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iPad 16GB vs 32GB

Tadros

Tadros

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 29, 2007
378
23
New Jersey
So I always get 32GB iPhones, but they are half the price of the iPads. I just ordered a 16GB iPad, and now i kind of have buyers remorse. i feel like I should have gone 32GB. But with AppleCare - it came out to $640. This is my first iPad, so what I am really looking for is advice from individuals with either the 16GB or the 32GB. Is it that big of a difference? Is16GB enough???
 
i have 18 gigs of music on my iTunes so no 16 is not worth it.
32 is the minimum for me i used to have a 64 iPad 3 and had plenty i ordered a 32 this time. i won't need all that extra size for pictures and what not like i do a phone but my music i need on there.
 
It really depends on personal usage. The first response says he has 18GB of music but I dont put a single song on mine, thats what my phone is used for. I would say 32GB is the better amount for most users but if you don't expect to fill it with music and videos you can easily get by with the 16GB.
 
If I had nothing but apps I installed from the App Store, I would be at 12GB. I don't even have that many apps. Just iLife, and a single screen of games. Even if I were to not sync any music or photos, I would want the 32.

I only have 16 on my phone, and it is enough. I sync 8GB of music there, but I don't have many games on it. The iPad is best for gaming.
 
I figure I'd put Apps (Netflix, Hulu, HBO GO) a couple business apps, and MAYBE a movie from my iTunes library. I do plan on having photos on it, though.

My iPhone has all my music - that's a 32GB, but $300 vs $700 is a HUGE difference for me lol
 
the only time i have issues with 32gb is when i load it up with movies for long plane trips
 
My iPad 1 and 2 were 32GB and filled up because it was pre-iTunes Match / stream, so I had to keep local copies of everything. My iPad 3 was 64GB and I decided that was too much - I would just install a ton of my games ... just because.

So when I got the Mini I went 16GB - because I didn't think I would like it. But I really did - EXCEPT that I was constantly running out of storage!

So for the Air I went back to my reliable 32GB, and I have reinstalled my 'standard app set' and have plenty of space remaining. I think ***FOR ME*** 32GB is a good break point.

Note that 'for me' was the most important thing in this entire post. Everything is user-specific.
 
I had a 32GB iPad 2, that was no where close to being full, so ordered a 16GB this time around. Worst case scenario, if its not enough, I'll exchange for a bigger one or wait for Mini as I originally wanted
 
Thanks for the tips! I think I may stick with the 16gb an hope for the best. One big concern is how may GBs does iOS take up on the iPad? Will I be left with 8GB to work with or more like 14GB?
 
Tend to stream now days for music (Spotify), have my iTunes on my iMac. I went for a 32GB this time, just to see. :) happy anyway. Go back and change it if you're not happy.
 
A 16gb iPad is fine if you don't store your music collection, photos or movies on the device. Maybe 100 songs or a few movies.

If you use iCloud for music streaming, and getting your movies/tv shows through iCloud or Netflix, then it's fine. It will hold 50+ apps. And, if you need more apps, delete the ones you don't use much (they're still available to re-download in the Cloud if you DO need them).

16gb is just something you have to manage.
 
I was planning on putting photos on it, and maybe one 30 minute video for work. But mostly stream videos and use it for note taking and books at school. Just worried 16GB is too little... still, it's between 32GB or AppleCare and IDK how prone to breaking these things are... never had one before lol
 
I went 64 and it has worked out perfectly. It holds my favorite music playlists, some of my tv shows and a few movies. Oh yeah and most of my books. :cool: I could live with 32 but who'd want to if you don't have to. :D
 
I'm probably one of the few that actually downgraded from a 32 to the 16. I tend to use my ipad for streaming movies (Netflix, hbo go, ect.), youtube, and browsing the web. I don't keep any music or movies on my ipad, so the 32 seemed like overkill. Every case is different so I'm not telling you to get the 16, just sharing my experience.
 
Minus music, I'm at 15mb with 2 screens worth of apps. Apps etc only get bigger each year. 16 is for minimalists and single use pads like POS.
 
Tadros86 said:
So I always get 32GB iPhones, but they are half the price of the iPads. I just ordered a 16GB iPad, and now i kind of have buyers remorse. i feel like I should have gone 32GB. But with AppleCare - it came out to $640. This is my first iPad, so what I am really looking for is advice from individuals with either the 16GB or the 32GB. Is it that big of a difference? Is16GB enough???
Click to expand...

Go 32, you have 14 days to return I think (if you bought from Apple.) 16 is going to be too short down the road. In a few months you'll feel the pain of 16.
 
jacob-07 said:
I'm probably one of the few that actually downgraded from a 32 to the 16. I tend to use my ipad for streaming movies (Netflix, hbo go, ect.), youtube, and browsing the web. I don't keep any music or movies on my ipad, so the 32 seemed like overkill. Every case is different so I'm not telling you to get the 16, just sharing my experience.
Click to expand...

That's how I used my 16GB mini. The higher storage ones tend to take a bigger hit when u sell them.
 
need 64

I used to always buy the 32GB models (for pictures and movies and lots of apps) but now I'm going to have to get a 64GB model since I'm almost always bumping up and having to move stuff around. It's a silly premium, 200$ for 48 more GB's but at least I can continue to travel, have a lot of pictures loaded and store 5-10 movies on it for longer trips.
 
I downgraded to 16gb. I checked my usage on my last iPad (32gb) and found I was only using several gigs.

I don't keep music, movies, etc. on my iPad. I keep all of that stuff on my iPhone. Just my personal usage, I recommend more space if you think you might need it. But from my historical usage, 16GB is enough. I took the extra money I saved and put it towards LTE (T-mobile). I thought it would be more convenient to have the occasional free LTE access than the extra space.

tl;dr Evaluate your historical usage of iPads and make the call you think is appropriate.
 
I literally have no idea what to get...never had an iPad before and would feel so much better saving $120 on the 16gb (seems like only model discounts are showing up on)...tough decision
 
Aside from Photo Stream, my kid's 32GB iPad has nearly zero photos, videos, and music. What it has is about a handful of games and few dozen educational apps, and these take up a good deal of space. Combined, my kid's iPad averages between 20 to 25GB of occupied space.

Having said that, if you are a frequent upgraded, 16GB does have the best resale value. But if you plan on using it for a couple of years or so, I recommend getting 32GB.
 
16gb here but I have iTunes Match. I have way to much music to pay extra for a device to store it when I probably really only listen to 10% of it. For 25 bucks a year and can play my music on all my iDevices.
 
I just went from 32GB iPhone 4s to 16GB iPhone 5s. I am planning on going from 32 GB iPad 2 to 16 GB iPad mini.

Probably if I clean off my iPad 2 of everything I don't use it would probably take up less than 8 GB.
 
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