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iPad Refurbished IPad Pro or 5th Gen Air?

SigmundJake229

SigmundJake229

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 2, 2013
34
6
Iowa
Greetings! I am shopping for two IPads to replace our 2 2017 iPad Pro’s. My wife uses hers mostly for streaming content and her recipes. She has a 64gb and still has 32gb left. I was thinking a 5th gen iPad Air for her. Me on the other hand use mine for writing, reading books, using Bluetooth to stream Apple Music, and editing photos. I was going to get myself a 256gb 5th gen Air, but when hitting the Apple refurbished store, they have a

Refurbished 11-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi 256GB - Space Gray (3rd Generation)​

$719.00

For 70.00 more than the Air, I can get this iPad. Am I missing something or is the Pro, which also had the M1 chip a better buy? Thank you in advance for any suggestions you may have!
 
SigmundJake229 said:
Greetings! I am shopping for two IPads to replace our 2 2017 iPad Pro’s. My wife uses hers mostly for streaming content and her recipes. She has a 64gb and still has 32gb left. I was thinking a 5th gen iPad Air for her. Me on the other hand use mine for writing, reading books, using Bluetooth to stream Apple Music, and editing photos. I was going to get myself a 256gb 5th gen Air, but when hitting the Apple refurbished store, they have a

Refurbished 11-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi 256GB - Space Gray (3rd Generation)​

$719.00

For 70.00 more than the Air, I can get this iPad. Am I missing something or is the Pro, which also had the M1 chip a better buy? Thank you in advance for any suggestions you may have!
Click to expand...
If you use you current pro's with speakers then definitely get the pro, otherwise you are downgrading quite a bit. If you only or mostly your airpods it's not a big deal, unless you care about promotion.
 
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SigmundJake229 said:
For 70.00 more than the Air, I can get this iPad. Am I missing something
Click to expand...
Maybe are comparing the refurb pricing to the Apple recommended retail pricing of the Air? Best Buy and other retailers have had decent sales for the Air base model at least, coming in at under $400. Or maybe you are comparing the 256GB Air to a 128GB Pro? If 128GB suffice, the Pro will be slightly better with the advantages you listed.
 
Thank you everyone. The Pro is 719.00 and the 5th gen Air is 649. Both with 256 the pro is refurbished by Apple and the Air is factory new. The upgrade to the camera on the pro version could be worth it alone. Never thought of the speakers. Thank you
 
Apple knows how to upsell. The cheapest device can do it all but has some limitations you're not sure about, the next step up is considerably more expensive but then you only need to buy that device once so why not spend a bit extra for peace of mind. Once you are willing to pay that sum, for a relatively small amount more there is an all around better device. (And for some people, once they've decided to spend that money, they end up adding "just" a few hundred bucks and get the most expensive model.)

I'd choose between the 64GB Mini and a 128GB Pro refurb. There is also the refurbished 4th gen iPad Air, but for your usage the 256GB would go to waste and of course the only other option comes with 64GB. Again, Apple does that to make the 128GB Pro look better so you spend more.
 
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The mini is too small for my old eyes. I have a iPhone 12 Pro Max that I thought could replace my iPad with. But too small for what I am doing.
 
Still haven’t made my purchases. Wondering what the Amazon summer sales will bring on the M2 iPad Pro. Or better yet, when the M2 iPad Pro will be available refurbished from Apple. The refurbished product from Amazon only had a 3 month warranty and “at least 80% battery”. Won’t be buying refurbished from Amazon.
 
SigmundJake229 said:
Still haven’t made my purchases. Wondering what the Amazon summer sales will bring on the M2 iPad Pro. Or better yet, when the M2 iPad Pro will be available refurbished from Apple. The refurbished product from Amazon only had a 3 month warranty and “at least 80% battery”. Won’t be buying refurbished from Amazon.
Click to expand...

Apple certified refurb M2 iPP probably won’t be available until the next iPP is released.

However, Amazon, Best Buy, BH Photo, Costco, etc. usually have pretty good deals for the 128-256GB models fairly regularly. Occasionally higher capacity wifi, too.

For 512GB+ with cellular, they tend to get deeply discounted when nearing announcement or after release of new models.
 
A few months ago I got a new iPad Pro 256GB 3rd gen from Expercom for $680 before taxes. It was the best price I’d seen for that model and storage anywhere.

The 10th gen iPad and iPad Air were two similarly-priced to the iPad Pro, so my comparison quickly became cheap 9th gen iPad or iPad Pro. I know they aren’t comparable really, and decided I wanted something with Thunderbolt so I could plug it into my dock and have display + hard drives.

Love Face ID, and when used on a desk like a laptop, it still works great. Hope Face ID makes it to Macs before I’m due for my next one.
 
I just picked up a 4th Gen M2 11" iPad Pro from our base PX for $599.00 OTD (no tax) and while I love the screen and speed of everything on the Pro I find myself still picking up my 5th Gen iPad mini before the 11" Pro...
I would like to replace the 5th Gen Mini but the 6th Gen mini is still relatively expensive at $399.00 on Amazon...hopefully they update the mini to the M series chips soon!
 
I MAY wait to see what Prime Day brings. I think my bride may want a iPad 9th gen, cause she uses the headphone jack, but I’m still trying to get that out of her. She is unsure if she can get a day out of Bluetooth earbuds.
 
So after Prime Day, I ordered my bride an Ipad Air (current version) and myself a refurbished Ipad Pro M1. Should be interesting to compare the two side by side. We use them for different things. She uses headphones for content streaming and I use mine for writing, content creation and photo editing. I got her Air for 30.00 more than a refurbished previous generation Air. My Pro was 719.00. I am excited as my 2017 pro is getting tired.
 
Last edited:
SigmundJake229 said:
So after Prime Day, I ordered my bride an Ipad Air (current version) and myself a refurbished Ipad Pro M1. Should be interesting to compare the two side by side. We use them for different things. She uses headphones for content streaming and I use mine for writing, content creation and photo editing. I got her Air for 30.00 more than a refurbished previous generation Air. My Pro was 719.00. I am excited as my 2017 pro is getting tired.
Click to expand...

Not to interrupt your thread, but, funny: I just did the exact same upgrade this week. From a 2017 10.5" Pro to a 2021 M1 11" Pro from the Apple refurb store. I was also debating getting an Air 5, and very nearly did with all the Prime Day sales, but... decided it would be hard to give up ProMotion.

I've had it for a couple days now. The differences in speed aren't dramatic, but overall the 11" Pro is just such a nice piece of hardware and all the little improvements do add up. I personally don't regret spending slightly more for the refurb Pro versus a new Air.
 
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I began using my new iPad Pro and what a nice piece of hardware. There are some significant advantages over my old iPad. Mostly right now I notice battery life is better, connectivity is better, and I’m excited to use my Apple Pencil. I sold my old iPad to a company for 150.00 which helped bring down the price of the new iPad as well. Screen is noticeably brighter and clearer. No regrets for this purchase.

My bride says she likes her new Air, although she would have liked it better with a headphone jack. She needs to find wireless earbuds that she likes in order to fully embrace and enjoy her iPad.
 
SigmundJake229 said:
I began using my new iPad Pro and what a nice piece of hardware. There are some significant advantages over my old iPad. Mostly right now I notice battery life is better, connectivity is better, and I’m excited to use my Apple Pencil. I sold my old iPad to a company for 150.00 which helped bring down the price of the new iPad as well. Screen is noticeably brighter and clearer. No regrets for this purchase.

My bride says she likes her new Air, although she would have liked it better with a headphone jack. She needs to find wireless earbuds that she likes in order to fully embrace and enjoy her iPad.
Click to expand...
I too had a 2017 iPad Pro that was working great for me. I didn’t use it for 3 years because I thought the charging port was broke and Apple quoted me a price of $339 to diagnose it. After removing the piece that was blocking me from charging, I used it for a few months before upgrading to the 12.9 2nd generation Pro, I couldn’t be happier. The bigger screen, better speakers and other things were an added bonus, and I got it brand new from Amazon for $50 cheaper than the Apple Store.
 
I am on looking to upgrade my old 10.5 iPad Pro as well. I am on the same page about the M1 Air vs the Ref M1 Pro. I will be using mine for taking note ( Notability) and external screen for my mbp. It is such a dilemma, and the new iPad Pro M3 is coming on October too. I can wait a bit but my 10.5" battery is quite bad, and it is very hot.
 
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