I have the 16 GB iPad and it's difficult to manage everything I want with the memory. All the apps I enjoy only end up being around 7 GB, but for any sort of media locally downloaded(movies, tv shows, etc.), I need to remove most of the apps for up to 2 movies worth of storage. 32 GB would have been perfect.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Thoughts on My New iPad Air 2
- Thread starter BigMcGuire
- Start date
-
- Tags
- ipad air 2
- Sort by reaction score
I'm still pretty happy with 2GB of ram. 1GB of ram prompted me to early upgrade from my 6+ to my current 6s+. Every time I'd leave Hangouts to do something and come back, Hangouts would have to load. 2GB of ram - I'm not seeing that yet. But I agree with the philosophy that more is always better but 2GB is working for now.
Yeah, 16GB would be getting small. It's doable as a consumption device only but 32GB is about perfect for my usage. I'm hoping the next year or two's worth of iOS updates don't get worse with storage.
I wonder whatever happened to that promise of iOS apps getting smaller because stuff would be stored on the iCloud instead of in the app... (something about an app needing to have hundreds of megs of pictures for all iOS devices).
Yeah, 16GB would be getting small. It's doable as a consumption device only but 32GB is about perfect for my usage. I'm hoping the next year or two's worth of iOS updates don't get worse with storage.
I wonder whatever happened to that promise of iOS apps getting smaller because stuff would be stored on the iCloud instead of in the app... (something about an app needing to have hundreds of megs of pictures for all iOS devices).
Sure more RAM is always good, but what are the indications that 2GB is getting small? For someone who doesn't engage in a lot of multitasking 2GB is still quite sufficient for iOS. I may be an oddball here, but I've never even felt restricted by the 1GB on my iPhone 6.
IMO the iPad Air 2 is, in its time, one of the best devices Apple has ever made.
After a week of ownership I'm agreeing with this more and more (already agreed with it 100%). 😛
Channan
macrumors 68030
Yep. The iPad 2 was pretty good but the lack of a Retina display made me upgrade as soon as one was available.
I was wondering about that. One of the greatest things for me about my iPad Air 2 is the battery life. I can use it for HOURS and HOURS and it won't even hit 80% for days. Reading books with the brightness turned down has almost no impact on battery life.
bufffilm
Suspended
The pro 9.7 smaller battery was one big reason why I don't upgrade from my ipad2.
And until they do better...I'm staying put.
Stupid Apple!
I use my ipad2 *heavily* as an ereader. More than anything else. Don't need Wifi or Bluetooth on and only enable them as needed.
So why on earth would I upgrade to a new iPad, that by most accounts, has worse battery life than their model from 2 years ago, much less the model from 5 years ago?!
It's really not a mystery why I haven't upgraded. Retina screen is nice, but not essential...battery life is!
It's a very simple truth.
Last edited:
ryanwarsaw
macrumors 68030
It seems if you don't want to use the pencil or smart KB the Air 2 is the sweet spot price wise and for battery life.
ericwn
macrumors G5
My Air 2 is being used every day. In light use I can maybe get 10 hours out of it, in heavy use maybe 5 or 6. Would you expect less when used as an ereader? I think about 10 hours or more is very good, i surely cannot read as long.
But then, for really long and efficient reading sessions I take my kindle.
bufffilm
Suspended
11-11.5 hours is the barest minimum that I would accept...ideally, 13 hours.
I'm still getting about 9.5 hrs on my ipad2 with the wifi off. And my battery is 80% of what it was in 2011.
This preoccupation with making the iPad as light and thin as possible is wrong in my opinion and wins no points with me.
Air1 was fantastic in battery life. Every iPad since that one offers less. Wrong direction if you ask me.
Smaller battery means you have to charge it more. More cycles means shorter battery life. Not good.
ericwn
macrumors G5
I get your point, I have had most iPads out there until the Pro. The Air 1 especially will be remembered on my side for long battery life.
I never had the iPad Air 1 but I'm still shocked by the Air 2's battery life. I use it as a reader mostly and I can spend 4-6 hours reading and still be at 80% battery life - I tend to keep brightness down and use side lamps. I had a KindlePaperwhite and ... while it wasn't bad, the amount of text on the screen always bothered me. Also, the battery life of that thing was horrible even with the backlight off - the way they rate the battery life on those things assumes you read 30 mins a day so it lasts "8 weeks" is kinda false advertising (because they also assume you turn off wifi).
I get your point too - Apple devices are getting way too thin these days to the point where it is difficult to hold and use them without a case (my 6s+ is one of those, in my opinion). I added a cheap Khumo case to my iPad Air 2 and although it looks a lot worse, makes the device a lot thicker, and a little bit heavier - it is easier to hold, easier to take with me without worrying about damaging it.
I'd gladly take more battery life for more thickness.
I've used my iPad Air 2 for several weeks now (heavily) (Jan 7 - 21) and ... I'm thrilled to see only 3 charge cycles (coconutBattery). Just nuts. 🙂.
[doublepost=1485044257][/doublepost]
Yeah, I consider myself a hobbyist reader but 4 hours is the longest I can take in a sitting - and that's the longest. My average is about 2.5 hours in one sitting.
I get your point too - Apple devices are getting way too thin these days to the point where it is difficult to hold and use them without a case (my 6s+ is one of those, in my opinion). I added a cheap Khumo case to my iPad Air 2 and although it looks a lot worse, makes the device a lot thicker, and a little bit heavier - it is easier to hold, easier to take with me without worrying about damaging it.
I'd gladly take more battery life for more thickness.
I've used my iPad Air 2 for several weeks now (heavily) (Jan 7 - 21) and ... I'm thrilled to see only 3 charge cycles (coconutBattery). Just nuts. 🙂.
[doublepost=1485044257][/doublepost]
Yeah, I consider myself a hobbyist reader but 4 hours is the longest I can take in a sitting - and that's the longest. My average is about 2.5 hours in one sitting.
Last edited:
bufffilm
Suspended
I'm surprised that your Kindle didn't rate better.
My sister had a Kindle and loved the battery on it.
I don’t find that to be the case. In my usage I get around 14 hours from my Pro 9.7, which is the same as I got from my Air 2.
Arstechnica found it to be better in their review -
"Apple gives the same battery life figures for every one of its iPads, from the aging iPad Mini 2 to the top-end 12.9-inch iPad Pro: 10 hours of Wi-Fi Web browsing and nine hours of cellular Web browsing. In our battery tests, the 9.7-inch Pro nevertheless significantly outperforms the larger Pro and the iPad Air 2 (for reference, our tests are run with all screens set to 200 nits, and True Tone was disabled on the new iPad Pro).
The Pro and the iPad Air 2 have batteries that are roughly the same size: 27.5WHr in the Pro and 27.3WHr in the Air 2. I’m inclined to attribute the improvement to the A9X’s newer manufacturing process. The A9X is apparently built solely on TSMC’s 16nm process, while the A8X is built on a 20nm TSMC process. Our Web browsing test loads a series of pages in a loop until the tablet dies, and the WebGL test puts a moderate-but-constant load on the SoC—in both of these scenarios, the A9X appears to consume less power than the A8X before it."
I have noticed when upgrading iPads that restoring from a previous iCloud or iTunes backup can result in significantly worse battery life, but setting it up as a new device solves this problem.
The Air 2 is still a great device and I think it’s better value for money than the Pro 9.7. I only upgraded because I got a good price for my Air 2 and a decent discount on my Pro 9.7.
Last edited:
I recently got the iPad Air 2 as well. My previous machine was the MacBook 12". All I can say is that I regret not getting an iPad earlier. I love this so much. It just feels like its a way better option for me seeing as I only really surf the web and stream anyways. Feels nice interacting directly with the screen. The reason I didn't buy an iPad earlier was because the lack of multitasking. However the split view feature solved that problem for me. I love split view. No more having to pause a YouTube video is I wanna message with someone for instance.
Very cool. This makes me happy. The way I see it is when I do upgrade it will be a significant one. The next line of pros or air 3 should be great. I hope battery life continues to improve.
polee
macrumors 6502a
I recently bought the iPad Air 2 and am happy with the sound, resolution, and also its battery life, My first was an iPad mini first gen which was getting a bit long in the tooth. Somehow Safari kept reloading; now the issue is completely disappeared with the iPad Air 2. Glad I bought this and I am carrying it everywhere with me.
Last edited:
bufffilm
Suspended
Look at the Engadget review of the Pro 9.7"...I consider them to be the gold standard when testing the battery.
Full charge, screen set to half max brightness, and it did not even last 9.5 hrs. That doesnt cut it for me.
Your numbers may vary...screen brightness is a big factor on battery life.
Really like my Air 2 but I do have one gripe - orientation lockup. Wish this would get fixed, it still exists in 10.2.1. My wife gets it on her Air 2, also.
This is bugging me a lot as well. I noticed the orientation lock was much worse with my Khumo case than it was with the Apple Smartcover (also helped me want to ditch it).
As I noted over on the dedicated thread for this issue, I've had it twice in the last few days while using the Otterbox case that does not have a magnetic closure.
Well awesome - hah - that's good to know. It's not consistent that's for sure - guess it was in my head about the Khumo case. Thanks!