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iPad 16GB or 64GB?

K

kzhlin

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 5, 2012
96
1
Los Angeles
I'm going to get an iPad Air 2, but can't decide which storage space to get.

I'm mainly going to be using it for reading pdf's and web browsing, and not sure what to do with 64GB since music and all that stuff is on my 64GB iPhone 6.

What do you guys store on your iPads that would require 64GB?
 
kzhlin said:
I'm going to get an iPad Air 2, but can't decide which storage space to get.

I'm mainly going to be using it for reading pdf's and web browsing, and not sure what to do with 64GB since music and all that stuff is on my 64GB iPhone 6.

What do you guys store on your iPads that would require 64GB?
Click to expand...

I have 2 ipads with 32gb. I don't have songs or movies on them, but with the data from my apps are almost full. I do use them as a sheet music holder when I preform so I guess they have a lot of pictures which are actually music scores.
I highly recommend the 64gig version because you never know. My ip6 is the 64 and it just feels good to not have to worry abut storage any more. I've always had to dump apps with any 16gb device to upgrade to the latest iOS. And that's a pain.
 
kzhlin said:
I'm going to get an iPad Air 2, but can't decide which storage space to get.

I'm mainly going to be using it for reading pdf's and web browsing, and not sure what to do with 64GB since music and all that stuff is on my 64GB iPhone 6.

What do you guys store on your iPads that would require 64GB?
Click to expand...

Pictures and music. I am using almost 60GB in images and music on my Air 2.

Get the 64 so you do not need to worry about it. Many here regret the 16B purchase.
 
Last edited:
The 16gb is an odd model that shouldn't exist. It should have been 32/64/128, but for some reason Apple felt this was a viable lineup. The resale on this one will be disproportionately lower as well, so the long term extra cost for the 64gb is actually pretty low.

Plus, 16 is not enough when the operating system only really leaves you around 12 and half GB to start with...go 64 or go go home :)
 
I'd suggest the 64 GB. My work iPad is 16 GB because I use it for the purposes you mention, mostly e-books and reference. It was fine at first, but one year later, now with many textbooks and document scans loaded, I find that I need to shuffle things around frequently because I am low on space. Granted, I still have Photostream enabled on the device, which takes up a one gigabyte on its own... but you should note that the 16 GB model gives you 11.98 GB of actual, usable space (according to iTunes). I'll be going with 64 GB when I upgrade.

saltd said:
The 16gb is an odd model that shouldn't exist. It should have been 32/64/128, but for some reason Apple felt this was a viable lineup.
Click to expand...
It is a brilliantly viable lineup. People like my mother continue to buy the 16 GB model, while many other users need to spring for more space. Whereas resentment was fostering over having to pay $100 to get to 32 GB (a mere additional 16 GB), the removal of 32 GB and realignment of making 64 GB the $100 upgrade means that people are going to make that upgrade and not feel resentful over it. If Apple made 32 GB the base model, fewer people would be inclined to spend the extra $100.
 
kzhlin said:
I'm mainly going to be using it for reading pdf's and web browsing, and not sure what to do with 64GB since music and all that stuff is on my 64GB iPhone 6.
Click to expand...

Well, then.. If all you plan to do is those things, then a 64GB is overkill. I understand the 64GB is a no brainer, but the problem is paying for an extra 100 bucks when it's unnecessary.

I have the 6 Plus 64GB & Air 2 16 GB.. And the 16GB serves me just well on my iPad.
 
Since people tend to keep ipads much longer than iphones, I would suggest getting at least the 64gb model. IOS updates seem to only get larger, and if you plan on using icloud photo library 16gb can fill up after a year of photos.

I use my ipad like a PC, so the larger capacity is a must in that sense.
 
kzhlin said:
I'm going to get an iPad Air 2, but can't decide which storage space to get.

I'm mainly going to be using it for reading pdf's and web browsing, and not sure what to do with 64GB since music and all that stuff is on my 64GB iPhone 6.

What do you guys store on your iPads that would require 64GB?
Click to expand...

Well, if you are going to use icloud photo library to sync all your photos, that is easily several gb of storage.

If you intend to record video on your iPad, for reference, 1 hour of video is about 12 gb of space. Double that if you want to edit with iMovie (since iMovie create a copy of the video clip).

If you play games, some games easily take up a few gb of storage. Then apps like iWork's and Office are a few hundred mb each. Even pdfs add up. It's definitely worth paying the extra $100 now and not have to worry about storage ever.
 
I have a 16gb mini and it's working fine for me. Would I rather it was a 32 or 64? Absolutely, but 16 is manageable. I bought this one used so I didn't have the option of choosing more storage, but I think what everyone else has said is spot on about the logic of paying a little more for a lot more space. The only caveat is your budget, so buy what you can afford.
 
I had an 16GB iPad Air 2 at first but let me tell u it got ANNOYING fast. I did have 2GB free cuz i have my music and photos in the cloud but it was so tiresome to keep worrying about space and deleting things so i decided to replace it with a 64gb one about two weeks later. Its so much easier now even with about 42 GB left. Its just nice to have the option to just install things lol also 4 times as much space for only 100$ more Figured why not and seems more future proof too. I bet the 16gb one will be discontinued at some point
 
kzhlin said:
I'm going to get an iPad Air 2, but can't decide which storage space to get.

I'm mainly going to be using it for reading pdf's and web browsing, and not sure what to do with 64GB since music and all that stuff is on my 64GB iPhone 6.

What do you guys store on your iPads that would require 64GB?
Click to expand...

I went with the 64GB Air 2. I like a lot of apps/games, Rhapsody music streaming downloads plus Next Issue magazine downloads that take up a lot of space. I knew 16GB was wayyyy to low on space for my needs.

Sounds like your needs would be fine for 16 GB since you have a 64GB iPhone 6. Even so, when in doubt, go with 64GB. :)
 
kzhlin said:
I'm going to get an iPad Air 2, but can't decide which storage space to get.

I'm mainly going to be using it for reading pdf's and web browsing, and not sure what to do with 64GB since music and all that stuff is on my 64GB iPhone 6.

What do you guys store on your iPads that would require 64GB?
Click to expand...

I've used quite a few 16GB iPads. I do a lot of Mobile Device Management stuff, so I have two 16GB iPads (one 3rd Gen with Verizon, one a WiFi Only original Air) and a 128GB original iPad Air with Verizon.

16GB quickly becomes a limiting factor. Albeit, my purpose with the 16GB iPads is purely to test apps and MDM functions. Every time I find myself without the 128GB iPad and wanting to download a new game or something, I am constantly watching the app file sizes and that's legitimately annoying.

PDFs and Books add up file sizes super quickly. Given that there is no 32GB size on the newest models anymore, and given that 64GB costs what the 32GB size used to, I'd say that there's no reason to not do a 64GB size. Also, can you really hate on quadruple the storage for $100?
 
After two years with a 16GB Retna I'm now on a 128G Air 2. Have every app I've ever purchased that I found useful, 16GB worth of songs so I can listen when I'm off wifi, 10 movies for my upcoming flights where there won't be wifi over the Atlantic and still have close to 60GB left to play with. Not looking back for the extra $100 over the 64GB.
 
I travel with my iPad and am sometimes away from home for a few weeks at a time, so I bought the 128GB iPad Air. Between photos, TV shows, movies, music and apps I have about 24GB of free space. Only you can decide how much space you need. Better to have more space than you need than to run out of space.
 
I decided to go 16/cellular rather than 64/wifi. I haven't run into a storage problem yet. I went with the 64 for my iPhone. That's where all my junk is stored. Thats where I take videos and pictures, keep my local music, etc. Most of my iPad usage is streaming and reading, so I don't miss the space. I guess it depends on how you plan to use it. I could see a time when I was going on a trans Atlantic flight and watched to store some movies and couldn't, but other than that, I'm fine.
 
I wish they get rid of 16GB and start with 32GB+ instead. I recommend you get the 64GB version if you can wink it. I got the iPad mini 2 16GB version for my kids. when it comes time to upgrade the OS say 8, it requires at least 8GB of available space. My kids had to remove bunch of stuff in order for them to upgrade.
 
I have a 16GB iPhone and 16Gb Air and at this point I don't see it being a problem as far as storage goes. I still have over 6GB free on the iPhone and 8.5 GB on the iPad. Buy as much storage as you need.
 
kzhlin said:
I'm going to get an iPad Air 2, but can't decide which storage space to get.

I'm mainly going to be using it for reading pdf's and web browsing, and not sure what to do with 64GB since music and all that stuff is on my 64GB iPhone 6.

What do you guys store on your iPads that would require 64GB?
Click to expand...

I got 64GB on both my original iPad and iPad 3 and I can tell you it gets used - my iPad 3 has been so full for the last year that I have to actively manage the space so I can install new things I find. Get as much storage as you can afford to get.
 
I have a 16Gb iPhone 6 Plus which i am managing so far. My iPad air 2 is 128Gb which is great keep all my photos/video and still have 60gb left. Any video/photos i take on my phone i transfer to my macbook and onto my Air anyway which i prefer. My 6 plus is my phone/message/email/instagram and media device.No games. Air is my Storage beast.
I wouldn't buy a iPhone 6/6 plus in anything bigger than 16Gb till they put 2Gb Ram in it like Air 2.
 
My use of the Ipad is similar to yours. 32 gb works fine for me, but 16 would be tight. In your situation, I'd recommend 64.
 
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