iPad Air, or Standard. Is 64gb too small? Out of the loop!

kinger8938

kinger8938

kinger8938

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Hey all. Ive recently been looking into iPads.

I last bought one many years ago, the iPad 4 (I think). Used it a lot at the time but in recent years, hardly at all as my phone sort of did everything for me until recently our son has been getting sent home school tasks via a browser site and app they use.

The iPad we have is struggling with it, so think it's time to maybe look into new models for us all to use.

I did look at the 2021 iPad 64gb (about £320)

This sounds pretty good considering the price. But then I thought maybe if I'm going to be buying something like this, maybe it's worth spending a bit more to get a better experience?

The Air is a fair chunk more change

Bit in the deep end. Any advice would be appreciated.

In terms of storage, 64gb doesn't sound much by today's standards? That said I doubt we will be using it to take and store videos/pictures.

Maybe a few games, usual day to day browsing and streaming content
 
We have 2 iPads in the house, both 64gb, and for our needs it's plenty. My iPhone is also 64gb. Between it and my iPad Air I have used about 50% of the space in each so as I say, 64gb has always been fine for me.
My use case is mostly content consumption and that is all done by streaming. I do edit photos on the iPad occasionally but it's not my main device so I rarely have more than a dozen or so photos on it at a time.

Some out there will absolutely baulk at the idea of so little storage but if you don't need it then you don't need it - why pay more for something that will be surplus to requirements.
 
GMac11 said:
We have 2 iPads in the house, both 64gb, and for our needs it's plenty. My iPhone is also 64gb. Between it and my iPad Air I have used about 50% of the space in each so as I say, 64gb has always been fine for me.
My use case is mostly content consumption and that is all done by streaming. I do edit photos on the iPad occasionally but it's not my main device so I rarely have more than a dozen or so photos on it at a time.

Some out there will absolutely baulk at the idea of so little storage but if you don't need it then you don't need it - why pay more for something that will be surplus to requirements.
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Appreciate your thoughts on it, thank you. When writing out my use case above, I did start to think 64 would actually be plenty for me too

Just need to decide between the Base iPad, Air or Mini. I think the mini is out of the race just due to size, that said I understand it's technically more powerful of these 3 options.
 
Apple do this on purpose. They know 64GB is not enough which is why the next step is 256Gb for another £100.
They really should be 128GB at the entry point.
 
kinger8938 said:
Appreciate your thoughts on it, thank you. When writing out my use case above, I did start to think 64 would actually be plenty for me too

Just need to decide between the Base iPad, Air or Mini. I think the mini is out of the race just due to size, that said I understand it's technically more powerful of these 3 options.
Click to expand...
Personally I would put the Mini bottom of the pile also - for not much more you can get the Air which has the bigger screen. A14/A15 will be indistinguishable for basic usage.
 
kinger8938 said:
Is lots of the 64 taken up but the firmware/operating system etc
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I'm not sure how to check that but I just checked mine out and I am using 20gb of 64gb and going by the coloured bar (how accurate that is I don't know) I'd say System/OS takes up around 50% so make of that what you will.
Going by Google it can be anything between 7-15gb however mine is definitely towards the lower end of that scale by the looks of it.
 
Thanks guys, great advice so far.

Is the Air worth it over the Base iPad 2021? What's the key difference between those? Price jump is substantial but if it's worth spending that bit more for a much better device, I'd certainly consider it
 
kinger8938 said:
Thanks guys, great advice so far.

Is the Air worth it over the Base iPad 2021? What's the key difference between those? Price jump is substantial but if it's worth spending that bit more for a much better device, I'd certainly consider it
Click to expand...
The air can be used with the magic keyboard as it has the rear smart connectors and the apple 2nd gen pencil works with the air ipad
Plus the Air has the much better USB-C connector

iPad Air (4th generation) vs iPad (9th generation) vs iPad mini (6th generation) - Apple (UK)
 
kinger8938 said:
Thanks guys, great advice so far.

Is the Air worth it over the Base iPad 2021? What's the key difference between those? Price jump is substantial but if it's worth spending that bit more for a much better device, I'd certainly consider it
Click to expand...
You can see the differences at a glance here, https://www.apple.com/uk/ipad/compare/?modelList=ipad-9th-gen,ipad-air-4th-gen
Personally I don't think its worth the extra.

Air has slightly bigger display, faster processor, better camera and apple pencil 2nd gen support but if you aren't interested in the camera or the pencil (the 1st gen is still very good for 99% of people) then you would hardly notice the difference in the speed of the device.

£160 would get you a nice case some airpods or whatever else you want to spend it on
 
I don't think 64GB storage is an issue for a tablet, obviously depends on each person's requirements but as a media consumption device which is likely to be mostly streaming, web browsing and bit of gaming it's fine.

£260 extra for the Air is excessive in my opinion, yes it has a slightly better processor, camera etc. but not groundbreaking, I'd argue you would hardly notice. I'd be more likely to consider the Air if it had an oled screen but as is it's just an IPS LCD with the same pixel per inch count as the regular iPad.

I do think having a laminated display is nice but again difficult to justify the price difference unless you have a specific need of the Air such as wanting to use the magic keyboard.
 
Interesting thanks so far, maybe the standard iPad is a more suitable option for me then. I mean.. it's going to be miles better that my iPad 4 surely

£320 seems really good value all things considered
 
chaparral said:
There also the 256GB ipad 9th gen for around £450
(around £100 cheaper then the 64GB air)
Click to expand...

That's a thought too.

Though I do feel 64 will suit my needs as essentially a lite user.

USB c is lacking, which is a shame. Recently bought a headset that has a Usb c dongle for use on loads of devices. However it does also have a wired option so not a deal breaker.

Stock on the 64gb seems to be an issue right now. 256gb seems more readily available which is adding a rushed bit of temptation as I'm impatient
 
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Managed to find an iPad 2021 in silver, 64gb at AO. Do prefer Space Grey but once it's in a case, it's a non issue

Ordered and delivery is free for tomorrow :)

Thanks for all the advice. I think I dodged a bullet by not going for the Air, doesn't make sense for my usage.
 
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