iPad Air Same CA$499 price: iPad Air M1 (2022) 64 GB Apple refurb vs iPad (A16) 128 GB new

[EugW]

Currently the iPad Air M1 (2022) in Canada on the Apple refurb store is CA$499, which is the same price as the iPad 11th generation A16 (2025).

I'm actually considering sticking with the iPad 11th generation, mainly because it will have much longer OS updates, but also because of the larger storage. SoC performance is not an issue. This is to replace my kid's iPad Air 2.

 

[russell_314]

If I had to pick between those two for my use, I would pick the iPad Air. This is because of the better laminated display. This is something that might not matter or might not even be noticeable for someone else so that’s very subjective. Perhaps look at a regular iPad versus an iPad Air (any of them) and see if you can tell the difference. If the screen on the regular iPad looks fine to you then go with the iPad because it will get updates for longer. This is especially important if you’ve had that iPad Air 2 for a very long.

 

[rui no onna]

That 64GB is going to be seriously annoying at this point in time.

Operating system + system data takes almost half of the available storage on 64GB. Every time I needed to update iOS, I had to offload a bunch of stuff.

 

[EugW]

If I had to pick between those two for my use, I would pick the iPad Air. This is because of the better laminated display. This is something that might not matter or might not even be noticeable for someone else so that’s very subjective. Perhaps look at a regular iPad versus an iPad Air (any of them) and see if you can tell the difference. If the screen on the regular iPad looks fine to you then go with the iPad because it will get updates for longer. This is especially important if you’ve had that iPad Air 2 for a very long.

I personally have an iPad Pro M4. I upgraded one kid to my old iPad Pro 10.5" which is fine for now but the other kid is still stuck on an iPad Air 2. They seem to be OK with my wife's iPad 7 so the lack of a laminated screen is probably not an issue.

That 64GB is going to be seriously annoying at this point in time.

Operating system + system data takes almost half of the available storage on 64GB. Every time I needed to update iOS, I had to offload a bunch of stuff.

Right now the storage hasn't been an issue, but as they get older, it may become an issue, especially since we keep these a long while.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the 128 GB iPad 11.

P.S. It looks like resale values on the iPad Air M1 are going to tank. 🙃

 

[russell_314]

I personally have an iPad Pro M4. I upgraded one kid to an iPad Pro 10.5 which is fine for now but the other is still stuck on an iPad Air 2. They seem to be OK with my wife's iPad 7 so the lack of a laminated screen is probably not an issue.

Yeah, it sounds like the regular iPad is the way to go. I don’t think most kids care about display quality and to be honest many people don’t. It’s not like the regular iPad has a bad display because it’s actually pretty good.

Right now the storage hasn't been an issue (including for OS updates), but as she gets older, it may become an issue, especially since we keep these a long while.

I have the 64 GB iPad Air and I have zero issues with storage, but with the exception of a few games and I mean a few it’s a media consumption device. It’s for when I don’t want to watch YouTube on my iPhone. I can grab it. It’s also great for watching movies. I suspect kids would want to play games more so this kid really kill the storage. Also, I suspect iPadOS is going to get larger in the future so 128 GB is probably the new minimum.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the 128 GB iPad 11.

It sounds like you have it figured out. That’s probably the way I would go. You can’t go wrong with the regular iPad and I’ve seen people absolutely love theirs. I know some kids especially teenagers can be a little bit snobbish when it comes to gifts so hopefully your kids aren’t like ewww it’s not a Pro 😂

 

[cookiemonster89]

I am in the same boat right now because I want to upgrade the iPad 6 Gen from my daughter. She currently has 128GB which are almost 50% full. So 64GB would be a major downgrade. Also you need to think of the 7 GB für Apple Intelligence, which will reduce the free storage even further. The only thing which would be nice would be the laminated display. On the other hand the 11 Gen iPad has the newer FaceTime camera on the long side. I could also pick the 256GB Air M1 but this would be over 200€ more compared to the 128GB 11 Gen iPad.

When would you expect the M2 Air to hit the refurb store?

 

[sers]

In exactly the same situation here. My wife has an iPad 6th gen 32 gb that I'm looking to upgrade. Checking the refurb store in Canada and a refurbished iPad Air M1 is the same price as the iPad 11th gen with the A16. Not really sure which is the better value here. The M1 and laminated display would be nice, but the 128gb base storage on the iPad 11th gen is appealing, too.

 

[deaglecat]

A16 ipad is good (have one). If you value display over storage then M1... otherwise A16 maybe.