iFixit Shares 13-Inch iPad Pro and Apple Pencil Pro Teardown Video

[Abstract]

I remember first buying the 13” 2018 pro and then later returning it for the 11”. I found that unless I wanted to use it as a full time computer the 13” was just too big and heavy to use as a tablet. Hopefully that’s changed a bit with the 13” being lighter but I still usually use my 11” in a keyboard laptop set up and find the screen plenty big enough.

Nothing has fundamentally changed.

I did the same as you, and felt that wasn’t the right screen ratio (roughly 4:3) for taking notes because it’s so much squarer (nothing like paper), and wasn’t rectangular enough in landscape mode to do split screen well as a laptop. Single apps did look better when you didn’t split screen, but at the time, I often had a Word document open beside a PDF, or a PDF beside another PDF.

Even for movies, they didn't look any larger on my larger screen. The larger screen meant there was more black space above and below the movie. 😅

 

[allenvanhellen]

Updatable browsers are more of an issue than battery adhesives with iPad longevity. MacBooks are better in this way because you can get legacy browsers with recent security certificates, whereas Safari loses updates with iPad OS updates and fairly early aren’t able to load webpages.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

This kind of video has value in watching it to see the relationships and scale. You don’t get that from a written description or even the status shots. I hope that they still publish this as a web page with images, too, but the video is more interesting to watch.

I’ll take your word for it 😉

 

[Alex Cai]

I might be crazy but when it comes to tablet I prefer it thicker

True, it also applies to the bezels, where I need some space to hold on to.

 

[antonrg]

What I mean is that people in here seems to prefer thinner device for easier prehension , unless I'm misunderstanding. I'd say thinner phone are nicer (though that too is debatable) but thin tablets don't do well , from a pure physical standpoint... The fact that the area is bigger and requires a different angle to be held at makes the thinner surface more painful to use it with. Then again it all makes sensre in my head but perhaps am.i completely wrong, you get me ?

Totally agree on your points and, if I may add, the constant fear I’d have for dropping and smashing it to pieces. 11 inch iPad feels much easier to handle and less prone to dropping 😹

 

[svish]

Good video. Glad to see similar durability. Nice to see teardown of the pencil

 

[haruhiko]

Is it just me? I’m no longer interested in their tear down videos.

 

[baryon]

Would it be impossible to use a standard battery size, like AAAA, or something thinner, and just have a threaded part that lets you screw the pencil apart, replace the battery, and screw it back together? Why does every damn device have to use a special, custom battery size and shape? I wish companies tried to standardize these things. In the 90s everything ran on one of 3 different battery sizes, and yes the batteries were disposable but at least things were standard.

 

[Macaholic868]

I’m genuinely curious and haven’t been paying as much attention to the new iPads, and this the reviews about them, as I normally would.

What are some things you can do on the new iPad Pro or iPad Air that you simply cannot do on the previous model. Doing something faster doesn’t count unless it so slow on the previous model as to be unusable while it runs normally on the new one and I’m not interested in these new accessories that you also have to buy like the new keyboard or Apple Pencil that go along with them.

I’m interested in new functionality on these iPads themselves. Hardware improvements that result in “thinner, lighter faster” or a “better looking display” doesn’t really interest me. Things you can actually use the devices as they ship to do out of the box are what I’m interested in finding out more about. I’ll accept new popular apps that can only run on these models or big time new features in existing popular apps as well that only work on the new models though it has to be something mainstream and not so niche as to apply to just a small subset of the user base.

So far I haven’t read about anything but again, I haven’t been paying attention and could have easily missed something obvious in these reviews.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Unami]

What I mean is that people in here seems to prefer thinner device for easier prehension , unless I'm misunderstanding. I'd say thinner phone are nicer (though that too is debatable) but thin tablets don't do well , from a pure physical standpoint... The fact that the area is bigger and requires a different angle to be held at makes the thinner surface more painful to use it with. Then again it all makes sensre in my head but perhaps am.i completely wrong, you get me ?

I'm with team "thin is fine", as long as the thinness doesn't compromise battery power or durability. If I want something thicker to hold, I can always put a thin ipad in a case.

 

[SpanishAppleNerd]

Am I the only one who hates these quirky teardown videos they've started putting out?

Web teardown articles with high resolution photos was a much superior format.

I love iFixit. I think they also put blog posts with the written teardown?

 

[Hopefully Smarter]

iFixit's sole purpose is to sell you repair supplies.


Tech journalism sites like to give them free advertising.

 

[Greybeard2017]

iFixit's sole purpose is to sell you repair supplies.


Tech journalism sites like to give them free advertising.

If the free advertising gets us interesting videos then I'd say its a good deal

 

[AltecX]

iFixit's sole purpose is to sell you repair supplies.


Tech journalism sites like to give them free advertising.

Your point? Doesn't mean their articles and vids have no value.

 

[rickdollar]

Yes - its a big difference - if you hold the 2018 and 2024 iPads Pros side by side the new one is so much thinner and lighter. Its still quite a big tablet but no longer as heavy.

My 13" arrived Friday and I can really tell the weight difference compared to my M1 12.9. More comfortable to use in every situation. Not night and day, but very noticeable.

 

[Tagbert]

Problem with videos are you can’t scan through, go back and forth to find information. Video works great if there is a story or narrative to be told. For technology, when you have to compare data, look at designs, and move back and forth, video is terrible. I am not wasting 20 mins watching a video when a well written analysis could take 5-10 mins.

Here is the written version of the tear down. It was linked in the description of the video.

iPad Pro 13’s Hide a Repairability Win, Still Hard to Fix | iFixit News

We’ve spent the past few days examining the new iPad Pro 13 and boy is it an impressive bit of technology. Let’s dive into the hardware!

www.ifixit.com

 

[Kirkster]

I remember first buying the 13” 2018 pro and then later returning it for the 11”. I found that unless I wanted to use it as a full time computer the 13” was just too big and heavy to use as a tablet. Hopefully that’s changed a bit with the 13” being lighter but I still usually use my 11” in a keyboard laptop set up and find the screen plenty big enough.

Yea that original iPad Pro was huge. I swore off the 12.9 until the M1 they shrunk it a lot with the smaller bezel and the display lured me back in, now I am a convert as it is not that much bigger. Now it is also a lot lighter and that display is oh so choice. But the biggest seller for me was the landscape fron camera.