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marc55

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 14, 2011
872
217
For you guys who have upgraded from the iPad 3 to the iPad Air:

1. What are the noticeable differences?

2. Overall, do you think the upgrade was worth it?

Thank you
 
Much lighter and easier to hold. After using the Air for a few days I was packing up the iPad 3 to gift it and was amazed how heavy it felt.

The Air charges faster. I didn't quantify this but it seems faster. The adapter is now 12W vs 10W for the iPad 3.

Much faster. Web pages render much faster. Complex PDF documents flip pages almost instantly. Scrolling and resizing is buttery smooth.

Note taking or drawing is more precise. It's not perfect yet, but it is nicer.

Subjectively photographs look better. I didn't check this in detail but when I looked at some stores pictures it sort of jumped out at me.
 
For you guys who have upgraded from the iPad 3 to the iPad Air:

1. What are the noticeable differences?

2. Overall, do you think the upgrade was worth it?

Thank you

Well obviously the weight was a huge difference, and of course the speed really feels like it's 4x faster. Easily worth the upgrade.
 
Depends on what you do with your iPad.

If you game on your iPad often it is absolutely worth it. For casual use like web surfing, email, YouTube I'd say you would only really see the difference in the new form factor (slimmer and lighter).

Gaming example: Infinity Blade 3 loads MUCH faster on the Air when compared to the iPad 3.
 
1. Weight is the biggest difference! It is awesome, I can palm it without issue!

2. I have noticed it is zippier when web surfing. Downloaded some high graphics games and they ran very smooth as well, but I'm real not much of a gamer.

3. Wifi is super fast! The first device I've owned that will pull the full 30mbps of my internet connection over wifi.

Definitely worth the upgrade, especially since I managed to sell my iPad 3 for $350 on eBay!
 
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I did. Dramatic change in lightness and thickness nit to mention magnitudes faster. The Air is a joy to hold while the 3 strained a single handed hold.
 
Pretty much inline with everyone else here:

1. Lighter, thinner, smaller

2. Cooler, less heat generation

3. Faster. The iPad 3 wasn't terrible, but did stutter now and then under iOS 7. The iPad air is nice and snappy.
 
As others said, the wifi is faster and it feels so much lighter. I also like the updated speakers. The Air sounds nicer and has more volume compared to my iPad 3. The screen is nice and the whites seem whiter than my 3 did.
 
As others said, the wifi is faster and it feels so much lighter. I also like the updated speakers. The Air sounds nicer and has more volume compared to my iPad 3. The screen is nice and the whites seem whiter than my 3 did.

The speakers was on negative for me, on the Air they are covered by my hand a lot while using in landscape mode. Never had that issue with the iPad 3.
 
The speakers was on negative for me, on the Air they are covered by my hand a lot while using in landscape mode. Never had that issue with the iPad 3.

I use landscape mode too, but I position the speakers to my right, and grasp it with my left hand so I haven't run into that issue.
 
For you guys who have upgraded from the iPad 3 to the iPad Air:

1. What are the noticeable differences?

2. Overall, do you think the upgrade was worth it?

Thank you

Yes. Light, light, light. Much faster. Totally worth it (for someone who uses their iPad as much as I do).
 
If you use Safari a lot, it's definitely worth it. I would get so raged on iPad 3 when I would go to click a link, and then the page jump real quick when a banner or image would load, and I end up clicking something else. The speed difference is very noticeable here.

As far as weight, I personally don't think .4 pounds is very noticeable. The shape feels better in hand, but don't expect it to be as light as an iPad mini.
 
If you use Safari a lot, it's definitely worth it. I would get so raged on iPad 3 when I would go to click a link, and then the page jump real quick when a banner or image would load, and I end up clicking something else. The speed difference is very noticeable here.



^ THAT

i can't stand it on the iPad 3 how it won't fully load a page right away. i will think it's done loading and i'll go to click a link and all of a sudden the page jumps or moves due to some stupid graphic that the iPad 3 is struggling to load

it's ***** annoying
 
How is the response time when taking the Air out of sleep or switching apps? On my iPad 3 the most aggravating thing is that if I turn it on there is a ~1 second lag before the touch screen responds to my passcode, and every time I open an app there is a 2-5 second lag when nothing will respond. I take it a lot of that comes down to the flash memory and RAM management though.
 
1. The first thing I noticed was the sheer size and weight difference. I carry my iPad pretty much everywhere I go so this is important. When you actually use the Air, you'll notice how everything moves so silky smooth. I know the animations are not CPU-based but everything seems to work faster on the Air than my iPhone 5.

2. The upgrade was so worth it because I carry it everywhere I go. If I left my iPad at home I'd probably not upgrade. I also used graphics/CPU intensive apps for photo editing, video editing and I use my iPad even as an effects/preamp for my bass guitar. So, a better CPU comes in handy. Not to mention the games I love to play.
 
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