iPad 9 vs. iPad 10 Buyer's Guide: Is the $120 Difference Worth It?

[jidzaporp]

I have a 9th gen. I also have an iPad 4 and 5 (Air). The older units fire up but fail on many sites. It’s nothing more than a failure to upgrade the OS to force obsolescence. The beautiful hardware is powerful and flawless.
We are sheep in a corral.
The only reason to get the 10 over the 9 is one more year of support. Maybe a pretty color to cover.
An iPad is good for about seven years, IME, therefore, the cost is about $50/Yr. Not the $120, you’ll pay for that last year.
it requires specialized sensitive equipment to detect the differences in performance. You are not that equipment.

The biggest problem I have with the display is brightness, not resolution or screen size. Apple didn’t upgrade the display, it’s just undetectably larger. My oldest iPad 4 is the brightest of the 3.
Can’t be used in daytime. You need a Pro for that.

This unit should be priced at $349 US. Christmas sale at $329.

It feels like a miss to me.
Just say “No”.

 

[markfc]

From where?
I can‘t find new for less than £420

Very.co.uk.
Use code WELCOME for 20% off. 👍🏻😀

 

[bookofxero]

yah, no changes, just faster, more ram, better cameras, bigger screen, thinner, lighter, double the neural engine, usb c. (faster speeds), better wifi, better bluetooth. Badly anything changed at all, oh wait, that is a pretty good list

Hrm, I re-read my post to which you replied and you seem to have completely misinterpreted what I wrote. I take full responsibility for making none of the assertions which got you so worked up and only pointing out that they could have upgraded compatibility from the 7-year old tech to the "newer" 4-year old tech.

 

[ozaz]

Very.co.uk.
Use code WELCOME for 20% off. 👍🏻😀

You must have got there just in time! Is now out of stock and price seems to have gone up to Apple store pricing (£549). Even with 20% off that would be £440.

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[jlc1978]

This is a bad recommendation that's just misleading. A better one would be:

"... Only choose the 10th generation iPad over the Air if you can't afford the additional $120 depreciated over the five years expected standard support cycle of iPadOS. The mismatch between Apple Pencil's Lightning and the iPad's USB-C charging, less CPU power, less memory, and no Display P3 are no-go for a discount of ~$2/month. If you're a penny-pincher, choose the 9th generation iPad instead and save even more money."

A better comparison is the opportunity cost of investing the $120 to have $145 in 4 years to apply to a new iPad. Is it worth forgoing that for the difference in capability.

 

[j_in_tx]

iPad 10 is for people that couldn’t stand the fact that that there wasn’t a center camera in landscape mode for all prior iPads.

 

[markfc]

You must have got there just in time! Is now out of stock and price seems to have gone up to Apple store pricing (£549). Even with 20% off that would be £440.

Very | Womens, Mens and Kids Fashion, Furniture, Electricals & More! | very.co.uk

Discover fashion, home, tech & more online with a choice of ways to pay and next day delivery with click & collect. Download our app for exclusive offers

www.very.co.uk

Aww man sorry. It did say selling fast.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I had this exact dilemma this week buying an iPad for my daughter. To answer the question, no, it wasn’t worth the price difference when the specs were compared. Apple are charging £369 for the 9 and £499 for the 10. Other major retailers are charging £299 for the 9 so the cost difference was even bigger. My daughter is more than happy and even got an Apple Pencil included for less than Apple were charging just for the iPad!

 

[Howard2k]

Of course it’s worth the difference. At least this new iPad has a new design and colours. The 9th gen, you might as well save some more money and buy a 2012 iPad 4 as that is more or less the same in terms of functionality as a 9th gen iPad (but not the 10th)

Good call. It’s the same specs and all Thanks for throwing some visibility into that, I think some people might think that Apple had upgraded the internals between the iPad 4 and iPad 9. Thanks for providing the clarification.

 

[rubaxter]

Of course, the real issue is the difference between the 9 and the 7 or 8, or a previous iPad Air model.

If a person is going to spring for a new iPad model, it's probably a question of the new iPad or the new iPad Air from a far previous model.

Unless, of course, the customer is a habitual 'gotta have every model' fan, but I can't speak for such a mania, myself.

 

[RodSerlingLives]

The 10th gen iPad is a shameless money grab. You can still buy an iPad Air 4 on Walmart.com for $469. I was already planning on hanging on to the 9th gen for another year, but I think I will replace it with an M1 Air when the time comes.

 

[TKSX]

Not worth it unless they add apple pencil 2 support. I bet they will add that in the next revision (Just like Apple adding a camera in the ipad 2 when there was none in the ipad 1.

 

[KOTN91]

Good call. It’s the same specs and all Thanks for throwing some visibility into that, I think some people might think that Apple had upgraded the internals between the iPad 4 and iPad 9. Thanks for providing the clarification.

I presume this is sarcastic, but although of course the specs are different, the functionality is exactly the same

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Of course it’s worth the difference. At least this new iPad has a new design and colours. The 9th gen, you might as well save some more money and buy a 2012 iPad 4 as that is more or less the same in terms of functionality as a 9th gen iPad (but not the 10th)

The iPad 9 is nothing like an iPad 4, contender for the most ridiculous comment on this thread so far.

 

[Howard2k]

I presume this is sarcastic, but although of course the specs are different, the functionality is exactly the same

Right. Except that it’s not.

 

[kyjaotkb]

All i wanted was the Air 3 design with a A14 chip for $329…..

All I wanted was the 9th gen with 4 or 6GB RAM... I have an iPhone XR and the CPU (A12) is still good enough, it's the 3 GB RAM that's lacking, and I feel it more with iOS 16 than with previous OS updates. A 11" iPad Pro (A12X or A12Z) or a current-gen iPad Air on Amazon (i.e. £100 cheaper than at Apple) might be the more future-proof choice within that price range, given they have 4GB RAM.

 

[kyjaotkb]

The iPad 9 is nothing like an iPad 4, contender for the most ridiculous comment on this thread so far.

I have a mint condition iPad 4 with a lot of battery capacity left and it's running iOS10, runs great but not quite as smoothly as when it ran iOS 6, I would be more than happy to trade it against an iPad 9 - anyone?

 

[Howard2k]

I have a mint condition iPad 4 with a lot of battery capacity left and it's running iOS10, runs great but not quite as smoothly as when it ran iOS 6, I would be more than happy to trade it against an iPad 9 - anyone?

I’m sure you’ll have a flurry of offers.

Maybe they can sweeten the deal and make it an iPad 9 with cash?

 

[KOTN91]

Right. Except that it’s not.

The functionality is the same. iPad is used for browsing the internet and reading books. The design is also identical to the 2012 iPad 4. There is very little difference

The 10 is a new design and so is distinct from the iPad 9 and 2012 iPad 4

 

[ackmondual]

And one more thing: 3.5 mm headphone jack.

So very much this. I upgraded from a Google Pixel 4A to a 6. No more 3.5 mm headphone jack. I don't use it nearly as much as others do (only when I travel), but the dongle is now one extra thing I now need to carry around, and de/attach, since my 9th gen iPad still has that headphone jack.

$120 yes. But as you can get the 9th gen for $269 that $180 price difference is more difficult to justify.

I got my 9th gen iPad for $300, nearly a year ago. If you really want/need an iPad, then by all means, get one now at regular price. Otherwise, I would wait for the next discount to roll around.

 

[ackmondual]

"Overall, the 10th-generation ‌iPad‌ will be the more suitable device to buy for most people" - I disagree. "Most" people use iPads to surf the web, watch some videos, and play the occasional game. For this usage, the faster CPU and higher RAM is really irrelevant. And, certainly, 'most' people don't use cellular, much less 5G.

So what it basically boils down to for 'most' people is whether they want to spend $120 for 0.4" bigger screen and square edges. 'Most' people wouldn't, I suspect.

I'm pretty disappointed in Apple. This 10th generation iPad should have remained at the $329 price point. I get inflation and all that, but faster CPU, better RAM and display have been the typical ingredients to simply get people to upgrade from their older version. Now those people who just want to upgrade their basic iPad probably won't because they know to upgrade at their usual price means buying last year's tech.

The one thing that bothered me was when I was on Apple Arcade, I played enough games that holding up the device, and resting it on my pinky caused injury. The pointed edges literally dig in to you! This is where I would've preferred flat edges like the later iPads. However, even though I haven't written off AA, I've taken a break from it, and have plenty of other games to occupy me in the meantime (both on iPad and Android), so who knows when that'll be, making that issue now moot.

No.

iPad are only good as the toilet magazine replacement, buy cheap one and when it run its course, flush it down.

Can't disagree with this! I got my iPad Air (1st gen, from 2013), on sale for $400 (used condition, 128 GB) back around 2016. Used it until 2020 before the battery took a large hit. As in I was charging it more than I was actually using it. For actual work (both at work, and at home), I still use a Windows desktop. For "better internet" on the road, I have my Chromebook (although that only goes with me on certain trips since it is bulkier). I play plenty of games on Windows and Switch, but still enjoy mobile/tablet gaming. However, that's all an iPad is to me.. a glorified gaming device.

 

[snipr125]

I saw the unboxing videos on iJustine (i know don't laugh) and those colours look amazing on the iPad 10's. The pink is gonna sell well I reckon, and maybe the yellow colour also.

 

[GalileoSeven]

Aside from the extra update or two, no, definitely not worth it……the 10 is little more than a watered down iPad Air

 

[ackmondual]

Aside from the extra update or two, no, definitely not worth it……the 10 is little more than a watered down iPad Air

Seems to be the general gist of reactions. I wonder if Apple was shooting for the iPad 10 to be some sort of "iPad 9+", but instead, it's getting labeled as some "inferior Ipad Air", with not enough features to justify its cheaper price?

 

[TechRunner]

I saw the unboxing videos on iJustine (i know don't laugh) and those colours look amazing on the iPad 10's. The pink is gonna sell well I reckon, and maybe the yellow colour also.

She seemed pretty excited that the pink one matched her sweater and her custom braided cables. Of course, once she slaps an Otterbox Defender on it, nobody can tell what color it is anyway