iPad Air 4 vs iPad Pro 10.5” // Tricky Trade-offs! By Noah Herman

You know, typically, when I compare tablets specifically iPads, one is usually cheaper and less feature packed, while the other is obviously better but more expensive. In this case, however, the iPads in question are a bit more unique or nuanced. One is newer, but kind of watered down. If you know what I mean, while the other was very advanced for its time in this video today, we're going to be comparing the iPad Air 4 to the 2017 iPad Pro 10.5 inch in order to help you decide which one is right for you all right, let's be real iPad Air 4 looks much better, more modern, etc. It got the iPad Pro treatment, with a few exceptions. On the flip side, the pro 10.5 inch looks like the 2014 air 2, but bigger, in other words the iPad Air 3. Now that I think about it, it's got thick chin and forehead bezels and, of course, a home button, despite the obvious aesthetic differences.

One I want to focus on is the nature of the sides of these iPads air 4 is industrial or flat like the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 12 and, of course, the iPad Pro, whereas the pro 10.5 inch is curved. While I think the newer tablet looks better, it does come at a cost. It's a bit sharper in the hand pro 10.5 inch, though legacy doesn't cut into your palm as much when holding it regardless. These two tablets have nearly identical weight and thickness specifications. What isn't identical, however, is I o and audio output.

The 10.5 inch wins the latter category with a superior quad speaker array compared to the air force dual stereo setup. It also has a built-in headphone jack, which is really useful for those of us who prefer wired headphones. However, iPad air force strikes back with the power of USB type c, which I think blows lightning completely out of the water, with its immense capability bandwidth and accessory versatility, and before I forget to mention the only I o aspect, these tablets share is the smart connector, though it's placed differently on these respective tablets. It serves the same purpose: it provides data and power for keyboard and trackpad accessories, which both of these iPads support for once biometrics are more similar than you'd. Think, although definitely distinctive the air 4 has touch I'd integrated into the power button, which is actually quite nice.

It's just as responsive and accurate as the more traditional home button integrated sensor found in the pro 10.5 inch, and though I do enjoy the iPad Pro look without a home button. I will say traditional touch ID still feels a little more natural and is especially convenient when the iPad is laying flat on a table. Finally, let's discuss Apple Pencil support. The air 4, like the pro, accommodates the 2nd gen Apple Pencil, which magnetically attaches to the side of the device to charge and features a capacitive touch area which enables you to switch between two software pencil tools. The pro 10.5 inch, on the other hand, supports the first gen Apple Pencil, which charges awkwardly plugged into the device's lightning port at the bottom, like an awkward unicorn as I've said, and has no additional input. Both function identically as styluses, however, with the same level of precision, smoothness and pressure sensitivity display, is where things get a bit tricky to the untrained die.

One may automatically assume the iPad. R4 wins this category entirely and yes, while it may be full screen and 0.4 inches larger diagonally. The pro 10.5 inch has a trick up its sleeve. This, my friends is promotion or for those more technical among us, 120hz refresh rate for some. This isn't a big deal, but for others once they use it, they can't go back.

Air 4, on the other hand, is stuck at 60hz, which is more than enough for most consumers. The demographic this tablet is aimed at. However, once again, if you want deliciously, buttery scrolling or animations pro is the way to go period. The newer tablet not only has a slower refreshing display, but a dimmer one as well. It maxes out at a rated 500 nits with a 10.5, pushing a more impressive 600 nits. This will make outdoor usage a bit more bearable and if you like, bright screens, then you're going to be a bit happier.

Another thing I want to note is that, even though the 10.5 inch has thicker top and bottom bezels, the side bezels are razor-thin, I mean not literally, but comparably even compared to the 3rd and 4th gen iPad Pro models other than that. Once again, though, the air 4 has a slightly larger full screen panel. The pro 10.5 inch, even with its slight h, has a more advanced display and with size in mind. Although the air 4 is slightly larger once again, both offer pretty much the same tablet experience in portrait mode, landscape mode and while split screen multitasking. If anything, you really should be paying attention to display specifications if at all battery life is an interesting category as well, though, the iPad Pro 10.5 inch has a larger capacity battery on the inside. The air four takes the cake, as it has a dimmer, lower refresh rate display and a processor.

That is four generations newer and far more power efficient. The battery within the 10.5 is also almost guaranteed to be more degraded when buying it used, because that's the only way you can really get this tablet right now, on top of the a10 being less power efficient due to its age. In short, if you want better screen on time, buying new is the move. However, despite the pro 10.5 limitations, I haven't had any major or discernible battery issues with it and if its standout features are important to you, the trade-off is probably worth it. Camera specs and performance are also a bit nuanced.

Both tablets have identically specked front and back facing cameras, 12 megapixels, f, 1.8 and 7 megapixel f 2.2 respectively. So one could assume that camera quality would be the same right wrong. Apple's image processing has improved quite a bit over the years, and it's pretty evident when taking pictures and videos with the air 4. Airfork can also shoot 4k 60 video, as well, with the 10.5 inch being capped at 30p long story short, if you're one of those people that actually cares about tablet camera quality. The air 4 is the obvious choice.

Although I will say, the presence of a flash with the older iPad is quite useful in low light situations. Now on to what you all care about performance and again I'll ask a rhetorical question: the newer, the better right, I would say, that's mostly accurate. The a14 processor is a monster in its own right with its five nanometer architecture. It rivals the a12z found in iPad Pro or the current gen 1. Although it falls a bit short in multi-core scores.

Still, it is going to be your go-to device if you want to do intense or graphically demanding gaming video editing, especially at 4k, basically anything that requires a lot of CPU or GPU horsepower. However, that's not to say the iPad Pro 10.5 inch is slow. Yes, while the 810x is definitely older, with 16 animated architecture, it is still a very capable six core processors capable of pushing iPadOS very, very smoothly at 120 hertz, mind you! So if you're going to be doing everyday tasks, some sketching drawing or note-taking and maybe some light gaming, this tablet should still be fantastic for a few more years. After all, the iPad Air 2 is still supported, and it has a 8x on the inside and that about wraps things up here. I hope this video was helpful if you're new to the channel.

I would appreciate it if you leave a like comment, if you have any questions, suggestions or opinions and, of course subscribe for more content like this and be sure to click the bell icon and to my current amazing audience, I hope you saw a jump in quality. Furthermore, I've been spending a lot more time on the content creation process, something I should have been doing. You know quite a while ago I sort of lost my creative touch as time went on and it's so great to sort of jump back in and to just you know, take my time to write and shoot better b-roll and a-roll. So yeah look forward to better, better, that's great! Look at that's grammatically, correct, better higher quality content in the future here, and I'm very excited to see what apple is coming out with later in the month. So you know again if you're new subscribe, we have a lot more.

You know great iPad content coming up. Also, I got some mac content planned as well and a really cool accessory. I'm super excited to share once I'm allowed to so stay tuned for that and as always, I'm Noah, and I will catch you all in the next one.

Source : Noah Herman