All iPads I have a mini but the 4 looks amazing...

I would not suggest a 16gb version of the retina iPad.Because of the hi res screen,games,pictures and apps in general take a lot more space,go for the 32gb version if you can squeeze it out of your budget.

Keep the mini and wait for the iPad 5

I have a 64gb iPad 4,it has 15.7gb used,41.5gb available for a total of 57.2gb available meaning IOS and whatever else is taking up 6.8gb.So if your iPad 4 was 16gb and 6.8 were being chewed up by IOS that only leaves less than 10gb total to play with unless my math or logic doesn't add up.

By all means switch to the 4, but I wouldn't get less than 32GB. You'll have it for a while and you tend to accumulate things.

aPple nErd said:

I don't know what to ado here. I was at the apple store yesterday and I looked at the 4 next to my mini and my mini is soooo small. I am in the return period but ok I have a 32 gb and I would only be able to afford a 16 gb 4. Any suggestions? Also, I might want to get a 3 running iOS 5 th jailbreak instead of a 4. Suggestions/ comments?

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If what you dislike about the Mini is the size then get the iPad 4... 16gb is still very doable as far as storage size. The BIGGEST benefit (besides lower price of entry) of the Mini is the minute size and if that isn't your thing then the iPad Mini is definitely not for you.

MrXiro said:

If what you dislike about the Mini is the size then get the iPad 4... 16gb is still very doable as far as storage size. The BIGGEST benefit (besides lower price of entry) of the Mini is the minute size and if that isn't your thing then the iPad Mini is definitely not for you.

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If you don't play games, don't read magazines, don't have a lot of apps and won't add more apps later and don't listen to music or don't watch movies or ... then get the 16GB. Most apps are with retina graphics now and the sizes are getting very big. A game can easily consume 1GB and an issue of a magazine is usually 500MB-1GB. I'd suggest the 32GB or more. IMO the inadequate 16GB model is how Apple maintain a low entry price ($499 is indeed reasonable with ref. to the spec of the iPad 4), given the cheaper and cheaper NAND storage chips.

haruhiko said:

If you don't play games, don't read magazines, don't have a lot of apps and won't add more apps later and don't listen to music or don't watch movies or ... then get the 16GB. Most apps are with retina graphics now and the sizes are getting very big. A game can easily consume 1GB and an issue of a magazine is usually 500MB-1GB. I'd suggest the 32GB or more. IMO the inadequate 16GB model is how Apple maintain a low entry price ($499 is indeed reasonable with ref. to the spec of the iPad 4), given the cheaper and cheaper NAND storage chips.

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I have the 16gb 3rd Gen iPad... I play plenty of games have about a rotation of 10-15 videos at a time and read a free magazine or two once in a while, none of which even remotely hit 500mb let alone 1gb. I don't store any music on it as having music on both a tablet and on my iPhone is redundant and I do a little bit of managing and house cleaning once in a while in regards of apps and videos. But 16gb is certainly more than doable.

To the OP:
Don't let some spec monger scare you into getting something you can't afford... would it be nice to have a 32gb? Sure... Is it necessary? Not really... at least not yet... maybe in a year or two... but besides a few huge games that take up 1 or 2gb you'll do fine, especially if you plan on flipping it in a year or so like most of the people on here do.
I still have 3.3 gb left on my iPad to spare.

whatever your decision turns out to be. I suggest stay away from Ipad 3 since its the product apple discontinued after only 6 months. If budget is tight, stay with mini or maybe you can be enough with 16gb for the 4.

I'm doing just fine with the 16GB iPad 4th Generation. I don't sync my music library to it, as that doesn't make much sense to me. Sure, games can take up a lot of space, but I don't plan on having every single game on my iPad all the time anyway.

joshwithachance said:

I'm doing just fine with the 16GB iPad 4th Generation. I don't sync my music library to it, as that doesn't make much sense to me. Sure, games can take up a lot of space, but I don't plan on having every single game on my iPad all the time anyway.

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I have a 16g ipad, too. On my ipad 1, I had 32g and stored a bunch of crap I never used.

The ipad 1 was nearly unusable when I sold it lost month. Six hundred was a lot for a device that lasted two years.

I have two Mac mini's from 2006 and 2007. They both still work fine. I paid about 700 for each. They have been worth the investment.

This time I got the 16g thinking it will be unusable in two three years.

As long as you know that pages of apps, movies, and a giant iTunes is not possible, 16 is serviceable.

you have a computer right? If so then use it to store things. I usually fill my iphone up, but when need be delete an app Im not using and then reload it once I finish my magazine, movie, etc. With that said I would stick with the mini, and IF you decide you want the larger ipad then wait till the 5 is out and sell the mini. you should be able to sell it for a decent amount and youll know for sure by then if your ready to move on.

haruhiko said:

If you don't play games, don't read magazines, don't have a lot of apps and won't add more apps later and don't listen to music or don't watch movies or ...

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Ha...Ha...Ha... If someone doesn't do this on their iPad, then I cant imagine what else would they use their iPad's for, Fry Eggs use it as egg frying Pan

I mean if only for Mails and Internet Surfing is what you wanna use a iPad for..There are other cheaper very cheaper options available why spend so much of money. Mind Boggling !!

dvboy said:

I have a 64gb iPad 4,it has 15.7gb used,41.5gb available for a total of 57.2gb available meaning IOS and whatever else is taking up 6.8gb.

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A "64GB" storage device is actually 59.6GB formatted. 16GB is 14.9GB formatted and a 32GB is 29.8. This is true whether it's an iPad or a Kindle or a Nook or a Nexus. According to other posters on the forums, the available space on iOS devices is 13.8GB on the 16GB version, 28.2 on the 32GB, and 57.2GB is normal for a 64GB model.

So you "lose" 1.1GB, 1.6GB, or 2.4GB to iOS and the system as you move up the size ladder. I'm not sure why it wouldn't be the same for all three except that it might be related to caching or ramdisks being set based on a percentage total volume size rather than a fixed amount. Maybe a software person knows more about this.

aPple nErd said:

I don't know what to ado here. I was at the apple store yesterday and I looked at the 4 next to my mini and my mini is soooo small. I am in the return period but ok I have a 32 gb and I would only be able to afford a 16 gb 4. Any suggestions? Also, I might want to get a 3 running iOS 5 th jailbreak instead of a 4. Suggestions/ comments?

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I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that that's why they called it the Mini...because it's soooo small

Congrats. The 3 is still a very nice device and you got a good deal on it. I think you will find yourself accumulating things on it now that you know you have a lot of space.

I believe that Wired has issue #1 free via Newsstand. Its really something anyonbe interested in tech should have. That issue is close to a GB in size, see what i mean about things accumulating.

I own a mini and a 4, and this is my opinion of the two. The 4 is much better for sites you do not interact with..eg: news, espn, cnn. When you want to actually type or are on a forum, the mini is much better. I can type so much faster on the mini b.c I can just two thumb it. With that, I mostly surf forums so the mini gets used way more. I love the retina screen, but the mini is just so much more functional IMO. I don't game a lot and don't watch movies/Tv on ipads

Personally, I went to the store and looked at both before making a christmas purchase for myself. I still have an iPad 1, so either the mini or the the new iPad would be a huge upgrade. But after using both, the iPad 4 was just sucha smooth device, great screen just all that I love about my iPad 1 but better!

So now I am the proud owner of a new iPad 4 32gb!

I bought the 4-64GB Black and it's a powerhouse, but IF they had offered a retina mini, I would have bought that instead.

I'm just used to the clarity and it's hard to purchase something that's not as clear.

Enjoy the mini; i'm sure you'll get good use out of it.