Thanks ever so much, Wayne! You’ve just about totally convinced me!
Do you think it would be easier to access my photos which are on two old-ish external hard drives in TimeMachine from an IPad Pro as opposed to my iPad Air 3?
I’m really leaning toward getting the IPad Pro! I was also thinking that the software would be expensive on a laptop as opposed to what I’m use to paying with my iPads. And I love apps.
Do you have a case for yours? I was just looking at them and they look rather cumbersome. And I’d like to find one with a shoulder strap.
Pulling files from an old Time Machine drive to an iPad would not be easy. First, I’m almost certain you will not be able to direct connect a spinning drive to an iPad Pro USB-C port. The drive will require an adapter that would provide external power. I would use my iPad Air 3 to sync all my photos to iCloud then access them from your new iPad. And if you’d like a backup I’d also sync them to Google Photos.
Another way to move files from one iPad to another would be to use something like the SanDisk 256GB iXpand Flash Drive Go with SanDisk USB-A to USB-C Adapter
If you really need to access your old TM drives you could also use a wireless travel router with a USB port that would allow access to your USB TM Drive. But then there is the problem of manually copying your files from a Time Machine drive. If the TM drive is encrypted you are SOL (“surely” outta luck). If not you will still have to dig them out using the files app.
If you really need data from the old TM drives it would be much easier, and cheaper, if you could get access to a Mac and copy the files you want to a SSD that you could direct connect to your iPad Pro. I use a 1 TB Samsung T5.
It’s been many years since I dug around in a Time Machine drive so you need to find someone who is up to date on what you will encounter. I would hate for you to find out your photos aren’t accessible from an iPad Pro after you made a purchase.
Depending on your need to access the old TM dives it could turn out that your best choice might be a MacBook.
I’ve never used a hard case on my iPads. I purchased an Apple Smart Folio ($79) for my iPad Pro but the edges started separating after about 3 months. I’m currently using a MoKo Magnetic Smart Folio Case I purchased from Amazon for $17. It’s virtually identical to the Apple product but only comes in black “synthetic leather”. I’ve only had it a month so I have no idea how long it will last but the cover material seems to be more substantial than the cover on Apple’s.
Update: Although I really liked my Air, I actually did miss the 120 hertz when I started working more and more in Procreate. I also really wanted a big screen. So I gave it to my parents and bought the 12.9 M1. I will have this thing for a long time. The Air is still a very nice tablet and I would recommend that to most people. It just didn’t fit my specific needs.