Watch: What's new with the 2017 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro
As part of last week's refresh, Apple released an updated 12.9-inch iPad Pro plus an all-new 10.5-inch iPad, with a much smaller side bezel, a new ProMotion display with a 120Hz refresh rate, and the A10X Fusion Processor. AppleInsider compares the new versions against earlier iPad Pro models.
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Comments
There are a huge number of articles out there which center on the 10.5, but few focus on the 12.9. Could AppleInsider please install the iOS 11 beta on a new 12.9" and then tell us if the 12.9" version beats the 10.5" in terms of how info is displayed on the screen? Are there real usability advantages to the more expensive 12.9 that make it more of a laptop replacement than the 10.5 could ever be? Or does the expensive 12.9" just increased the physical size of everything that is displayed on the 10.5? In other words, is the 12.9" just a "large print edition" of the 10.5" that serves no practical purpose? (I realize movies would look bigger and better on the 12.9", but I want to know about things other than how good movies look. I also realize the onscreen keyboard is larger, but I want to know things other than that.)
I know it's expensive and more people will buy the 10.5", but a much more in-depth focus on the 12.9" would really help us make a more informed buying decision.
Thanks!
At this point I expect comparisons to the MacBook -- not the MacBook Pro!
... This makes the IPad Pro scary fast and powerful. I am just blown away...
p.s. This just raises even more questions as to where Apple is going with the IPad... Where is the limit?
i now have the iPad Pro 12.9". It arrived Tuesday. Actually two, as one is for my daughter.
we bought the Space Grey (for the black front, mostly), 256GB model with LTE. We both have the Pencil.
i still have my 2015 iPad Pro 12.9", so I can compare the two. One thing to say - I hope Apple puts the W1 chip inside the Pencil, because I found it annoying when testing the two iPads to have to stick the Pencil into the lightning port and open Settings to pair, and then have to it again with the other device, and then back again. Pain! With the W1 chip, as with the Airbuds, you only have to do this once, and all of your compatible devices are paired. That's the way it should be with everything.
anyway, I found, as have others, that the Pencil lag is about half of what it was before, which is definitely noticeable. It's hard to say whether it makes much of a practical difference, as it was pretty good before, but it is better. I suppose when they eventually get it down to less than half of this, it will eliminate any realistic lag, and we won't be talking about lag any more, and that's how it should also be.
The new screen does have a tiny bit more drag on the Pencil than the earlier model, and you can test that without the iPad being turned on. Is that better? Well, it depends on how you look at drawing on a glass surface. It never bothered me. It does bother some. I look it differently than some others do. This is computer art, not paper. I just don't think about the surface, and have unconsciously modified the way I draw, and write when using it, so I don't care much either way. But for those to whom it does matter, they will prefer the new screen drag.
the new model is very definitely, and noticeably faster! There's no real question here. It just is. While it's true that with a lot of apps that have internal timers, you may not notice any difference in performance, but for apps that use the speed as it comes, you will notice that increase immediately. AutoCAD is a lot faster and smoother. They don't have to mod the app for this, it's just there. The same thing is true of the half dozen photo and video apps I tried, as well as drawing apps. Affinity, which I bought, after seeing the on stage demo, has a lot of Desktop features, and they work amazingly well, and smoothly. But I read it's not stable, so be aware. In the short time I used it, I had no problem, but maybe upon more extensive use some of them will pop up, unless they've fixed some already, or with the new ipad, they're gone. I don't know. Anyway, I think it's worth the $19.95.
Smoothly is a word that applied in most everything with this new ipad, and it's an important one. It's surprising at how very slight hesitations in the computer, which you sort of get used to, but not entirely, are noticed when using a faster model where most of them are simply not there. Go back to the old one, and they're suddenly very annoying.
speaking of smoothness, there is one thing we read about Promotion, which is the 120HZ display. What I'm seeing on my iPad Pro 12.9" is that blur when scrolling isn't gone. It's noticeably less though. Since everything I'm reading so far is for the 10.5 model, seemingly because that's what Apple is sending out for review, I believe that this isn't a simple case of: Hey, 120HZ! It's also due to the much more powerful GPU, and the CPU being able to push more info across. So we see with the 10.5, and its smaller screen, with many less pixels to push around, that the blur may be gone. I don't know, since I haven seen a 10.5 myself. I hope to get to my Apple Store soon to try it out. But the iPad Pro 12.9", while better in this regard, does still have some smearing when scrolling. I'm not disappointed, because I expected it.
theres a lot more, such as Safari being noticeably faster, and a host of other smaller things I've noticed, but I don't want this to become a full fledged article, so I'll stop here, for now, at least. When I get the iOS 11 beta, I'll report on what I find there, likely in another thread for another article here.
what I would like to see in comparisons is like to like. So, compare both the 10.5 and 12.9 to several other tablets.
which ones? Well, ones that can have a use case similar to these, in some way. So for that we get:
the samsung Galaxy Tab 3.
the Microsoft surface 3 (ARM tablet OS.)
the Microsoft Surface Pro, the new ones with no number.
The $799 model with the M3 CPU (don't remember which model of that series)
The $999 model with the i5 ultra low power CPU, 15 watts, I think.
this is more relevant.
But, the comparison to the MBP reveals things (and potential) that would never be otherwise be revealed.