WHY I’M STICKING WITH THE 12.9 INCH IPAD PRO

On March 21st Apple announced the new 9.7" iPad Pro so as a current 12.9" owner I wanted to share my thoughts on if was going to keep with my larger device or downsize.

Before buying the iPad Pro my main iPad of choice was the Mini but when I saw the potential in the Pencil I jumped ship as soon as the Pro became available because I saw it as a possible replacement for my laptop. I also picked up the Apple Smart Keyboard cover to compliment the Pencil, I’ve not been disappointed with either choice.

I have been using the iPad Pro daily since it launched and aside from remotely connecting into BTN for podcasting and the occasional Photo edit my 13" MacBook Pro doesn’t see the light of day — I love my iPad Pro with iOS 9. I use it for organising my life, editing photos, writing posts like these, emails, social networking and everything else you would expect the majority of computer users to be doing.

When the 12.9" was announced my only reservation was the screen size but after a few days of use I have completely gotten used to it. I still get remarks about it when I’m out and about, the usual “wow, that’s a really big iPad” but I wouldn’t trade this screen for anything. I have adjusted the way I hold the device and can quite happily sit down on a sofa to sketch and type up posts. The extra screen real estate you get for split screen multitasking, larger canvas for sketching and making notes and that amazing resolution for photo editing is worth the extra size.

As a musician I am also appreciative of that larger display and extra memory for running through guitar tablature and creating multi-track audio in GarageBand (Apple if I’m lucky enough that this finds you please can we have Logic Pro for iOS).

The only real area that I am disappointed didn’t make the 12.9" is the addition of sensors that look at ambient light and adjust the screen temperature to match. I have no idea why they aren’t in it but given the 9.7" has them you have to believe the next 12.9" will get them.

Other differences are relating to a better camera on the 9.7", something I only use for FaceTime and radio improvements. One area that the 12.9" however wins out is that it has double the RAM. This isn’t a game changer but as iOS 10 rolls up and the more demanding software like Lightroom gets going more for me I’m going to be happy I’ve got it.

So the baby iPad Pro has better screen technology, camera and radios but I get more screen real estate, more RAM and bigger keyboard — I’m happy with my choice.