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There is no way iPad 4 will have 16GB as the base. Will 16GB be worthless next year?

K

Kendo

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 4, 2011
2,363
922
Apple tends to upgrade their HDD space across the board every 3 generations. Does that mean that 16GB models are going to be worthless when it comes to resale next year if 32GB becomes the base? It is surprising enough that the 3rd generation iPad didn't bump the base to 32GB. Flash memory has gone down in prices since the iPad 1 came out 2 years ago.

Imagine next year when the next iPad comes out and the base model starts at 32GB, is there even gonna be a market for 16GB models? Is it best just to go with the 32GB models if you plan on reselling to get the iPad 4?

I remember when the iPhone originally came out in 8GB and 4GB models. When the base specs got bumped to 16GB, the market for 4GB was basically non-existent. No one wanted them.
 
There will always be folks looking to get their hands on apple devices for cheap (either for their kids, or because they can't afford full retail/refurb prices). There are also a lot of different use cases for the iPad, someone who just wants for reading, e-mail, web surfing would be just fine with a 16GB.
 
iPad or any other iDevic for that matter may not increase as much as you'd like with iCloud and other storage options available. 16gb is plenty enough for me and many others as you can see on the poll asking which model everyone chose. I have a 64gb iPhone but it's only because I'm lazy and take lots of pictures and videos. I could easily do with 16/32 on my iPhone and to me it's a lot easier on my iPad.
 
iPad 3 will be worse compared to iPad 4, storage is just one factor. The old processor is not going to make it worthless, why would the lower storage?
 
I wish 32gb was the base ... would have saved another firggin 100 bucks this year from going to the normal 16 to 32 .... figured I would need the extra space with larger files and bigger apps due to the extra power and retina display.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B179 Safari/7534.48.3)

Sell when the rumors start heating up.
 
SteveAbootman said:
There will always be folks looking to get their hands on apple devices for cheap (either for their kids, or because they can't afford full retail/refurb prices). There are also a lot of different use cases for the iPad, someone who just wants for reading, e-mail, web surfing would be just fine with a 16GB.
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My sentiments too.
 
16 gig is fine for many people and uses.

The iPad is a very versatile device, and often is used for a very limited purpose.

Take restaurants for instance. Many use an iPad for their menu and ordering systems. Applications like that probably don't even come close to using 16g. Perhaps the same in medical offices, or a businessplace like mine where they are used solely to access our online assets.
 
DuckSoup said:
16 gig is fine for many people and uses.

The iPad is a very versatile device, and often is used for a very limited purpose.

Take restaurants for instance. Many use an iPad for their menu and ordering systems. Applications like that probably don't even come close to using 16g. Perhaps the same in medical offices, or a businessplace like mine where they are used solely to access our online assets.
Click to expand...



Exactly. There are many businesses and schools that will take advantage of the 16GB. Restricting storage space is one of the ways to keep iPads company policy compliant. So I can see Apple keeping the 16GB iPad at $399 & $529 and adding a 128GB version in the near future.
 
DuckSoup said:
16 gig is fine for many people and uses.

The iPad is a very versatile device, and often is used for a very limited purpose.

Take restaurants for instance. Many use an iPad for their menu and ordering systems. Applications like that probably don't even come close to using 16g. Perhaps the same in medical offices, or a businessplace like mine where they are used solely to access our online assets.
Click to expand...

iMaven said:
[/B]
Exactly. There are many businesses and schools that will take advantage of the 16GB. Restricting storage space is one of the ways to keep iPads company policy compliant. So I can see Apple keeping the 16GB iPad at $399 & $529 and adding a 128GB version in the near future.
Click to expand...

What does this have to do with the OP? I am not arguing that 16GB storage will be useless, I am asking whether or not the 16GB model will be bad for resale? Or are you suggesting instead of going to CL, people should go to medical offices and restaurants to unload their model in order to get the iPad 4?
 
With the move to cloud storage, steaming, etc, your need for space is going to be going away. 16gb is here to stay.
 
Kendo said:
What does this have to do with the OP? I am not arguing that 16GB storage will be useless, I am asking whether or not the 16GB model will be bad for resale? Or are you suggesting instead of going to CL, people should go to medical offices and restaurants to unload their model in order to get the iPad 4?
Click to expand...

Has everything to do with the op. Businesses can buy used iPads just like individuals would. WHy buy new if you can get a known reliable used 16G just for basic usage and you do not need all the bells and whistles that the "new iPad" or iPad 4 has?
 
DuckSoup said:
Has everything to do with the op. Businesses can buy used iPads just like individuals would. WHy buy new if you can get a known reliable used 16G just for basic usage and you do not need all the bells and whistles that the "new iPad" or iPad 4 has?
Click to expand...

'Can' and 'will' are two completely different things. Show me proof that tons of businesses bought cheaper iPad 1s when the iPad 2 came out. People are having trouble enough selling their iPad 2 for $300 since refurbs are now $350. And an original iPad? Forget about it, look at the threads here where they say they are trying to sell a 64GB Wi-Fi + 3G original iPad for even half what it cost them.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1337765/

Once Apple makes the base 32GB, the 16GB will be an even tougher sell.
 
There will always be a market for 16gb, just imagine the young school aged kids whose parents can't afford/don't want to buy them an iPad, a used 16gb on CL might be all they can muster up to buy it for themselves using their part-time jobs/allowances.

Or people who want to try out the iPad to see if it is for them or just a toy that does not fit their needs, it allows them to come in at a low price and then upgrade through the next reiterations of the iPad. I know that is what I did, started off with a 16gb 3g iPad 1, found out I didn't need 3g, so iPad 2 did 16gb wifi only which was perfect for my needs at the time.

Now I am starting to put all of my Magazines and PDFs on it so its starting to take more space and with the retina display I am thinking of returning my 16gb iPad 3rd gen, and bumping it up to 32gb.
 
Kendo said:
'Can' and 'will' are two completely different things. Show me proof that tons of businesses bought cheaper iPad 1s when the iPad 2 came out. People are having trouble enough selling their iPad 2 for $300 since refurbs are now $350. And an original iPad? Forget about it, look at the threads here where they say they are trying to sell a 64GB Wi-Fi + 3G original iPad for even half what it cost them.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1337765/

Once Apple makes the base 32GB, the 16GB will be an even tougher sell.
Click to expand...

Don't understand any of your doubts.

There will always be a market for an ipad no matter how large its storage.

Just the other day a girl I work with was looking into buying a used ipad for your 6 year old daughter. She was looking for a 1st gen of 16 g up to 32g. Would not even consider a 64g when I mentioned I was selling mine. It's a big world out there, and plenty of people looking for used ipads, any size.
 
If you can't sell it on eBay, you can sell it to Gazelle (just sell it before the launch date to get a better price).
 
Not everyone plans to use their iPad as an iPod, seriously guys 16gb is more than enough for some people.

I made a huge mistake by buying an 3g 64gb 1st gen iPad, because get this I have a whopping total of 61.2gb of free space after 2 years of owning it:eek: and I use it daily.

Never again, I am now awaiting for a white 16GB wifi and actually I saved money this time.
 
I consider myself a tech savvy person and I find plenty use for a 16GB iPad. For someone that doesn't load music or movies on it, it's plenty of space. My 16GB iPad 2 was only filled up about half way with apps and pictures. A lot of people may think 16GB is not enough but keep in mind, a lot of people also think 16GB is plenty.

I think of it like the iPod scenarios. I knew people that wanted to carry around their entire music collection and thought it was absurd to consider something like an 8GB iPod. Whereas, people like me thought 8GB was enough because they only want to carry around select playlists, instead of everything.
 
If you are into gaming, taking lots of pictures/video, or want to have a couple of movies to watch, 16GB gets crowded. Those cool iPad games are huge!

ipadusagejpg.jpg
 
ZBoater said:
If you are into gaming, taking lots of pictures/video, or want to have a couple of movies to watch, 16GB gets crowded. Those cool iPad games are huge!

Image
Click to expand...

Wow. You don't really think about just how much space apps will take up until you see it right in front of you.
 
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