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Macalway

macrumors 68040
Aug 7, 2013
3,829
2,336
It makes sense if you just want a new Mini, but if find the Air to be much faster than my 4

I don't exactly understand all these comments.

To each their own
 

AppleRobert

macrumors 603
Nov 12, 2012
5,726
1,132
If I owned a 4, I would give more serious consideration to whether or not I would be keeping the Air. But I own a Mini which absolutely is blow away be this new toy!
 

Medic311

macrumors 68000
Jul 30, 2011
1,659
58
everyone has their own justifications for upgrading or not, we can't criticize those who do and those who don't. we can question their reasoning but after all, it's their reasoning and everyone has certain priorities. some may need the thin and light design and are willing to pay $$$ for it, others the price is more important and they can live with the older design.

just as others may need the Retina screen in the iPad Mini and are willing to pay extra $$$ for it. others would rather keep the extra $100 and get the 1st gen Mini, and use that money for accessories, or to pay bills, etc.

i'm sporting an iPad 3, 64GB LTE model that i bought as a refurb after the 1st round of price drops post-iPad 4 release. previous to that, i had an iPad 2. i think whatever iPad you have, it's an amazing device that brings computing to a whole new level not just in capability but mobility and convenience. i basically have a full computer with me in my briefcase, not noticing the weight, and only having to charge it once a week. for anything else, i have a personal laptop and a work laptop
 

DisplacedMic

macrumors 65816
May 1, 2009
1,411
1
Double the CPU - no actual user experience improvement - I don't do any serious number crunching, iMovie, iPhoto or anything like that. Only Safari loading is faster but not dramatically.

Double GPU - I think there's only a 40% improvement in GPU actually. And there is 0 user experience improvement here. Games won't really take advantage of it forever and iOS 7 is still laggy.

Weight and size are not a huge reduction with a case on it. It still weighs enough and it's still too big. The bezels should be more in line with the Mini.

his point is that none of these are a downgrade.
 

Lindsford

macrumors 6502a
Mar 14, 2012
531
18
I love when people expect massive updates every time a product is refreshed. The 5th gen to me is everything you could ask for and more with the exception of touchID and 2gb ram. Which I have a feeling will be in the next refresh. It's Apple they will always leave something out in favor of next years model.

Get over yourself.
 

jcepiano

macrumors newbie
Dec 24, 2012
9
5
I just bought an iPad air on Friday as an upgrade from the iPad 4. At first I thought I'd just give it a try but was very doubtful that it would warrant the purchase. After using it for a couple of days, I hate to say it, but I can't imagine going back to the 4 as my regular tablet. The air is faster, lighter, and smaller which makes it a really good upgrade regardless.
 

kdoug

macrumors 65816
Jun 2, 2010
1,025
195
Iowa City, IA USA
RAM and cost is the only real one. I'm finding my apps are getting kicked out of memory much more often and tabs are reloading much more often.

Kind of makes me want to get a Surface Pro and have everything loaded in memory and never need to constrained by 1GB of memory.

I could keep my iPad 4 and get a Surface Pro w/ 64gb and 4GB of Ram for $800 (10% off student discount), or a decked out 256gb/8GB RAM one for $1179.

Almost as much as the iPad Air cost (64gb + smart case). The Surface doesn't even need a Smart Case cause it's got a kickstand built in.

I'm kind of in the same boat. I returned my iPad Air in favor of keeping my 4 or replacing it a Surface 2 or the Galaxy Note 2014. I think it's an absolute crock that apple would limit the amount of RAM to 1GB.
 

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,019
7,862
If I owned a 4, I would give more serious consideration to whether or not I would be keeping the Air. But I own a Mini which absolutely is blow away be this new toy!

I have the mini and fully intend to wait for the Retina mini, but I was at an Apple Store today and was very tempted by the Air. It is a LOT lighter than I remember the 3rd and 4th iPads.

----------

I'm kind of in the same boat. I returned my iPad Air in favor of keeping my 4 or replacing it a Surface 2 or the Galaxy Note 2014. I think it's an absolute crock that apple would limit the amount of RAM to 1GB.

Since you knew the RAM was 1GB before you bought it, may I ask why you purchased it in the first place?

My guess is that Apple has limited it to 1GB for a few reasons. First, they need a reason to sell a new iPad next year. Second, they still are selling iPads and iPhones with 512MB RAM and 32-bit processors. While they want to make the jump to the new 64-bit architecture quickly, they probably don't want the software developers to ignore the existing devices and write software that is unusable on the iPad 2, existing iPad mini, and iPhone 5c.
 

DarwinOSX

macrumors 68000
Nov 3, 2009
1,636
183
So much thinner and lighter, much faster, better wifi..that's not enough? Be serious. Be for real.
Also this is not Windows and the iPad does not need 2 GB of ram. read up on the difference between mobile and desktop os' and how Apple integrates iOS with hardware. Finally you can use a memory profiler to see as a fact that it doesn't need it.

Short answer of it is that the only benefit I'm seeing from the iPad Air is faster browser load times and WiFi speeds. It's lighter, but doesn't change anything. It's still heavy to not change my usage pattern.

Drawbacks are there - memory management really. Yes, if they upped to 2GB of RAM, I wouldn't feel like I was spending $800 on a step back.

So, I'll be getting a Retina Mini instead, at least then I get the real benefits of portability instead of feeling like I got a downgrade in some ways as well.
 

shadow puppet

macrumors 6502a
Dec 2, 2012
607
2,436
4th padded cell on the right
Couldn't have said it better:

Its called Buyers Remorse.


Or this:

If I had a iPad 4 I wouldn't get an iPad Air. I don't see the point in getting a new iPad every year also, but also I don't like seeing iPad 4 owners trying to justify not getting the Air. If you're happy with an iPad 4, awesome! It's still supported and it works great.
 

puma1552

Suspended
Nov 20, 2008
5,559
1,947
I think you'll see much the same as what happened with the iPad 3 --> iPad 4.

Everyone initially thought the 3 was amazing, got irritated that the 4 came out so soon after, wrote the four off as nothing more than a lightning connector, then found that the iPad 3 was CPU limited and that the iPad 4 was what the iPad 3 should've been.

I think we will see something similar with the iPad Air --> iPad 6; the Air is definitely the best tablet to date, just as the 3 was at the time, but over the next year with 64 bit optimization for apps you will see that the RAM will be the limiting factor for the Air, just like the CPU was the limiting factor for the 3. Next year you will see the "toc" cycle, with the same form factor but two gigs of RAM and probably touch ID (I couldn't care less for the latter). Like the 4, the "toc" iPad 6 will be better (as it should be).

In Apple's tic/toc cycles, the toc is always the better machine, as it should be; unfortunately you can never have the cool svelte redesign in the toc cycle; you either have to pick the cool new form factor, or the better hardware in the "old" form factor.

All the above said, I am a 4 owner and was every bit ready to upgrade to the Air, but after spending time in the store and seeing all but one having bad screens and all the threads here about bad screens, I decided to wait. The toc cycle is a good place to be anyway.
 

Joe-M

macrumors member
Dec 15, 2011
32
0
I just bought an iPad air on Friday as an upgrade from the iPad 4. At first I thought I'd just give it a try but was very doubtful that it would warrant the purchase. After using it for a couple of days, I hate to say it, but I can't imagine going back to the 4 as my regular tablet. The air is faster, lighter, and smaller which makes it a really good upgrade regardless.

I did exactly the same and am not looking back. In fact, I already sold my 4.

Plus, the Air is way cooler. :)
 

zhenya

macrumors 604
Jan 6, 2005
6,929
3,677
RAM and cost is the only real one. I'm finding my apps are getting kicked out of memory much more often and tabs are reloading much more often.

Kind of makes me want to get a Surface Pro and have everything loaded in memory and never need to constrained by 1GB of memory.

I could keep my iPad 4 and get a Surface Pro w/ 64gb and 4GB of Ram for $800 (10% off student discount), or a decked out 256gb/8GB RAM one for $1179.

Almost as much as the iPad Air cost (64gb + smart case). The Surface doesn't even need a Smart Case cause it's got a kickstand built in.

I have a Surface Pro for work, an ipad 4 and ipad Air at home. I really struggle to find a good use for the Surface. It's just not a good laptop replacement (I have perfect vision, and I struggle with the screen in desktop mode). It's an even worse tablet replacement. It's incredibly heavy. 16:9 is just an awkward resolution for a tablet. Battery life is mediocre, and while it resumes from sleep very fast for a Windows device, it's still dog slow by ipad standards.

All that extra horsepower doesn't come into use for the tablet, and despite it, most of the touch apps are buggy and missing features. There is no good browser for touch world. IE can't sync settings from anywhere else, so it's the only device I have where the web browser doesn't keep my settings and bookmarks. Scrolling is nowhere near as smooth as on my ipad, nor is app switching. The only good app I've found so far is One Note, and it's only by the grace of God I haven't lost that stylus yet.

Personally, a great laptop plus an ipad is a far better option. That's why I've ordered a Thinkpad T440s as a replacement.
 

Rockies

macrumors 6502
Oct 4, 2011
310
32
Just returned mine. Could have kept it for 90 days with return policy, but did not want to take the chance it getting it scratched and being unable to return it. Someone posted that target has it for $449 plus $40 gift card. Additionally, another 5% off with Target's redcard so total would be $387 (net price with gift card and 5%). Not thats a good deal!
 

saintforlife

macrumors 65816
Feb 25, 2011
1,045
329
So, I'll be getting a Retina Mini instead, at least then I get the real benefits of portability instead of feeling like I got a downgrade in some ways as well.
If you think the iPad Air is a downgrade from the iPad 4 in any way, you are delusional. You are just trying to make yourself feel better about your own decision. My iPad Air blows your iPad 4 out of the water in every spec category that matters. Period. You want to stick to the iPad 4, that is your decision. That doesn't make the iPad Air a 'downgrade' in any frickin' way whatsoever.

Double the CPU - no actual user experience improvement - I don't do any serious number crunching, iMovie, iPhoto or anything like that. Only Safari loading is faster but not dramatically.

Double GPU - I think there's only a 40% improvement in GPU actually. And there is 0 user experience improvement here. Games won't really take advantage of it forever and iOS 7 is still laggy.

Weight and size are not a huge reduction with a case on it. It still weighs enough and it's still too big. The bezels should be more in line with the Mini.
Tell me how in the world this is a downgrade? In the same use cases, how is the iPad 4 better than the iPad Air?
 

Steviejobz

macrumors 68020
Jun 19, 2010
2,122
363
SoCal
I have a Surface Pro for work, an ipad 4 and ipad Air at home. I really struggle to find a good use for the Surface. It's just not a good laptop replacement (I have perfect vision, and I struggle with the screen in desktop mode). It's an even worse tablet replacement. It's incredibly heavy. 16:9 is just an awkward resolution for a tablet. Battery life is mediocre, and while it resumes from sleep very fast for a Windows device, it's still dog slow by ipad standards.

All that extra horsepower doesn't come into use for the tablet, and despite it, most of the touch apps are buggy and missing features. There is no good browser for touch world. IE can't sync settings from anywhere else, so it's the only device I have where the web browser doesn't keep my settings and bookmarks. Scrolling is nowhere near as smooth as on my ipad, nor is app switching. The only good app I've found so far is One Note, and it's only by the grace of God I haven't lost that stylus yet.

Personally, a great laptop plus an ipad is a far better option. That's why I've ordered a Thinkpad T440s as a replacement.

I have a surface pro for work too and I like carrying it when traveling vs a laptop. I really wish MS Office could work on an iPad. Would make me really be able to use that for work as well.
 

zhenya

macrumors 604
Jan 6, 2005
6,929
3,677
I have a surface pro for work too and I like carrying it when traveling vs a laptop. I really wish MS Office could work on an iPad. Would make me really be able to use that for work as well.

I'll probably never be able to give up my laptop for work; we just run to many proprietary programs and need the connectivity. That's fine. When I'm not working, I want a great device. It's not important that they be the same device. The ipad already means I don't carry a pile of books, a bunch of magazines, or a gaming device. It's earned its way into my bag. With the surface, I'd still be bringing those books and magazines, so where is the savings?

I imagine we will see office in the not too distant future, and that will make the ipad all the more compelling.
 
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