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Well thought out and presented review Dan, I will be staying with the 2018 until IOS makes use of all that POWER!

Same same. The 2018 is still more powerful than iPadOS so whats the point in spending up. Apple threw the M1 in the iPad Pro for streamlining manufacturing not for any other grand scheme. If they wanted to make the iPad Pro equally capable they could.
Add me to the list of people who will stick with a 2018 model. If I can’t run Logic Pro, there’s nothing else iPad could really do for me that it can’t do already.
 
it's all about what specifically you're buying for. purely just to make sure you have a fast ipad....i think the preceding pros were hardly sluggish.
That's why I went for a refurb 3rd gen recently. Until Apple starts selling "non-pro" versions of the 12.9" size, that's probably the best alternative.
 
I got to test a 2021 M1 iPad Pro 12.9” at work VS my daily driver, a 2020 iPad Pro 12.9” with an Intel chip and the difference is night and day. It’s unreal. The M1 is faster and feels a lot more stable. Also that Mini LED screen on the M1…I couldn’t believe the difference.
Your 2020 iPad Pro 12.9” didnt have an intel chip. They never made the iPad Pro with an intel chip.
 
This is the same story 10+ years in.

"It's getting better but can't completely replace by laptop yet."

And it never will. Give it up. Let it go. It's okay to use a Mac.
Yes, but this is the first time that the iPad pro literally has the exact same chip as the current Macs. Of course it’s okay to use a Mac - but at this point, it’s clear that the choice to try to force people to buy two devices instead of one is indeed a choice. There’s no argument left that it’s a matter of technological limitations. And it’s perfectly reasonable that people are frustrated that Apple is choosing to limit the functionality of this amazing hardware simply to try to force us to buy more devices.
 
This is the same story 10+ years in.

"It's getting better but can't completely replace by laptop yet."

And it never will. Give it up. Let it go. It's okay to use a Mac.
So... what? We just ignore the fact that it has already replaced laptops?
 
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Guys in case you didn’t get the memo, the term “pro” is defined solely by 2 pieces of software. Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro. Any other use case or application does not meet the mutually agreed upon definition of “pro.”

I’m so sick of hearing that. Because that undersells how much MORE Apple needs to do with iPadOS. And I’m sure even Apple would agree with that. There is a ton Apple needs to do to iPadOS, not just to make it “pro” but to just make it a better computer, period. The iPad IS a computer. It’s a touch screen tablet computer. iPadOS is great, but could be even better. MacOS 1.0 was absolutely brilliant, but that doesn‘t mean it didn’t need or continue to need improvements.

Apple has iterated and refined the core iPad concept to a polished sheen. But it’s time to expand that core concept with new paradigms. The multitasking revamp in OS15 is a step in the right direction. But I feel like Apples software engineering is moving too slow. I highly doubt Apple is intentionally holding back the iPad. I just don’t think they’re moving bold or fast enough. That’s all. Engineering talent and management is split between 3 major operating systems, and they all have to move in unison. watchOS doesn’t count because that truly seems like a separate team, and it’s not a sophisticated software development platform. I consider more like the iPod, which did have its own software, but didn’t drain resources from the OSX team.
 
Thunderbolt output bandwidth means you DON'T need a shed load of ONBOARD ports just a dock - Get with it
All your cables permanently plugged in, wireless printer and ONE connecter to the Mac that's the normal today.
 
If iPadOS was as dialed and supportive of pro apps (FCP, Logic, etc.) as some would want, wouldn’t that cannibalize the MBP line? I can’t see Apple doing that. Thus, I can’t see iPadOS hitting the functionality for which some power users are hoping. I could be wrong.
Apple already did that many times with iphobe cannibalize the ipod segment
This is not it
 
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If iPadOS was as dialed and supportive of pro apps (FCP, Logic, etc.) as some would want, wouldn’t that cannibalize the MBP line? I can’t see Apple doing that. Thus, I can’t see iPadOS hitting the functionality for which some power users are hoping. I could be wrong.
I think you're right that they are avoiding cannibalization. It's sad because they should just be trying to make the best product, whether it cannibalizes an existing product or not, but they want people to buy a Mac and an iPad.

It seems to me that if the current Apple had released the original iPhone, they wouldn't have included a music player on it. They would just have added continuity features that allow you to control your iPod Classic using your iPhone. :rolleyes:
 
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I got to test a 2021 M1 iPad Pro 12.9” at work VS my daily driver, a 2020 iPad Pro 12.9” with an Intel chip and the difference is night and day. It’s unreal. The M1 is faster and feels a lot more stable. Also that Mini LED screen on the M1…I couldn’t believe the difference.
I think you mean the A12Z chip for the 2020 iPad Pro. The iPads have never had Intel chips, only Macs have.
 
It seems to me that if the current Apple had released the original iPhone, they wouldn't have included a music player on it. They would just have added continuity features that allow you to control your iPod Classic using your iPhone. :rolleyes:

I wish Apple would do continuity for music! It's not the end of the world, but it would be nice to switch from my iPad to my iPhone and have it offer to just carry on playing what I was listening to on there. Instead I have to manually find the album/playlist and either start again or scroll to where I'd last got to. Like I say, it's not the end of the world, but when they have continuity on so many other apps, it's weird to me that Tim Cook can say that music is really important to Apple when they still don't offer that.
 
I have the 2021 11” pro (which is an upgrade from 3-yr-old $300 iPad basic). My hope was to do more on this Pro version with magic keyboard than I did on my old basic iPad. —And I do. Especially thanks to the magic keyboard. For entering text, the iPad-with-magic-keyboard feels as good as my MacBook Air, and is small and light for portability and single-hand consumption of media; that is, pulling it off the magic keyboard stand and reading a book in bed. SO much nicer to read a book on than any other Apple product, and thanks to having no added weight of a case when pulled off the stand, it is ridiculously light weight, making is much more pleasurable to use for such consumption.

But aside from email, responding to social media, or filling out minor e-forms, I don’t do any more input tasks on this iPad Pro. Certainly no creative work whatsoever. For years I have been restoring old photo scans using Photoshop Elements (healing and filters), and though I have tried such work on this wonderful iPad, it is not so good. I have tried using the Apple Pencil for fine healing, but it is harder to do when compared to using my Mac for same operations. And the great, easy programs I use on my Mac are not available on my iPad. (Look, they may be available in name, but not in similar capability.) I am a teacher who edits video to make short clips for use in my classes, and doing that on the iPad Pro is not good either (but I could forgive that, as a Mac should be better for an item or two). Lastly, the split screen routines are just horrible for me compared to windows. I hate the iPad split screen options!

For travel (looking up things in while in my hotel, emailing, and social media) the iPad Pro (11”) is all I need. I was able to try the 12.5” Pro for four days, and it is certainly too big for me and noticeably heavy when just wanting to read a book. The 11” was far better for simply reading and watching a video. To sum up: For me, the 11” iPad Pro is the most wonderful thing for media consumption; far better than my old, base iPad. THANKS TO THE MAGIC KEYBOARD it is great for simple text entry of social media and email. And that’s it. Not a laptop replacement.
 
I think you're right that they are avoiding cannibalization. It's sad because they should just be trying to make the best product, whether it cannibalizes an existing product or not, but they want people to buy a Mac and an iPad.

It seems to me that if the current Apple had released the original iPhone, they wouldn't have included a music player on it. They would just have added continuity features that allow you to control your iPod Classic using your iPhone. :rolleyes:
I don’t think Apple ever thought the iPhone will cannibalise the iPod. They must have known it will replace it. Maybe they thought there is a market for the iPod nano, but I guess the watch can do that now.

With the iPad Pro, Apple should ask how it CAN replace the MBA. Not how it can live next to it. the problem through is not the hardware but the software. It is too cumbersome to do many even slightly advanced tasks. Even writing longer texts, where one goes back up in the text to add something, shift paragraphs or even parts of sentences, is so much more time consuming on an ipad than on a desktop setup.
and I am not even trying to talk about trying to modify illustrator files or even keynote slides, where it seems to take for ever to even just change font size.

In my view the biggest problem Apple has is that they do not know how to make the finger input more intuitive. And I don’t think anybody has figured it out yet.
 
One thing that I never see mentioned is that iPads can natively run most iPhone apps in compatibility mode, whereas a Mac cannot.

For me, this is invaluable as I work in social media production. So, editing and uploading videos is much smoother on an iPad.

The other thing is, you’re able to produce HDR videos, all the while having a decent HDR display to view the content on.

When LumaFusion gets colour scopes in its next update, the iPad could be a viable HDR workflow for a lot of people.
 
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I got to test a 2021 M1 iPad Pro 12.9” at work VS my daily driver, a 2020 iPad Pro 12.9” with an Intel chip and the difference is night and day.

Was not a 2020 iPad Pro powered by Apple’s own A12Z chip? 🤔
 
People are still expecting M1 specific function. Why? Do you also expect CPU specific function for MacOS with different Intel chip?

The M1 is only a "A14X". Sometime I hope Apple would have kept the A14X name for the iPP so people would not get so confused and have unrealistic expectations.

Better external display support: yes please
"Desktop" iPad apps: yes please
System wide select objects using the pencil "lasso select": yes please
MacOS: No thank you, I have a mac for that.
 
I genuinely don't like faceId on the pro. When in the hands, my hands are always blocking the camera, or my face is always too far. Later is true even when the iPad is on the table. This is my first faceId ipad, and must say I prefer the touchId for this form factor.
 
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For me ipad pro sits in a very weird place, now with m1 in all new ipad product and m2 coming soon going forward if they dont do anything new on the pro front.

For me it would be very cool with a apple product that are similar to Microsoft Surface Pro, you have pretty much laptop power that works with all software in a format where you can use it without keyboard when needed or with a keyboard when you need that.
 
I don’t think Apple ever thought the iPhone will cannibalise the iPod. They must have known it will replace it. Maybe they thought there is a market for the iPod nano, but I guess the watch can do that now.

With the iPad Pro, Apple should ask how it CAN replace the MBA. Not how it can live next to it. the problem through is not the hardware but the software. It is too cumbersome to do many even slightly advanced tasks. Even writing longer texts, where one goes back up in the text to add something, shift paragraphs or even parts of sentences, is so much more time consuming on an ipad than on a desktop setup.
and I am not even trying to talk about trying to modify illustrator files or even keynote slides, where it seems to take for ever to even just change font size.

In my view the biggest problem Apple has is that they do not know how to make the finger input more intuitive. And I don’t think anybody has figured it out yet.
If you read any Steve Jobs books, they did know iPhone would cannibalize iPod sales but Jobs reaction was, if we don’t cannibalize ourselves, someone else will.
 
Guys in case you didn’t get the memo, the term “pro” is defined solely by 2 pieces of software. Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro. Any other use case or application does not meet the mutually agreed upon definition of “pro.”

I’m so sick of hearing that. Because that undersells how much MORE Apple needs to do with iPadOS. And I’m sure even Apple would agree with that. There is a ton Apple needs to do to iPadOS, not just to make it “pro” but to just make it a better computer, period. The iPad IS a computer. It’s a touch screen tablet computer. iPadOS is great, but could be even better. MacOS 1.0 was absolutely brilliant, but that doesn‘t mean it didn’t need or continue to need improvements.

Apple has iterated and refined the core iPad concept to a polished sheen. But it’s time to expand that core concept with new paradigms. The multitasking revamp in OS15 is a step in the right direction. But I feel like Apples software engineering is moving too slow. I highly doubt Apple is intentionally holding back the iPad. I just don’t think they’re moving bold or fast enough. That’s all. Engineering talent and management is split between 3 major operating systems, and they all have to move in unison. watchOS doesn’t count because that truly seems like a separate team, and it’s not a sophisticated software development platform. I consider more like the iPod, which did have its own software, but didn’t drain resources from the OSX team.
Agree, I handed down my 2018 11” IPP and picked up a 1TB 2021 12.9”.
Honestly can’t tell what I can do that I couldn’t with something that would be about 1/3rd the price.

ipadOS (I’m using the 15, beta 4) is just so fricken crippled. I went on a vaca in early July. Promised wife I wouldn’t bring laptop(MBP), was allowed only to bring iPad. I had to cheat, because I needed to create content in PowerPoint and adjust data in excel, I had to spin up a Windows desktop on AWS so that I could do these things effectively.

the fact I had to remote into a windows virtual machine so I could complete relatively basic work illustrates how much is still missing from iPadOS.
 
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How is your experience with battery life?

I have a 2 week old iPad Pro M1 (2021) 11" and use a Logitech Combo Touch Keyboard.
With very dim keyboard illumination I only get 6:45 hours of battery while only using safari 97% and notes 3%. No video, just surfing.

Brightness was set to 5 dots (out of 16).
 
How is your experience with battery life?

I have a 2 week old iPad Pro M1 (2021) 11" and use a Logitech Combo Touch Keyboard.
With very dim keyboard illumination I only get 6:45 hours of battery while only using safari 97% and notes 3%. No video, just surfing.

Brightness was set to 5 dots (out of 16).
Are you running a beta? That sounds awfully poor.

Have you gone into the power section to see if anything else is running? Did you set it up fresh or via a restore? Something doesnt seem right.
 
This is what I don’t get, all the reviews whine and whinge it isn’t a MacBook. If you want a MacBook get a MacBook, I only carry my MacBook around.
I think a lot of people in the tech press and tech community are just bored.
 
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