Hi all, I’m currently debating whether I should pull the trigger on trading in my 10.5” iPad Pro for the new M1 models and would like to hear what your impressions are of the new iPad hardware experience. I love the idea of a buffed iPadOS at WWDC but even on a hardware basis it seems like the new iPads are much better than my current kit. That said, I have not felt any limitations aside from some slight FOMO about the screen size. I don’t see myself tolerating the 12.9” size so would likely stick with the 11”, and rarely use anything besides the keyboard folio for accessories. That said, I’m wondering how long you all think it might be before that sweet miniLED display comes to the smaller size as I would have some pretty strong buyer’s remorse if it showed up in 3-6 months!
With a week to go to WWDC I’d wait for a bit myself. (and actually am)
I’m debating buying a replacement for my 2018 11" iPad Pro
Problem is that the current iPad OS does not take advantage of the hardware, and difference between the models is very, very limited.
So unless iPadOS takes a huge leap, I’ll be sticking to my trusted 11" for one more year I think.
The only reason this will make me upgrade from my 2018 12.9 iPad Pro (if I have the budget) is if Affinity Designer can show the path I’m drawing in real-time. Right now, it will only show up after which I understand is constraint by the hardware. Procreate also revealed that they can now handle more layers for large format projects 
So far, I’m still okay with the performance of my current iPad Pro.
When I looked up the 10.5 on Geekbench it compared similarly to the current entry-level iPad, performance-wise. The M1 version is obviously much snappier. 
I seem to remember hearing that the fancy screen couldn’t work on the 11" for some reason - at least not at the current level of tech. And I’d be shocked if Apple released another one either at WWDC or even in the fall, as that would really make people cranky who bought this current one.
Obviously at this point wait until after the WWDC keynote, but at that point I’d be looking at the likely options as “keep the existing one another 9 months and hope for a spring upgrade” vs. “upgrade now”.
This is the reasoning I’ve seen:
“What we know about the 11-inch user is that they just love bringing a super-powerful iPad with them in a portable 1-pound design. So they just love the form factor of that. Whereas the user who is embracing the 12.9-inch display they were looking for the largest canvas to do their most creative work on that product and it made sense to bring that XDR technology to the 12.9-inch display on the iPad Pro.”
Sounds like code for 11" users valuing the portability enough that the additional weight (30-ish extra grams if proportional to 12.9" increase) would bother them. To me that means there won’t be miniLED on the 11" soon, but I don’t know how quickly that kind of technology is changing. Agree that waiting a week will provide a lot more information.
I REALLY and truly want the iPad 12.9 inch but if they were to offer all that the 12.9 has in an eleven inch… I’d MUCH rather the less bulky screen. I have an iPad Air 3 that I love so much that I can’t even imagine trading it in!
Any chance of Apple 
making a smaller dynamite IPad Pro?
Smaller? Maybe. If the rumors are correct Apple is getting ready to shake things up again.
What do you mean dynamite? The only difference between the two sizes at the moment is the XDR screen. Both run on M1 processors.
I upgraded to the 12.9 inch iPad Pro from the 2018 model. The increase in speed is noticeable and delightful. I also bought the magic keyboard for the first time and I love the combination. The increase in weight is definitely noticeable, but I’m fine with it. I don’t notice that big of an improvement from the XDR screen. This weekend I intend to watch the same movie on my M1 MacBook Pro and the iPad to see if I notice the difference in direct comparison. But to my eyes, the 2018 iPad Pro screen was pretty awesome already.
Oh, thanks! I thought they were different! Sure glad I asked!
Thank you! Sounds awesome!
FWIW, I got the 12.9” iPad Pro and did not like the screen as it has a subtle vignetting around the edges. I thought the one I got might be defective, but when I took it to the Apple Store, the rep that helped me confirmed the vignetting is expected. I couldn’t get used to the color distortion around the edges, so instead I decided to return the iPad and purchase a refurbed 4th generation model.
I’m sticking with my 2018 iPad and going back to the mac.