iPad Air Air 256GB M3 vs 1TB M2 - actual usage and app sizes on iOS?

[Erko]

Hi!

Looking to buy a new 11" iPad for general use with my partner. I almost bought the 256GB M3 as these have a significant discount compared to the new M4s and saw that our local Apple reseller also has a 1TB M2 for 100€ more.

The extra storage seems tempting, but I honestly don't know if it would be of use? I have an old iPad Air 2 from 2015 and its 64GB started becoming restrictive. How large are the new apps & games on iOS and how does actual usage pan out? I potentially could use the 1TB on trips to transfer camera images to, but I don't actually know if that is a valid use case. It most likely will be used for general media consumption, pdfs, note-taking and drawing with the pencil.

 

[Devvy]

Save the 100 euros.
I moved from an Air2 with 64GB to a Pro M1 with 256GB and it is a world of a difference - and at this moment, I do not really need more. I do movie editing in Resolve on the iPad. But to be fair, I don't do gaming.
It's not like you are married to an iPad. So take the cheaper option and move along as soon as you run out of either space or computing power. And use the 100 euros you saved, for your next purchase.

 

[kitKAC]

My last two iPads have both been 256Gb, I think if you needed 1Tb you'd know it.

 

[sparksd]

Regarding use as transferring images while on trips: If you had 1000 images at 30MB each (say they're RAW), that's still just 30GB. As for apps, most are relatively small - a few MBs, though some games can consume GBs with downloaded data.