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iPad Advice: is the iPad Air 2 Realy That Bad?

mcdj said:
The speakers are loud and do reverberate.
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I was a little surprised at the vibration, but at the same time, I think the speakers on this gen iPad sound a lot better than previous models. I'm guessing the whole body is being used as a sound chamber, which makes it sound great at the expense of, well, the whole iPad being a part of the speaker and vibrating.
 
Thank you all your feedback I feel much better now. I'm going to wait and get one next Friday on Halloween (my favorite childhood holiday :D)

I realize that people will come and voice displeasure in anonymity more readily than they would otherwise amd that people are more likely to mention a problem than they are to voice please, but this is my first forum experience and I was surprised about all the negative threads. Not to say that many of the issue weren't justified, you just a skewed image I suppose.
 
What's with people basically saying you shouldn't ask for advice, just buy your own and see? What an unhelpful attitude.

I absolutely love mine - I actually look forward to getting home from work so I can use it, and am then disappointed when I read too much at work and having nothing to look at.

I've had no screen distortion except when deliberately seeing how bendy it is (I do think it will suffer from accident bending more than me last one (3rd gen) - say you put it down, it goes under a cushion and someone sits on it).

The colour and brightness on my screen is perfect.

The speaker vibration is a little distracting, although they seem louder than before, if you turn them down to normal volumes it's barely noticeable (but noticeable).

The screen really does smear a lot more than older models did when they were new (it's like they do after a few months when the coating's worn off). This is obviously due to the anti glare coating, and I can't tell you how well that works as I haven't been outside with it yet.

And despite all that, it is, as has been said, an absolute joy to use. The feel in your hand is beautiful - thin, light, smooth (and not sharp). I never felt that the edges of my iPad 3 were unpleasant, but they are relative to this. And yeah, Safari is snappier (genuinely!).
 
Traverse said:
Thank you all your feedback I feel much better now. I'm going to wait and get one next Friday on Halloween (my favorite childhood holiday :D)

I realize that people will come and voice displeasure in anonymity more readily than they would otherwise amd that people are more likely to mention a problem than they are to voice please, but this is my first forum experience and I was surprised about all the negative threads. Not to say that many of the issue weren't justified, you just a skewed image I suppose.
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It always happens, not only when relating to iPads, but to everything you can buy. Every product may have issues, no one is perfect, and you can be unfortunate with a given device, but all threads don't have the absolute truth. There are many of them which talk about the great traits of the iPad Air 2, such as its speed and performance.
 
I've only had my Cellular Gold iPad Air 2 for a day so far but I can honestly say after owning every iPad out there, that this one is the best one by far. Mine is perfect, with no issues at all. I love it! :)
 
Every device ever made has issues. It is all about what is important to you IF you even experience the issue in the first place.

Buy it, try it. Use it for the things you want to, don't intentionally look for things. If something turns you off in your daily usage, then you need to consider how much it bothers you or if the feedback for your issue isn't widely experienced then you may want to exchange it.

This is the best IPad yet. The thing is a beast!

Check out this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1808655/
 
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I too can attest as to how amazing the ipad air 2 is.

from your list of concerns here are my comments:

Excessive vibrations - not at all. the vibrations do not bother me and are not as strong as what people put it here on the forums

Screen distortion from holding on the right side - not on mine. been trying to replicate it and really can't lol

Bad screen quality (backlighting, hue, etc) - nope mine passed all tests

Excessively smudgy screen - not at all. if you have dirty hands then of course expect smudges on any screen for that matter

Bad battery life - been playing with mine since yesterday afternoon and I am still at 40%. that's watching a few episodes of homeland, twitch tv streams, email and surfing ...


don't be discouraged by all the negative feedback because as what others have been saying this is the perfect avenue to voice out any complaints or concerns. I am sure there are more satisfied buyers out here than there are unsatisfied ones.

the beauty of retail is the return policy. use it, that is your right as a consumer. I have been fortunate enough to keep the first purchase and have never had a problem.
 
Traverse said:
Can I get some advice from people who have been on this forum longer than me?

I was strongly considering getting the iPad Air 2, it seemed like a great device. However, there are so many threads and posts about issues:

Excessive vibrations
Screen distortion from holding on the right side
Bad screen quality (backlighting, hue, etc)
Excessively smudgy screen
Bad battery life
And on and on....

I don't want to dismiss anyone's claims: I'm sure many are perfectly valid, but in a week's time this forum has ripped this iPad to shreds and made me afraid to get one. What do you think? I realize this forum is made up of people who usually more technical knowledge than the average user so maybe their standards are unrealistic? My iPad 3 physical build was amazing. Aside from the weight, it felt durable and sturdily. I am now afraid of the Air 2. Do these kinds of complaints always happen, or does the Air 2 genuine have design issues?

:(
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How fun. iPad Air 2 goes from touted as the long-lasting iPad due to uber-advanced A8X and 2GB RAM to badly criticized with all these minor issues. People's expectation is so high it seems.

Excessive vibrations - definitely more observable than Air but not very bothersome
Screen distortion from holding on the right side - if you press the backside excessively hard, black spot would appear
Bad screen quality (backlighting, hue, etc) - can't attest to this but it happens sporadically it seems.
Excessively smudgy screen - can't believe this...iPad's screen is glossy so of course smudges will appear
Bad battery life - seriously? when you compare to iPad Air, then yeah. But Apple markets the Air 2 with 10hrs battery life so if you get better than this then you are good

TS, have you ever tried to hold or really use the iPad Air 2 itself?
 
addictzz said:
TS, have you ever tried to hold or really use the iPad Air 2 itself?
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No, not yet. I haven't been to an Apple Store because I'm studying for an exam, but I can only imagine. The Air 1 already felt so light and thin compared to my 3.
 
Traverse said:
No, not yet. I haven't been to an Apple Store because I'm studying for an exam, but I can only imagine. The Air 1 already felt so light and thin compared to my 3.
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I suggest you try it first. Out of all those quality feedbacks, only the screen issue that is actually worrying. And for screen, it's matter of chances. Sometime you just got bad screen that it has issues. It happens to monitor too. Sometime you just got bad panel with dead pixels or backlight bleeding.
 
I'm having déjà vu all over again. Similar complaints show up after each ipad launch. Actually I think there's quite a few less complaints this time perhaps because people upgraded last cycle.
 
Air 2 is not that bad if you compare to Air 3. Next year people are going to fall back to Air 2 and worship it because Air 3 is such a bad product with many worrying issues.
 
I love my new Gold iPad Air 2. It is absolutely perfect from the display to the performance. I made the right decision to upgrade from the Air 1.
 
The only "problem" my new Air2 has is the excessive bass from the speakers and that can be easily fixed with an iOS update where Apple tunes the default EQ to stop producing so much bass.. I have none of the other issues people are talking about and i've owned and stress my iPads like anybody else.. You're only going to hear about the people with issues speaking out.. And won't hear from the million others that are 100% happy with their devices.
 
I'm loving mine. People join this forum to be excited about apple products and the bitch about every tiny thing, likely in association with their buyer's remorse or something. Dunno what it is exactly.

The screen is perfectly fine on mine and there is no distortion at all when holding it. Maybe people are jamming their finger into the screen hard? Dunno. Don't hold it stupidly and it's fine (actually, in no manner of holding it that I've practiced have I seen any distortion.)

I can feel it vibrate with sound, but, the sound is also a hell of a lot fuller than previous models. It is not bothersome at all.

Battery life is on par with my past iPads. NEVER pay attention to launch period battery life claims. 1) Lithium Ion batteries and their ilk require several full charge/discharge cycles before they are even close to full operating capacity. 2) People are doing far more than normal with their shiny new toys. More files are being downloaded, more things are being cached, etc. It's an extremely unnatural usage period.

The screen is no worse than any other iPad or iPhone I've used. You forget what it's like to have a pristine fresh screen. You can never really clean them quite to the degree that a new one comes, so, this is another case of bad perspective. Touch screens get a little messy. Turn the screen back on and forget about it.

On a more positive note, I am just loving the speed boost. This is a very powerful tablet. Combining the fully customized and significantly upgraded hardware with the industry's tightest mobile OS is making for a fantastic user experience. And the size is great. The thinner profile makes it easier to cradle in my palm making this iPad nearly has single-hand-holdable as the iPad Mini 2 that I had previously.

Oh, and the screen is really gorgeous. The direct lamination techniques Apple uses are doing a great job improving the sense of direct interaction.
 
air 2 is fantastic. Noise vibration is preference and for the full bassy sound of these speakers it is appropriate imo.
 
Nah, I wouldn't say the new Air is bad at all. It'll have a few issues like every version of the ipad has but people generally are happy with them. I will say this though: if you currently own an Air then it becomes a questionable upgrade. Many of the "upgrades" are trivial or non important to lots of people.

The Air 2 is basically an Air with a few tweaks and improvements. That's all. Nothing ground baking here.
 
It's not "bad" because there's some faulty models out there, because there's always going to be differences in screen and not all will be pristine. As for the rest of the complaints, I think the vibration is a consequence, again, of the profile of the device being so thin and the speakers finally being loud enough to hear from.

It's highly worth it if you want a full-sized iPad, never buy into year old tech if you're in the market for it.
 
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