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jwolf6589

macrumors 601
Original poster
Dec 15, 2010
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Colorado
Perhaps I am ignorant but who would need 2TB of storage in an iPad? At my job we use the classic iPad daily and all of the techs use them on the field but we have older models with 32GB of storage. What fields an professions would require this much space for an iPad?
 
Very few people. My guess is that those buying 2TB are a fraction of those buying the 1TB model (both have 16GB RAM). The use cases for several TB of storage are more limited on an iPad than their are on a Mac or PC
 
4K60 video will rip through 2TB in no time... A friend of mine is a Youtuber who travels the world to produce content and likes to travel lightly, and when you're recording with two iPhones in 4K60 getting about 4-5 hours of footage a day that adds up quick if you want to be able to efficiently preview and roughly edit that video on the iPad without having to deal with working w external HDDs and stuff like that (like if you want to edit on a long plane ride, etc.)

Also, multi-track hi-fi audio production is deceptively heavy on the file size...

I fantasize about 'needing' a maxed out iPad but I work with text and basic graphics so I have no excuse for maxed anything ??
 
I fantasize about 'needing' a maxed out iPad but I work with text and basic graphics so I have no excuse for maxed anything 😭😭

Lol, my excuse is I want it. :)

As for the cost, I used to buy an iPad every year (~$1-1.3K/year for top storage+cellular). I stopped after the 2018 Pros were released with massive price tags. Now, I still get semi-maxed out (1TB cellular) but I keep my iPads longer. That keeps total cost the same over a 3-4 year period.
 
Perhaps I am ignorant but who would need 2TB of storage in an iPad? At my job we use the classic iPad daily and all of the techs use them on the field but we have older models with 32GB of storage. What fields an professions would require this much space for an iPad?
A big lossless and high-res music library can be more than 500GB+; storing locally is good when you travel and don't want to use cellular data.

A day of shooting Raw photos can easily take 100GB; so several multi-day events can chew through your storage.

Then high res video files are huge.

I'm going for either 512Gb this year, or 1TB for the extra RAM. I don't need 2TB, but I can see why someone might choose it. Especially if you keep your iPad for five years.
 
A big lossless and high-res music library can be more than 500GB+; storing locally is good when you travel and don't want to use cellular data.

A day of shooting Raw photos can easily take 100GB; so several multi-day events can chew through your storage.

Then high res video files are huge.

I'm going for either 512Gb this year, or 1TB for the extra RAM. I don't need 2TB, but I can see why someone might choose it. Especially if you keep your iPad for five years.
Thank you. My Mini has 256GB of which I have like 208GB free as it seems huge or an iPad.
 
People love to have hi-res pictures and videos for work and/or to document their life. I have photos and videos on my iPad Pro going back to 2008. It’s also nice to not worry about storage from demanding apps. I went to 1TB as likely fulfilling my needs over the next 4 years.
 
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People love to have hi-res pictures and videos for work and/or to document their life. I have photos and videos on my iPad Pro going back to 2008. It’s also nice to not worry about storage from demanding apps. I went to 1TB as likely fulfilling my needs over the next 4 years.
When I bought my MacBook Pro I chose 1TB but my iPad Mini has 256GB which seems huge for an iPad.
 
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People love to have hi-res pictures and videos for work and/or to document their life. I have photos and videos on my iPad Pro going back to 2008. It’s also nice to not worry about storage from demanding apps. I went to 1TB as likely fulfilling my needs over the next 4 years.
The iPad Pro can shoot much higher res video than the Mini 5 which is limited to HD.
 
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Perhaps I am ignorant but who would need 2TB of storage in an iPad? At my job we use the classic iPad daily and all of the techs use them on the field but we have older models with 32GB of storage. What fields an professions would require this much space for an iPad?
I managed to buy a (almost) new, 2tb cellular 12.9“ iPad Pro for less than the 128gb Cellular version so it was a no brainer for me! ?

I got it from CEX (in the UK) I don’t think it had been used at all and still had 5 months left to get Apple Care
 
I scrape a lot of video, therefore producing realtively large curated libraries [usually between 100-500GB], then used to experiment with programmatic video editing.

Having the data on device is paramount, although I find myself enjoying the liberties afforded by the ability to remote into another device, therefore allowing me to stretch my buck as opposed to dishing money out to apple.

I have 1TB on my current MBP, probably overkill but has come handy when wanting to work on my datasets in areas with lesser infrastructure. Add to that the 200GB of music and 140GB of software, I never found myself regretting the purchase.

Had I been somewhat more liberal with my spending, justifying the 2TB would not have been too far fetched, although I do not regret getting a 18TB hard drive instead ;).

PS. Just realised that the OP was inquiring in regards of those amount of memory usage on an iPad.

Being an avid user of polycam, storing the output files is quite memory intensive. My 256GB iPad feels cramped although offloading to an external SSD has resolved the issue.
 
people who refuse to pay for iCloud. Or photo storage.

I use iCloud. That said, iCloud’s useless when internet is down/unavailable/too slow. Heck, just driving along California freeways, cellular often craps out making streaming video impossible (too many pauses).

When I first bought a 32GB iPad 2 more than a decade ago, I realized it was super awesome for manga/comics and that I needed an iPad with 512GB-1TB storage (had a 12TB unRAID server back then). I’ve been upgrading to max storage almost every release (skipped the 2018/2020 due to cost/not good enough value). I now have a 20TB NAS (planning on upgrading to 40TB so I could backup my 4K Blu-rays) but on the iPad, 1TB remains comfortable.
 
I use iCloud. That said, iCloud’s useless when internet is down/unavailable/too slow. Heck, just driving along California freeways, cellular often craps out making streaming video impossible (too many pauses).

When I first bought a 32GB iPad 2 more than a decade ago, I realized it was super awesome for manga/comics and that I needed an iPad with 512GB-1TB storage (had a 12TB unRAID server back then). I’ve been upgrading to max storage almost every release (skipped the 2018/2020 due to cost/not good enough value). I now have a 20TB NAS (planning on upgrading to 40TB so I could backup my 4K Blu-rays) but on the iPad, 1TB remains comfortable.

Agree. I take extended trips to many places where net access is extremely poor or nonexistent.
 
I use iCloud. That said, iCloud’s useless when internet is down/unavailable/too slow. Heck, just driving along California freeways, cellular often craps out making streaming video impossible (too many pauses).

When I first bought a 32GB iPad 2 more than a decade ago, I realized it was super awesome for manga/comics and that I needed an iPad with 512GB-1TB storage (had a 12TB unRAID server back then). I’ve been upgrading to max storage almost every release (skipped the 2018/2020 due to cost/not good enough value). I now have a 20TB NAS (planning on upgrading to 40TB so I could backup my 4K Blu-rays) but on the iPad, 1TB remains comfortable.

Yep. What happens if you can't go online? I always keep quite a bit of media stored locally on my iPad. Movies, books, music, will help make that multiple day power outage less painful. That said, 256gb is more than enough for my needs. As others of said, the only folks I can think really "need" 2TB are folks doing lots of hi rez video or multi-track music editing. I also do some photography and I could say a photographer using an iPad as back-up storage, culling images, editing images, etc. Those raw files can take a whole lot of storage pretty fast. But I think the number of folks who "need" that much storage are pretty few and far between.
 
Perhaps I am ignorant but who would need 2TB of storage in an iPad? At my job we use the classic iPad daily and all of the techs use them on the field but we have older models with 32GB of storage. What fields an professions would require this much space for an iPad?
Me. I'm ‘that guy’ that uses his iPad to video record local music acts for like 3 hours at 4K 30. This equates to about 70 GB. Then popping it into iMovie uses up another 30 GB. Now, I wouldn’t really need 2TB, but as an iOS user (I don’t have a Mac), it’s not always convenient to do the processing until later which means I have these bulky files. 2 TB may be overkill (1 is probably the sweet spot), but it sure would be nice to have it, instead of the 256 I’m currently using and juggling files around.
 
Me. I'm ‘that guy’ that uses his iPad to video record local music acts for like 3 hours at 4K 30. This equates to about 70 GB. Then popping it into iMovie uses up another 30 GB. Now, I wouldn’t really need 2TB, but as an iOS user (I don’t have a Mac), it’s not always convenient to do the processing until later which means I have these bulky files. 2 TB may be overkill (1 is probably the sweet spot), but it sure would be nice to have it, instead of the 256 I’m currently using and juggling files around.
Wow. Do people not use camcorders these days?
 
A few do, and I think deep down you know the answer to your question already. Smartphones killed the market for small video recorders, point and shoot cameras, Walkmen, discmen, portable audio recorders, mini disc, calculators etc.
Audio recorders? Actually they have far more features than a smart phone. My Sony model has VOR mode and runs on 2 AAA batteries so it will last longer than a smart phone. I don’t think phones killed the market for these devices.
 
Wow. Do people not use camcorders these days?
Wow. Do people not use camcorders these days?
I just don’t think a camcorder (unless you’re going high end) can compete with a device who’s camera is better with each passing year. It’s just too convenient to have one’s iPhone or iPad on you, and press record (with a good mic and/or interface). The iPad recording (for me) is nice because if I want to edit, I dont have to airdrop some huge file from the phone to the iPad. The recorder IS the editor. That said, a camcorder is less conspicuous in some situations and when that’s called for, I use the iPhone.
Many reviews talk about photo quality between say android devices and iPhones, but almost every review says ios video is second to none.
 
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