New iPads

[B01L]

Yep. They probably just weren’t ready for a complete redesign like that yet. I think they’ll do that next year, or maybe in 2024 when they go to OLED. Either that, or they’ll move on to Apple Pencil 3 with some new charging and stowing method.

 

[Joelist]

The main thing that mystifies me is why didn't they push the miniLED to the 11 inch Pro. They updated the SOC to M2 and also updated the wireless and a host of other things but not the display.

 

[Cmaier]

The main thing that mystifies me is why didn't they push the miniLED to the 11 inch Pro. They updated the SOC to M2 and also updated the wireless and a host of other things but not the display.

OLED is coming in 2024. MiniLED is, at best, a stopgap on the way to microLED, and what was surprising is that any of the devices had MiniLED in the first place.

 

[throAU]

To be fair plugging in a lightning to type c cable plus a gender changer is a better solution than the original idea of plugging it into the bottom of the iPad directly if we’re honest.

 

[Cmaier]

To be fair plugging in a lightning to type c cable plus a gender changer is a better solution than the original idea of plugging it into the bottom of the iPad directly if we’re honest.

You always have the iPad with you when you need to charge the pencil. Nobody will have the adapter and a cable with them when they are out and about. All the school kids who use these things will lose the adapters. It’s a mess.

 

[Runs For Fun]

I plan on upgrading from my iPad Air 4 to the 12.9” M2 iPad Pro. Can’t wait to get mine!

 

[throAU]

You always have the iPad with you when you need to charge the pencil. Nobody will have the adapter and a cable with them when they are out and about. All the school kids who use these things will lose the adapters. It’s a mess.

Yeah but it makes the iPad a cumbersome 20 inch wide thing with a long lever on the end of a fragile port.

As the owner of a second gen iPad Pro the pencil v1 was always a crap design charging wise.

 

[Cmaier]

Yeah but it makes the iPad a cumbersome 20 inch wide thing with a long lever on the end of a fragile port.

As the owner of a second gen iPad Pro the pencil v1 was always a crap design charging wise.

Agreed. But the need for a dongle and a cable doesn’t make things any better. This should have supported Apple Pencil 2.

 

[throAU]

Agreed. But the need for a dongle and a cable doesn’t make things any better. This should have supported Apple Pencil 2.

Agreed on that (pencil v2 with the charging magnet on the top edge in portrait).

 

[Joe]

I have a 2020 iPad Pro 11inch. I am keeping that thing until it dies.

With the way Apple is pricing their products these days I keep 'em until the wheels fall off.

 

[Yoused]

I keep 'em until the wheels fall off

I started with the first iPad, which I bought when it had been out for about 9 months. I kept that for more than three years, until it had become so intolerable that I had to switch to an Air 2 (wanted to have 2Gb). About 4 years later, the Air 2 developed a horrendous screen problem (took on an unpleasant green cast), so I bought a regular iPad 128Gb. This is what I have been using for about 3 years, and it has been adequate, so far, but I will probably need a new one in the next six months or so.

 

[Clix Pix]

I guess I'll be hanging on to my dandy 2018 12.9 iPad Pro and my cute little iPad Mini 5 for a while longer, as I've got a couple of other priorities ahead of them,.... I really only use the iPad Mini when I'm going somewhere and the big iPad pretty much always stays at home. Haven't been traveling much these past two years and have no plans for doing so. Even when I do travel it is the 12" MacBook which goes with me, although of course now she's getting a bit long in the tooth and probably I'll retire her for good once she can no longer utilize current versions of MacOS. She's compatible with Ventura, to my surprise, but I'll bet this is the final year for that.

 

[throAU]

I have a 2020 iPad Pro 11inch. I am keeping that thing until it dies.

With the way Apple is pricing their products these days I keep 'em until the wheels fall off.

I think that’s where they’re aiming them at - 3-5 year replacement cycles.

PCs and laptops are expected to last 3-5 years, so that’s what tablets should be doing as a minimum - and that’s why the apple tablets are starting to creep up in cost - they’re literally running laptop/desktop class chips in them now.

e.g. the Air 5 i am typing this on is 8 core, 8 gig, 256 GB storage with a high DPI touch screen. It’s basically laptop spec.

My last 2 ipads have done 6 and 5 years respectively.

 

[AG_PhamD]

To be honest I’ve never understood the point of an iPad. I’m perfectly happy with my iPhone and MacBook Pro. An iPad to me is a larger iPhone without the phone, or a laptop that’s less capable and not necessarily as ergonomic. Though admittedly the new iPads do offer a lot more than they used to.

My work bought me an iPad Air years ago. It’s been sitting in my desk drawer most of that time. For the longest time most of our medical record software could not be used on iPad, which didn’t help things. It can be useful for reference materials, but that’s just as easily done on my phone without having to carry another device around.

I don’t understand why Apple hasn’t completely switched all their devices to USB-C. It’s even more ridiculous that they’ve mixed and matched USB-C and lightening.

 

[Citysnaps]

To be honest I’ve never understood the point of an iPad.

They're great for making art. Anywhere you happen to be.

 

[Yoused]

To be honest I’ve never understood the point of an iPad.

The reality is that some 90%+ of people out there have basically zero need for an actual computer. In the late '90s, the average home had a PC tower with six empty card slots and one empty drive bay, because everyone was supposed to have one. These days, most people can do the basic things they need to do on a phone and those that need to do a bit more can use a tablet and then there are a small minority who have genuine use for a computer. For the middle group, the space that a whole computer used to occupy is freed up and the house looks neater.

Me, I took to using an iPad because Apple switched to using Intel processors, which I really and truly despise and my PPC machines were falling too far behind. I refuse to own an x86 Mac, the very idea of it is galling. Sometime soon I will get an M-series Mac, when I decide which one best fits my needs, and it will be a relief. But, for now, the iPad has been enough.

 

[B01L]

...a PC tower with six empty card slots...

I have had a number of Mac towers in the past (Apple & Power Computing) and the only thing I ever had in an expansion slot (besides a GPU) was a Media100 video i/o card...

Yeah, I just dated myself there...

Regarding iPads...

The iPad Pro models are great, especially the 12.9" with the MiniLED display...

Procreate has always been great on the iPad Pro...

Affinity Designer & Photos are great, and getting the full software suite with Publisher is nice; Adobe who...?

DaVinci Resolve on the iPad Pro looks pretty exciting, and is probably putting massive pressure on the Final Cut Pro team...?

Now if I could just get Blender & World of Warcraft on iPadOS...!!! ;^p

 

[shadow puppet]

I currently own and still use, an original iPad Air. It's so ancient, Apple offers no trade-in, just a free recycle shipping box. It's running iOS 12.5.7. No longer updatable. Because of it's ancient iOS, I can hardly stream anything (only a few apps still work) b/c the streaming services require iOS 14 or later. Most won't let me stream from the web either. I can still surf the web, email, Instagram, etc. But as dearly as I've enjoyed the old gal, she's definitely slowing down and showing her age.

Both Best Buy and Amazon are currently offering iPad Air/5th Gen/WiFi/64GB for $499 ($100 off). Best Buy is only until tomorrow. Not sure about Amazon. I shouldn't even be considering this but I am getting seriously tempted. Especially with the finance offers. #SendHelpLOL

 

[shadow puppet]

NM. Just pulled the trigger & picking up at BB today. Purple iPad Air WiFi 5th gen, here I come.
Came with free ATV+, Apple Music and News too.

 

[Joelist]

I finally replaced my iPad Pro 11 inch (last model that used A Series) with an 11 inch M2. Nice update. It is snappier and definitely better battery life. I expect the better battery comes from M2 being much more efficient than what I had before.