Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPad Is the iPad Air 2 the first model you are maxing out with your budget?

K

Kendo

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 4, 2011
2,367
956
For all other iPads, I always bought the base model at $499 in case I wanted to sell it the next year and upgrade. However the iPad Air 2 is the first model where I am thinking about going all out and getting a 64GB LTE model. With the addition of an extra core, double the storage, and double the RAM, I believe this is the 1st major generational leap in configuration that won't change for a while.

When I say generational leap, it has been 2 or 3 years since the iPad has kept the same 1GB RAM and the 16, 32, 64GB storage. I don't expect them to change the extra core, 2GB RAM, and 16, 64, 128GB setup for a while now.

Can we safely say that this is the first model where you shouldn't be afraid to go all out and max out as much as your budget allows?
 
Kendo said:
For all other iPads, I always bought the base model at $499 in case I wanted to sell it the next year and upgrade. However the iPad Air 2 is the first model where I am thinking about going all out and getting a 64GB LTE model. With the addition of an extra core, double the storage, and double the RAM, I believe this is the 1st major generational leap in configuration that won't change for a while.

When I say generational leap, it has been 2 or 3 years since the iPad has kept the same 1GB RAM and the 16, 32, 64GB storage. I don't expect them to change the extra core, 2GB RAM, and 16, 64, 128GB setup for a while now.

Can we safely say that this is the first model where you shouldn't be afraid to go all out and max out as much as your budget allows?
Click to expand...
I say this as an Air2 owners, but... nope. We're 6 generations in to the same product and it would be silly if the only thing we see is a "thinner " iPad Air 3 or a "bigger" iPad Pro. This product line is due for a reboot.

I really dont see them trying to run a "pro" line separate from the current line so My guess is that the iPad Pro will be Apples first take on reinventing the iPad with next years "Air" sharing a similar but dumbed down set of new features. And that means the iPads we use today will soon be retired in favor of whatever is coming next.
 
Last edited:
It's impossible to say what's coming next year, but buying the 64GB is a no brainer-16GB isn't adequate anymore...LTE is a nice feature, but if you can tether I would go that way instead, and save $130 bucks. Why pay AT&T(or other providers) for the right to use cellular data as an *extra* charge?

I've had both LTE and wifi versions, and I'm happy with the wifi only. It is worth noting, though, that the wifi only version doesn't make a very good gps device, whereas the LTE iPads are great gps units....

And yes, this is a GREAT update to the iPad lineup, and well worth getting the higher storage version. This thing will be strong for good while.
 
Nope, I got the wifi 16 gb.
I don't watch movies "on the go" on it, I have a surface 3 if I want to do that. I don't have lots of music on it, I use spotify and have a 64 gb iPhone 6+. I don't load up lots of 1+ gb games on it as I'm not into those games all that much. I don't feel the need to store thousands of high quality pictures on it, my desktop is best for that.

To me it is consuming web related content mostly with a little of the other things like some music and media editing (word docs for school)
I have other devices that can do many of the things the iPad can do but better.
The iPad is best at sitting on a couch and relaxing, at least for me.
 
Last edited:
i got a gold 64gb wifi since we never ran out of space on our 3...and my wife never deleted anything plus all the kids games were on there.

I have to be honest...if they pull an iphone 6 with the air 3 (glazed smooth edges) I might be tempted.
 
Well it's not a bad idea to go for 64 GB. But generational leap? To me the ipad 3 was a generational leap. Going all out? Next year there will be something better. Redesign, upgraded screen, hopefully oled and higher ppi, better battery, wireless charging, and all the usual things. And a fix for the vibration and rippling issues ofcourse.
 
Nope. The iPad is such a heavily used device for me that I end up upgrading every year or so, and the fancier models don't gain much on resale. I bought cellular for my first one, never used it. 64GB for the 4 and Air which was more expensive than I wanted, but a sweet spot for storage space. With the Air 2 at 64GB it was like getting a $100 discount. :cool:
 
urkel said:
I say this as an Air2 owners, but... nope. We're 6 generations in to the same product and it would be silly if the only thing we see is a "thinner " iPad Air 3 or a "bigger" iPad Pro. This product line is due for a reboot.

I really dont see them trying to run a "pro" line separate from the current line so My guess is that the iPad Pro will be Apples first take on reinventing the iPad with next years "Air" sharing a similar but dumbed down set of new features. And that means the iPads we use today will soon be retired in favor of whatever is coming next.
Click to expand...

My thoughts too. This is why I went for one of the great deals on a new iPad Air (1) this round (upgrade from the Mini 2). The Air 1 is great and meets my needs perfectly for now. I plan on keeping it one year and selling for the Air 3.
 
I never max out my devices because the resell value on them is terrible. People only care about getting the lowest price possible when buying used so you never get back the extra hundreds you spent.

Luckily, 64gb wifi is more than enough for my needs. Perfect sweet spot.
 
I say its safe to do so, I wouldnt say its the only one. I thought the same about the iPad 3 with that sexy retina scree. Purchased the cellular at max capacity (64GB). 6 Months later, Apple outdates it...
 
I generally don't really buy based on resale value. I get whatever model suits me (and that's usually largest capacity with LTE). That said, I did skimp on the iPad Air last year and just got the 16GB LTE model because I knew I'd probably want to replace it this year. Boy was that frustrating. I kept having to delete stuff just so I can update my apps. Thankfully, I still had my trusty 128GB iPad 4. :)
 
i have saved money to upgrade iPad this yr,
the original plan is to get 32gb+ cellular,
cox it seems much cheaper to get max spec this time, so i max out under compulsive..........

i was thinking that 2gb ram will enable it for 3 yrs & probably run smoothly on iOS 9... & i don't want a 12inch tablet... it is too big.

:( but i forget that the quality of apple products are dropping, they are no longer as long lasting as the 1st few generation...

furthermore with the TLC used storage, i don't know if i can withstand it when it start to slow down...
 
Last edited:
I am coming from a iPad 3 with 32gb down to a 16gb WiFi only ipad air 2. I never used the mobile data on my ipad 3 so the WiFi model is enough and I also have all my pictures in the cloud as well as my music on iTunes Match and spotify so I don't need that much local space.

It's the opposite on my iPhone where I went from a 16gb 5 to a 64gb 6
 
I've maxed out both iPads I've got, 1st gen AT&T, and iPad Mini 2 last December.
 
I always max out my iPads. I purchased a 64GB iPad 3 (highest capacity available at the time), and I was going to purchase a 128GB iPad Air 2.
 
Kendo said:
Can we safely say that this is the first model where you shouldn't be afraid to go all out and max out as much as your budget allows?
Click to expand...

Why do people seem so intent on turning their own opinion into some kind of universal truth?

No one posts "Does the dent in the bottom left corner of your iPad bother you enough to get it replaced, or is it safe to say we can all live with it?"

Your thread title should simply be "The iPad Air 2 is the first model I am maxing out with my budget." Isn't that good enough to start a discussion?
 
I the past I've always purchased the wifi 32GB model but, I really liked what I saw with the Air 2 and went with the 64GB LTE model and am very pleased with it.
 
I've had three iPads and only the Mini 2 was the only model I didn't go for maximum capacity. (32gb)

I guess I consider iPads relatively expensive bits of kit even in low or mid spec models so I don't see the harm in shelling out the extra for the high end capacity. I think 128gb is more than I need but it means I can load 50gb of music and still have lots of space :)
 
Went with 128gb wifi in Space Gray.
I always get the LTE version but this time I wanted to force myself to start using that 20gb of tethering plan I have with my carrier. I cancelled my separate iPad data plan and so far no regrets.

I'm sure we will see a shiny new iPad that once again will get me to ditch the Air 2 and blindly hand over my money to Apple.. :(
 
I maxed mine out given that I have a Plus with a big battery that I'll tether to now, so I don't need cellular, but did max out the storage for the first time because this thing is so powerful. I plan on having this for a good long time unless Apple comes out with a compelling Pro model, but considering the Pro software will probably take some time to come out for it, I might wait until the 2nd gen Pro. Depends on the situation. If there is no Pro then I'll probably be keeping this for three years until they increase the RAM again. If you want longevity (is three years considered long for tablets?) then buying on the RAM upgrade years is a good plan.
 
The air 2 is my second iPad. Before that I had the iPad 3 which was 32GB WiFi. It was plenty enough for me, and packed full with apps and games.

This time It was a no brainer, I went for 64GB WiFi, which works out best for me as I was planning to pay more for the extra storage this time around but luckily Apple kept the price the same as last years 32GB iPad Air.

A bigger iPad Pro/Maxi doesn't interest me so I'll probably hang onto this machine for another couple of years, unless Apple wows me next year with something super duper...:eek: but i doubt it.:)
 
KeepCalmPeople said:
I maxed mine out. 128GB Cellular. Only time will tell if this particular version has the 'legs' to stay relevant for the next 3 years, as the iPad 2 did. Obviously I'm hoping it will.
Click to expand...

I did the same thing. My theory is that I can let my iPhone 'shrink' in terms of storage because I'll use the iPad for some of the things I used to use the iPhone for.
So far, it's trending that way. I've taken a lot of the functionality away from my phone (a 5s) and moved it to the iPad. When I go for the 6s (7, whatever), I'll get less onboard storage for the phone.
 
Shadow Runner said:
Nope, I got the wifi 16 gb.
I don't watch movies "on the go" on it, I have a surface 3 if I want to do that. I don't have lots of music on it, I use spotify and have a 64 gb iPhone 6+. I don't load up lots of 1+ gb games on it as I'm not into those games all that much. I don't feel the need to store thousands of high quality pictures on it, my desktop is best for that.

To me it is consuming web related content mostly with a little of the other things like some music and media editing (word docs for school)
I have other devices that can do many of the things the iPad can do but better.
The iPad is best at sitting on a couch and relaxing, at least for me.
Click to expand...

1+ In a word, practical.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back