M1 iPad Air vs. M2 iPad Pro Buyer's Guide

[mikebenton]

I wonder when we will see M1 refurb iPad on the online Apple Store. That’s is what I’m waiting for.

Last week I bought a refurb iPad Pro 12.9 256 GB Cellular for $850 off of Amazon. It is a bit of a gamble, but honestly....I don't see any issue with it. The screen is perfect and there's no dents or scratches. It appears just like a new device. No issues with battery life as well.

 

[Mr. Dee]

I wonder when we will see M1 refurb iPad on the online Apple Store. That’s is what I’m waiting for.

You probably would have better luck Black Friday through third party retailers such as Amazon where you might be able to get even cheaper than Apple.

 

[mikebenton]

Last week I bought a refurb iPad Pro M1 12.9 256 GB Cellular for $850 off of Amazon. It is a bit of a gamble, but honestly....I don't see any issue with it. The screen is perfect and there's no dents or scratches. It appears just like a new device. No issues with battery life as well.

 

[locovaca]

8GB of ram in an iPad is now just considered just adequate? Man, how have times changed. 4GB in my IPP Gen 3 is more than adequate.

 

[HorstBockman]

Do 48 MP raw photos from an iPhone 14 Pro open significantly faster on the M2 than the M1?

 

[KeepCalmPeople]

"8GB in the iPad Air will be adequate for casual users"

Comments like this are why so many of us on MacRumors end up spending extra on overspecced and underutilized hardware.

I guess the 10th Gen iPad is not targeted at the casual user in that case?

 

[throAU]

The quad speakers on the Pro are really amazing. I regularly forget how good they sound until I pick up my iPad and watch some sports or listen to music. They fill my kitchen while cooking...or cleaning up afterward! They're easily on par with our M1 MBA, probably a little better. Granted I don't have an Air to compare them to, and it might not be a huge diff (I don't know what "landscape mode" means), but it's certainly something to consider if this is a media consumption device for you.

I have both an m1 air and a 10.5 pro (which it has replaced) and have to say that they are much closer than I expected.

The current air surprised me speaker wise.

 

[svish]

Both are great iPads. Go for the Pro only if one needs FaceID or ProMotion. Or if one needs more than 64GB storage.

 

[rubaxter]

Quite frankly, neither is a laptop replacement, so unless someone is a member of the ACTUAL Creative niche buyerrs, a new iPad MINI besides the Air would probably deliver as much value for a lot more people than this article considers.

Outside the certifiable Creatives, the rest are prestige and conspicuous consumption buys for non-professionals, Look'it Me hardware in search of an actual need.

I'll save my $$$$ for an iPhone upgrade, where the additional power is actually IMMEDIATELY meaningful even for a slightly above average user.

 

[Mlambert890b]

Quite frankly, neither is a laptop replacement, so unless someone is a member of the ACTUAL Creative niche buyerrs, a new iPad MINI besides the Air would probably deliver as much value for a lot more people than this article considers.

Outside the certifiable Creatives, the rest are prestige and conspicuous consumption buys for non-professionals, Look'it Me hardware in search of an actual need.

I'll save my $$$$ for an iPhone upgrade, where the additional power is actually IMMEDIATELY meaningful even for a slightly above average user.

I'm not a "certifiable creative" and I completely replaced my laptop with my iPad Pro. Did so years ago in fact.

The M2 Pro is a solid, if incremental, refresh. I really can't imagine most M1 Pro owners wanting to upgrade (and the "hover" feature that the Mac media/marketing sites are pushing is a real stretch as a reason), but the iPad Pro overall as a platform is great.

 

[ggibson913]

I chose the M2 11 inch iPad Pro over the Air as the 64GB option for the Air doesn’t work for me so the price difference being $150 is a bit easier to take. I gave my A12z iPad Pro to my partner and now we can share accessories.

 

[_Spinn_]

If you want the 11" iPad Pro buy the M1 iPad Air and save the $$$

That’s exactly what it did!

 

[Trouble1]

I thought about this for a while now. I currently have the 2017 iPad Pro 10.5". I'm buying the M2 iPad Pro. The $200 price difference (for my location and I don't have access to the refurb store) is no big deal to me for what I'm getting. The justification/reasoning that I had to apply is I save over $800/mo just in rent living in Asia and I plan to only keep it for a year and give it to my ex-gf.

 

[InVinoVeritasty]

Shouldn't the current iPad pro go on sale next week if the new model is coming out?