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iPad how old of an iPad should I buy?

how old of an iPad should I buy

  • 9th gen

    Votes: 21 84.0%

  • 6th - 8th gen

    Votes: 3 12.0%

  • 5th or below

    Votes: 1 4.0%
  • Total voters
    25
C

Charlie Bonesx

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
I've never been really interested in tablets so the iPad lineup and it's chronological evolution is a complete mystery to me

looking to buy a cheap probably used iPad to use for: sheet music on a stand, recipes in the kitchen, maybe some reading on the couch and I guess I'd at least try Logic Remote

I don't care about video, audio or games

I guess screen resolution is the most important consideration for my use cases

how old can I go before I'm really compromising when it comes to screen resolution, app compatibility and performance ?

thanks.
 
I own a 5th gen and it’s almost completely unusable. I mainly use it just as ereader, but even that has issues. If you’re going to buy an older iPad, make sure it has at least 64 GB of storage.
 
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If you decide on an 8-10th generation one, be extremely wary of letting iPadOS 26.x be installed on it. Even the iPad 11 stutters from time to time for me on 26 (it was perfectly fine with 18).
 
JPack said:
10th gen minimum.

Realize 10th gen is from 2022 and is overdue for a refresh. Buying anything older is kinda nuts.

9th gen for example is from 2021 but the processor is from 2019.
Click to expand...

Yeah, considering the OP will probably be forced into iPadOS 26, I would say 10th gen minimum. I believe that's the same chipset as the iPhone 12.

The 9th gen isn't too bad if it can be kept on iPadOS 18.

We also have the 5th-7th gen in the household along with an Air 3 which has similar hardware to the 8th gen. Web browsing sucks and they're super slow. However, they're actually quite usable for ebooks and YouTube. Displaying recipes and sheet music should be fine as well.

Some of the older ones have stopped receiving updates so app compatibility might be an issue.

Last iPadOS version:
8th gen - probably 26?
7th gen - 18
6th gen - 17
5th gen - 16
 
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It depends how far back your App library stretches. An iPad from 10 years ago runs the apps from 10 years ago absolutely fine. I have an iPad Mini 4 which holds my Apple Music library, edits photos, lets me use Pixelmator, read books and lets me play the near 20 years worth of games backlog I have. Will it play BallxPit? No. Will it play Final Fantasy Tactics? You betcha.
 
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What's your maximum budget for the iPad?

10th gen or newer is recommend but if you have a very tight budget, then 9th gen is alright. Multitasking will be very limited with that 3gb ram, but it'll still get the job done.

9th gen is likely getting another year of software support with iPadOS 27. Which is much needed since 26 is garbage especially on older iPads.

Oh and a more tolerable base storage too with 64gb. 8th gen and older had 32gb as base, and it's quite brutal nowadays. 😬
 
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Funny Apple Man said:
What's your maximum budget for the iPad?

10th gen or newer is recommend but if you have a very tight budget, then 9th gen is alright. Multitasking will be very limited with that 3gb ram, but it'll still get the job done.

9th gen is likely getting another year of software support with iPadOS 27. Which is much needed since 26 is garbage especially on older iPads.

Oh and a more tolerable base storage too with 64gb. 8th gen and older had 32gb as base, and it's quite brutal nowadays. 😬
Click to expand...

Thanks for the breakdown

There’s no real budget constraint. It just seems wasteful to pay full price for a new iPad to mostly just display static text

I Don’t require any multitasking

Just want to display recipes (from app mela). Display sheet music (from web or app unknown). And maybe someomtes read the news on it instead of my phone.

I’m not sure what I’d need 64 GB of storage for
 
The A13 in the 9th Gen is over 5 years old. That is the lowest you should go. The 3Gb of ram is also something to consider. I would just spend a little bit more and buy the iPad 11. It's the best bang for your buck iPad.
 
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If you buy an iPad that is 5+ years old, it probably needs a battery replacement which may not be a problem if you plan on keeping it on a cord all of the time.

I bought my 12.6" 9th gen. iPad Pro new and the battery is significantly deteriorated. Replaceable at Apple for ~$130.
 
sheet music is very cramped on anything smaller than 13", but of course it depends how important sheet music is for you, I'd rather get an old 12.9" pro like the 2018 one for that if you want to spend as little as possible
 
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Digitalguy said:
sheet music is very cramped on anything smaller than 13", but of course it depends how important sheet music is for you, I'd rather get an old 12.9" pro like the 2018 one for that if you want to spend as little as possible
Click to expand...

Well I’m using my phone currently so anything bigger will be an improvement 😉

It’s just for simple piano stuff, I’m a lifelong musician who at 49 has decided it’s finally time to learn how to read…

Point being I’m not trying to read crazy crazy scores, nothing that busy on the eyes

But thanks for the tip, that might be a good way to go value wise as well
 
Genelec8341 said:
If you buy an iPad that is 5+ years old, it probably needs a battery replacement which may not be a problem if you plan on keeping it on a cord all of the time.

I bought my 12.6" 9th gen. iPad Pro new and the battery is significantly deteriorated. Replaceable at Apple for ~$130.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Good point.

I’m not really worried about battery though. This will be something that gets maybe 2 or 3 hours of use a day tops on a really heavy day
 
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rui no onna said:
You can often find it for $279 on sale (Best Buy or Amazon). It's really your best bet at the moment. My mom has one and for general use, it performs just as well as higher end iPads.
Click to expand...
Not here.

Cheapest I’ve seen is equivalent to about $350US for an open box

Feels like a lot to spend on something that isn’t going to get a ton of use and more of a nice to have than a need
 
Last edited:
Charlie Bonesx said:
Not here.

Cheapest I’ve seen is equivalent to about $350US for an open box

Feels like a lot to spend on something that isn’t going to get a ton of use and more of a nice to have than a need
Click to expand...

Personally, I wouldn't want to spend any money on iPad 5th-7th gen at this point in time.

I actually just gave a 6th gen to my cousin. It's super crappy for web browsing but it's fine for YouTube which is what his kids will use it for.
 
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rui no onna said:
Personally, I wouldn't want to spend any money on iPad 5th-7th gen at this point in time.

I actually just gave a 6th gen to my cousin. It's super crappy for web browsing but it's fine for YouTube which is what his kids will use it for.
Click to expand...

thanks,

good to know

appreciate all the tips
 
Charlie Bonesx said:
I've never been really interested in tablets so the iPad lineup and it's chronological evolution is a complete mystery to me

looking to buy a cheap probably used iPad to use for: sheet music on a stand, recipes in the kitchen, maybe some reading on the couch and I guess I'd at least try Logic Remote

I don't care about video, audio or games

I guess screen resolution is the most important consideration for my use cases

how old can I go before I'm really compromising when it comes to screen resolution, app compatibility and performance ?

thanks.
Click to expand...

For the primary uses you list (NOT logic), any ipad will do the job so long as it has a non-swollen battery. The screen res is bascically the same to look at on all ipads since ipad 3.

If you go older than say 9th gen though, be prepared to re buy if you decide tablets work for you and want something to run more current/strenuous workloads.

Good point by @Macky-Mac above - you really want a USB type C port if you can swing it; which started with ipad 10. Unless you already have lightning devices and cables.
 
throAU said:
For the primary uses you list (NOT logic), any ipad will do the job so long as it has a non-swollen battery. The screen res is bascically the same to look at on all ipads since ipad 3.

If you go older than say 9th gen though, be prepared to re buy if you decide tablets work for you and want something to run more current/strenuous workloads.

Good point by @Macky-Mac above - you really want a USB type C port if you can swing it; which started with ipad 10. Unless you already have lightning devices and cables.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response

I had suspected what are are saying would be the case and was a bit discouraged with all the comments that anything other than a current iPad would be more or less useless


I also meant just the Logic Remote (if that still exists) not logic itself which I have a Mac for

It may be easy to say but I can’t really imagine using it for much else. I have an iPhone 17 for “phone” type stuff and an m4 studio for “computer stuff”

Good reminder to watch out for swollen batteries

And thanks for the screen res clarification

I don’t think I’ve recycled all or our extra lightning connectors yet…. Child’s phone is still lightning
 
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