional or tech geek so I will never understand the constant obsession over specs for technology that works so well. When I pick up a device I want it to work and for it to last me a few years. And Apple usually delivers on those counts, at least for my use, which I think is still a bit more demanding than the general user's. I also strongly doubt that all the negative rants about the new MBP come from actual creative professionals who have actual busy work schedules to attend to. My only gripe with Apple right now is their pricing, but I blame our lovely Brexiteers as much as corporate greed on that count.

I'm with you there, there's often a negative vibe these days with Apple products. Like you my main complaint nowadays is the price, though as you say, one need only look at the exchange rate now to see where the damage is done. Although Apple have raised their prices across the board anyway, for no good reason that I can see, the products don't appear to justify the increase compared to their predecessors. But it's Apple at the end of the day, I've grown accustomed to paying high Apple tax prices over the years.

The specs battle is another thing altogether, people seem to be getting more and more bogged down with the minute details rather than the big picture, which is how the devices actually perform.

I am a very heavy user and as a developer, there are many of us here I suspect, I get to see things many people don't. Such as monitoring the systems load when developing an app and running various tests. People would be surprised at just how much free memory can be available on even a 1GB RAM device even under load. When you get to 2GB or above on iOS there's generally a very large amount of RAM going unused for the majority of the time. I've often pushed the hardware to its limits just to see how it can handle things it's never actually going to do in the real world, such as decoding high bitrate 4K video and I mean proper 4K, not what an iPhone records. There's a stunning amount of power under the hood of iOS devices these days.

iOS is ridiculously efficient and rather than applauding Apples drive to keep the OS lightweight yet still powerful, people would rather argue that a slight stutter or reloading of a web page is the end of the world.

Hmmmm, clearly I'm getting grumpy before I rant on for several pages, I'll shut up and get myself a nice hot cocoa

 

[bensisko]

I'm with you there, there's often a negative vibe these days with Apple products. Like you my main complaint nowadays is the price, though as you say, one need only look at the exchange rate now to see where the damage is done. Although Apple have raised their prices across the board anyway, for no good reason that I can see, the products don't appear to justify the increase compared to their predecessors. But it's Apple at the end of the day, I've grown accustomed to paying high Apple tax prices over the years.

The specs battle is another thing altogether, people seem to be getting more and more bogged down with the minute details rather than the big picture, which is how the devices actually perform.

I am a very heavy user and as a developer, there are many of us here I suspect, I get to see things many people don't. Such as monitoring the systems load when developing an app and running various tests. People would be surprised at just how much free memory can be available on even a 1GB RAM device even under load. When you get to 2GB or above on iOS there's generally a very large amount of RAM going unused for the majority of the time. I've often pushed the hardware to its limits just to see how it can handle things it's never actually going to do in the real world, such as decoding high bitrate 4K video and I mean proper 4K, not what an iPhone records. There's a stunning amount of power under the hood of iOS devices these days.

iOS is ridiculously efficient and rather than applauding Apples drive to keep the OS lightweight yet still powerful, people would rather argue that a slight stutter or reloading of a web page is the end of the world.

Hmmmm, clearly I'm getting grumpy before I rant on for several pages, I'll shut up and get myself a nice hot cocoa

In another thread I called the obsession over specs a "safety blanket" (maybe more accurately a "crutch"). People are fine with what they have until they see so,thing else that has more, and suddenly what they have is insufficient and won't last.

Apple could upgrade the new 12.9" to 6 GB and the 9.7 to 4 GB and people would still complain - "Why must Apple cripple these devices????"

 

[TrueBlou]

In another thread I called the obsession over specs a "safety blanket" (maybe more accurately a "crutch"). People are fine with what they have until they see so,thing else that has more, and suddenly what they have is insufficient and won't last.

Apple could upgrade the new 12.9" to 6 GB and the 9.7 to 4 GB and people would still complain - "Why must Apple cripple these devices????"

It's so true, there's a subset of society that seems to constantly crave the new shiny, must have the new shiny because the new shiny is so much better than the shiny from a year ago.

But that new shiny quickly becomes the old and useless shiny as soon as the rumours begin for next years new shiny which is so much better again.

I remember the days when we bought things and used them until they had actually outlived their real usefulness, not just because there was a new shiny on the horizon we had to have because someone might have a better shiny than we have.

Somewhere along the line the marketers won out over the sensibilities of reality and the must have new shiny brigade happily followed them along for the ride.

Of course I could just be rambling nonsense as usual, I have just had my medication

 

[Channan]

I feel like every Apple purchase I've made has been like this, i.e. a big exercise in anxiety but usually with a happy ending!

2far

 

[stevemiller]

I'm with you there, there's often a negative vibe these days with Apple products. Like you my main complaint nowadays is the price, though as you say, one need only look at the exchange rate now to see where the damage is done. Although Apple have raised their prices across the board anyway, for no good reason that I can see, the products don't appear to justify the increase compared to their predecessors. But it's Apple at the end of the day, I've grown accustomed to paying high Apple tax prices over the years.

The specs battle is another thing altogether, people seem to be getting more and more bogged down with the minute details rather than the big picture, which is how the devices actually perform.

I am a very heavy user and as a developer, there are many of us here I suspect, I get to see things many people don't. Such as monitoring the systems load when developing an app and running various tests. People would be surprised at just how much free memory can be available on even a 1GB RAM device even under load. When you get to 2GB or above on iOS there's generally a very large amount of RAM going unused for the majority of the time. I've often pushed the hardware to its limits just to see how it can handle things it's never actually going to do in the real world, such as decoding high bitrate 4K video and I mean proper 4K, not what an iPhone records. There's a stunning amount of power under the hood of iOS devices these days.

iOS is ridiculously efficient and rather than applauding Apples drive to keep the OS lightweight yet still powerful, people would rather argue that a slight stutter or reloading of a web page is the end of the world.

Hmmmm, clearly I'm getting grumpy before I rant on for several pages, I'll shut up and get myself a nice hot cocoa

Ah but quoting system diagnostics on free memory is the same as quoting a spec sheet if all it is is a number on a page. Like you said, how devices actually perform is the real question, and I know I've had increasing frustrations with the interface locking up or having some other issue when actually needing the device to do something.

Anyway, I'm not trying to be contrary, just stating that not every complaint is just a complainer looking for something to complain about. And I'm certainly not someone just lusting for the next shiny thing. Honestly my 4S on iOS5/6 was the apex of Apple in my mind. Of course there was still a bunch of complaining back then, but it actually was primarily the 'new shiny thing' crowd saying how boring the OS was and how they wanted a bunch of new features and frills. I'll take reliable and straightforward, even if it is boring! And thats my rant

To balance myself with some positivity, I got the iPad Pro largely for its drawing capabilities, and I have no remorse in how it has performed in that regard!

 

[d5aqoëp]

I think the black bezels look very classy and I couldn't be happier with my choice.

They do. I got iPad Pro 12.9 silver and wanted black.

 

[Ledgem]

Glad that you're happy with your purchase. The True Tone display really is interesting; I remember my first day of using my 9.7" iPad Pro, I had to get used to some of the colors on the icons. For example, I didn't realize the green on the Messages app was so bright. I'm still not 100% settled on whether it really makes much of a difference in color accuracy (I never felt that my other iPads were having issues depending on ambient lighting) but the color gamut is definitely improved.

As to white versus black bezels, I'll just offer my opinion: I've used both and own both, with iPads and iPhones. The first time I bought a white iPad I wasn't sure about it, since the bezel seemed to sharply differ from the screen, whereas with black iPads it all seemed a bit more seamless... but once I started using it, it wasn't a big deal. My focus is on the screen. I can go between black and white iPads and it doesn't distract me. The only real difference is that in darker settings the parts of the iPad around the screen do a better job "fading away" when they're black instead of white, but I wouldn't say that the white iPads are distracting. And if the color of the background versus the text bothers you, most PDF readers allow you to invert the colors (light text on a dark background), which may help. But in most cases, I suspect people stop worrying about the color of the iPad once they start using the device and are drawn into the screen.

 

[laudern]

When reading a book I invert the colours so that I have a black background with white text. Less straining on the eyes. And I assume it conserves battery. I have a white ipad btw.