iPad Tell your iPad journey from wherever you started to today

[Coolpher]

I have always wanted to read peoples stories about how their iPad journey started up until the present day so I’m posting my story and I hope that you all will follow along I expect these replies to be long just like mine so don’t worry and I hope you enjoy reading everybody else’s story. Also I know I will.

Jumping back to January 2010 my parents got the iPad for real estate and I was able to use it a little bit here and there just to experience it and then the following year I was able to purchase the second generation on my own and I had it for a short time and then I upgraded to the third generation and I love that device and tell the next year when they upgraded to the fourth generation, which was literally just a port swap when they went from the 30 pin connector to the lightning connector the following year I jumped into the mini line had the first generation mini for a few weeks before I returned it because they had released the second GEN which had the higher resolution screen, and then in the second generation air now I purchased this, even though Apple had announced this new line of iPads coming out the next year called the iPad Pro and I had a MacBook Pro that I was using as my main device and early 2015 I had sold my iPad Air at the time I got the Macbookpro then at a special Apple event in September 2015. Apple announced the iPad Pro and I knew it was going to be my next computer so November I picked it up and sometime mid December I ended up selling my Macbookpro and by early 20 2016 I never looked back at the Macbookpro line I knew my future was iPad Pro moving forward

So up until launch day of the M4 IPP I had the 2021 12.9 iPad Pro 256gb and I used it every day from when I got it when it launched back May 21, 2021 I have used it everyday when I wake up till I go to sleep up until May 16th 2024 I day after the M4 iPad Pro launched be for the M1 I had the OG 12.9 IPP the 2nd then when it came to the 2018 Redesigned IPP it was harder to get the 12.9 through T-Mobile so I tried the 11” model until the Launch of the 2020 A12Z 12.9 was released then I was able to experience the redesign in bigger formate I think the best part about the 11 inch 2018 was I got to experience that portability but because I always had the bigger iPhone, I never really brought the IPP out of the house unless I was traveling just know that going back to the first IPP in 2015 a few months after getting it, I decided to sell my final MacBook Pro because my use case was completely capable to be done on the IPP 12.9 anyway going back to 2020 IPP I loved it and they released the Magic Keyboard Case moving away from the folio keyboard case with the redesigned IPP can I have used that same keyboard for the last 3 years and 2 months give or take I decided when they released the sixth generation 2022 iPad Pro the minor upgrades we’re not worth the cost, knowing that the rumor was flying that the next released iPad Pro would have OLED screen and a possible redesign with a new keyboard it did suck that there were 18 months that passed or Apple did not release a 2023 IPP I do not regret those 18 months sticking with the 2021 IPP at all The 2024 model feels much lighter much thinner than amazing new screen. I think there’s a part of me that could’ve stick with the 2021 model but the early adopter and techy nerd in me said I had to upgrade there was another major reason which has never happened to me before in the past on any of my previous iPads going back to the OG iPad back in January 2010 after going to Apple back in January this year to a genius appointment they ran the deep diagnostic test and it came back with an error with the logic board, knowing that it could crap out at any moment, and I would lose my iPad I was able to limp through roughly 4 months and I’m so happy it made it. I don’t regret any of my iPad purchases and yes, I own a 2020 M1 Mac Mini which I have just in case and so I could experience what the M1 Mac mini would be like obviously my 13” IPP is much more powerful than it. I feel like the days of Star Trek where they carried around a pain of Glass that was the “tablet computer“ is finally coming, true with the iPad Pro M4 in 2024. 5 again sorry about the long message, but I hope you enjoy my story. to answer the two questions I had the 2021 M1 12.9 iPad Pro. And to answer the second question I did upgrade and I don’t regret it for a moment looking back at the first iPad and 2010 to where Apple has taken us to the M4 2024 IPP it is exciting to see, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds in tablet computing

 

[Abazigal]

My iPad journey started in 2012. I bought the iPad 3, which admittedly wasn't the best time to jump on the iPad bandwagon (it was thicker and heavier than the iPad 2, the iPad 4 would come out like 6 months later, and the A5x processor didn't age well). However, it was still leaps and bounds ahead of the touchscreen laptop I was issued for work (primary school teacher). Like on paper, the laptop ticked all the right boxes. It had a touchscreen, stylus support, and the screen could be folded back on itself. But it was thicker, heavier, had short battery life, windows was windows and there weren't many apps available.

I started researching how to get more out of my iPad, purchased a ton of apps (the Macstories was like my holy iPad bible), bought Apple TVs to place in the classroom for airplay mirroring. Invested in my own personal routers, paid for my own data plans (and a lot of busted data caps due to aggressive iCloud syncing), lots of trial and error on how to use my iPad both in and outside of the classroom. It was a lot of fun (and frustration), apps were cheaper and more plentiful then, a real blast.

I would subsequently get the iPad mini 2, then the 9.7" iPad Pro (for Apple Pencil support), then the 2018 11" iPad Pro. Along the way, the Apple TV received peer to peer airplay, data plans got cheaper and more generous, performance improved, iOS gave us split screen, PIP and drag-and-drop, widgets, and yay for usb-c and external drive support.

Looking back these past 12 years, my iPad journey is more or less complete. I have pretty much settled on the apps that I use on a daily basis, my 2018 iPad Pro has sufficient performance that I don't particularly feel compelled to upgrade (but I will likely will to the M4 iPad Pro), I have witnessed the loss of apps like Tweetbot and Apollo, and the iPad remains this perfect blend of portability, battery life and ease of use for me.

I have gone overseas with students with only my iPad that I use for blogging. I have recorded screencasts during the pandemic and edited videos for school events on it. It's great for giving presentations from (though admittedly less so for actually creating them). It's seen me through countless boring meetings and lectures (you look less conspicuous tapping away on a tablet than you do a smartphone while your principal is droning away), and slay the spire is nice to unwind with after a long day's work.

Like I said earlier, my journey is complete, and I don't really feel like I need anything more out of my iPad. That said, it's formed an indispensable part of my life, and I see myself continuing to use one for a good long time. I just won't be rushing to upgrade every time Apple announces a new iPad (and Apple likely knows this too).

I am at peace with what the iPad has become.

 

[Kiimora]

Mine started in 2012 as below:

iPad 3 : 2012

iPad Air 2 : 2014

iPad Pro 10.5 : 2017

iPad Pro 11: 2018

iPad Pro 12.9: 2020

iPad Pro M1 12.9: 2021

iPad Pro M4 13” 2024

Suffice to say I am team iPad for the foreseeable future! As a secondary device that is …which is why I use it as a tablet and a travel companion.

 

[nj-morris]

iPad 4th gen (32GB, WiFi): October 2014 - May 2015

iPad Air 2 (64GB, WiFi): June 2015 - May 2024

iPad Air (M2, 13-inch, 128GB, WiFi): May 2024 - present

 

[Snoggin]

2015 IPad Pro Gen 1.
To M4 2TB Nano

 

[Coolpher]

Thank you guys for sharing your story. I’d love to hear more of people see this and write their own stories in

 

[aurora_sect]

Got my first iPad in 2017, a 10.5" Pro. Just replaced it with 11" M2 Air, which probably feels like a downgrade from any M1 or later iPad, but feels like a definite upgrade over the 2017. It's just a casual/convenient use device for me, love it for that. Typing on my Mac right now with the iPad streaming a baseball game on the side.

 

[sparksd]

Air 2 -> 10.5 -> 2018 12.9 -> 2021 12.9 & Mini 6 -> 2024 13

Edit: I came over to the Air 2 from Android, where I was a power user doing custom ROM work (I still have half a dozen Android tablets laying around). A nephew had given my 95-year-old Mom an Air and I was playing with it, helping her out (she became a good user of it). I was intrigued by how simple and clean the tablet was, it seemed very well done. I bought the Air 2 and haven’t looked back, though I did give a Samsung Ultra 9 a shot before returning it. My wife still uses an Air 2 but after seeing my M1 12.9, I got her interested in updating as she loved the display. She’ll be getting my 12.9 and I’ll be picking up a 13 in two days.

 

[rui no onna]

10-11”
iPad 2 32GB (2011) -> iPad 2 64GB (2011) -> iPad 3 64GB WiFi & iPad 3 64GB LTE (2012) -> iPad 4 128GB LTE (2013) + iPad Air 16GB LTE (2013) -> iPad Pro 9.7 256GB LTE (2016) + iPad 5 128GB WiFi (2017) -> iPad Pro 10.5 512GB LTE (2018) + iPad Air 3 256GB LTE (2019) -> iPad Pro 11 3rd gen 1TB 5G (2021)

13”
iPad Pro 12.9 2nd gen 512GB LTE (2017) -> iPad Pro 12.9 5th gen 1TB 5G (2021)

8”
iPad mini 4 128GB WiFi (2016) -> iPad mini 6 256GB 5G (2021)


* The years are based on purchase dates, not release dates.

 

[chrono1081]

I started with the original iPad. At first I didn't want one but the presentation swayed me and I thought it would be great for travel so I bought it with the keyboard charging dock (anyone remember those?). I was smitten when it arrived and started adjusting a phone game I wrote to be playable on it.

Since then....I don't even know how many iPads I've had. I've had the minis (which I love but they're too small for me to use daily, great for plane rides though!), I had the first iPad Pro with the pencil. Most recently in order I had the Mini 6, the M2 Pro (11 inch) and now M4 Pro (13 inch). I love the size of the 11 inch, it's so perfect except for what I use an iPad for (mostly art apps now and as a second display) so I went back to the 13 inch size. I love my iPads.

 

[Coolpher]

Obviously, I love to read these journeys, but my favorite is when you go into depth rather than just showing the year model, but thank you for those who have shared so far keep sharing

 

[adrianlondon]

Bought an iPad mini at the end of 2012 so I could FaceTime my partner when travelling (as they had an iPhone and I didn't).

Still have it - currently nailed to a wall (well, ok, nail through the case and iPad clicked into the case) and used to display photos or run software to control my AVR. It's a struggle to get software which works on iOS 9 nowadays, so I'm stuck with whatever is currently on it.

Never bought another iPad, but do have an iPhone now!

 

[Oreon]

1st Gen, 2nd Gen, 3rd Gen, 4th Gen, Air, Air 2, iPad mini 1st gen, iPad Pro 3rd Gen 12.9, iPad Pro 4th Gen 11, iPad Pro M1 12.9, IPad Pro M1 11, IPad Mini 6th Gen, iPad Pro M2 11, IPad Pro 13 M4.

 

[tranceking26]

I started with an original iPad Air, second hand, got some good use out of it before buying a brand new iPad 7th gen.

Eventually I sold the 7th Gen to my brother, and ended up converting to Mac instead. But it was cool to at least have owned these devices!

 

[ZombiePete]

My first Apple device was the OG iPhone; before that I was actually kind of disdainful of Apple products (for no real reason; just typical young IT guy arrogance). Even though the iPhone was pretty magical, when the iPad was first announced I again was pretty dismissive of it as being ”just a big iPhone”.

Then I got the chance to put my hands on it and it was transformative. I don’t know how to explain the feeling of magic that came from “touching” websites on that screen, but I became obsessed with getting one. The 3G iPad came out a little while after the WIFI model so I ordered that one for launch and I used the hell out of that tablet.

I had the iPad 2, skipped the iPad 3 (thank goodness), and my wife surprised me with an iPad 4 one night for no reason which I won’t forget because it was so random but super awesome.

I also remember when the OG iPad Pro was released; I didn’t need it for art or anything, but I was obsessed with the giant beautiful screen and the Pencil. I bought the whole shebang and really enjoyed it. It was too big and heavy, though, and so eventually I replaced it with the 10.5 iPad Pro. I got the redesigned 11 Pro, and followed that up with the M1 11 which I held onto until last week.

Over the past year my organization has started to offer more BYOD options, so I’ve really embraced using my iPad for work. I love the portability and convenience of being able to do my work on my iPad; it works so well for me. I decided to try the 13” iPP this gen and see if it was better for my new use case, and so far I’ve really liked it a lot. The weight decreased and thinness has really made it so much more usable as a tablet, and I am feeling like it’s a great all-in-one experience. And the new keyboard is amazing; helps going from the 11 to 13 size too.

I love the iPad; have since the beginning. Seeing it evolve the way it has really has been neat, and I am happy to have it as my primary computer.

 

[ideal.dreams]

It’s funny, I remember mocking the iPad when Steve Jobs announced it all those years ago. I thought surely no one in their right mind would want a jumbo iPhone.

One of my high school teachers had one and that was my first time seeing one in person. Suddenly I understood the appeal. The idea of holding the internet in your hands on such a scale was so cool to see for the first time.

My first iPad ended up being the iPad 2. Then the iPad Air. Then the first generation 12.9” iPad Pro. I remember being SO excited for the Apple Pencil because I had the hardest time hand writing notes with the ”dumb” styli that were commonplace at the time. I think I made a post or two here around that time as the Pencils were low in stock and very difficult to get. I’ve stuck with the iPad Pro since, upgrading to the 3rd generation, then the 5th generation, to my current M4. It’s been awesome seeing how much they’ve evolved.

I used to use MBPs as my main desktop computers and with the iPad (plus Magic Keyboard and Pencil) I finally ended up switching to an actual desktop Mac (the Mac Studio) as my iPad is a great in-between for my iPhone and Mac. And if needed, I can remote into my Mac Studio from my iPad if I’m ever not able to access my Mac directly.

 

[Nismo73]

Something like, iPad 3, Air 2, 2018 12.9 Pro, iPad 9th gen…traded that for iPad 10th, mini 5th, today added M4 13”.

 

[ManuCH]

I have gotten my 1st generation iPad on May 3rd, 2010. I've had it shipped from the US to Switzerland by UPS Express (which cost me a fortune) as it wasn't available here yet.

And now, on May 15th, 2024, I got my 11" iPad Pro M4. Crazy, it's been 14 years already!

In between, I had:
- iPad 2
- first iPad Pro 9.7"
- first iPad Pro 10.5"
- iPad Pro 11" (3. generation)
- iPad Pro M1 11" (5. generation)

 

[xxFoxtail]

I got my first iPad in 2010. I was fresh out of college and didn’t have a lot of money. But, I knew I wanted an iPad, so I bought one maybe a week or two after they went on sale.

From there, I upgraded to the iPad 3 (first one with Retina display), iPad Air, 2016 Pro, 2018 Pro (11”), 2020 Pro (12.9”) , M1 Pro (12.9”). Up until 2018, I was also using a MacBook, but realized it was redundant having both. I briefly had the first gen iPad mini somewhere in there too.

I played around with Mac minis and Surface Pros between and with some of the iPads, but always went back to being iPad only. This was around the time I was pretty foolish with my money.

Today, I’m kind of in that phase where I’m between iPads again. Between my iPhone 14 Pro and M2 MacBook Air, it covers almost everything. Unfortunately, I don’t have a digital drawing/writing pad and a larger screen for Fitness+ unless I mirror my iPhone to the Mac. Neither device is really that great for Apple Books either.

I really like my MacBook Air, but kind of miss using the iPad again. The M4 has really been calling me since it was launched. Again, I think having a MacBook and iPad are pretty redundant for most of my tasks, so I don’t really want to buy an M4 iPad and let either that or my MacBook collect dust.

I have a list of reasons why the new M4 iPP will benefit me (working on my photo editing on the OLED screen would be a big plus!), but I also don’t want to trade in my MacBook and still pay $1000+ for the base model 13” iPP and MKB.

 

[dawgfang]

I got my wife and I both the first IPad cellular models. The cellular shipped a few weeks after the WiFi only so I had the wait. I remember going into Best Buy on vacation and touching one (knowing I had to wait) and zooming in on the map felt magical. Truly the future - I was enamored.
I activated my iPad with the infamous unlimited data plan that only lasted a couple of weeks. Kept the plan for years and transferred to multiple iPads.
I’ve spent more money on iPads than I care to admit.

 

[*~Kim~*]

I started with the iPad 3, buying it during a BTS promo at what I thought was mid-cycle. The 4 came out a month later. Having got the iPhone in 2010, I always intended to get an iPad once Retina came and that was the first chance I had to do so without leaving myself short of cash.

I mainly used it for streaming at first but then bought a Now TV box in late 2014, so barely used it for a few years and didn’t intend to buy another. I suddenly started using it again in 2017 ish, but couldn’t justify the upgrade as I’d taken a liking to the Mini and the 4 was ~2 years old. I considered a 6th Gen but knew I’d regret it if a Mini came along shortly and after the iPad 3/4 debacle, thought that that would be just my luck. The iPad 3 was a pretty terrible experience by the time the Mini 5 came out, as I’d been forced to update the OS as far as it would go and still there were apps it could no longer get (though perhaps a little better than it would have been had it been heavily used from day 1.)

The Mini 5 was heavily used from day 1 and while I didn’t think I would want to move away from the home button design, the new form factor began to grow on me especially after the Air 4 came out. I had always wanted a pink or purple iPad so when the Mini 6 came in both, I couldn’t resist. Glad I got it now as the physical sim tray is a must for me.

An 11” WiFi version is likely to be my next iPad when the right model comes along.

 

[rui no onna]

It’s funny, I remember mocking the iPad when Steve Jobs announced it all those years ago. I thought surely no one in their right mind would want a jumbo iPhone.

For me, I wasn’t willing to be an early adopter to the OG iPad. I had an OG iPhone and it was pretty RAM starved with just 128MB. I found the 256MB RAM (3GS) sufficient for 320x240 but I expected it would be lacking for 1024x768.

That said, the touch-optimized iOS and apps, 10 hour battery life, no overheating and $500 price tag was very attractive coming from far more expensive Windows 2-in-1s. I knew I’d buy one eventually, the only question was when.

 

[F23]

iPad 2 2011
iPad Air 4 2020
M1 iPad Pro 12.9" 2021
M2 iPad Pro 12.9" 2022
M4 iPad Pro 13" 2024

 

[wegster]

Well… Working in tech, for a good while Apple just made no sense, for me.
Pre-OSX classic MacOS was a technical dumpster fire.
Post OSX as a combination of Next(Jobs’ company they bought to bring him back long ago..) and BSD (a Unix variant…like Linux), it started to get more appealing as conceivably I could port or run my various *nix tools and apps on it.
But - I had Linux laptops and VMs so not much need there.

I wasn’t particularly an iPod fan when it came out, but did predict the iPhone a year or two before it came out, and picked one up, as most at the time were pretty underwhelming. Liked the iPhone well enough to the point that besides 2 brief attempts to give Android a shot courtesy of a company paid phone, I’ve mostly been on them since.

I’ll admit, once the iPad was announced I was skeptical - ‘great, a bigger iPhone. It doesn’t beat e-ink for reading, and doesn’t beat my laptop for computing.’ (these sadly remain true today…). I was truly shocked people were buying them.

I finally wound up with a Macbook Pro in ~2005, had just been waiting for them to release the Core2Duo model. Hated it (the OS) for about a year then eventually mostly started getting on with it.

Meanwhile I had a picked up a craptactic HP/Palm tablet I got on closeout, which may have been the first magnetic/wireless charging tablet, which was cool…and had bought my wife a Google Pixel tablet. I wound up running rooted/replaced PalmOS then Android on it for a while, and eventually admitted it wasn’t terrible for consuming news and the like before bed. As it wasn’t a real workhorse, I probably kept that thing well beyond its expected life, but at some point my wife had dropped and broke her Pixel tablet. I’d already moved her over to Apple laptops and phone at that point, so somewhere in there she wound up with a mini and I wound up with an iPad Air 2.

I kept the iPad Air2 for - a long while, same for my wife and her mini, then COVID shutdowns hit…my wife’s a teacher and they were going remote so I picked up a new iPad Pro 11” w/pencil for her as a surprise gift and got her sorted for presenting on it, drawing etc., and bought a gen back refurb (3rd gen/2018) for me, and choked down the crazy $$$ for the magic keyboard as all the random bluetooth ones I’d tried on the Air 2 just, well..sucked. I wanted to see how much of my laptop it could ‘replace.’

So, it can’t replace my laptop. However, it does let me stay in touch with work team-mates via Slack, can run our web apps, at least do a fair job of reviewing documents and slides, although not so much for editing, I occasionally uwe as a sidecar third display or for short trips/vacations w/wife, and is our ‘portable tv’ for those trips as well, plus the usual before bed news consumption and the like. I also do use it for a handful of markup/diagramming apps, and casual browsing.

I’ve had my iPad Pro 12.9” for going on 5 years now. I thought a few times about ‘upgrading’ but there was no need as the OS really limits he device still…until recently, where it seems to get flaky network sporadically, very possibly due to a serious level of ‘abusive’ tab groups and background processes (want to know the safari tab limit before it tells you to close tabs? It’s 300 - at least for me, this may be tied to memory or generation), so in considering a replacement, I’m sure even an M1 would be a solid jump, although again, aside from the aforementioned issue and seemingly not-so-great battery life, it’s not like it was hugely performance-limited).. I figured the new model is the best bet with no FOMO over the OLED screen, hopefully also having the new 13” accompanying Magic keyboard remain the same for a few generations at least, and yeah, why not - lets throw in a new pencil for grins.

Shows up Wed…fingers crossed.

 

[LucyLouie]

I got my first iPad with cellular on launch day in 2010. It came by UPS or FedEx shortly before dinnertime, and we were going out to eat to a very laidback place so I took it along. I sat at the restaurant table with it propped in front of me, completely enamored with it. I guess this was before people got so bad with devices at restaurant tables (plus, really, this was not a place where you would look bad doing it), but nowadays I probably wouldn't do that. But it was such a thrill at the time holding what felt like a really big, portable screen of possibilities. Who knew at that time everyone and their toddler would have one ten years later! It turned out to be excellent timing for this device's launch in 2010, as I very soon after had to undergo medical treatment during that and the following year, and I can't tell you how handy that cellular iPad was in those environments.

I've had almost all of the annual/bi-annual iterations since then other than iPad 4 and iPad Pro 2020, though never an iPad Air, and I think I skipped a generation or two along the way, particularly later in the game. When I'd upgrade, I'd sell the prior device and in one instance passed it to someone else in my family. I switched to the Pros when they came along in 2015, and had the 2017, 2018, and the 2021 version of those. And I just got the 13" iPad Pro, which is just beautiful and so fast. I am genuinely thrilled with it.

I wouldn't be truly happy if I didn't have a MacBook or iPhone, but the iPad is my favorite device overall. I know a lot of people don't want or need one, but it fits into my lifestyle perfectly. As I've gotten older, it's also a lot easier to see than a phone.

Does anyone else remember how we could sell those earlier iPads for almost what we paid for them? Same with iPhones. Those were the days.