All iPads Is the Air the new iPad 3 (1GB RAM)?

[Cheffy Dave]

Good question, considering I'm going from an iPad 3 to the iPad Air. Hopefully someone can answer this properly. I for one think the A7 processor alone is a substantial upgrade in performance, enough so that the 1GB ram should suffice for a considerable amount of time.

Hopefully someone can give us a better answer.

I have the iPad4, wicked fast, the A7 iPAD AIR is twice as fast!!!! When Clam Case releases their case for the iPAD AIR in January, Im in, Im also in on the Retina iPAD MINI 2 as well, as soon as Clam Case offer their iPad Folio Case for that as well. (yes they are that good) We are living in WONDROUS TIMES, for sure

 

[FrankB1191]

Having more RAM has been a quest for personal computer owners since I can remember. With folks speculating that the iPad 5 would have more RAM than previous models, and Anandtech's comments about a step backward in memory, it's not surprising that these questions are asked. In fact, it's a damn good question. The iPad 4 was a big upgrade from the iPad 3, and many iPad 3 owners were pissed.

There were Apple fan posters on this forum saying that it would be ridiculous to think that Apple wouldn't upgrade the RAM and base storage on the next iPad, and they were wrong. People were left wondering what the rMBP was doing with just 4GB of RAM on the base model, despite Apple's boosted (or whatever) RAM claims when needed. Some people questioned how Anandtech arrived at the conclusion that the new iPad only had 1GB of RAM! The diehard true believers.

Money doesn't grow on trees, and while rumors are cheap, iPads are not. I can afford to take a chance with the new iPad, but many people have saved their hard earned money in anticipation of the hyped iPad. They would like some assurance that rumors of a Pro iPad are not going to leave them with a second rate device 4 months from now, and who could blame them.

The only stupid question, is the one you didn't ask before buying.

OP,
Based on Anandtech's review, it would seem safe to buy the iPad Air. While they did say it was a step backward in memory, they couldn't see a real world situation that would be negatively impacted. How it does two years from now is anyone's guess, but apps, games, etc, are not going to get smaller or less intense. Life is short, however, so.....

 

[jtara]

Settings general about diagnostics data

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Well duh, 1 gig ram is not enought as it will get used up quickly especially on ipad

Re-read my comment.

*no* amount of memory is "enough", given that iOS allows you to open an unlimited number of apps without any intervention from yourself to close apps. Once you have opened a certain number of apps, the OS will remove the oldest one.

It is *normal* for iOS to *always* have "low memory" status. It means it's working correctly.

The only time this is not true is right after boot, before you have not opened very many apps.

 

[mtneer]

....... Remember the iPad 3 was fluid for the most part when it was first released but quickly became underpowered with each iOS.

That can be said of any iOS device, not just the iPad 3. Newer OS's are more demanding on older hardware, and more importantly psychologically you will compare them against newer hardware optimized for newer OS's. My iPad 3 is still running on 5.1 and is as fast as it was the day I bought it. I thought it was latest and greatest when I first bought it, but now when compared to iPhone 5 and 5s, it seems like a slouch.

The same story will repeat with the iPad 4, the air and mini once ios 8, 9 and 10 show up..

 

[Count Blah]

The A7 screams. It does not need more than 1gb of ram to DOUBLE iPad's 4 performance. Which by the way, was faster than your iPad 3. Read the Anandtech review, and please refrain from spamming this forum with stupid questions.

Yeah, for a single task.

Sheesh, talk about a third grader doing calculus.

Were talking about switching between apps. The iPad 4 has to refresh browser tabs all the damn time, now that the A7 is 64 bit, you have less RAM to use for applications.

Great, your suped up sports car can go from 0 to 60 twice as fast, but you have to gas it up every 1/4 mile. If apple didn't force obsolescence on us, it would have been killer with 2 gigs of RAM.

 

[rui no onna]

Were talking about switching between apps. The iPad 4 has to refresh browser tabs all the damn time, now that the A7 is 64 bit, you have less RAM to use for applications.

There was a poster complaining about performance lag on the iPad 3 (and that's not really a fault of the RAM). Yes, both iPad 3 and 4 need to refresh the browser pretty much every time you switch tabs but the iPad 4 sure does it faster suggesting lag isn't a RAM issue.

 

[Z8beema]

OP, you think a 16gb iPad Air will have better resale value then a 32gb?

what?

 

[lympero]

1gb is not enough. End of story. You can compromise and buy an ipad air but you'll regret it very soon.

 

[Kendo]

The RAM wasn't the problem with the iPad 3. It was the CPU (and GPU for 3D heavy games). The iPad 4 already solves most of the problems and the iPad Air is a considerable improvement over the iPad 4. I think the performance delta between the iPad 3 and iPad 4 is ~1.5-2x (forgotten exactly) so performance jump from iPad 3 to iPad Air would be ~3-4x.

If you want to see an example of memory constrained, look at the original iPad (256MB). The 4th gen iPod Touch (256MB) is also a good example. Same processor as the iPhone 4 but much less responsive and prone to crashing.

But you kinda nailed it right on the head. You say iPad 1 had memory constraints (released in 2010) and iPad 3 had enough RAM (1GB for 2012) but isn't there something lacking when the Air is 2 generations newer but has the same RAM as the 3? Who is to say that 1GB isn't the new "256" in terms of 2013-2014 standards?

 

[rui no onna]

But you kinda nailed it right on the head. You say iPad 1 had memory constraints (released in 2010) and iPad 3 had enough RAM (1GB for 2012) but isn't there something lacking when the Air is 2 generations newer but has the same RAM as the 3? Who is to say that 1GB isn't the new "256" in terms of 2013-2014 standards?

The original iPad, much like the original iPhone and iPhone 3G, was CPU and memory constrained right from the get go. Besides, the aging of Apple hardware has been fairly predictable, at least in my experience.

• Year 1: Excellent, everything is running smoothly.
• Year 2: Lacks hardware and/or iOS features available in newer models but still runs reasonably well.
• Year 3: In need of upgrade.

Apps are designed for available hardware and the low-end right now is still the iPad 2 and Mini with 512MB RAM. Until Apple releases a new iPad (presumably Oct-Nov 2014), the iPad Air is top of the line so it's not like apps are going to appear that don't work well on the Air.

 

[Count Blah]

But you kinda nailed it right on the head. You say iPad 1 had memory constraints (released in 2010) and iPad 3 had enough RAM (1GB for 2012) but isn't there something lacking when the Air is 2 generations newer but has the same RAM as the 3? Who is to say that 1GB isn't the new "256" in terms of 2013-2014 standards?

That's the exact concern people have with only 1Gig of RAM. The defense of 1Gig of RAM folks is "It's twice as fast as the iPAd4!!!!!" But that isn't the point of this concern. No one questions the speed. It's the ability to have a seemless user experience(it decreases with the increase in RAM needed with the switch from 32->64), and future RAM demands(talk to those with 256Megs of RAM).

 

[Skika]

But you kinda nailed it right on the head. You say iPad 1 had memory constraints (released in 2010) and iPad 3 had enough RAM (1GB for 2012) but isn't there something lacking when the Air is 2 generations newer but has the same RAM as the 3? Who is to say that 1GB isn't the new "256" in terms of 2013-2014 standards?

And the fact that 64 bit makes it that apps use even more RAM by itself, its not even a 2 generation stagnation, but even a step back.

Seriously thinking about staying with my 4 for this reason.

 

[jonnyb098]

First let's clear a couple things up. The cost of putting in an extra gig of RAM should not have been an issue. Also the battery hit would also be negligible. The the crazy question is that why after 3 generations are we still on 1GB? Who knows. We an debate that forever. Here's what I can say based on my experiences :

Games like infinity blade 3 use almost ALL available RAM making app switching useless. Now let's use some logic here. Having a 64 bit ultra fast processor is only really going to be useful for really intense apps like games, photo/video editing. Everything else you typically use is still pretty smooth on an ipad 3(mostly) and ipad 4. So if crazy powerful apps are already reaching the maximum RAM usage how is anyone going to be able to keep pushing forward with EVEN BETTER INTENSE apps using a processor that has such little RAM on board.

The sports car analogy here is perfect. I can never get to see that quick 0-60 if I have to gas it up after 45 MPH.

So all in all it feels like apple is just playing a numbers game because they are putting a technical limitation from apps TRUELY taking FULL advantage of this 64 bits. An extra gig of RAM would have really let devs fly with the new processor.

Another comparison is iPad4. Devs are still optimizing games and it took months to begin utilizing the A6. I highly recommend people with iPad 4 skip this round unless you are really aching for a lighter device. But patience will be to your advantage as next year the ipad will get the fingerprint sensor and 2gb for sure. If not then it all really is a cruel joke.

 

[cababah]

First let's clear a couple things up. The cost of putting in an extra gig of RAM should not have been an issue. Also the battery hit would also be negligible. The the crazy question is that why after 3 generations are we still on 1GB? Who knows. We an debate that forever. Here's what I can say based on my experiences :

Games like infinity blade 3 use almost ALL available RAM making app switching useless. Now let's use some logic here. Having a 64 bit ultra fast processor is only really going to be useful for really intense apps like games, photo/video editing. Everything else you typically use is still pretty smooth on an ipad 3(mostly) and ipad 4. So if crazy powerful apps are already reaching the maximum RAM usage how is anyone going to be able to keep pushing forward with EVEN BETTER INTENSE apps using a processor that has such little RAM on board.

The sports car analogy here is perfect. I can never get to see that quick 0-60 if I have to gas it up after 45 MPH.

So all in all it feels like apple is just playing a numbers game because they are putting a technical limitation from apps TRUELY taking FULL advantage of this 64 bits. An extra gig of RAM would have really let devs fly with the new processor.

Another comparison is iPad4. Devs are still optimizing games and it took months to begin utilizing the A6. I highly recommend people with iPad 4 skip this round unless you are really aching for a lighter device. But patience will be to your advantage as next year the ipad will get the fingerprint sensor and 2gb for sure. If not then it all really is a cruel joke.

In a year, 2GB might still be a bottleneck considering how big apps, games and OS are getting. Apple is ALWAYS playing catch up with RAM. Buy it if you want it, be happy, otherwise you will be waiting forever to get that "perfect" iOS device.

However, if the iPad Air came with 2GB of RAM; I think we would all agree that would make it close to perfect for 2013 tablet standards.

 

[jonnyb098]

In a year, 2GB might still be a bottleneck considering how big apps, games and OS are getting. Apple is ALWAYS playing catch up with RAM. Buy it if you want it, be happy, otherwise you will be waiting forever to get that "perfect" iOS device.

However, if the iPad Air came with 2GB of RAM; I think we would all agree that would make it close to perfect for 2013 tablet standards.

Agreed. I'm very happy with my ipad 4.

 

[Krevnik]

There was a poster complaining about performance lag on the iPad 3 (and that's not really a fault of the RAM). Yes, both iPad 3 and 4 need to refresh the browser pretty much every time you switch tabs but the iPad 4 sure does it faster suggesting lag isn't a RAM issue.

I'll also note that Safari purges caches very aggressively, as it was allowed to be running all the time, immune to the usual iOS multitasking rules. Still is. Can't entirely throw the blame at RAM when Safari is built around the idea that it is fine to purge the cache early and often because you can simply reload it later.

 

[AdonisSMU]

First let's clear a couple things up. The cost of putting in an extra gig of RAM should not have been an issue. Also the battery hit would also be negligible. The the crazy question is that why after 3 generations are we still on 1GB? Who knows. We an debate that forever. Here's what I can say based on my experiences :

Games like infinity blade 3 use almost ALL available RAM making app switching useless. Now let's use some logic here. Having a 64 bit ultra fast processor is only really going to be useful for really intense apps like games, photo/video editing. Everything else you typically use is still pretty smooth on an ipad 3(mostly) and ipad 4. So if crazy powerful apps are already reaching the maximum RAM usage how is anyone going to be able to keep pushing forward with EVEN BETTER INTENSE apps using a processor that has such little RAM on board.

The sports car analogy here is perfect. I can never get to see that quick 0-60 if I have to gas it up after 45 MPH.

So all in all it feels like apple is just playing a numbers game because they are putting a technical limitation from apps TRUELY taking FULL advantage of this 64 bits. An extra gig of RAM would have really let devs fly with the new processor.

Another comparison is iPad4. Devs are still optimizing games and it took months to begin utilizing the A6. I highly recommend people with iPad 4 skip this round unless you are really aching for a lighter device. But patience will be to your advantage as next year the ipad will get the fingerprint sensor and 2gb for sure. If not then it all really is a cruel joke.

Ooooh the drama!

 

[Count Blah]

And the fact that 64 bit makes it that apps use even more RAM by itself, its not even a 2 generation stagnation, but even a step back.

Seriously thinking about staying with my 4 for this reason.

If I had a 4, quite honestly, I would stay pat. I LOVE keeping old hardware going, that is why I bought the last cMBP, I knew I could keep it going much longer than a 8Gig soldered in RAM rMBP.

When you KNOW the RAM is going to be increased the next rev, it's like a thumb in they eye to get an Air now - IF and a BIG IF, you intend on keeping it for a while. If you sell your devices as part of the upgrade cycle, then it is FAR less of a hindrance.

 

[Tubamajuba]

That's the exact concern people have with only 1Gig of RAM. The defense of 1Gig of RAM folks is "It's twice as fast as the iPAd4!!!!!" But that isn't the point of this concern. No one questions the speed. It's the ability to have a seemless user experience(it decreases with the increase in RAM needed with the switch from 32->64), and future RAM demands(talk to those with 256Megs of RAM).

If you're worried about future-proofing, don't buy an iPad this year. Or next year. Or the year after that. Or ever, for that matter.

The iPhone 4 was the first iOS device with 512MB of RAM. And that was a lot at the time! 3 years and four months later, 512MB of RAM is still decent, though not great. And guess what ended up killing the iPhone 4? Not the RAM, but the single core processor and underpowered GPU. Both of which were considered relatively good when the iPhone was new.

What if, as good as the A7 is, the A8 absolutely smokes the crap out of it? What if the A8 ushers in a new wave of apps that run poorly on the A7 and lower processors? It wouldn't matter if the Air had more RAM.

All of our devices will be reduced to a paperweight in three years, and that's if we don't sell it to get the newest model before then. Yes, I wanted the new iPads to come with 2GB of RAM. Yes, I am disappointed that they didn't. But how much sense would it make for me to not buy the Air based on that complaint and continue using my iPad mini with 512MB of RAM? If I really need 2GB, how am I living with 512MB?

If you already have an iPad with 1GB of RAM, take this as an opportunity to enjoy keeping $400+ in your wallet this holiday season. You'll be happy that you waited come November 2014. For the rest of us, the iPad Air is an outstanding upgrade.

 

[Spicedham]

The reason there's an ipad air is because there will be an iPad pro. The pro will have 2gbs of ram, touch id, and some features that will make it a productive tablet. The pro will come during the first half of next year or whenever they feel the iPad Air's hype has died down. Then during the fall of next year the air will get a light upgrade with touch id.

 

[Bathplug]

I bought the iPad 3 at launch. Not falling for that again. Its now quite sluggish, laggy and never really could play the latest games completely lag free a few months after it was released (modern combat 4 & vice city). Now with ios7 its worse.

Skipping this air and probably getting the air 2/pro whatevers out next year with a8 2gb ram & touch id.

 

[007p]

I bought the iPad 3 at launch. Not falling for that again. Its now quite sluggish, laggy and never really could play the latest games completely lag free a few months after it was released (modern combat 4 & vice city). Now with ios7 its worse.

Skipping this air and probably getting the air 2/pro whatevers out next year with a8 2gb ram & touch id.

The ipad 3 isn't bad because of the ram though, it's because the processor/gpu was never really intended for that type of device. Apple knew it was bad and took the lightning upgrade opportunity to change it. I still have the ipad 2, and didn't realise ram issue until all the hype started with ipad air, and wouldn't exactly call myself an average joe user either.

I don't see an ipad pro in the first half of next year, what would be the point? It's unlikely to be a beefed up version of the air, and more likely to be a 13" tablet or something along those lines. I don't see them releasing that size of a tablet while the mini is destroying the 10" tablet in sales, and they are supposedly struggling to meet demands for it - why waste resources on a risky 'pro'?

While yeah, they most likely will upgrade to 2gb next November, that's another year and by then everyone will want 3gb or 4gb lol. What's to say that since there are so many devices out there with 512mb of ram still that the ipad air 2 doesn't need 2gb of ram by then either? What if they only put it in the much larger ipad pro with a lot other issues since its a 'new device'?


If the reviews were negative and the device was performing badly, I would definitely wait. If I was happy with an ipad 4 then sure wait as well. But anything else, using the excuse of "oh it has low ram" is pretty silly reason not to upgrade.

 

[Charliebird]

I bought the iPad 3 at launch. Not falling for that again. Its now quite sluggish, laggy and never really could play the latest games completely lag free a few months after it was released (modern combat 4 & vice city). Now with ios7 its worse.

Skipping this air and probably getting the air 2/pro whatevers out next year with a8 2gb ram & touch id.

It must not be so bad if you're willing to hold onto it for another year.

 

[christarp]

It must not be so bad if you're willing to hold onto it for another year.

Well.. I think it mostly depends on the person.

I'm gonna be skipping the ipad air, and heck, maybe even ipad air 2, and I'm using an ipad 1 still. I know some people that would cringe at that thought though.

 

[keigo]

why everyone so sure we will get getting 2gb ram next yr. When we wait for the iPad Air spec, people seem to be sure of 2gb ram too but the end result still 1gb ram.

Don't be surprise next yr you will still be getting 1gb ram. And you will be crying out loud you wasted 1 yr waiting for nothing.

Come on nobody can tell the future not even Tim until his team testing it and find a need to upgrade the ram else Apple will still be Apple. They will use the bare min spec available as long as they can.

Same for the storage 16gb space for how long..and yet yr after yr Apple still providing base model 16gb.

Look at Macbook Pro/Air they are still offering 4gb ram for so long.