You put a bigger chip in so you can run it at lower power consumption levels. Essentially, there are two ways this can pan out:
* Overall utilization can remain lower, keeping it in a more power efficient band.
* Expensive actions complete faster, thus using less power (since they run for less time).
From an overall business perspective, there also doesn't really seem to be a reason to _not_ standardize the lineup on a single chip. I have to imagine is less overhead from a manufacturing standpoint and it's not like there's a particularly meaningful difference in manufacturing costs of these chips.
Yep, I have the original 11" iPad Pro from 2018. It still works flawlessly and would be perfect for this use case. Someone who needs a device for school should buy a used iPad like this, not a new one that would be overpowered for the task and would cost double. Even with the edu discount, it's over $1k with the keyboard case. Why not just buy an MBA at that point?
This has been my reasoning for years and it has been great for that. If I have to leave in the middle of the workday for errand or appointment it’s with me in the Logitech folio case and I have connected computing power in my hands in a form factor that is roughly the size of a moleskine.
Sure, it's great for that kind of (computationally) light work, but then what's the point of putting a monster like the M5 chip in it?