Going by the mini 6, RAM and feature set are likely going to be near identical between Air 4 and 5. As far as I can tell, Apple goes by overall performance. Sometimes that's dictated by SoC, sometimes RAM.
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New iPad Air Rumored to Launch This Spring With A15 Chip, 5G, Center Stage Camera, and More
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Going by the mini 6, RAM and feature set are likely going to be near identical between Air 4 and 5. As far as I can tell, Apple goes by overall performance. Sometimes that's dictated by SoC, sometimes RAM.
Even if it's cheaper, the $100 price difference is on par with the traditional difference between Air and mini, and they've always started at the same base storage.
Honestly, all the iPads are really good right now, especially with discounts. Just pick whichever you like best.
Personally, I'm still inclined to go for the Pro. Nowadays, frequent upgrades have diminishing returns. Based on recent history, I'm betting whichever Air is released 1-2 years from now would still lag the 2021 iPad Pro in some respects.
Thanks. My use case seems so basic since I most always have a MBP Pro 14 with me.
I'm pretty certain I'll be retiring my iPad Air 2 this year. I think it'll either be this or the 11" Pro
I don’t really see the appeal of the Pro over the Air, other than screen size. And the price difference doesn’t justify the purchase. It’s too expensive for what it does.
Once you see jelly scrolling, you can’t really unsee it…glad I have the iPad 9 instead.
One benefit: The added RAM means that Safari is less likely to have to reload the page when you switch tabs.
It is true the the current Air and Pro are not that far apart in the ways that matter to an “average user”. I doubt many of those users will buy an iPad Pro, though once you upgrade the Air to similar storage levels, the price differences are much smaller. The main appeal for Pro users is probably the better screen, increased performance, and smaller touches like Face ID over Touch ID.
My kids are still using our hand-me-down iPad Air 2s, since we upgraded a few years ago, as they had already started to lag by then. I'm on the iPad Pro 10.5 (refurb) and my wife is on the iPad 7, both purchased in 2019. The Smart Keyboard support was quite welcome too.
However, I'm thinking in a year or so, I'll be upgrading them from those iPad Air 2s too. Perhaps a future 10th gen iPad for each of them. Hopefully it will be compatible with our Smart Keyboards like the 9th gen iPad. If not, maybe I'll get them refurb 9th gens.
I completely agree, but this time around there is no Steve Jobs around to tell what to do next.
But lets say all iPads had similar performing chips and storage options, then what actually makes the iPad Pro, pro?
Not if that increases the price significantly. The LCDs on iPads are very good and not all customers are concerned about the screen technology but many are price sensitive. The price is the biggest differentiator between the Air and the Pro as far as customers are concerned.
It's not just price. One of the reasons I prefer iPads is because thus far they don't use migraine-inducing OLED screens.
I'm on the iPhone SE 2020 for the LCD screen and small size.
Lot of users in this forum are strictly spec chasers and still think OLED is “da bomb”. Me? I’m just some poor plebe still using an iPhone XR, with its “lowly” non 1080p LCD.
This should be a question for apple marketing department, not a question we should answer. If they cannot figure out, no one else can.
No they do. What they don’t have is Face ID.
Doesn’t it have Touch ID on the power button? I’m pretty’s sure it doesn’t have Face ID
Kind of like apple watch as well. There’s no reason to wait a year on those, since its been so in incremental since the 4.
Unless they upgrade the RAM a14 to a15 is pretty worthless since they’re almost identical performance wise. Still got 10 days to return my air….
Nope.
Nope again.
Back in 2020 there was talk about the 1st AS Mac getting an "A14x" and that is what they got (rebranded as "M1").
Doubtful. All signs suggest that "M" will skip the cores found in the A15 and a M2 would therefore be on the same generation as A16 coming this fall.
Sure they could do upgrades to everything BUT the SoC or put in that base M1Pro (pretty pointless considering the thermal limits of an iPP).
Realistically iPP will see a M2 based refresh between October and late spring 2023.
Well the whole point of the Pro model is that it has more powerful chips than the other ipad models. So faster chip, more RAM, faster USB C transfer speeds equals more performance when doing intense, number crunching tasks like video editing, compiling code etc. Thats what ‘Pro‘ would mean to me, the ability to do processes faster to make your job easier, and improve ones Productivity.
In the scenario that you have described, then there would be no room for a ’Pro’ model, maybe a more premium model though with better speakers, faster refresh rate, stainless steel frame etc.