Apple iPad Pro 11” 3rd Generation worth it?

[Captive18]

Hello all,

I currently have a 1st Gen iPad Pro 11 inch. I mainly use it for normal tablet use, however, I also bring it with me on roadtrips and travels for photo edits. I’ve noticed that I’ve been doing most of my edits on the iPad Pro.

I was curious if the 3rd Gen iPad Pro 11 inch with the M1 chip is noticeably worth upgrading. Has anyone upgraded from the 1st Gen 11 inch Pro to the newest iPad Pro 11 inch?

If so, what has been your experience? If you noticed differences, what were the main differences you noticed and/or liked?

Thank you!

 

[Franz Weber]

The new 11 inch iPad Pro offers better Wifi, better mobile data speed, a notably faster processor, more RAM, better speakers, better cameras and torch. But then again it is not that different in perception.

The real upgrade is the new 12.9 inch iPad Pro with MiniLED HDR display! If you can afford it, and if you can handle the larger size it is the much better buy. I have both, but prefer the 12.9 inch due to the fantastic contrast and considerably larger display. And it has even better speakers than the 11 inch as well.

 

[uniball]

I would not upgrade. I travel a lot. The lions share of my photography is edited via LR Mobile on an M1 iPP. Its great. Prior to that I used common every day iPads, an 8 preceding the iPP. It was also great. I frankly would not expect to get much of a bang for your buck by upgrading. All I gained was quicker imports and the ability to plug in a hub one time in the last year.

 

[EricWN]

I wouldn’t upgrade from any 11”Pro to the current one. Specific use cases aside, it will likely feel pretty much the same.

 

[Marco Nero]

Hello all,

I currently have a 1st Gen iPad Pro 11 inch. I mainly use it for normal tablet use, however, I also bring it with me on roadtrips and travels for photo edits. I’ve noticed that I’ve been doing most of my edits on the iPad Pro.

I was curious if the 3rd Gen iPad Pro 11 inch with the M1 chip is noticeably worth upgrading. Has anyone upgraded from the 1st Gen 11 inch Pro to the newest iPad Pro 11 inch?

If so, what has been your experience? If you noticed differences, what were the main differences you noticed and/or liked?

Thank you!

I apologize in advance if my reply isn't able to directly answer your question. My reply touches on my own experiences with the two top iPad Pro models (2021) and my purchase decisions were driven by what was available rather than what I initially wanted to buy. I was unable to source a new 11" iPad Pro when I needed it... so I opted to look at other models. After careful consideration in past months, the the 11" Pro was certainly my first choice initially (I had dismissed the larger 12.9" model due to concerns of portability and cost outlay) and my only regret initially choosing the 11" Pro was that the speakers, screen, brightness etc were not quite as good as its slightly larger sibling... (the 12.9" iPad Pro). But in the end, I simply couldn't get one because of shortages at Apple... due to chip shortages in China where their manufacturing plant is located.
.
I was unable to locate a single 11" iPad Pro locally with a larger storage option of 512GB ... but there was a 12.9" (2021) 1TB version available from a single Apple store nearby.... so I selected that (instead of the 11") for my wife on her birthday this year as her old 1st generation iPad was retired and her 2nd generation iPad was slowing down and didn't handle many of the modern apps. I was able to get it just two days before her birthday so there was some degree of relief on my end.
.
The first iPad Pro (2015) was this size at 12.9 inches. The first 11" iPad Pro was released around 2018. For a slight increase in screen size, the new 12.9" iPad offers a slightly richer experience than the new 11". My wife wanted to use it to produce artwork and for general entertainment and communication. The difference in performance and appearance to the older iPad she had is enormous. The Liquid XDR display on the Pro model with the larger screen produces very natural looking and crisp images. The cameras and video conference capabilities are far better than before but the response time and color accuracy when viewing images is superb. The refresh rate is great but so is the sound since they've completely redesigned the speakers on the upper model. I really like the magnetic wrap-around keyboard options with the "pencil" they can use. Color accuracy is important to us an in the past Apple's iPad's have been hit-and-miss on this subject (eg my iPad Mini produces poor reds (and sometimes mismatched blues) which affects both video and still image accuracy). Brighter screen capability is also a feature. The M1 Chip is suited to exactly this type of use and I suspect that Apple's new 'silicon' will pave a new path for them. If you really need the 11" version, I compared the screens side-by-side with pre-release demo models in the stores and they looked rather similar, which visible improvement on the 12.9" version due perhaps to the XDR display.
.
The new iPhone 13 Pro models also use this new XDR screen technology so if you've seen one of those up close you'll know what to expect from the iPad. I thought that the decision to use face-unlock (using LIDAR) + the usual password option - instead of a thumbprint unlock on an iPad - might be an issue... but it's not. Highly recommended.
.
Now I was originally keen to get her the new 11" iPad Pro but without much choice available due to massive chip shortages (see below), I was eventually swayed by availability over preference. Considering the size is still quite portable and there's plenty of battery life, I think she'll get maximum use from it. The M1 Chips seem to allow faster acess to programs and apps. But be aware that the new M1 chip architecture is said to use some of the available space on the hard drive to act as a temporary RAM storage in some way. I know that's the case with the M1 laptops and iMacs so it logically applies to the iPads as well if they use the same chip... so try to ensure you have some free space on your SSD and don't get the lowest storage when you buy.
.
* Note that there is a worldwide computer chip shortage right now and that some iPads and iPhone and even iMacs have a 5 to 6 week delay. I just ordered an new 27" iMac and an iPhone 13 Pro Max to replace my redundant and failing Mac Mini + iPhone 6s and the wait was 5 weeks - although the iMac arrived in 2 weeks and the iPhone arrived yesterday after a 4 week delay. The chips shortage is said to be long lasting and may continue for another 2 years and it is getting progressively worse. But this week China ran out of magnesium supplies and aluminium. That's a pretty big deal as it will seriously impact Apple products very soon - presumably in a matter of days.

 

[Hesman]

I upgraded to the 3rd generation 11” iPad Pro from the 10.5” iPad Pro earlier this week. Instead of ordering through Apple, I ordered it through an authorized Verizon store. It was in stock from where ever the store ordered it from and it shipped immediately and I had it in my hands two days after ordering it.

Compared to my 10.5” iPad Pro, it is noticeably faster loading programs, editing photos in Lightroom Mobile, stitching together photos in Affinity Photo, importing photos off an SD card, etc. I live in a rural area, so I don’t get 5G coverage where I live, but I have noticed that the internet is faster with LTE coverage vs my 10.5” iPad. My only theory for that is advances in technology.

It might be worth upgrading from the 1st generation 11” iPad Pro, but I thought it was worth the upgrade from the 10.5” iPad Pro when I upgraded. I guess you could say YMMV.

 

[Jon555]

Hello all,

I currently have a 1st Gen iPad Pro 11 inch. I mainly use it for normal tablet use, however, I also bring it with me on roadtrips and travels for photo edits. I’ve noticed that I’ve been doing most of my edits on the iPad Pro.

I was curious if the 3rd Gen iPad Pro 11 inch with the M1 chip is noticeably worth upgrading. Has anyone upgraded from the 1st Gen 11 inch Pro to the newest iPad Pro 11 inch?

If so, what has been your experience? If you noticed differences, what were the main differences you noticed and/or liked?

Thank you!

I have a 2nd gen 12.9" iPad Pro (2017, yours is a 2018 model) and a 4th gen 11". I bought the "big" one mainly for the screen size (e.g. I can read digital newspapers full-size) and the use of the pencil. It mostly lives at home as it's a fair-sized lump (I got it instead of an upgrade for my old 13.1" Notebook). I treated myself to the 11" so I could carry one with me more often, as my (very) old iPad had given up the ghost a while back.

Differences:
I really like having the USB port, you can plug USB sticks in and see the files plus even drive a USB monitor (which I have one of). It's also noticeably quicker than the old model and lighter (466g vs 677g, feels more than that). The reduced thickness is only 1mm, but it feels much smaller. FaceID is also nice and I think the Ultra-Wide camera a great improvement over the Air.

Similarities:
I like that the new gestures work on older devices with home buttons, like swiping up from the bottom for the home page or task switcher, etc.

So actually I'd suggest you look at the 12.9" current M1 model, as the extra screen real estate is very noticeable. You could look at Geekbench for performance numbers. Note you get 8GB RAM with the models that don't have huge SSDs, which is a nice step-up - the (IIRC) 1TB and up versions get 16GB (certainly with iPadOS 14 Apps weren't allowed to use over 5GB, but apparently it's 12GB with iPadOS 15 - but would any apps need that if almost no devices have it).

My Geekbench4 results (note 5 is out) were:
2017: single/multi core: 3948/9508
2021: single/multi core: 7532/28576

BTW I can put the 11" on a stand, connect a bluetooth keyboard and magic trackpad (for the gestures, vs a mouse) and connect up my 4k monitor via USB to make a more complete computer, but the use of an external monitor is still rudimentary and most of the time just mirrors the display with black bars either side. I can think of two apps that use it as a second screen (Photos and Lumafusion). (If you see a pic of a full-screen image on an external monitor it will almost certainly be running Photos.)

P.S. I have a lovely, and very tactile case for my original iPad, but it adds a fair bit of size and weight. Now I use slip cases so they lose the weight when I take them out and I can use a stand if holding it is not sensible (99% of the time it is for me). Oh and the Magic Keyboard case is fun but very expensive, so I didn't bother, you may want to check it out though...

 

[Captive18]

Hello all,

I currently have a 1st Gen iPad Pro 11 inch. I mainly use it for normal tablet use, however, I also bring it with me on roadtrips and travels for photo edits. I’ve noticed that I’ve been doing most of my edits on the iPad Pro.

I was curious if the 3rd Gen iPad Pro 11 inch with the M1 chip is noticeably worth upgrading. Has anyone upgraded from the 1st Gen 11 inch Pro to the newest iPad Pro 11 inch?

If so, what has been your experience? If you noticed differences, what were the main differences you noticed and/or liked?

Thank you!

I have a 2nd gen 12.9" iPad Pro (2017, yours is a 2018 model) and a 4th gen 11". I bought the "big" one mainly for the screen size (e.g. I can read digital newspapers full-size) and the use of the pencil. It mostly lives at home as it's a fair-sized lump (I got it instead of an upgrade for my old 13.1" Notebook). I treated myself to the 11" so I could carry one with me more often, as my (very) old iPad had given up the ghost a while back.

Differences:
I really like having the USB port, you can plug USB sticks in and see the files plus even drive a USB monitor (which I have one of). It's also noticeably quicker than the old model and lighter (466g vs 677g, feels more than that). The reduced thickness is only 1mm, but it feels much smaller. FaceID is also nice and I think the Ultra-Wide camera a great improvement over the Air.

Similarities:
I like that the new gestures work on older devices with home buttons, like swiping up from the bottom for the home page or task switcher, etc.

So actually I'd suggest you look at the 12.9" current M1 model, as the extra screen real estate is very noticeable. You could look at Geekbench for performance numbers. Note you get 8GB RAM with the models that don't have huge SSDs, which is a nice step-up - the (IIRC) 1TB and up versions get 16GB (certainly with iPadOS 14 Apps weren't allowed to use over 5GB, but apparently it's 12GB with iPadOS 15 - but would any apps need that if almost no devices have it).

My Geekbench4 results (note 5 is out) were:
2017: single/multi core: 3948/9508
2021: single/multi core: 7532/28576

BTW I can put the 11" on a stand, connect a bluetooth keyboard and magic trackpad (for the gestures, vs a mouse) and connect up my 4k monitor via USB to make a more complete computer, but the use of an external monitor is still rudimentary and most of the time just mirrors the display with black bars either side. I can think of two apps that use it as a second screen (Photos and Lumafusion). (If you see a pic of a full-screen image on an external monitor it will almost certainly be running Photos.)

P.S. I have a lovely, and very tactile case for my original iPad, but it adds a fair bit of size and weight. Now I use slip cases so they lose the weight when I take them out and I can use a stand if holding it is not sensible (99% of the time it is for me). Oh and the Magic Keyboard case is fun but very expensive, so I didn't bother, you may want to check it out though...

Thank you. What kind of cases do you have now on your iPad?

 

[Jon555]

Hello all,

I currently have a 1st Gen iPad Pro 11 inch. I mainly use it for normal tablet use, however, I also bring it with me on roadtrips and travels for photo edits. I’ve noticed that I’ve been doing most of my edits on the iPad Pro.

I was curious if the 3rd Gen iPad Pro 11 inch with the M1 chip is noticeably worth upgrading. Has anyone upgraded from the 1st Gen 11 inch Pro to the newest iPad Pro 11 inch?

If so, what has been your experience? If you noticed differences, what were the main differences you noticed and/or liked?

Thank you!

I have a 2nd gen 12.9" iPad Pro (2017, yours is a 2018 model) and a 4th gen 11". I bought the "big" one mainly for the screen size (e.g. I can read digital newspapers full-size) and the use of the pencil. It mostly lives at home as it's a fair-sized lump (I got it instead of an upgrade for my old 13.1" Notebook). I treated myself to the 11" so I could carry one with me more often, as my (very) old iPad had given up the ghost a while back.

Differences:
I really like having the USB port, you can plug USB sticks in and see the files plus even drive a USB monitor (which I have one of). It's also noticeably quicker than the old model and lighter (466g vs 677g, feels more than that). The reduced thickness is only 1mm, but it feels much smaller. FaceID is also nice and I think the Ultra-Wide camera a great improvement over the Air.

Similarities:
I like that the new gestures work on older devices with home buttons, like swiping up from the bottom for the home page or task switcher, etc.

So actually I'd suggest you look at the 12.9" current M1 model, as the extra screen real estate is very noticeable. You could look at Geekbench for performance numbers. Note you get 8GB RAM with the models that don't have huge SSDs, which is a nice step-up - the (IIRC) 1TB and up versions get 16GB (certainly with iPadOS 14 Apps weren't allowed to use over 5GB, but apparently it's 12GB with iPadOS 15 - but would any apps need that if almost no devices have it).

My Geekbench4 results (note 5 is out) were:
2017: single/multi core: 3948/9508
2021: single/multi core: 7532/28576

BTW I can put the 11" on a stand, connect a bluetooth keyboard and magic trackpad (for the gestures, vs a mouse) and connect up my 4k monitor via USB to make a more complete computer, but the use of an external monitor is still rudimentary and most of the time just mirrors the display with black bars either side. I can think of two apps that use it as a second screen (Photos and Lumafusion). (If you see a pic of a full-screen image on an external monitor it will almost certainly be running Photos.)

P.S. I have a lovely, and very tactile case for my original iPad, but it adds a fair bit of size and weight. Now I use slip cases so they lose the weight when I take them out and I can use a stand if holding it is not sensible (99% of the time it is for me). Oh and the Magic Keyboard case is fun but very expensive, so I didn't bother, you may want to check it out though...

Thank you. What kind of cases do you have now on your iPad?

Bear in mind that:

(i) This is just me
and
(ii) I might be an outlier

Slip cases I really like:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FGOM9W2
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00JP6GIVK

Note the older 12.9" case has a pen holder and the new 11" one doesn't, as it's expected to be magnetically attached to the side of the iPad.

Oh and from way way back this is amazingly tactile:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007D0MF3U

Bonus points:

I forgot to mention LIDAR! (For scanning stuff as well as AF.)

The USB-C lead you get with the iPad isn't Thunderbolt compatible, so you need a "better" lead to drive a monitor. (Seems cheap for the "Pro" model.) I just used the lead that came with my LG 27UK850 monitor.

I use these to attach USB sticks:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B015Z7XE0A
Either directly or via a:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00P0ES0TE

I use this to attach it to a USB-A/USB3 port on my PC:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B085SBGZ7G

Somewhat annoyingly you don't get ProRaw support on the cameras, despite the alleged reason for only getting it on the 12 Pro models was it needed the 6GB of RAM they had (8GB+ on the M1 Pros), plus it's unlikely to be a lack of CPU horse-power. It would be nice if this changed, but I'm not holding my breath...
(Oh and while holding up a 12.9" iPad to take a photo looks, and is, silly the resulting huge image that appears in front of you is a thing... (tho I don't really use it for more than a handful of photos, when it's literally the thing in my hands).

 

[Captive18]

Hello all,

I currently have a 1st Gen iPad Pro 11 inch. I mainly use it for normal tablet use, however, I also bring it with me on roadtrips and travels for photo edits. I’ve noticed that I’ve been doing most of my edits on the iPad Pro.

I was curious if the 3rd Gen iPad Pro 11 inch with the M1 chip is noticeably worth upgrading. Has anyone upgraded from the 1st Gen 11 inch Pro to the newest iPad Pro 11 inch?

If so, what has been your experience? If you noticed differences, what were the main differences you noticed and/or liked?

Thank you!

I have a 2nd gen 12.9" iPad Pro (2017, yours is a 2018 model) and a 4th gen 11". I bought the "big" one mainly for the screen size (e.g. I can read digital newspapers full-size) and the use of the pencil. It mostly lives at home as it's a fair-sized lump (I got it instead of an upgrade for my old 13.1" Notebook). I treated myself to the 11" so I could carry one with me more often, as my (very) old iPad had given up the ghost a while back.

Differences:
I really like having the USB port, you can plug USB sticks in and see the files plus even drive a USB monitor (which I have one of). It's also noticeably quicker than the old model and lighter (466g vs 677g, feels more than that). The reduced thickness is only 1mm, but it feels much smaller. FaceID is also nice and I think the Ultra-Wide camera a great improvement over the Air.

Similarities:
I like that the new gestures work on older devices with home buttons, like swiping up from the bottom for the home page or task switcher, etc.

So actually I'd suggest you look at the 12.9" current M1 model, as the extra screen real estate is very noticeable. You could look at Geekbench for performance numbers. Note you get 8GB RAM with the models that don't have huge SSDs, which is a nice step-up - the (IIRC) 1TB and up versions get 16GB (certainly with iPadOS 14 Apps weren't allowed to use over 5GB, but apparently it's 12GB with iPadOS 15 - but would any apps need that if almost no devices have it).

My Geekbench4 results (note 5 is out) were:
2017: single/multi core: 3948/9508
2021: single/multi core: 7532/28576

BTW I can put the 11" on a stand, connect a bluetooth keyboard and magic trackpad (for the gestures, vs a mouse) and connect up my 4k monitor via USB to make a more complete computer, but the use of an external monitor is still rudimentary and most of the time just mirrors the display with black bars either side. I can think of two apps that use it as a second screen (Photos and Lumafusion). (If you see a pic of a full-screen image on an external monitor it will almost certainly be running Photos.)

P.S. I have a lovely, and very tactile case for my original iPad, but it adds a fair bit of size and weight. Now I use slip cases so they lose the weight when I take them out and I can use a stand if holding it is not sensible (99% of the time it is for me). Oh and the Magic Keyboard case is fun but very expensive, so I didn't bother, you may want to check it out though...

Thank you. What kind of cases do you have now on your iPad?

Bear in mind that:

(i) This is just me
and
(ii) I might be an outlier

Slip cases I really like:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FGOM9W2
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00JP6GIVK

Note the older 12.9" case has a pen holder and the new 11" one doesn't, as it's expected to be magnetically attached to the side of the iPad.

Oh and from way way back this is amazingly tactile:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007D0MF3U

Bonus points:

I forgot to mention LIDAR! (For scanning stuff as well as AF.)

The USB-C lead you get with the iPad isn't Thunderbolt compatible, so you need a "better" lead to drive a monitor. (Seems cheap for the "Pro" model.) I just used the lead that came with my LG 27UK850 monitor.

I use these to attach USB sticks:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B015Z7XE0A
Either directly or via a:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00P0ES0TE

I use this to attach it to a USB-A/USB3 port on my PC:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B085SBGZ7G

Somewhat annoyingly you don't get ProRaw support on the cameras, despite the alleged reason for only getting it on the 12 Pro models was it needed the 6GB of RAM they had (8GB+ on the M1 Pros), plus it's unlikely to be a lack of CPU horse-power. It would be nice if this changed, but I'm not holding my breath...
(Oh and while holding up a 12.9" iPad to take a photo looks, and is, silly the resulting huge image that appears in front of you is a thing... (tho I don't really use it for more than a handful of photos, when it's literally the thing in my hands).

Thank you. I’m always looking for a good case to use with the keyboards. I’m currently using the Coverbuddy case as I have the Magic Keyboard. I tried the Pitaka cases to use with the keyboards, but was frustrated that it didn’t have a pencil holder. I wish there were more options for the Magic keyboard or Smart keyboard setup that also holds the pencil in place. The Coverbuddy feels like REALLY thin plastic, that probably costs $10 to make (if that).

Honestly, The best I’ve found is UAG’s case to use with the keyboard folio, but it doesn’t allow you to remove the iPad from the keyboard if you wanted (without some effort). Also it doesn’t work with the Magic Keyboard (which has grown on me a little). I know I’m whining a little bit here about minute, meaningless, first world problems. However, with that said, I’m getting close to just trying to design my own case, as I can’t seem to find the “perfect” one!

Cheers!

 

[LeicaC]

As long as your current unit is operational and does what you need, I vote no upgrade.

 

[Jon555]

As long as your current unit is operational and does what you need, I vote no upgrade.

Ah, but the key is "does what you need"... I have Apps that drag on my Gen2 iPad Pro, which is fine otherwise, except too big to take out much (12.9")...