Upgrade Air 2 to 9.7 iPad Pro?

[borgusio]

Well, you don't buy the pencil with the Air 2, so why would you buy it with the Pro? Just because there is a possibility to use it? If you don't need it, don't buy it.

Well, to use the new pencil I will have basically to add above 500 EUR. I have a pencil with the iPad and I use it a lot, it is just not as good as the apple one.

The decision algorithm is actually quite simple. If you need/want the pencil and new accessories (the ones that require the smart connector), upgrade to the pro.

Answer here would be yes, but...

There is a price that even impulse stops and thinks. I would have clicked the buy button for a $729 64GB LTE in a flash b/c the pencil intrigues me. But my conscience would never forgive me for spending $1K (including pencil) on a tablet, especially with the horrific resale prices of iPads compared to Macs. As expensive as iPads already were the Pro 9.7's cost/benefit is too heavily skewed toward cost in my mind.

So I think Apple was too clever by half here. They will sell a lot of Pro 9.7's but they also alienated a lot of would-be upgraders, and over what -- 32GB of freaking storage space! That's a few extra dimes for a lot more dollars. Either that or Apple lost its pricing power for components.

...this is the point. Too expensive! I mean... Just two GB of RAM, so no inprovements ln Multitasking Safari and to add an apple pencil to the iPad you have basically to spend twice as much money as if you would stay on a bamboo stylus and iPad air2. Seriously!?!?

 

[patseguin]

I'm waiting for 3D Touch to come to iPad. Maybe next year then.

Excellent point. It never occurred to me that they left that feature out!

 

[gadget123]

I've upgraded every year except iPad 3 to 4. I'm holding off this time b/c at best I can net $350 for my 64GB Air2 LTE. My out of pocket difference would be $529 ($629 including a pencil). I'm still OK with my Air 2 for that kind of money. If we see some good sales I might be enticed.

I really think Apple made a poor strategic mistake, not with bumping up the price per se, but by not including 64GB at the standard storage. The 32 is too small for me, the 128 is too expensive. Apple's decision here will do nothing to revive iPad popularity.

The iPad pro 9.7" is basically the IPad 4 for iPad 3 owners. I've bought into these minor updates for a few years but for example the updates from the iPhone 6 Live Photos and 4K I never actually use.

2gb ram and no Touch ID tells us Apple have something else planned. I wouldn't be surprised if they roll out another 9.7" model in October with a new larger pro iPad which will be due an update.

People who held off will be glad. I remember buying the iPad 3 in shock to find six months later an iPad 4 came out.

And at £100 more the iPad pro 9.7 is not really a worthy update for anybody with an Air 1 or 2. Not many will use the pencil and keyboard and all that Apple see just selling that to copy Microsoft. The iPad performs just fine without these accessories.

 

[patseguin]

Yeah it seems like they added just enough to convince hard core fans to buy the new one but held back just enough to make the smart ones wait. Question is how smart am I lol? I envision the next one will have 3D touch, 4K display, and thinner form.

 

[gadget123]

Yeah it seems like they added just enough to convince hard core fans to buy the new one but held back just enough to make the smart ones wait. Question is how smart am I lol? I envision the next one will have 3D touch, 4K display, and thinner form.

Wait for 4K display. Chances are its in the works and the current iPad is done. Once 4K comes previous iPads will be as old as non retina 1 and 2's.

I would go further and say it's not enough for hardcore fans to buy unless they embrace the pencil but for years people said why would you want one like Microsoft?

Sadly Apple these days has to take ideas from other tablets to innovate. Genuine fans should be disappointed Force touch has been left out.

 

[Tikatika]

First time ever I'm not upgrading. My Air 2 64gb purchased at launch is working perfectly, I don't have need of a pencil or more speakers. I guess I'm still smarting over the iPad 3 to 4 hit and I've become more able to control my upgrade impulses.

But, I love my Apple Watch

 

[pgolik]

2GB RAM in the pro changes the picture. Air 2 is still a better choice for those who don't absolutely need the pencil (the screen and speed improvements are nice, but not at that price).

 

[EltonT]

Anyone got the feeling that the 9.7" pro is going to be the new iPad 3?

 

[pgolik]

Anyone got the feeling that the 9.7" pro is going to be the new iPad 3?

Yep. And the Air 2 the new iPad 2.

 

[Kendo]

First time ever I'm not upgrading. My Air 2 64gb purchased at launch is working perfectly, I don't have need of a pencil or more speakers. I guess I'm still smarting over the iPad 3 to 4 hit and I've become more able to control my upgrade impulses.

But, I love my Apple Watch

Well the 3 was probably the worst iPad purchase in the history of iPads. I know because I owned a 3. On the other hand, the iPad Air 2 is the best purchase of all the iPads in terms of power and longevity. So kudos to us both for being able to "make up" for our past mistake with the 3.

 

[patseguin]

You guys are slowly talking me out of the iPP purchase. I'm just not sure what benefit I would get for it over my Air 2. Sure it's faster and has a better display and speakers but is all of that going to really matter? I think rather than preorder like always, I am going to go into the Apple store and play with one and see if the speed is dramatic feeling and how the display and speakers are. They almost should have called this the iPad Air 2s.

 

[mrex]

Nope, skipping... No reason to replace my air2. I have Pencil53 and it does everything i need to do with a pencil and ipad.

Specs were disappointing in the beginning and now knowing that it has only 2gb of ram made the easy solution - just forget it.

Not interesting ipad at all.

 

[alphabetagaga]

if the air2 was only 12months old, then i would say yep go for the air2. but 18months old? hmmm i really think the extra £150 for the pro is hard to ignore

 

[wwe2008]

if the air2 was only 12months old, then i would say yep go for the air2. but 18months old? hmmm i really think the extra £150 for the pro is hard to ignore

Im in the same boat, although I need 4G so will probably pay £70 more for 32GB less storage haha

 

[jbachandouris]

I had sold my Air 2 a month ago in anticipation of this 'upgrade.'

Now I'm deciding between a 12.9 IPP or another Air 2 ($427.99 for a 128GB LTE from AT&T). Decisions. Decisions...

 

[mcdj]

Yeah it seems like they added just enough to convince hard core fans to buy the new one but held back just enough to make the smart ones wait.

Pretty much Apple's M.O. for every product refresh.

 

[OutSpoken]

Well the 3 was probably the worst iPad purchase in the history of iPads. I know because I owned a 3. On the other hand, the iPad Air 2 is the best purchase of all the iPads in terms of power and longevity. So kudos to us both for being able to "make up" for our past mistake with the 3.

A lot of people trash talk the iPad 3 now but you have to agree when it first released general public/tech blogs were going gaga over the retina display - it was night and day to the iPad 2.
Personally I had two great years with mine! it had superb battery life too, much better than my now iPad Air 2. The thing I found that crippled the iPad 3 was iOS 6/7.

I'm really contemplating sticking to iOS 9.3 as my last software update on my iPad Air 2.

...and it's hard to like the 9.7" iPad Pro. It's hella expensive, no 64GB storage, plus all the expensive extras... yes the $99 Apple pencil is nice, but I don't draw with my iPad so it'd only be used for doodling and navigating, if I was that desperate for a stylus I would have invested in a Wacom Bamboo already but I haven't...

People mention the 4 speakers, but who's to say these won't vibrate the screen also?

 

[turbineseaplane]

I was all excited about an Air 2 with Pencil capability...

But no 64GB and the base prices going up just simply make the Air 2 64 LTE upgrade to a 128 9.7 LTE pro too much to bear.

It's just too expensive for some nice small updates and pencil capability for me unfortunately.

And as others have noted...resale on iPads is simply awful now (compared to a couple years ago anyhow).

You have to be very discerning when deciding where and when and for how much to jump into an iPad now.

 

[stulaw11]

Biggest issue is below. This says a lot about future-proofing your purchase a bit. How long before the Air 2 becomes the dog of the iPad line on new OS updates?

I was dead set on a refurb 64 Air 2 to save $150 or so, but this is kind of eye opening that the jump from the A8x to A9x is 3 times the jump from the older A7/A8 to A8x.

That really worries me how long the Air 2 will handle future OS versions if it's not much higher than the already killed off A7 devices (prior Minis and Air 1) and soon to be A8 (mini 4 when it's upgraded this year) devices.]

The Air 2 will be the lone wolf device under 2,000 Geekbench as soon as the Mini is upgraded; even the current iphones surpassed it.

 

[jbachandouris]

Biggest issue is below. This says a lot about future-proofing your purchase a bit. How long before the Air 2 becomes the dog of the iPad line on new OS updates?

As I stated in the other thread, what do specs really matter if all you do is watch media and surf the web? Answer: nothing.

If you 'need' pencil/keyboard support, the new specs matter. If all you do is surf the web, they really don't.

 

[stulaw11]

As I stated in the other thread, what do specs really matter if all you do is watch media and surf the web? Answer: nothing.

If you 'need' pencil/keyboard support, the new specs matter. If all you do is surf the web, they really don't.

None until Apple drops support for features in the new OS versions; ala Air 1 no multitasking. Yes I get it's a RAM issue, but things aren't quite as smooth on iOS9 on an iPAd 3 or 4 or even Air 1.

 

[mickeydean]

Still stuck on iPad 3. Unfortunately $1700 (AUD) for a cellular ipad with more than 32gb and the pencil and keyboard is way too much. Closer to $2000 with the 256gb...Just too much.

 

[jbachandouris]

None until Apple drops support for features in the new OS versions; ala Air 1 no multitasking. Yes I get it's a RAM issue, but things aren't quite as smooth on iOS9 on an iPAd 3 or 4 or even Air 1.

And as another poster said: it probably won't matter until OS 11. If you want to waste your money out of fear that's fine. Stop using benchmarks to confuse yourself.

 

[jonnyb098]

Yep. And the Air 2 the new iPad 2.

Thats a little overboard. 2GB of RAM is still good and while 4GB should have been standard, its by no means crippling. The iPad 3 was crippled due to a crummy processor and graphics chip. Which has WAAAAY worse implication than RAM.

Funny you guys are saying this is the new iPad 3 when all benchmarks will blow away the Air 2.

In comparison the iPad 2 and 3 were equal and the 3 was actually less in graphics performance.

 

[s2mikey]

Yeah it seems like they added just enough to convince hard core fans to buy the new one but held back just enough to make the smart ones wait. Question is how smart am I lol? I envision the next one will have 3D touch, 4K display, and thinner form.

Agrred - and it will likely get a RAM bump too which is one of the key reasons I am NOT upgrading from my Air 1. If anything I could be enticed by the 12.9" model if the price & sales keep happening. I just hate that to get LTE support on the 12.9" model I have to go with the largest storage option. Overkill big-time for me.