I almost feel like I prefer the laptop a bit more. I would use the iPad as a tablet exclusively too! Not trying to "replace" the MacBook by any means.
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iPad Is there any point in getting a base ipad?
- Thread starter Superman041
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For your purposes, get the base iPad. There’s no point having an expensive device in the kitchen where it’s more likely to be damaged, and where the better screen of the Air isn’t going to be noticed as you’ll be concentrating on tasks more than the viewing experience.
The iPad 11 is still being sold at the price point the iPad 10 was reduced to - making it a very good deal unlike the iPad 10 that while it was inevitable the new form factor would come with a price increase, was still £100 overpriced at launch and presumably similar in other countries. Against that good deal, the Air isn’t as easy an upsell as it was a few years ago - because anyone would rather get a good deal on something that’s more than they need than take an overpriced lower model.
AppleCare+ used to be the same on the iPad and the iPad Air, but that is no longer the case - it’s £10 cheaper on the base model for 2 years, and 50p a month cheaper if going for monthly. If you’re not getting AppleCare+, the base model would be cheaper for an out of warranty repair if one is needed.
The iPad 11 is still being sold at the price point the iPad 10 was reduced to - making it a very good deal unlike the iPad 10 that while it was inevitable the new form factor would come with a price increase, was still £100 overpriced at launch and presumably similar in other countries. Against that good deal, the Air isn’t as easy an upsell as it was a few years ago - because anyone would rather get a good deal on something that’s more than they need than take an overpriced lower model.
AppleCare+ used to be the same on the iPad and the iPad Air, but that is no longer the case - it’s £10 cheaper on the base model for 2 years, and 50p a month cheaper if going for monthly. If you’re not getting AppleCare+, the base model would be cheaper for an out of warranty repair if one is needed.
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For use in bed, I suspect you won’t do a lot of typing. If that’s the case, you can’t beat the iPad. Check out both the base iPad 11 and the iPad Air. If you decide you don’t need the M2 processor and 8GB of RAM that’s in the Air, stick with the base, which should be just fine for casual media, consumption, web browsing, emails and texting.
This is what I do with my iPad mini and my M2Pro MBP. The iPad is way more convenient for bed stuff, like reading or playing quick games. My wife does the same with her M4 MBA and base iPad.
Works great.
Yeah, even my 95-year-old mother was able to use an iPad.
iPad in all its iterations IS the couch/bed device.
You can send some emails on it or read a pdf, but that's it what it can do for actual work, and with MBA, chances are you will never use it for anything else than youtube and netflix. IPadOS is very limited so that's makes it a primarily leisure oriented device so buy cheapest one.
You can send some emails on it or read a pdf, but that's it what it can do for actual work, and with MBA, chances are you will never use it for anything else than youtube and netflix. IPadOS is very limited so that's makes it a primarily leisure oriented device so buy cheapest one.
Others on these forums have clearly shown time and again that more than just these limited functions can be done with an iPad.
I like the iPad to use for streaming on my kitchen eating bar. It works with my cable TV provider, acts like a TV on a nice stand. I use it every morning, with coffee.
that's the way
Apple may actually release something like that with a stand
That 64GB storage will limit/annoy me before M1 vs A16 even becomes an issue.
On my M1 12.9 iPad Pro, it’s showing:
Apple Intelligence 5.79 GB
iPadOS 11.22 GB
System Data 11.5 GB
So yeah, a whopping 28.5GB just for the system alone.
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Interesting difference. My M4 13" Pro with Apple Intelligence off (18.3.2):
iPadOS 17.31 GB
System Data 1.07 GB
My Mini 6:
iPadOS 11.13 GB
System Data 9.72 GB
Aside from the storage issue - a 256GB Air should be the only unit under consideration at this point unless it is only to be used for FaceTime, streaming and browsing - I don’t think it will receive more updates than the iPad 11. While other iPads receive more updates than the base model, the Air 5 is now 3 years old, so I’d bet on Apple dropping support for it one year earlier than the iPad 11.
The Air 5’s chip is far superior to the iPad 11’s (A16) in terms of multicore and metal scores, but the iPad 11 is marginally better on single core - and has the landscape camera. The M1 Air has 2GB extra RAM, Pencil 2 that charges magnetically, laminated display and a physical sim slot if opting for the cellular version though - it depends what you prioritise.
The Air 5 was an easy buy against the iPad 10 and I did exactly that as a gift at the end of last year (same storage, double the RAM, Pro chip.) The iPad 10 was using the A14, while the recipient already had an SE3 with the A15. Air 5 vs iPad 11 is a harder call, but at £329 I’d save the extra and grab the iPad 11. The storage upgrade on the Air 5 bumps the price to £499.
The Air 5’s chip is far superior to the iPad 11’s (A16) in terms of multicore and metal scores, but the iPad 11 is marginally better on single core - and has the landscape camera. The M1 Air has 2GB extra RAM, Pencil 2 that charges magnetically, laminated display and a physical sim slot if opting for the cellular version though - it depends what you prioritise.
The Air 5 was an easy buy against the iPad 10 and I did exactly that as a gift at the end of last year (same storage, double the RAM, Pro chip.) The iPad 10 was using the A14, while the recipient already had an SE3 with the A15. Air 5 vs iPad 11 is a harder call, but at £329 I’d save the extra and grab the iPad 11. The storage upgrade on the Air 5 bumps the price to £499.
I’ve had to offload/uninstall Netflix, Disney+, Prime, Hulu, etc. on my previous 64GB mini 6 in order to install iOS updates.
The cache on those apps can get big and the apps themselves are hundreds of MB.
The only time my system data is that low is after initial setup of iPad as new.
mini 7
iPadOS: 19.19 GB (AI 7.82 + iPadOS 11.37)
System Data: 11.73 GB
M1 11” iPP
iPadOS: 17.01 GB (AI 5.79 + iPadOS 11.22)
System Data: 10.38 GB
M1 11” Air (18.4 RC)
iPadOS: 19.74 GB (AI 7.35 + iPadOS 12.39)
System Data: 14.92 GB
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It's been like that for a few weeks now; I keep waiting for it to jump back to "normal". I have not done a new setup on it since getting it last year.
I have an M4 iPad Pro and an M4 Mac mini, and have turned off Apple Intelligence on both of them.
My next iPad purchase - for the kids - will be the base iPad A16. I thought about a refurb iPad Air M1 for about the same price, but that base iPad Air only has 64 GB storage. It is also several years older, meaning it will not be supported as long for iPadOS updates going forward.
My next iPad purchase - for the kids - will be the base iPad A16. I thought about a refurb iPad Air M1 for about the same price, but that base iPad Air only has 64 GB storage. It is also several years older, meaning it will not be supported as long for iPadOS updates going forward.
Isn't OS support based upon whether the hardware can sufficiently run it and consequently chip inside?
Unfortunately, no. It's based mostly on date of initial release.
For example, our 2019 iPad 7th generation with A10 and 3 GB RAM is supported by the current iPadOS 18, but in contrast, our 2017 iPad Pro 10.5" with A10X and 4 GB RAM is not supported by iPadOS 18.
iPad 7th gen: iPadOS 13 - iPadOS 18
iPad Pro 10.5: iOS 10 - iPadOS 17
I use my current iPad Pro a lot (my main presentation device), but computationally speaking I could easily go with a base model. main reason I will stick with the pro is Face ID - so used to it on this and my iPhone that I don't think I could go back to the finger ID.
Unfortunately not. Apple has a target support lifecycle baked into their product lines.
Pro gets the longest support, Air a bit less and the regular iPad gets the shortest.
2018 iPad Pro (A12X) - iOS 12
2019 iPad Air 3rd gen (A12) - iOS 12
2019 iPad 7th gen (A10) - iOS 13
2021 iPad 9th gen (A13) - iOS 15
2020 iPad Air 4th gen (A14) - iOS 14
2022 iPad 10th gen (A14) - iOS 16
2021 iPad Pro (M1) - iOS 14
2022 iPad Air 5th gen (M1) - iOS 15
Thank you for this. Many have questioned the reasoning as to me mentioning Apple Intelligence, but I think it’s more just that if I buy the base iPad, I feel like I’m buying an already old product. I’m not one to replace every few years, so longevity and support is key for me
If Apple are not including Apple intelligent on the base iPad, does this not mean that in a few years it will struggle with apps and running smoothly?
No, not at all. It just means it won’t support Apple Intelligence.