Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Who's just upgraded from a iPad Air#1 to the 9.7 Pro?

Mine just arrived. Woohoo, so much faster than my Air. I've recently been visiting a lot of tumblr blogs full of animated gifs and those loaded/rendered very slowly on the Air. That's been significantly sped up on the Pro.

Also really appreciate the reduced glare. And I can finally go back to carrying just one iPad again thanks to 256GB storage! :D Only got a 16GB Air in 2013 since I was originally planning to upgrade to Air 2 256GB in 2014. Alas, Apple never released a 256GB Air 2 model so ended up skipping that generation. In the meantime, I've been extremely frustrated with just 16GB storage on the Air. :mad:

I always have Reduce Motion enabled in Accessibility Settings and so far, no stutter. :)

Totally, totally, totally worth it. :D
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Hevelius and HiItsMe
Upgraded to the iPad Pro from an iPad mini 2. Does that count?

The biggest game changers for me were the massively improved performance, split-screen multitasking, Touch ID and the Apple Pencil. The pencil and the ability to write flawlessly on PDFs has been invaluable to me as a school teacher.

Expensive, but I will say this of the Apple products I have owned so far - they have more than paid for themselves in the form of fewer problems and improved productivity overall.
 
Eckscaliber said:
Same here. The Pro's screen is noticeably better in several ways.
Click to expand...
I noticed with my iPad Air and my iPad mini 3, the screen had a hollow sound to it when you tapped on it. It was hard to describe. It almost seemed like there was more space in there or something and the screen felt kind of cheap compared to previous models. The iPad Air 2 and iPad Pro models don't feel that way at all. Maybe because of the laminated screen? Not sure.
 
spiderman0616 said:
I noticed with my iPad Air and my iPad mini 3, the screen had a hollow sound to it when you tapped on it. It was hard to describe. It almost seemed like there was more space in there or something and the screen felt kind of cheap compared to previous models. The iPad Air 2 and iPad Pro models don't feel that way at all. Maybe because of the laminated screen? Not sure.
Click to expand...
I know exactly what you're talking about, and I hated it. The screen felt like it was slightly pushing in, which it was. I fixed the problem by using a tempered glass screen protector.

Yeah, it's due to the fully laminated display, the air gap between the display and front glass is removed.
 
rui no onna said:
Mine just arrived. Woohoo, so much faster than my Air. I've recently been visiting a lot of tumblr blogs full of animated gifs and those loaded/rendered very slowly on the Air. That's been significantly sped up on the Pro.

Also really appreciate the reduced glare. And I can finally go back to carrying just one iPad again thanks to 256GB storage! :D Only got a 16GB Air in 2013 since I was originally planning to upgrade to Air 2 256GB in 2014. Alas, Apple never released a 256GB Air 2 model so ended up skipping that generation. In the meantime, I've been extremely frustrated with just 16GB storage on the Air. :mad:

I always have Reduce Motion enabled in Accessibility Settings and so far, no stutter. :)

Totally, totally, totally worth it. :D
Click to expand...
Tumblr is much faster on my android devices, I find it slow on the pro and I have the larger one....may be a multi core thing.....
 
XTheLancerX said:
I always heard the Air 2 didn't do as well as the Air with battery life. The Pro 9.7 has a similar, slimmed down battery so I've been wondering how battery life is.. How would it get better is what I'm wondering.
Click to expand...

I don't know about the Air 2. I just note that the 9.7s battery life is better than my years old Air.
 
Moakesy said:
I've got the iPad Air 1 and am tempted to move up to the new 9.7 Pro.

Most of the reviews either compare it to the Air 2, or an older iPad, so I'd be interested in hearing the experiences of anyone who has upgraded from the Air 1.

I generally use my device for
- Web browser
- Bit of social media
- Newspapers....I use The Times / Sunday Times App a lot (thinking less reflective screen may help here)
- Various photo sharing stuff as both I and a few friends are into photography. I do my editing on the laptop though
- Bit of Netflix

In terms of speed / screen quality (glare and true tone) is there a noticeable difference between the two. The raw Benchmark scores are all well and good, but I'm more interested in the real life experience.

I know an upgrade is not essential, but I do fancy the idea of maybe getting the pencil to get back into sketching, which i did years ago. That might be me just thinking of ways to justify the purchase though.

Cheers
Click to expand...

I upgraded from the Air 1 to a 12.9" Pro. It was a HUGE upgrade (see what I did there!). The 12.9" Pro is incredibly fast compared to the Air #1 and once you get used to the size you can never go back to those 9.7" toys ;-)
 
  • Like
Reactions: jamesrick80
I bit finally, and my Air 1 will be superseded by the delivery tomorrow of a new and shiny IPad Pro 9.7" - I'm just a teeny weeny bit EXCITED!!! ❤️✅
 
frogger2020 said:
It seems about the same for me. I did notice that the 9.7 gets a little more warmer than the air 1, but that is about all.
Click to expand...
My initial thought is that the battery doesn't last as long on my 9.7 Pro, compared to Air1. That may be because I'm using it more!! Nothing scientific here, just my guess.
 
I have IPad Air 1. Gave in to temptation and bough iPad Pro 9.7. I mainly browse and do social media and maybe books/apps.

Long story short, I returned iPad Pro and am now fully satisfied that I am not missing anything.

iPad Pro is a bit faster and thinner, everything else is Apple Marketing
 
I did just yesterday. I was planning on getting the air2 but i just couldnt get myself to buy old technology. I know ipad air2 is still a fast ipad but the pro has all these belts and whistles when combined its just a no brainer if you are upgrading from an air1 and like to keep your ipad for some time.
 
Eckscaliber said:
I upgraded from the Air to the 9.7" Pro. I am pleased.
Click to expand...
I have also an Air and I'm going to upgrade soon (maybe end of may). The iPad Pro 9.7 is really amazing.

Edit: one question: microsoft word is not free on ipad air, but on ipad pro 9.7? How does the app know which ipad I have?
 
MacFinnley said:
I have also an Air and I'm going to upgrade soon (maybe end of may). The iPad Pro 9.7 is really amazing.

Edit: one question: microsoft word is not free on ipad air, but on ipad pro 9.7? How does the app know which ipad I have?
Click to expand...

These are free on all devices.

image.jpeg
 
I upgraded from the Air 1 to the Pro 9.7. I was finding the Air 1 would crash on text rich webpages sometimes. The Air 2 didn't have enough features for me to make the upgrade worthwhile, but I feel like the Pro 9.7 hits the sweetspot nicely. I'm really loving it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Eckscaliber
I wish I could upgrade from my mini 2 :( it's getting slow and stuttery and I'd like the even larger and much better screen.

I need to save for a retina MacBook Pro though, so. iPad isn't a necessity in my life either, just a convenience with a slightly larger canvas for games, Reddit, YouTube, Netflix, and safari.
 
I upgraded from the Air1 to the 9.7 Pro. In truth, the Air1 was great and had a battery that seemed to last forever. But the 9.7 Pro is better, and the main selling point for me was the Smart Keyboard. It's only a bit bulkier than the Smart Cover (I have that, too), and the instantaneous response and solid connection have been great. Acclimating to it hasn't been a problem. I never really liked any of the keyboard cases for the Air (too bulky), so I would carry around a portable BT keyboard when I thought I would need to do a lot of typing, but the Smart Keyboard is a much better alternative. The 9.7 Pro isn't perfect, however. The 2GB of RAM is disappointing, and the Touch ID sensor does not work consistently for me (just like the one on the 6). Why Apple didn't upgrade the sensor to the one on the 6s is beyond me.
 
My 9.7 Pro just rips through tasks and runs circles around my old Air. Before the upgrade, my Air gathered dust and I relied solely on my 6s Plus, because the phone's speed spoiled me and the iPad just felt like a dog next to it. No longer. This iPad is really nice.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Skika and Hevelius
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back