I'm moving up from a 7th gen 32GB. I've realized 64GB is just not enough for me, and 128GB will be perfect for me, so I'm needing to compare the Air4 256GB or the Pro 128GB. For the $50 difference, and since I really only need 128GB, the smart move would be the Pro right?
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iPad Air4 256GB or Pro 128GB?
- Thread starter djake80
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Depends on whether you need the other things that separate them. Otherwise you are just paying another $50.
All I can say is consider the differences, consider which of them matter to you, consider how much they matter. Some of them are subjective, e.g. you'll get some saying that they can't live without promotion and others saying they don't care, so in those cases you need to work out for yourself which camp you will be in.
All I can say is consider the differences, consider which of them matter to you, consider how much they matter. Some of them are subjective, e.g. you'll get some saying that they can't live without promotion and others saying they don't care, so in those cases you need to work out for yourself which camp you will be in.
I would say so because I value 6 GB RAM more than the A14 in the Air. I also got a free AirPod out of it so it was a no brainer for me.
I had the same issue and I went for the 128GB Pro for 40$ more than the Air 4 256GB.
The extra 2 GB of RAM are worth more to me than the extra 128GB of storage (one can be expanded via external drive, the other can't and has impact on games and productivity apps) and 40-50$ for ProMotion, quad speakers, wide angle camera, flash and Lidar is IMHO a no-brainer, even if you use those every now and then.
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Plus the Pro is a known quantity while we don't know what teething trouble the Air might have.
The iPad Pro sounds like a better deal in my opinion. Go for it!
Yes, especially because not only will the OP get double storage, but will also get 2GB of RAM extra, plus the other bells and whistles...all for the tidy sum of $50!The iPad Pro sounds like a better deal in my opinion. Go for it!
I don't think you won't go too far wrong either way. I don't own either but have been thinking about upgrading to either the Air or 11" Pro. My take is that any differences in processor speed is probably moot for the vast majority of users. I'm using a 9.7" Pro with some A9 variant and don't really notice much lag. Now, I'm not playing games or doing intense video editing. My take is that if 64gb is sufficient, the Air is an easy choice unless you need the other features of the Pro. On the other hand, if you feel 64gb is not sufficient but 128gb is, then I think the Pro motion, better speakers, etc. in the Pro make it preferable.
The biggest reason why I got the Pro over the Air is the extra 2gb of RAM. It’ll make a huge difference, especially if you want to keep it for a long time.
I would go with the pro since it has more ram, better speakers and promotion display.
I am not sure if more RAM is more important here! I dont know if it is true but CPU Monkey says that the A14 uses the super fast LPDDR5-5500 RAM which is 20% faster than the RAM in the 2020 ipad pro. So probably both are identical in the RAM usage.
www.cpu-monkey.com
Apple A14 Bionic vs. Apple A12Z Bionic - Benchmark, Test und Technische Daten
Apple A14 Bionic vs. Apple A12Z Bionic - Benchmark, Geekbench 5, Cinebench R20, Cinebench R23, Cinebench R15 and FP32 iGPU (GFLOPS) Benchmark Ergebnisse
For now the extra RAM on the Pro isn’t making much differences. I still feels apps are refreshing too often and occasional forced restart on the entire OS when I play heavy games like COD Mobile and didn’t clear up the old apps open before.
System monitor app also showing my day to day use only utilizing around 30-40% of total RAM capacity.
Even when I do extensive video editing on Lumafusion.
So to the OP: you won’t feel the RAM difference for now, but you will definitely feel the extra storage needs in no time if you use the iPad like me, many huge apps and store huge video files.
System monitor app also showing my day to day use only utilizing around 30-40% of total RAM capacity.
Even when I do extensive video editing on Lumafusion.
So to the OP: you won’t feel the RAM difference for now, but you will definitely feel the extra storage needs in no time if you use the iPad like me, many huge apps and store huge video files.
Also worth noting that the 11” Pro is currently selling for $749 on Amazon so you can buy it for the same price as the 256GB Air.
But it’s safe to assume we’ll see Black Friday sales in just a couple weeks. The green 64GB model was already on sale earlier today for $560.
But it’s safe to assume we’ll see Black Friday sales in just a couple weeks. The green 64GB model was already on sale earlier today for $560.
There is no ram management difference between 4gb ipad pro 2018 and 6gb 2020. The 6 gb version reloads safari just as much or even more. The ram usage in the 4gb version is still not maxed out and it still reloads.
The only situation you would notice a difference is additional layers in procreate. I have a feeling that the extra ram is for lidar and camera system just like the iphone 12 pro.
The ram on the air 2020 is also Lpddr5 which frankly should be more expensive to Apple.
The only situation you would notice a difference is additional layers in procreate. I have a feeling that the extra ram is for lidar and camera system just like the iphone 12 pro.
The ram on the air 2020 is also Lpddr5 which frankly should be more expensive to Apple.
Does that mean the extra 2gb won't add to the longevity of the device? I would think the extra RAM plays a part in what OS can capably run in the future.
Extra ram will definitely help in future, but at present it does not help with the safari reloading issues. You could argue that A14 makes the ipad air 4 future proof since the iphone 12 and mini uses it. I expect the iphone 12 to be supported for atleast 4 to 5 years. If you use procreate extensively, I would suggest the ipad pro 2020 due to the layer limit.
A14 (LPDDR5) also has >50% more memory bandwidth than A13 (LPDDR4X) in GB4 for whatever it's worth. It also has much faster neural accelerators which may become baseline in the future.
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The storage options on the Air just feel intentionally wrong for what is considerd a “lower priced Pro”. 64GB is too little and $750 seems too much.
$699 PAir 64GB
$749 Air 256GB
$799 Pro11 128GB
$699 iPhone 12 64GB
$749 iPhone 12 128GB
An Air buyer is paying twice as much because they don’t want the bare minimum IPad. But to get “more than minimum” storage then they’re paying Pro level prices. Thats especially tough to swallow when you see that on the iPhone then 64 to 128GB is only $50
For us, we’re in this dilemma. I’m getting tired of my 12.9 (literally. Its too heavy for home use) so I either have to settle for 64GB or overpay for storage that is way more than I need.
$699 PAir 64GB
$749 Air 256GB
$799 Pro11 128GB
$699 iPhone 12 64GB
$749 iPhone 12 128GB
An Air buyer is paying twice as much because they don’t want the bare minimum IPad. But to get “more than minimum” storage then they’re paying Pro level prices. Thats especially tough to swallow when you see that on the iPhone then 64 to 128GB is only $50
For us, we’re in this dilemma. I’m getting tired of my 12.9 (literally. Its too heavy for home use) so I either have to settle for 64GB or overpay for storage that is way more than I need.
I am not sure if more RAM is more important here! I dont know if it is true but CPU Monkey says that the A14 uses the super fast LPDDR5-5500 RAM which is 20% faster than the RAM in the 2020 ipad pro. So probably both are identical in the RAM usage.
Apple A14 Bionic vs. Apple A12Z Bionic - Benchmark, Test und Technische Daten
Apple A14 Bionic vs. Apple A12Z Bionic - Benchmark, Geekbench 5, Cinebench R20, Cinebench R23, Cinebench R15 and FP32 iGPU (GFLOPS) Benchmark Ergebnisse
RAM speed is rarely ever a bottleneck, short of with AMD (given how their infinity fabric works).
There is no substitute for having more RAM, it's just physically more space to fill and less potential paging.
Often times “Future proofing” pro level machines is a waste of money because anyone who actually benefit from unused specs would probably upgrade later anyway.
Lets be honest, anyone who really really needs that 2GB extra for Final Cut iPad 2022 isnt going to ignore that a 2022 machine has a dozen evolved specs to drool over (better screen, different body, new chip, new accessories and probably even more RAM).
Physical ram is always good. But the air matches the pro 2020 in GB4 memory bandwidth (Pro has quad channel memory). So compute and GPU should get a big boost. The pro's used to have a big lead in memory bandwidth till now. Bandwidth is a big deal for iGPU.
Having more physical RAM is still optimal for multitasking, where 4GB is the biggest holdback on the 2018 pro.
No disagreements there. But the safari reloads are very similar in pro 2018 and 2020. I believe Apple is aggressively managing ram on both devices.
Yes, it definitely does.
Both the iPhone 6 and iPad Mini 4 share the same A8 chip. However, the Mini 4 has 2gb of RAM compared to 1gb on the iPhone. The iPad Mini 4 has received 2 more years of support and it performs better than an iPhone 6 in 2020.
RAM is quite important if the user wants to keep their Apple device longer.
A14 is two generations newer than A12z. Your examples are of same generation. Not saying your argument is wrong but take that into account. It should be supported as long as Iphone 12. A12z is still basically a supercharged A12. For non multithreaded usage (majority of usage) it is going to feel slow in a few years, so you're going to upgrade anyways
42% increase in single thread is huge. I even saw some reviews with Adobe rush where ipad air beat the pro 2020.
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I wouldn't necessarily count on it. Based on this. My ipad pro 12.9 2015 with 4GB RAM should be updated for (much) longer than the 9.7 with the same A9X and 2GB. Will it really happen? My guess is no... Why? Because 1GB RAM has been an issue since IOS 9. While 2GB has not slowed down devices, only caused reloads, and IpadOS 14 does not seem to take more RAM than even IOS 9. So Apple is updating everything for much longer than before and will probably discontinue both at the same time when they decide it's time (I guess no later than 2022 since that the end of hardware support)