Based on the announcement yesterday, the best (if meager) multitasking features are reserved for M1 chipped devices on iPadOS16.
Which begs the question: to get the most out of multiple windows, is the minimum productivity iPad now the Pro 12.9?
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Larger screen means larger windows. So if one’s productivity is linked to multiple windows the iPP 12.9 naturally wins, neglecting other factors such as weight & portability. If one docks to an external monitor it’s not as much of an issue IMO—could combine great 11”portability with large monitor/windows functionality. Choose your preference; both win with the new iPadOS.
The “losers” are the non-M1 iPads going forward. I expect that as the iPP and Air move to M2 and beyond the mini & regular iPad will get M1.
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Well I had been holding out one replacing my 2018 inch 11 pro in hopes of it getting miniLED. But without one of the major features of IOS 16 being supported, now I’m in a quandary. I had the 12.9 originally when I bought my first pro, but found it just a bit too large for regular use as a tablet.
BTW: This has already tanked the resale value of the 2018 era pros 
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Mr. “I can’t resist new and shiny” here: I’m going iPad Pro 11, whether I stay with my eBay bargain M1 (512gb WiFi only) or upgrade this fall to M2 with 1tb and 5g.The reason is it gives me the size and portability of @Bronsky’s Surface GO, with the tablet performance I found lacking in the Surface line. I tried both GO and GO2, and realized I had to get used to less screen real estate when undocked in order to have the most portable solution, and rely on docking at my desk for the full experience. Going 12.9" gets me two useable side by side windows (at best) but I’m back to an ultralight laptop form factor and weight at that.
A reasonable person would say iPA 5 is the way to go, but I just don’t see myself living within 256gb of SSD given how I currently use my iPad (photo hobby alone eats gob of space), much less if I go full time iPad this fall.
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Technical interruption for a moment. Our IOS expert had an intro session to IOS 16 yesterday, and the big factor as to why Stage manager and the virtual display sizing is m1 only has everything to do with memory, specifically support for virtual memory, which of course has been around forever on Windows, but really hasn’t seen a need on a phone type device, to this point anyway.
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With the surface area/footprint of a sheet of copier paper. As to portability, I note:
Device weight … + … Keyboard weight … = total carry weight
iPP11 … 1.03lbs … + … Magic KB 1.04 … = 2.07 lbs
SP8 … 1.9lbs … + … Sign. KB 0.6 … = 2.5 lbs
iPP12.9 …1.5lbs … + … Magic KB 1.6 … = 3.1 lbs
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one more thing, if you want the absolute best performing iPad, Apple just made the case for the 1TB configurations and above since they have 16GB real ram and virtual memory is always much slower.
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SP8 in the sweet spot - but it just ain’t no contest as a tablet - I found it was just a s smaller Windows laptop…
PS - I think the weights are backwards on the iPP11 and Magic Keyboard - keyboard weighs more than the tablet…
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That puts me in a quandary - right now I can get $555 from Apple trading up to that 16gb/1tb M1 - but by the time M2 gets here I expect that will be closer to $250-300…
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A year after everybody was scratching their heads as to why Apple provided 16 GB in an iPad. I guess they had this in mind way back then… well of course, Stage Manager et al had to be in development back when the M1 iPPs were released.
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since I’ve been watching Pistol on FX/Hulu , I’ll borrow a phrase from there for Apple, “Cheeky Bastards…”
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Typo. My bad. Thanks for the catch.
WELL SCRATCH THAT - trade in dropped $40 to $515 overnight…
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Yes, but the constant workarounds and kludges to make up for lack of access to the file system in iPadOS are a risk to blood pressure management.
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I have a pet theory that the more complex the processor, the more physical RAM is required. Once M2 or 3 is here, 16GB may be standard.
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OK DOC - back to Windows world…but that’s like comparing Rykers and your closest club Fed…
For non-lawyers here, Rykers (aka Rykers Island) is hole of a prison facility compared to “club Fed” which is the nickname for federal facilities short of a SuperMax where they are compared to country clubs…
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At the risk of sounding pedantic, I think the analogy is iPadOS is to ADX Florence/Colorado Springs federal supermax, as Windows 11 is to Pensacola FPC “club fed”.
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I think my analogy, as to the full impact, is better old pal…
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Did y’all notice the increase in ecosystem unity among all Apple devices during the keynote? Penitentiaries are all well and good as analogies I suppose, but I’m feeling more of a Hotel California vibe. A wonderful place you can never leave (and don’t want to).
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This one deserves 
! Maybe I should just enjoy whatever they give us for the 8gb M1 model and enjoy all three device…
NAH, too easy…