iPad iPad Air (3rd gen) or wait?

[steelcurtain85]

Best Buy has the iPad Air (3rd gen; 256gb) for $549 today. I had every intention of waiting to see what the new entry level iPad had to offer and the new
iPad Air 4th gen... but this deal caught my eye.

I start my nurse practitioner program in October and was wanting the iPad for digital textbooks, note taking, surfing the web, and media (e.g. Netflix, music, etc.). I don’t feel that the iPad is a necessary purchase, as I currently have a 2013 MacBook Pro that’s going strong and a 2017 21.5 iMac. However, I do think it could be a nice supplement to my studying.

My program is 2.5 years. Would this current gen iPad serve me well for the length of the program and continue to function well as a multimedia device? Or would I be better off making do with what I have and waiting until Winter/Spring 2021 to weigh my decision on newer iPads?

I appreciate any insight you all have!

 

[AutomaticApple]

Best Buy has the iPad Air (3rd gen; 256gb) for $549 today. I had every intention of waiting to see what the new entry level iPad had to offer and the new
iPad Air 4th gen... but this deal caught my eye.

I start my nurse practitioner program in October and was wanting the iPad for digital textbooks, note taking, surfing the web, and media (e.g. Netflix, music, etc.). I don’t feel that the iPad is a necessary purchase, as I currently have a 2013 MacBook Pro that’s going strong and a 2017 21.5 iMac. However, I do think it could be a nice supplement to my studying.

My program is 2.5 years. Would this current gen iPad serve me well for the length of the program and continue to function well as a multimedia device? Or would I be better off making do with what I have and waiting until Winter/Spring 2021 to weigh my decision on newer iPads?

I appreciate any insight you all have!

Rumors suggest that a new redesigned iPad Air will come out in March of 2021, but the current iPad Air isnt that bad if you want to get it.

 

[Deliro]

Rumors suggest that a new redesigned iPad Air will come out in March of 2021, but the current iPad Air isnt that bad if you want to get it.

Isn’t “that bad”? It’s pretty awesome. But if the rumors of the Air 4 are true, it will cost more. A lot of rumors lately have been false, so who knows. The one thing I do know is there is going to be an new Air 4, but how it’s described may not be the case.

 

[AutomaticApple]

if the rumors of the Air 4 are true, it will cost more.

I guess you should just wait for March 2021 to roll around when they announce the price. It could be the same. Who knows? 3rd gen iPad Pros are pretty cheap these days.

 

[steelcurtain85]

I think I’m going to go ahead and get the iPad Air in the 256gb configuration ($549 at Best Buy) today. It’ll take two days to ship and I’ll continue to weigh out my decision over the weekend. If this was only for entertainment, I’d wait it out for sure. Considering I plan to use this for school, I think it would be nice to have 4-6 months of solid use, rather than chasing the latest and greatest. If I can get 5 years of solid use (e.g. software updates, solid speed for my indicated uses, etc.), I’ll be more than happy. Hell, after I finish my program (2.5 years), it’ll likely go to my youngest daughter for entertainment.

 

[Thoradin]

I’ve recently bought an Air 3 and it’s a great device, I don’t think you’ll regret picking up one now at all.
My usage is also for studying and note taking and I’m really enjoying it with the little I have used it so far.

 

[steve217]

I love my Air 3/WiFi/64. I got it refurbed from Apple for $410. Unfortunately, there don’t seem to be any on the refurbed site now. But $549 for 256GB is a really good deal.

A perfect complement is the Apple Smart Keyboard. I found one absolutely like-new for $90 on eBay.

It’s a great portable solution. The screen is great, plenty fast, and not knowing any better - I don’t mind the speakers on one side of the screen.

I’ve given it a pretty good workout during this work from home period. I use Teams/Outlook a lot around the house and have no complaints.

Good luck!

 

[MacRazySwe]

At $549, aren’t you approaching iPad Pro territory? Surely there must be deals for the 2018 models out there? I paid $600 for mine, and just today I saw the 12.9” model for $669. Granted, those are 64GB models, but there is always iCloud I guess.

 

[rui no onna]

At $549, aren’t you approaching iPad Pro territory? Surely there must be deals for the 2018 models out there? I paid $600 for mine, and just today I saw the 12.9” model for $669. Granted, those are 64GB models, but there is always iCloud I guess.

Priorities. Personally, I'd rather have 256GB local storage than A12X/Z + FaceID. A 64GB iPad would be quite frustrating for me with how often it would need to have content loaded/reloaded.

Besides, the A12 is a phone chipset and is likely to have better battery life.

 

[MacRazySwe]

Priorities. Personally, I'd rather have 256GB local storage than A12X/Z + FaceID. A 64GB iPad would be quite frustrating for me with how often it would need to have content loaded/reloaded.

Besides, the A12 is a phone chipset and is likely to have better battery life.

I agree, it’s very much a personal opinion. I use half of my 64GB storage, so I’m good. On the other hand, I do value FaceID, 4GB RAM, and an Apple Pencil that attaches magnetically rather than sticking out of the iPads butt. 😬 Then there’s the Magic Keyboard.

If I didn’t care for the pencil or keyboard, the Air would have been a good option for me. We’re all different!

 

[rui no onna]

I agree, it’s very much a personal opinion. I use half of my 64GB storage, so I’m good. On the other hand, I do value FaceID, 4GB RAM, and an Apple Pencil that attaches magnetically rather than sticking out of the iPads butt. 😬 Then there’s the Magic Keyboard.

If I didn’t care for the pencil or keyboard, the Air would have been a good option for me. We’re all different!

Meanwhile, each of my 512GB iPads (2017 Pro) only have 50GB or less free space each with roughly 600-700GB worth of unique data combined.

Personally, primary reason I want to upgrade to a new iPad Pro is for 1TB storage. Granted, 6GB RAM is a nice bonus.

 

[s2mikey]

I agree, it’s very much a personal opinion. I use half of my 64GB storage, so I’m good. On the other hand, I do value FaceID, 4GB RAM, and an Apple Pencil that attaches magnetically rather than sticking out of the iPads butt. 😬 Then there’s the Magic Keyboard.

If I didn’t care for the pencil or keyboard, the Air would have been a good option for me. We’re all different!

That 4GB of RAM is nice to have and actually can help with performance "feel" more than the processor. I know that the RAM issue has always been, well, an issue with iPads so to me the more the merrier.

 

[Robbosan]

I’ve had a Air 3 64gb 4g for 3 months, I got lucky and bought it brand new off gumtree for half retail price. I’d given my 20 month old 11 pro to my wife as she had a gen 5 iPad so I thought I would just use the air.
For the price I didn’t mind it I wouldn’t pay full price for one $1kAud here.
This week I saw a 11 month old 11 pro 64gb 4g with apple care plus on eBay for $835 so bought it and sold my air 3 the next day for $800.
So glad I did the 11 pro is much better, after that experience I wouldn’t look at a air 3, IMO anyway.

 

[steelcurtain85]

Need some advice. I bought the iPad Air 256gb 3rd gen last month, and Best Buy is giving me until the 20th to return it. I paid $585 at that time. I can get the new iPad Air 256gb for $700 in October.

The only cons I can think of are lack of a headphone jack and $120 more. I’m leaning towards returning the 3rd gen and waiting until this new one is released. Thoughts?

 

[Fishels]

Need some advice. I bought the iPad Air 256gb 3rd gen last month, and Best Buy is giving me until the 20th to return it. I paid $585 at that time. I can get the new iPad Air 256gb for $700 in October.

The only cons I can think of are lack of a headphone jack and $120 more. I’m leaning towards returning the 3rd gen and waiting until this new one is released. Thoughts?

Personally the headphone jack being killed is a huge bummer for me.

But if you can live without it I would return it and wait for the air 4. Without hesitation it looks like more for your money long term and the new design is great. I’m probably gonna get a air 3 when it gets cheap because it has the headphone jack.

I wonder how long they will continue to offer the Air 3?