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iPad Air iPad Air 5 should start at 128 GB storage.

M

mebehere

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 21, 2012
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Everyone keeps calling it the “sister“ of the iPad Mini. This is ludicrous. The Mini is small. It’s fine that it starts at 64 GB.

How long has it been since the Air has been refreshed? 1.5 years? So after 1.5 years we’re still at 64 base storage?

I will buy it at base of 128. Otherwise, no way.
 
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Historically, Air and mini with $100 price difference tend to have matching storage.

2019 Air 3: A12, 3 GB RAM, 64 GB storage, $499
2019 mini 5: A12, 3 GB RAM, 64 GB storage, $399

2020 Air 4: A14, 4 GB RAM, 64 GB storage, $599

2021 mini 6: A15, 4 GB RAM, 64 GB storage, $499

Actually goes back even further to 2013 OG Air and mini 2.

Plus there’s this:

www.macrumors.com

Apple SSD Supplier Hit With Contamination Disaster, Flash Storage Prices Expected to Spike

SSD prices are likely to increase globally due to contamination issues at Western Digital and Kioxia's NAND production facilities, and Apple...
www.macrumors.com www.macrumors.com

Sure, it would be nice if it started at 128 GB. I just don’t believe it’s likely based on historical data unless there’s a price increase.
 
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rui no onna said:
Historically, Air and mini with $100 price difference tend to have matching storage.

2019 Air 3: A12, 3 GB RAM, 64 GB storage, $499
2019 mini 5: A12, 3 GB RAM, 64 GB storage, $399

2020 Air 4: A14, 4 GB RAM, 64 GB storage, $599

2021 mini 6: A15, 4 GB RAM, 64 GB storage, $499

Actually goes back even further to 2013 OG Air and mini 2.

Plus there’s this:

www.macrumors.com

Apple SSD Supplier Hit With Contamination Disaster, Flash Storage Prices Expected to Spike

SSD prices are likely to increase globally due to contamination issues at Western Digital and Kioxia's NAND production facilities, and Apple...
www.macrumors.com www.macrumors.com

Sure, it would be nice if it started at 128 GB. I just don’t believe it’s likely based on historical data unless there’s a price increase.
Click to expand...

Bummer. Doesn’t make any sense. Just a cash grab.
 
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As long as we’re being arbitrary, why not say it should start at 2TB? That’s the one I would buy, so I guess I should argue that’s where Apple should start.
 
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mebehere said:
Everyone keeps calling it the “sister“ of the iPad Mini. This is ludicrous. The Mini is small. It’s fine that it starts at 64 GB.

How long has it been since the Air has been refreshed? 1.5 years? So after 1.5 years we’re still at 64 base storage?

I will buy it at base of 128. Otherwise, no way.
Click to expand...
Wait, you're saying the physical size of the thing should dictate its base storage capacity?
 
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At the end of the day, iPad Air is largely a media consumption device with a single rear camera lens.

Apple is likely sticking with 64GB.
 
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While I'd never buy another iPad with less than 256 GB, and I'd love to get more storage for less money, I can't imagine that the majority of iPad users need more than 64 GB based on my highly anecdotal observations of friends and family. They mostly use their iPads for social media, streaming videos, and FaceTime, rarely using more than a few tens of GB.
 
I’m curious : if you guys have to choose what would you prefer: quad speakers or more base storage?
 
DeepSix said:
It will likely start at 128TB.
Click to expand...
mebehere said:
Everyone keeps calling it the “sister“ of the iPad Mini. This is ludicrous. The Mini is small. It’s fine that it starts at 64 GB.

How long has it been since the Air has been refreshed? 1.5 years? So after 1.5 years we’re still at 64 base storage?

I will buy it at base of 128. Otherwise, no way.
Click to expand...
Apple wants to retain several arguments as to why you’re better off going all out and getting an iPad Pro, or at the very least getting the more expensive Air or mini instead of the base model.

And the lower tier iPads have historically always had very limited storage options, with a huge gap between the base model and the more expensive models.

Only the Pro gives you a selection of 128, 256, 512, 1tb, because that’s the iPad that apple really wants you to get.

If Apple gave the base A15 Air 128gb then the 256gb Air has to jump up to 512 to retain the value difference. But then you’d get a 512gb A15 air for $749.. which is not happening as long as the 128gb 11” Pro starts at $799.

A15 Air with 128gb I don’t see as likely unless the airs sees a drastic price hike altogether -Apple would instantly kill most A14 Air and A15 mini sales if the new A15 Air starts at the same $599 for the 128GB as the A14 Air did.

Also, you really struggle to sell a 64GB A15 mini @ $499 if the A15 Air with 128GB and 10.9” display is $599, just $100 more.

And who would even consider the 256gb iPad 9 at $479 when a 128gb A15 Air is just $120 more?

A15 Air starts with 64GB @ $599, end of story.

Apple knows to not canibalize its own sales. A15 air is not where they start shaking up the value hierarchy of its entire iPad lineup. That only happens when iPads pro get overhauled.
 
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Isengardtom said:
I’m curious : if you guys have to choose what would you prefer: quad speakers or more base storage?
Click to expand...
Quad speakers. I talked about it before. I’d love an Air 5 with quad speakers. It’s my favorite feature of the iPad Pro. As for the 64GB debate, it doesn’t matter to me. I don’t even use that much on my Pro. I get 200GB of iCloud storage for about $3 a month from Apple and I don’t store anything on my iPad other than pictures to be honest. I stream all my videos. So, 128GB is overkill for me. I could live with 64GB just as easily.
 
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I’m guessing, based on history of it matching the mini, it will start at 64GB then jump to 256GB? Probably for $150?

If it does start at 128GB, maybe 256GB will be $100?

Will we even get a 512GB option on it?

Of course, we don’t know, but we shall see.
 
Tyler O'Bannon said:
I’m guessing, based on history of it matching the mini, it will start at 64GB then jump to 256GB? Probably for $150?

If it does start at 128GB, maybe 256GB will be $100?

Will we even get a 512GB option on it?

Of course, we don’t know, but we shall see.
Click to expand...
The M1 11" Pro with 128GB will still be $799 post A15 Air launch

-There's no way Apple is offering an A15 128GB iPad Air with a 10.9" bezel-less display for $599, $200 less.

Think about it rationally for a second: iPads are waaaaaaay too similar already. The black Air and Space Grey 11" Pro are pretty much indistinguishable upon first sight. No way Apple is closing the gap between these two product categories even further.

This is Apple under Tim Cook -limitations and segmentation is abundant and ensures you always understand the difference between small(iPad 9 Gen), medium(mini & Air), L(11" Pro), and XL(12.9" Pro).

You are not getting key 11" M1 Pro specs in the baseline 10.9" Air for $599. No iPad will ever really compete with another iPad in terms of price and core features. It's all obviously segmented to make sure you only get everything and all the features you could want if you go with an iPad Pro.
 
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