All iPads The iPad lineup is a mess and upgrading from older Pros is a nightmare

[Cassandle]

I have a A12z, 12.9” iPad Pro, with Magic Keyboard and Pencil. I also have an M1 Mac Mini. Both devices are great and mostly do everything I need.

The iPad is particularly fantastic - when I’m not using the pencil to write notes (I mindmap and annotate for some work I do) it is docked to the Magic Keyboard, and I type on it (mostly editing documents and email when I’m away from the Mac), browse the internet, watch YouTube. My use case is such that the Pro iPad was overkill when I bought it in 2020, but I could afford it, and I love the larger screen for notetaking, and I prefer the larger keyboard. I also use the iPad to read from when delivering presentations.

I don’t necessarily need to upgrade, except for 2 things. I have a scratch on the screen (lesson learned about letting your children draw on your expensive tablet) and the memory is completely full. I went for the base storage options for both the iPad and the Mac and now regret it. With the Mac it’s easily fixed with an external SSD, but not so easy with the iPad.

The iPad lineup now is a mess. The replacement for my device is now so unbelievably expensive that I cannot justify it. The 12.9” Air would be compelling, but has a worse screen, worse camera and worse speakers than my 5 year old device. I’d also lose FaceID.

The main issue is the peripherals. My Pencil and Magic Keyboard would be obsolete, and need replacing because Apple upgraded them - overcharged for them and didn’t make the devices backwards compatible (So much for loving the environment!). So then, the price of an Air with new keyboard and pencil, would be over £1300. The price of the Pro - where I’d also need to get a new Pencil and keyboard, would be almost £1800. I could save money by going down to an 11” device, but even the Air would be over £1000.

It’s absolutely crazy to me. I can’t be the only one with a Pro from the pre M series era who cannot see a valid upgrade path that doesn’t cost as much as a MacBook Pro (or close to the price of a MacBook Air and iPad Mini) or leave you with a device that is a significant downgrade in many key areas. If I didn’t use the Pencil so much (or use the iPad screen as a reader when speaking publicly) I’d probably go for a MacBook Neo right now as my second device.

What are people with pre M Series Pros doing? Holding on to their device? Settling for the Air? Shelling out for the newest Pro? Or moving to a laptop and giving up the touchscreen/pencil?

 

[Bigwaff]

Have you considered the used secondary market for the same iPad Pro model you have now, just with greater storage capacity?

 

[*~Kim~*]

I got a scratch on my iPhone 4 screen back in the day and applied a screen protector because it was annoying me. I never saw it after that, a screen protector wasn't my preference but it was better than constantly looking at a scratch.

If looking at the refurbs, it might be worth getting the latest Pro model that works with the accessories you have (M2?) so that it's an upgrade rather than just fixing a storage mistake and paying to get rid of a scratch.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Take a look at Costco. They were running a great sale on M4 iPad Pros for half the price in many cases.

 

[snipr125]

OP - the iPad Air M4 13" should still be compatible with your current Magic Keyboard (1st Gen), unless I am mistaken.

 

[*~Kim~*]

OP - the iPad Air M4 13" should still be compatible with your current Magic Keyboard (1st Gen), unless I am mistaken.

It is, but as OP alluded to in their first post, it means a downgrade in several areas: 120hz, Face ID and quad speakers would disappear. So it's fair to say that among new devices, it is a case of taking those compromises or replacing the accessories as well.

 

[Digitalguy]

You can get a M2 iPad pro for much cheaper than a M5 and keep your accessories

 

[snipr125]

OP i was in the same boat as you when considering upgrading from my iPad Air 4 +MKB when the M4 iPP was released. Would have loved to have just brought the iPP M4 and use it on my existing MKB but couldnt.

Considered the iPP M2 but it hardly dropped in price in the UK at the time. So after a bit of thought i just went ahead and brought the base M4 and new MKB on Amazon UK (£1,300 for both) using the 5 month payment plan. They are worth it IMO, both well built beautiful devices.

The MKB is now made of aluminium with auto sensing backlit keys, very nice to use and a clear upgrade on the gen1 MKB, and the Tandem OLED is just on another level, literally the perfect display if you don't suffer from PWM. The M5 version has 12GB RAM so even better.

You could then just keep your older A12Z as a backup.

 

[PlayUltimate]

I have a A12z, 12.9” iPad Pro, with Magic Keyboard and Pencil. I also have an M1 Mac Mini. Both devices are great and mostly do everything I need.
...
What are people with pre M Series Pros doing? Holding on to their device? Settling for the Air? Shelling out for the newest Pro? Or moving to a laptop and giving up the touchscreen/pencil?

Had the same similar dilemma. The battery on the iPP was dying (83%). Arguably I would have been happy just getting a new battery. But there was an annoying screen blemish. I looked into trade-in. bBut due to the screen issue, they would only give me $40 for it. This all occurred back in Mar 2025. During the summer, I continued to look at iPP M2s but the price never seemed quite good enough for a 2+ year old machine.
Ever since I was hoping that the battery would decay enough for a replacement. Went into Apple in December and they said it was now at 82% and above the 80% degradation threshold. Decided to look at the M4s that were on sale at Costco. Bit the bullet and bought one and kept the old one as a throw around machine. I ended up buying this I also use it as a permanently extended monitor for the MacBook Pro.
BTW, bought the 1TB, Nano cellular 13" iPP.
Here is a link to the 256GB version: 13" 256 GB iPP
This is less than the base 13" iPP A12Z when it was new. Well worth it IMO.

 

[Cassandle]

Have you considered the used secondary market for the same iPad Pro model you have now, just with greater storage capacity?

I’ve had some mixed experiences with the second-hand market for stuff like this. Apple is selling refurbished M2 Pros with 256GB storage for £929, which seems a lot for a 3 1/2 year old device and chip.

 

[throAU]

Yeah i went through this with my A10X ipad pro 10.5.

I ended up going for an M1 Air and regretted it within a couple of weeks

• no pro-motion
• crap screen (blacks), not laminated so using the pencil made it distort
• 60hz
• no truetone
• way worse speakers

… and once you add the new peripherals the total BOM between ipad Air + new pencil + new keyboard case vs. ipad pro with same stuff it is like 10-15% more spend for a MUCH better machine.

i upgraded from the M1 air to M5 ipad Pro 11 (back to Pro spec ipad) and haven’t looked back. The screen is incredible.

YES IT HURTS, but hating the new machine you buy for being a downgrade for several years sucks, my advice is bite the bullet (its a dollar a day or less over your lifecycle for the device) and just get the one you actually want.

 

[snipr125]

Yeah i went through this with my A10X ipad pro 10.5.

I ended up going for an M1 Air and regretted it within a couple of weeks

• no pro-motion
• crap screen (blacks), not laminated so using the pencil made it distort
• 60hz
• no truetone
• way worse speakers

… and once you add the new peripherals the total BOM between ipad Air + new pencil + new keyboard case vs. ipad pro with same stuff it is like 10-15% more spend for a MUCH better machine.

i upgraded from the M1 air to M5 ipad Pro 11 (back to Pro spec ipad) and haven’t looked back. The screen is incredible.

YES IT HURTS, but hating the new machine you buy for being a downgrade for several years sucks, my advice is bite the bullet (its a dollar a day or less over your lifecycle for the device) and just get the one you actually want.

The iPad Air DOES have a laminated screen and Truetone. 🤓

 

[throAU]

The iPad Air DOES have a laminated screen and Truetone. 🤓

Hmm

Well, whenever i used the pencil on it there was a spot that the pencil would cause to distort.

So whether it was laminated or not - it was a very noticeable downgrade from the 10.5 pro. The screen was the worst part of the device.

 

[FeliApple]

OP, I’d get an M4 iPad Air and forgo the differences without much of a doubt. I have the M1 Air (upgraded from a 9.7-inch iPad Pro). The speakers are decent even if it only has 2, and Touch ID is great. I haven’t had a Face ID iPad but it is not bad at all coming from Face ID iPhones.

The keyboard should be compatible. And I honestly think you’ll get used to the non-ProMotion screen immediately. This is very personal, but I’ve barely noticed and didn’t care about the difference when testing it side-by-side, let alone after upgrading.

Sure, those are, undeniably, compromises, but in my honest opinion, it’s not worth worrying about them. I’d get the M4 Air without a doubt.

 

[throAU]

OP, I’d get an M4 iPad Air and forgo the differences without much of a doubt. I have the M1 Air (upgraded from a 9.7-inch iPad Pro). The speakers are decent even if it only has 2, and Touch ID is great. I haven’t had a Face ID iPad but it is not bad at all coming from Face ID iPhones.

The keyboard should be compatible. And I honestly think you’ll get used to the non-ProMotion screen immediately. This is very personal, but I’ve barely noticed and didn’t care about the difference when testing it side-by-side, let alone after upgrading.

Sure, those are, undeniably, compromises, but in my honest opinion, it’s not worth worrying about them. I’d get the M4 Air without a doubt.

I’d go further and suggest looking for refurb M4 ipad pro.

You’ll likely get at an M4 iPad Pro massive discount and the M4 still freaking RIPS.

The better display, speakers and faceID on the pro is worth the price of admission even if you have to spend say $100-200 more.

FaceID on the ipad is a game changer. I was never a faceID fan before i got it on the phone but on the ipad it’s even better. Seriously, seriously miss it a HEAP on my M4 Max Macbook pro. I did my day’s work on Friday with the ipad Pro M5 and FaceID was just one of those features that made things less of a PITA.

I wish faceid was on the mac. I hope it is by M6/M7 or so, because M7 Max is my likely next upgrade once the M4 Max hits 3 years old.

Unlock password manager? Just look at the screen! Need admin privs? Just confirm and look at the screen!m. Until you’ve worked with faceID doing serious work, you don’t realise how much of a time saver it is. Its only a second or two, but for someone who’s repeatedly dealing with passwords for various things (IT admin) it adds up.

 

[Abazigal]

What are people with pre M Series Pros doing? Holding on to their device? Settling for the Air? Shelling out for the newest Pro? Or moving to a laptop and giving up the touchscreen/pencil?

My previous iPad was the 2018 iPad Pro. I used it all the way till 2024, where I then upgraded to the M4 iPad Pro. And yup, I purchased a brand new Magic Keyboard, Smart Folio and Apple Pencil to go along with it. And recently bought a new Smart Folio (again) because the old one eventually started coming apart at the seams.

I use my iPad heavily for work, so for me, performance matters. In this regard, I am willing to pay for the best, especially for a device that I expect to hold on for the next 5-6 years.

And just as well, since the 2018 iPad Pro is barely chugging along with iOS 26. Kinda irritated that the M5 came with 12gb of ram, but it is what it is. Also shame that there is no Smart Keyboard. I genuinely preferred that.

I guess my upgrade path can best be described as - buy once, buy the best, run it into the ground, rinse and repeat.

 

[Pezimak]

I have a A12z, 12.9” iPad Pro, with Magic Keyboard and Pencil. I also have an M1 Mac Mini. Both devices are great and mostly do everything I need.

The iPad is particularly fantastic - when I’m not using the pencil to write notes (I mindmap and annotate for some work I do) it is docked to the Magic Keyboard, and I type on it (mostly editing documents and email when I’m away from the Mac), browse the internet, watch YouTube. My use case is such that the Pro iPad was overkill when I bought it in 2020, but I could afford it, and I love the larger screen for notetaking, and I prefer the larger keyboard. I also use the iPad to read from when delivering presentations.

I don’t necessarily need to upgrade, except for 2 things. I have a scratch on the screen (lesson learned about letting your children draw on your expensive tablet) and the memory is completely full. I went for the base storage options for both the iPad and the Mac and now regret it. With the Mac it’s easily fixed with an external SSD, but not so easy with the iPad.

The iPad lineup now is a mess. The replacement for my device is now so unbelievably expensive that I cannot justify it. The 12.9” Air would be compelling, but has a worse screen, worse camera and worse speakers than my 5 year old device. I’d also lose FaceID.

The main issue is the peripherals. My Pencil and Magic Keyboard would be obsolete, and need replacing because Apple upgraded them - overcharged for them and didn’t make the devices backwards compatible (So much for loving the environment!). So then, the price of an Air with new keyboard and pencil, would be over £1300. The price of the Pro - where I’d also need to get a new Pencil and keyboard, would be almost £1800. I could save money by going down to an 11” device, but even the Air would be over £1000.

It’s absolutely crazy to me. I can’t be the only one with a Pro from the pre M series era who cannot see a valid upgrade path that doesn’t cost as much as a MacBook Pro (or close to the price of a MacBook Air and iPad Mini) or leave you with a device that is a significant downgrade in many key areas. If I didn’t use the Pencil so much (or use the iPad screen as a reader when speaking publicly) I’d probably go for a MacBook Neo right now as my second device.

What are people with pre M Series Pros doing? Holding on to their device? Settling for the Air? Shelling out for the newest Pro? Or moving to a laptop and giving up the touchscreen/pencil?

I think many are keeping hold of their older iPads. I bought an M4 11” Pro with 512GB of storage, Magic Keyboard and Pro Apple Pencil, and I agree it is ridiculously high priced. Obscene amount of money really.

 

[srbNYC]

I was going to create a thread, but for simplicity, keeping this here: What does "Air" mean these days? The basic A16 iPad weighs .05 pounds more than the 11" iPad, is .05" shorter, and .04 inches shallower. That's "Air"? The 11" iPad Pro weighs less than any of the 11" models and is narrower and shallower, albeit by similar fractions.

The naming convention is out the window. I want the lightest iPad, and the Air is the heaviest.

 

[DeepSix]

The basic model iPad should be called something like "iPad Basic". Lots of people will walk into the store and look at the iPads and see the basic one and be like "what is this, iPad what?" Because it has no name in the lineup. If you're going to have the upper two models have their own name with the Air and Pro, then at least have it for the basic iPad.

 

[Cassandle]

The iPad Air is such a weird device. As mentioned above, it’s not actually lighter than the other options. It seems like its main purpose is to tempt you to buy the Pro!

 

[5x10]

I’ve got a 3rd gen 12.9 I’ve had since 2018

If I was going to upgrade, I would get a m4 13 inch
There’s one with 7 battery cycles on marketplace for $850

 

[snipr125]

The iPad Air is such a weird device. As mentioned above, it’s not actually lighter than the other options. It seems like its main purpose is to tempt you to buy the Pro!

Once it gets Promotion like the iPhone 17 then it will be more justified.

 

[xxFoxtail]

I almost went from a 2020 iPad Pro to an iPad Air (M2? Can't remember). It was very hard for me to justify spending the money on the M4 iPad Pro which was new at the time. Though, I kept dropping hints to my partner and eventually got one for Christmas! I'm very sure I would have regretted that iPad Air as I don't like Touch ID and would have likely hated the screen downgrade.

It's now my most used device and I’m glad to have it, but at the same time I probably would have been just fine with selling my 2020 iPad Pro and just sticking with my MacBook and iPhone combo.

 

[Greenmeenie]

I feel that the OP’s pain is real. It’s always best to buy an iPad with as much storage space as possible. And to use a screen protector. But as an iPad owner myself, i feel iPads are still the best deal of any Apple product. Yes, they are expensive, but they last forever. I bought the 2018 11” iPad Pro with 1 TB and after 7 years, it’s still going strong. Even tho it cost me about $1,800 when i first bought it, over 7 years that works out to about .70 cents a day or $4.90 a week or $21 a month. I can probably get another 3 years out of it if I wanted at least. But i use it for my art business, so I will upgrade soon to either the M5 iPad Pro or wait for the M6 iPad Pro. Heck, even the new M4 iPad Airs are tempting since they basically use the same IPS LCD screen my 2018 iPad Pro has(except for the 120hz). But my iPad mini 7 is 60hz and i don’t mind that at all. I will probably go for another iPad Pro tho & will get it with 1 TB Again. Yes, they are expensive. But I’m sure the M5 or next years M6 iPad Pro will last me another 7-10 years as well. For me a good investment. Especially since many people don’t even think twice about buying a new $1,000 iPhone every year or two! And if I bought a new iPad Pro now, i’d be using it until 2036 most likely! When i think of all the art i will make on it in that time and how much i will use it, i can justify the price as being totally worth it.

 

[ucfgrad93]

I’d keep what you currently have, @Cassandle