iPad Is the iPad (A16) a good buy?

[Andy_2341]

Like the title says, I'm considering an iPad A16 since the deals are really good right now. I used to use an iPad mini (6th gen) for everything from notes to gaming to daily school work, but sold it and got a M4 MBA since I wanted a bigger screen, built in keyboard, and full os.

I'm now starting to kinda miss the iPad, and want to get one before they all ship with OS26. I really like the iPadOS18 style multitasking as it compliments my Mac instead of trying to replicate it. The MBA will still do 99% of my day to day work, but I'm thinking of the iPad for play and just to have a device with more screen than my iPhone but less restraint (i.e. a hinged screen and physical keyboard).

The main question is, will the 11th gen iPad get chopped sooner due to it's lower grade chip, like at the same time as the regular iphone 15's? I don't want to buy something that will age poorly. I just want a fun device for some gaming and content consumption.

Any thoughts or insights to use are greatly appreciated.

 

[rui no onna]

It will get chopped first because Apple generally provides fewer firmware upgrades to the base iPad versus other iPads.

However, going by previous products I do expect it will be supported longer than the iPhone 15. The iPhone XR (A12) maxes out at iOS 18 while the iPad Air 3, iPad mini 5 and iPad 8 all got iPadOS 26.

 

[Andy_2341]

It will get chopped first because Apple generally provides fewer firmware upgrades to the base iPad versus other iPads.

However, going by previous products I do expect it will be supported longer than the iPhone 15. The iPhone XR (A12) maxes out at iOS 18 while the iPad Air 3, iPad mini 5 and iPad 8 all got iPadOS 26.

That makes sense given it costs less sorta like the SE models. Thank you!

 

[FeliApple]

Definitely worth it! I have one on iPadOS 18 and it is great for content consumption. Great battery life, great performance, just perfect.

Keep in mind, however, that downgrading is no longer possible. Getting one on iPadOS 18 might still be possible, but I’d pretty much buy it immediately.

You won’t have any issues with that usage pattern.

 

[Digitalguy]

The iPad 11 will be supported until iPadOS 30, so 2030, based on Apple's support policy (5 OS updates for the base iPad).

 

[Andy_2341]

Definitely worth it! I have one on iPadOS 18 and it is great for content consumption. Great battery life, great performance, just perfect.

Keep in mind, however, that downgrading is no longer possible. Getting one on iPadOS 18 might still be possible, but I’d pretty much buy it immediately.

You won’t have any issues with that usage pattern.

Thank you! That's exactly what I was thinking. I figured one from my local Walmart (small town) would likely be somewhat older inventory with iPadOS 18 still on it.

 

[rui no onna]

P.S.
Don't restore from an iCloud backup. I'm setting up an iPhone 13 right now. It's being restored from an iCloud backup (iPhone 11 on iOS 18.7) and setup is still forcing an iOS 26.0.1 update in order to proceed.

 

[Andy_2341]

P.S.
Don't restore from an iCloud backup. I'm setting up an iPhone 13 right now. It's being restored from an iCloud backup (iPhone 11 on iOS 18.7) and setup is still forcing an iOS 26.0.1 update in order to proceed.

Very good to know. Do you happen to know if doing a restore from a Mac would cause the same thing?

 

[rui no onna]

Very good to know. Do you happen to know if doing a restore from a Mac would cause the same thing?

I don't know. I don't really use Macs. 🤷‍♀️

Worth a try while downgrading to 18 is still a possibility.

 

[FeliApple]

Very good to know. Do you happen to know if doing a restore from a Mac would cause the same thing?

Yes, it would. Restoring from a Mac always installs the latest version. I don’t think you can even restore from a backup. All restore types will update it to iPadOS 26.0.1.

Remember: if you get it on iPadOS 18 (big if) downgrading is NO longer possible. You want iPadOS 18? You cannot touch iTunes. Start anew, sync iCloud stuff, and install things manually.

And like I said, I think Apple has a way of updating devices while they’re inside the box. If you want a shot at iPadOS 18, buy now.

I don’t update anything and I pretty much don’t touch iTunes, ever. No backups, nothing. I start fresh, log in with the account, sync what I can, and transfer the rest manually.