Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPad iPad 4 owners How many of you are keeping your iPads?
- Thread starter Ipadlover29
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I upgraded from the 4. Didn't plan on to till the day of release. Decided because was able to sell my 16gb wifi ipad 4 for $380 on the day ipad air came out. I thought it was a great deal to get that much on the day of release and with cash back and discounts my ipad air total comes out to be around $440.
The value of iPad 4 would just depreciate overtime if I had waited.
The value of iPad 4 would just depreciate overtime if I had waited.
Sure i like having new shiny devices but I use my 4 mainly at home so the size and weight is not an issue. Might get retina mini though.
My iPad 4 went to its new owner on Friday night, there isn't a comparison between them in use. Even those justifying keeping the 4 can't be heavy users as holding the 4 in your hands for a long period ends up with palms hurting.
Even leaving aside all the performance improvements, the ergonomics alone make it worthwhile, and the only reason not to is if finances won't allow it.
As I said before, food before air
.
Even leaving aside all the performance improvements, the ergonomics alone make it worthwhile, and the only reason not to is if finances won't allow it.
As I said before, food before air
.
My iPad 4 went to its new owner on Friday night, there isn't a comparison between them in use. Even those justifying keeping the 4 can't be heavy users as holding the 4 in your hands for a long period ends up with palms hurting.
Even leaving aside all the performance improvements, the ergonomics alone make it worthwhile, and the only reason not to is if finances won't allow it.
As I said before, food before air
Contrarily, I use my 4 a lot - maybe around 4-5 hours a day. I am keeping mine because I see no great advantage for the Air vis-à-vis the 4 and the weight of the 4 is not really a problem for me in my use-case scenario.
Having bought an iPad 3 last year and an iPad 4 earlier this year I cannot, or should I say my wallet cannot, justify another iPad purchase in such a short period of time.
I'm a heavy iPad user, I spend most of my 'computing time' on the iPad as my iMac has been rendered a mere sync machine since I got my first iPad, and I don't have an issue with the weight until I put a case on when going to work.
I would say iPad 3 owners are well within rights to upgrade due to the nature of that device and the known 'issues' due to the Retina Display and A5X, but the A6X in the iPad 4 is still a screamer of a CPU and developers will continue to get great results from it for the next 12/18 months in my opinion.
Until I see my iPad 4 begin to significantly slow down I'll be keeping it, but the Air is a ridiculously gorgeous piece of kit having played with it in the local Apple store.
I'm a heavy iPad user, I spend most of my 'computing time' on the iPad as my iMac has been rendered a mere sync machine since I got my first iPad, and I don't have an issue with the weight until I put a case on when going to work.
I would say iPad 3 owners are well within rights to upgrade due to the nature of that device and the known 'issues' due to the Retina Display and A5X, but the A6X in the iPad 4 is still a screamer of a CPU and developers will continue to get great results from it for the next 12/18 months in my opinion.
Until I see my iPad 4 begin to significantly slow down I'll be keeping it, but the Air is a ridiculously gorgeous piece of kit having played with it in the local Apple store.
So do I, maybe even more some days, internet, email and PDF viewing through the day, ebooks using Kindle and iBooks, TV in the evening, video and catchup TV (BBC iPlayer and SkyGo) at times.
The Air is significantly better at doing all the above in a faster, cooler, more comfortable manner.
Undoubtedly, but the upgrade just does not make sense in my case. I really don't tax the iPad and for the stuff that I use it for, I think the internals of the Air are a bit of an overkill.
There is no way iOS 7 is going on my iPad 4 in its current state. It will remain on 6.1.3 where animations are slick and the battery gives 14 hrs of usage
So you are saying an iPad 4 running iOS 6 is better than an Air running iOS because iOS 7 is supposedly buggy?
Ummmm, ok. My Commodore 64 still runs pretty good too.
I'm sorry iPad 4 owners, I don't mean to sound mean. If your device fits your needs, then that's fantastic. But to describe the Air as a "downgrade" is incredulous. You can tell youself what you want, but for the reader trying to decide whether to buy your used iPad 4 or spring the extra coin for a new iPad Air, let's recap.
28% lighter
20% thinner
24% less volume
2X wifi speed
64 bit vs 32 bit
2X CPU
2X GPU
These may be worth it for most to upgrade. If these are not enough reasons for you to upgrade, don't. I'm sure the "new" iPad Air next year will have even more reasons. But please, don't call the Air a "downgrade" from the iPad 4. Even here that just sounds silly, not to mention inaccurate and misleading.
28% lighter
20% thinner
24% less volume
2X wifi speed
64 bit vs 32 bit
2X CPU
2X GPU
These may be worth it for most to upgrade. If these are not enough reasons for you to upgrade, don't. I'm sure the "new" iPad Air next year will have even more reasons. But please, don't call the Air a "downgrade" from the iPad 4. Even here that just sounds silly, not to mention inaccurate and misleading.
That's where I'm at. Bought a 64GB iPad 4 5 months ago. Build quality, perfect. Screen quality, perfect. Battery life, insane (well over 12 hours). iOS experience (w/6.1.3), epic (smooth, responsive).There is no way iOS 7 is going on my iPad 4 in its current state. It will remain on 6.1.3 where animations are slick and the battery gives 14 hrs of usage
You have assigned yourself "lord over the upgrade" and have determined that lighter is "better", thinner is "better", 64-bit is "better" as if they are incontrovertible facts... newsflash, they're not. You ignore the FACT that the 64-bit OS consumes 20%-30% more RAM for operation than the 32-bit version of that OS and yet the RAM has remained the same at 1GB. Why are you selective in what you choose to point out? Because certainly if your "more is better, less is worse" metric is what you stand by, then "less available RAM is worse".
Just say that you're in step with the Apple roadmap. I can appreciate that.
Last edited:
My iPad 4 went to its new owner on Friday night, there isn't a comparison between them in use. Even those justifying keeping the 4 can't be heavy users as holding the 4 in your hands for a long period ends up with palms hurting.
Even leaving aside all the performance improvements, the ergonomics alone make it worthwhile, and the only reason not to is if finances won't allow it.
As I said before, food before air
I consider myself a heavy user. I'm happy with the performance of my 4 and I can't remember the last time I used it while holding it in my hands. I'm a lap user so the weight is kind of irrelevant to me.
Having said that I've got a ipad Air coming on Tuesday which I've bought for my Husband.
My current opinion could be knocked on its a**e once I see it in use. I'm frivolous like that.
Selective? I've given you the whole list!
And that whole footprint nonsense I've already pointed out.
The iPad Air wipes the floor with the iPad 4 performance wise. Period. You can try to rationalize it all you want. And yes, thinner and lighter while retaining the same screen size, resolution and battery life IS better. We are talking tablets here. Heavier and bigger is BAD. Light and small is GOOD.
So says The Lord of Upgrades...
Listen I have both a iPad 4 on iOS 6 here and the new iPad Air on iOS 7.
Just giving my opinion but the Air on iOS 7 is not a all round improvement.
Yes, the iPad Air is lighter, smaller, faster and has improved wifi range.
But despite those it just lacks the normal quality polish and feel of a Apple premiere product. Interacting the with Air on iOS 7 just leaves a 2nd best impression. Tapping the screen produces a hollow cheap sound, common sound effects like shutter, email sent, lock effects sound lower quality, and surprisingly poorer looking fonts. As Anandtech pointed out moving to 64bit without increasing the ram results in up to 30% less ram effectively available.
Some of those may be due to the Air's construction and some due to iOS 7, but a iPad 4 on iOS 6 leaves me with a impression of using a top quality device and I never found it too slow or it's 1.4 lb weight too heavy.
And again just a personal preference but I'd take the look and smoothness of iOS 6 over iOS 7's bright colours and childlike icons on any device.
Last edited: