Which is best: iPad Air or iPad Pro 11?
The challenge for anyone designing a computing device – whether it’s a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone – is to create a machine that is properly balanced to meet its user’s needs at the price being charged. This is not an exact science. It depends on the cost of major components such as the processor and memory, screen, graphics, storage modules, operating system and so on. But you trust them not to saddle low-end devices with the cost of high-end processors, or to compromise high-end devices by providing too little memory and/or storage space.
This is the problem with both the iPad Pro 11 and 12.9, and why you are stuck with a choice you should not have to face.
It’s not hard to read the trends in the technology market, and two obvious ones apply here.
First, people need more storage to handle both apps and digital content that is now cheap or free, and, thanks to higher broadband speeds, easy to download. We’re no longer listening to 64kbps MP3 files or watching 640 x 480-pixel movies, and file sizes are much bigger than they used to be. So are web pages.
Second, the cost of Flash memory chips has been falling at a rapid rate, even while they have been growing in size. I can remember being chuffed at buying storage cards for only £1 per megabyte. Today, I can buy 128GB cards for less than £20, which is 64 megabytes per penny.
Under the circumstances, 64GB is only fit for smartphones, Chromebooks and netbook-type Windows laptops. Shipping a high-end £769 tablet such as the iPad Pro with only 64GB is insane. It should have 128GB, which would be a rational fit with companion models that have 256GB (£919), 512GB (£1,119) and 1TB (£1,319). Then, each step up would double the storage.
There’s another way to look at this. If you buy a 64GB iPad Pro 11 then you are paying £12 per gigabyte of storage. If you buy the 256GB version, the price drops to £3.59 per gigabyte, and at 1TB it’s only £1.29. Putting 128GB in the entry-level model – £6 per gigabyte – wouldn’t make it a bargain, but it would be in line with the rest of the range. And the extra cost of fitting 128GB would be peanuts at retail prices, without even considering the massive discounts Apple must get for buying them by the million.
In short, I don’t think you, or anyone, should buy a 64GB iPad Pro. Either bust your budget and buy an iPad Pro 11 with 256GB of storage space, or get an Air with the same amount.
Alternatively, wait for Apple to release new versions of the iPad Pro that start at 128GB. This could happen in November – the current models were released in November last year – or perhaps in March 2020, or later. Your Tab S2 isn’t dead yet …
Storage cases
You’re already an experienced tablet user with 160GB of storage, so you should have a good idea how much space you will need. My own rule of thumb is to try to double everything with each new device, because you will always need more of everything in the future, and less-than-doubling rarely feels like a real advance.
Unfortunately, tablets, smartphones and ultra-thin laptops don’t let you upgrade the processor. You’ll be stuck with it for the next five or more years. It’s a good idea to aim high.
With storage space, however, you have some flexibility. Lots of devices have SD card slots, and as you know, this is a cheap and convenient way to alleviate problems with machines that don’t have enough built-in storage. Although Apple’s hardware designers would never soil their hands with a microSD slot, the company sells a Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader cable (£29), and there are other ways to tackle the problem.
The Apple-approved method is to store as much as possible online in its iCloud rather than on the device, and to stream content such as music and movies rather than playing it locally. Streaming often depends on having a usable broadband or mobile connection, which can lead to buffering. It may also consume bandwidth and server resources, so it isn’t very green.
The alternative is to use add-on storage. Standard USB drives don’t plug into iPads, but several companies offer drives that fit into Apple Lightning or USB Type-C ports. You can also buy external hard drives that have wireless connections and iPad apps, so you can store data without making a physical connection. WD’s MyCloud (from £120) is one example, and Macworld suggests several alternative solutions.
In the case of cloud storage and streaming, remember that you can use any cloud – Dropbox, Microsoft’s OneDrive, Google One etc – not just iCloud. Also, you can stream music and movies wirelessly from a local PC or NAS server, if available.
Perhaps you could manage with only 64GB of storage, if you put up with the extra cost of add-ons, and the extra inconvenience. It’s not too hard if you have a PC to do the heavy lifting. But if you are paying £769 and it’s your main device, as this seems to be, you shouldn’t have to.
Air v Pro
The 10.5in iPad Air (2019) is pretty much the same as the 10.5in iPad Pro (2017), only faster, so naturally the iPad Pro 11 (2018) has several advantages. These include the slightly larger screen, which is brighter (600 v 500 nits) and supports a 120Hz refresh rate, which Apple calls ProMotion. It also has an eight-core A12X Bionic chip, where the Air has the smaller six-core A12 version used in the iPhone XR and XS. Both include embedded M12 motion coprocessors, plus the eight-core “Neural Engine” that the entry-level iPad’s A10 Fusion chip lacks.
The extra power of the A12X supports the doubling of the screen refresh rate from 60Hz to 120Hz, which should make a difference when playing games or using the Pencil, but it’s not a dealbreaker for most purposes. In fact, the two chips are so similar that pundits are expecting new versions of the iPad Pro with improved A13 processors, like those in the new iPhone 11.
The iPad Pro 11 has a slightly better camera with Face ID for logging on, whereas the Air uses Touch ID. Lastly, the Pro supports a second-generation stylus whereas the Air only supports the original Apple Pencil, though these come at extra cost. Otherwise, on Apple’s comparator, there is no significant difference in screen sharpness (both are 264ppi), size, weight or battery life.
The question is whether you would derive any significant benefits from the iPad Pro 11’s better features. It seems to me that unless you plan to get into gaming or drawing, you’d be paying for things you don’t really need. You’d be better off spending your budget on accessories for the iPad Air. The options include a keyboard (£159), Apple Pencil (£89), and AppleCare (£69) from Apple, as well as all kinds of products from other suppliers.
Have you got a question? Email it to Ask.Jack@theguardian.com