If you’re in the market for an iPad Pro, choosing the ideal model size is not easy. Which size iPad Pro — 11-inch or 12.9-inch — should you choose?
It used to be simpler, back when the big option was made bigger by its bezels, and the small option had a significantly smaller display. I’ve used a 12.9-inch iPad Pro as my primary computer for five years, and have been very happy with it, but as the smaller iPad Pro’s display has grown, I’ve become more intrigued by it,” Ryan Christoffel writes for MacStories:
The 11-inch iPad Pro is a fantastic device, and I may revisit it in the future, but for now retaining my 2018 12.9-inch model seems best. Primarily because it means saving a lot of money, since I can simply return the 2020 11-inch for a full refund…
My ease in adapting to each screen size makes clear to me that you really can’t go wrong with either model. The two devices are close enough in size that both can function well as primary computers for most people.
This is probably too general of advice, but I’d recommend that if you expect to regularly use your iPad Pro as a tablet, the 11-inch will likely be your best option. If, however, you expect to use it almost entirely with a Magic Keyboard attached, the 12.9-inch is a good bet. Both devices can work in both modes, but the 11-inch is a better tablet, and the 12.9-inch is a better laptop.
MacDailyNews Take: If you want a “laptop,” we recommend buying a MacBook Air or a MacBook Pro. An iPad Pro is a tablet first, regardless of how many accessories you attach to it in order to try to make it work like the MacBook you really wanted.
We find that there are many older users longing to make iPad work like a laptop, because that’s what they know. Take a look at a twelve-year-old who’s only really ever used an iPad for personal computing. It’s an eyeopener. It’s like looking into the future. The answer isn’t to try to make the iPad into a MacBook. The answer is to provide all the tools possible in iOS for developers to make robust apps that can take advantage of the multi-touch paradigm. — MacDailyNews, May 16, 2017