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LaloG

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 29, 2013
143
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Which is better and why? The air 2 is my daughters and I’m thinking of updating hers this Xmas to the new base iPad. I should be able to pick one up for $260 (including taxes) from target with the red card during Black Friday. Thanks.
 
Which is better and why? The air 2 is my daughters and I’m thinking of updating hers this Xmas to the new base iPad. I should be able to pick one up for $260 (including taxes) from target with the red card during Black Friday. Thanks.
You should try comparing the two on Apple's website.
 
The 2019 iPad is two processor generations newer (A8X v A10) and has an extra GB of RAM. However, the Mini 5 and Air 3 have the A12, so it may be worth considering one of those. All three models have the same 3GB RAM.
 
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The 2019 iPad 10.2" has a non-laminated display (with air gap) and is ever so slightly heavier. Apart from that, it's better than the Air 2 in every way.
 
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The 2019 iPad 10.2" has a non-laminated display (with air gap) and is ever so slightly heavier. Apart from that, it's better than the Air 2 in every way.

I second this. No clue about the heavy part.

The main issue with the Air 2 is that it might not get iOS 14. While iPad 7 will get iOS 14 and probably iOS 15 as well.

Besides, even iOS 12 doesn’t work very well with anything older than an A10. The iPad 6/7 are probably okay.

I would call it a decent upgrade. Though not a huge one. And a degrade in some respects but that’s not a big deal.

Mini 5/Air 3 are much bigger upgrades.
 
I second this. No clue about the heavy part.

The main issue with the Air 2 is that it might not get iOS 14. While iPad 7 will get iOS 14 and probably iOS 15 as well.

Besides, even iOS 12 doesn’t work very well with anything older than an A10. The iPad 6/7 are probably okay.

I would call it a decent upgrade. Though not a huge one. And a degrade in some respects but that’s not a big deal.

Mini 5/Air 3 are much bigger upgrades.
The iPad 7 is very slightly heavier (~0.1 lbs) than Air 2.

I've done side by side comparison with A9 iPad 5 gen and A10 iPad 6 and they perform quite similarly for typical tasks (general UI responsiveness, email, web surfing, reading, video streaming, etc). I'm guessing the high efficiency/low power cores are used quite often for power savings.

Reckon the performance difference would mostly be felt in heavier tasks - gaming, photo/video editing, etc. For how affordable these entry level iPads are, they've held up better than expected.
 
The iPad 7 is very slightly heavier (~0.1 lbs) than Air 2.

I've done side by side comparison with A9 iPad 5 gen and A10 iPad 6 and they perform quite similarly for typical tasks (general UI responsiveness, email, web surfing, reading, video streaming, etc). I'm guessing the high efficiency/low power cores are used quite often for power savings.

Reckon the performance difference would mostly be felt in heavier tasks - gaming, photo/video editing, etc. For how affordable these entry level iPads are, they've held up better than expected.

I find all non ProMotion iPads rather slow and pretty much unbearable to use.:)

However, the smaller the screen, the better it feels if it doesn’t have ProMotion.

And A12 iPads seem snappier than A10 ones. Exception - Pro 2nd gen as that’s A10X with ProMotion.
 
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Which is better and why? The air 2 is my daughters and I’m thinking of updating hers this Xmas to the new base iPad. I should be able to pick one up for $260 (including taxes) from target with the red card during Black Friday. Thanks.
I actually just upgraded from my air 2 to the 10.2 iPad. The first thing you will notice is the speed improvement. It’s fast and the extra screen space is nice. Yes the screen is not laminated but it’s fine and I don’t see a big difference in regular use.
 
I would any day pick an iPad 6 / iPad Pro 1st Gen over Air 2. The 10.2 should be even better. The thing with the first gen Pro is Quad speakers are great.
 
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Which is better and why? The air 2 is my daughters and I’m thinking of updating hers this Xmas to the new base iPad. I should be able to pick one up for $260 (including taxes) from target with the red card during Black Friday. Thanks.

you can expect better performance and longer OS support and overall longevity from the 2019 iPad. Its internals are years ahead of the Air 2, and it has Pencil and keyboard support.

However, it is a bit thicker and heavier, with a less sophisticated non-laminated display.

Personally, I think current model is a decent upgrade over an Air 2. The cons mentioned above are mainly superficial. It has better specs and capabilities.
 
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Good upgrade, minus the screen downgrade. I doubt she’ll notice the difference
 
I wouldn’t bother personally not a worthy upgrade. If your budget can stretch to the air 3 id get that instead.
 
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