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iPad Pro What will it take to make you upgrade?

Mhotep

Mhotep

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 31, 2011
94
41
So I’ve been thinking about going from the 256gb 3rd gen 12.9 IPP to the 1tb. Looking at the reviews for ipadOS, I am in love! I almost bought but I thought maybe I should wait and see what the new one will bring. So I’m putting together a list of my must haves to get a new 2019 model, if it comes, or what I’m willing to put up with and keep what I got. The major consideration for me wanting a current model is storage, I just like the idea of having a 1tb 12.9 IPP. But a OLED display would be nice. How about anyone else? Is there something you would have to have to make you purchase a 2019 model if it comes?
 
I have a 10.5 IPP and the current IPP wasn't compelling enough for me to upgrade. I just use my iPad for browsing and emails usually just an hour or so at night. So, for that, it wasn't worth spending a few hundred just to get the latest and greatest. I'll probably wait til next year to see what innovations they come up with.
 
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I want more structural integrity and a fixed Smart Keyboard.

Whether it's bent out of the box or bent/damaged because of a minor impact in a bag/cover, the current flagship iPP is way too fragile. No, I will not swap thick-piece-of-plastic covers on and off my iPad. I will tolerate a Smart Keyboard cover, prior to its current iteration, but that's it.

I often need/like to use my iPP in-hand, standing, and cannot tolerate having the keys exposed on the back against my hand when it is in tablet "mode." I don't want to remove the folio to use it. I'd like to just wrap the cover around the device and have the keys hidden like before. Apple needs to fix yet another keyboard situation IMO

Those two things keep me from upgrading my iPP 10.5". If they are not fixed before I'm forced to replace my iPP? I guess I'll have to hope for the best, of course get AppleCare+, and try to get over the Smart Keyboard thing.
 
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Mhotep said:
So I’ve been thinking about going from the 256gb 3rd gen 12.9 IPP to the 1tb. Looking at the reviews for ipadOS, I am in love! I almost bought but I thought maybe I should wait and see what the new one will bring. So I’m putting together a list of my must haves to get a new 2019 model, if it comes, or what I’m willing to put up with and keep what I got. The major consideration for me wanting a current model is storage, I just like the idea of having a 1tb 12.9 IPP. But a OLED display would be nice. How about anyone else? Is there something you would have to have to make you purchase a 2019 model if it comes?
Click to expand...

Absolutely Nothing my life rule is to skip a full iPad Pro Generation. I was happy with my 9.7” Pro my 11” does nothing new. I could have skipped two generations. If it was for my 11” iPad Pro only cost me $350
Since I traded in at Apple my 9.7” Pro =$250 and I had $250 in Bank Of American offer to spend $500 in the first 90 Days. That’s $500 off.
 
I'd want reassurance that the cause of touch screen sensitivity issues has been identified and fully addressed so that my iPP investment doesn't result in me frequently wanting to bash the POS against a wall out of frustration . . I mean I totally get that many might not have the issue but there's users on these forums and elsewhere who have had it reoccur on replacement or newly upgraded models so as someone experiencing it on my gen 2 12.9 it's certainly cause for concern when I'm faced with the prospect of investing $1630 to "upgrade" my existing cellular 12.9" iPP with keyboard and pencil.
 
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Bring back OIS for the iPad Pro. I know people hate it, but my 10.5 Pro comes in handy for video recording at a moments notice when I don’t have time to grab my phone. Pretty ridiculous that an $800+ tablet doesn’t have it any longer.
 
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jardinager said:
I want more structural integrity and a fixed Smart Keyboard.

Whether it's bent out of the box or bent/damaged because of a minor impact in a bag/cover, the current flagship iPP is way too fragile. No, I will not swap thick-piece-of-plastic covers on and off my iPad. I will tolerate a Smart Keyboard cover, prior to its current iteration, but that's it.

I often need/like to use my iPP in-hand, standing, and cannot tolerate having the keys exposed on the back against my hand when it is in tablet "mode." I don't want to remove the folio to use it. I'd like to just wrap the cover around the device and have the keys hidden like before. Apple needs to fix yet another keyboard situation IMO

Those two things keep me from upgrading my iPP 10.5". If they are not fixed before I'm forced to replace my iPP? I guess I'll have to hope for the best, of course get AppleCare+, and try to get over the Smart Keyboard thing.
Click to expand...

While I haven't had any issues at all with bending out of the box or otherwise, and I tote my 11" cellular with me in the front of my toiletry bag when I travel, I agree wholeheartedly on the keyboard issue. I LOVE using the smart keyboards, but I am not a fan of the keyboard folio. It frustrates me that the keys are exposed when I flip it back and want to hold it to use with the pencil, or for any other reason.

Honestly, I don't complain a lot about Apple products because I generally love all things Apple (yeah I'm THAT sheep), but I just have to wonder who thought this was a good idea...

I bought it because I got it used in mint condition for about half price here on the marketplace, and I really need it when I meet clients out in public, but I would have never purchased it at full price.
 
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Hmm hard one for me since the iPad Pro meets all my needs. I hear it’s Impossible but haptic touch would be nice!
 
My 1st generation 12.9” iPP with Logitech case/keyboard still functions well for my use cases. For more heavy-duty computing I have a 2017 5K 27” iMac but I use the iPP for just about everything else. The speed is more than adequate, the screen is excellent, the Logitech keyboard is in my opinion superior to the iMac’s Apple keyboard in just about every way and much, much better than the recent MBP keyboards, and the iPP just works. For my use (email, forums, all the so-called productivity apps like Pages/Word, Numbers/Excel, and PowerPoint/Keynote, this device is beyond sufficient.

I’ve looked at the most recent iPP and I’ll admit to significant spec improvements though honestly little that is compelling enough to justify the cost at this point. That $1000 will buy a far more enjoyable case or two of wine.
 
Mhotep said:
So I’ve been thinking about going from the 256gb 3rd gen 12.9 IPP to the 1tb. Looking at the reviews for ipadOS, I am in love! I almost bought but I thought maybe I should wait and see what the new one will bring. So I’m putting together a list of my must haves to get a new 2019 model, if it comes, or what I’m willing to put up with and keep what I got. The major consideration for me wanting a current model is storage, I just like the idea of having a 1tb 12.9 IPP. But a OLED display would be nice. How about anyone else? Is there something you would have to have to make you purchase a 2019 model if it comes?
Click to expand...
7000 series aluminum.
 
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Just like it’s been with almost all the Apple devices and computers I’ve owned in the past 12 years or so... I generally only upgrade when a particular device can no longer run the latest version of its respective OS or it’s too slow for me to deal with it anymore. That usually means I can get about 4 to 5 years out of an Apple iOS device and maybe another year or 2 out of an Apple computer. I expect my 2017 iPad Pro to last me at least another 2 years.

I can’t imagine any hardware update alone that would really make me want to upgrade as the iPad in general is mainly held back by its software and not its hardware.
 
At this point I have no idea. With the 1tb, I have 6gb RAM. I highly doubt that any new version in the next few months will have anything above 8gb, which would be the only thing worth of updating to (in terms of RAM).

CPU will be a jump, but not massive. My 12.9 does literally anything I throw at it anyway.

The only thing I can think of is:

Better screen - I guess OLED at some point? I know thats a long way off but thats my point.
More USBC ports, or even a thunderbolt 3 port might be compelling. I doubt it will happen.
Some weird hybrid type device that can either run MacOS or create some non-technical reason why this new iPad is the only one that can have full mouse support (Yes, the accessibility option in iPadOS is a great start, but still someway to go yet).
I guess I could maybe see an even larger screen being compelling, if this thing really can replace my laptop then something slightly larger than 13" might be acceptable.

For the first time, I really don't know what they can do. It's one of the reasons that I don't think they'll bother with a new one till early-mid 2020 to be honest.

I only justified getting the 3rd gen from my 10.5" due to the USBC (which with iPadOS, I'm glad I did), and the larger screen. I don't think I can use that for the next one.
 
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Right now, nothing. My 10.5” Pro is handling all I need it to do perfectly. Fast performance, great speaker, enough storage and RAM for my current needs, pen support, and oh yeah, headphone jack. I don’t feel the need to pay more for stuff like OLED or USB-C as those are merely icing on the cake. The only time I will upgrade is probably when either the battery of my 10.5” goes kaput, or that it starts to bog down like my mini 2 (which I replaced with the mini 5).
 
I do my main work on Macs so my expectations for my iPP probably aren’t as demanding as those of others. Sidecar was basically the only thing I needed, so if that enables my iPP to be a (good) portable cintiq, there’s really not much more I need from it. Though I’m wondering if the throughput of the existing usb-c port is truly adequate. I do use my iPP with the Smart Keyboard quite often so I think I’d prefer a convertible form factor like the Yoga, but that’s unlikely to happen. More storage is always better, and possibly a larger screen, but those alone wouldn’t get me to upgrade.

For the Apple Pencil, however, I would like an off switch, and optional tips with more friction. And I’d rather have a physical button than the double tap.

And I think it would be a good idea for the Smart Keyboard to have an additional usb-c port. That might require an upgrade for the Smart Connector, however.

As far as ipadOS, I would like:
- wifi incremental backups to time machine
- system-wide handwriting recognition as an alternative to using the onscreen keyboard
- I’m still not on board with the dock as the main way to open a second app. I’d rather temporarily slide the first app off screen to expose the home screen and choose the second app from there, mainly because there are way too many apps I use
- some way to have certain apps and processes run in the background. And less app and tab refreshes. But this can quickly get into Mac territory.

This is all I can think of, at the moment.

The main issue software-wise though, is that a lot of apps, probably most, are still limited compared to their macOS counterparts. But this is on developers.
 
Mhotep said:
So I’ve been thinking about going from the 256gb 3rd gen 12.9 IPP to the 1tb. Looking at the reviews for ipadOS, I am in love! I almost bought but I thought maybe I should wait and see what the new one will bring. So I’m putting together a list of my must haves to get a new 2019 model, if it comes, or what I’m willing to put up with and keep what I got. The major consideration for me wanting a current model is storage, I just like the idea of having a 1tb 12.9 IPP. But a OLED display would be nice. How about anyone else? Is there something you would have to have to make you purchase a 2019 model if it comes?
Click to expand...
Assuming that iOS 13's new features are as useful as they sound like they will be, I would need Apple to produce an iPad Pro that provides for a smart cover and smart keyboard cover. I dislike folio cases.
 
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Oled screen and wireless charging would be great. Even if that happened this year, I won't be selling my 2018 12.9 IPP anytime soon.
 
Price reduced on all models by $200-250, colorful (Electric Blue, Red, Green, Orange, Turquoise) classic smart covers and folio options (those are too heavy and make the iPad's "lightness" pointless for me.)
I would also want 8GB or more of RAM, (and not that I have "bend issues") but increase durability, give 120hz constant refresh rate with HDR and Dolby Vision video playback (then have it adjust refresh rate for individual needs or what not), 4K display would be cool with 4K youtube playback support... None of that except may RAM being 6GB will happen, but one can dream.
 
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Kal-037 said:
Price reduced on all models by $200-250, colorful (Electric Blue, Red, Green, Orange, Turquoise) classic smart covers and folio options (those are too heavy and make the iPad's "lightness" pointless for me.)
I would also want 8GB or more of RAM, (and not that I have "bend issues") but increase durability, give 120hz constant refresh rate with HDR and Dolby Vision video playback (then have it adjust refresh rate for individual needs or what not), 4K display would be cool with 4K youtube playback support... None of that except may RAM being 6GB will happen, but one can dream.
Click to expand...
Are you really NOT going to upgrade this year if those things don't happen? :eek:;)
 
Winning lottery numbers maybe?

Seriously, I barely have used any of my iPads up til this point, so I'm using my 10.5" iPad Pro until it stops working.
 
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