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Focusy

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 20, 2010
39
27
I know it might have been asked before,however, I keen to understand after people have purchased the 256gb on the thought 128gb might not of been enough were they right, or should have gone 128gb. And vice versa

this is reference to m1/m2 iPad Pro

thank you all in advance
 

BugeyeSTI

macrumors 604
Aug 19, 2017
7,236
9,082
Arizona/Illinois
I personally would rather have too much storage vs not enough. If I don't have 25-30% free space available I'll get the next tier of storage available. If you don't store anything on device and keep everything in the cloud 128gb should be fine. If you want to have movies on device and keep photos and other things I'd say 256gb would be better
 

ggx12

macrumors regular
Feb 21, 2021
189
207
My view is that additional storage on an iPad is a nice to have but not a requirement. If you can find a good deal on a 256gb, go for it, but don't feel obliged to have to have it.

I am currently using approx. 150gb but the vast majority is stuff I could easily delete if I needed to. Sure, it's nice not to have to worry about space but don't forget you can also connect to external storage if needed. Most of my space is taken by my iPhone Library which automatically synchs with my iPad. If this is something you want to do, then go for the 256gb.
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,916
13,260
I know it might have been asked before,however, I keen to understand after people have purchased the 256gb on the thought 128gb might not of been enough were they right, or should have gone 128gb. And vice versa

This really depends on your personal usage.

My family mostly use their iPads for streaming. No downloads apart from a few apps (Facebook, YouTube, Netflix, Disney+, Twitch, etc) and casual games (e.g. Solitaire, etc). For them, 128GB is more than enough. I think they're sitting around 50% used on 128GB.

Me? I like to have readily accessible offline copies of books and comics (like maybe 5-10% of my comic/manga collection) because I often encounter scenarios where I'm bored but have super crappy internet (both hotel wifi and cellular). Add in a few games like Genshin Impact and even 256GB is tight.
 

BB1970

macrumors 6502
May 19, 2009
448
1,209
I’m the weirdo that needs 512 and up. One of the reasons is that iOS for whatever reason, tends to create these sort of junk files over time. You can mostly clear them out, but sometimes it seems you can’t unless you do a complete reinstall. So the point is, always choose the higher capacity if you have the means to do so. It’s a piece of mind thing.
 
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Shanghaichica

macrumors G5
Apr 8, 2013
14,725
13,245
UK
I would go for 256GB. If I’m spending a lot of money on an ipad pro then it’s going to be my primary device and I’d want a reasonable amount of storage on there so that I could do things if I wanted to. Now i’m only using about 50GB on my 256GB ipad pro but I would still buy 256gb just so that I had the freedom to do what I wanted. My iPad mini is a secondary device so I can manage comfortably with 64GB.
 

sublunar

macrumors 68020
Jun 23, 2007
2,311
1,680
Another factor is iCloud storage usage. Yes, you can keep certain things off individual devices such as photos but the same doesn't apply to iMessage content so if you keep all that then you might need 256Gb on every device. Having too little storage on a device is a reason why I don't have my iPad Pro 64Gb any more (it went to a more deserving home) - great device but made an error in buying it with too little storage.
 
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sublunar

macrumors 68020
Jun 23, 2007
2,311
1,680
This really depends on your personal usage.

My family mostly use their iPads for streaming. No downloads apart from a few apps (Facebook, YouTube, Netflix, Disney+, Twitch, etc) and casual games (e.g. Solitaire, etc). For them, 128GB is more than enough. I think they're sitting around 50% used on 128GB.

Me? I like to have readily accessible offline copies of books and comics (like maybe 5-10% of my comic/manga collection) because I often encounter scenarios where I'm bored but have super crappy internet (both hotel wifi and cellular). Add in a few games like Genshin Impact and even 256GB is tight.
Agree with this, if streaming and a few simple apps are the idea then minimum storage is the best deal, but as soon as you start adding content such as iMessage data, local photo libraries etc then more needs to be considered. A full iPad is not a fun thing to manage.
 

Focusy

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 20, 2010
39
27
Thank you all for your feedback. Interesting read. Some similarity,in The usage. Thank you keep them coming
 

abell2454

macrumors newbie
Mar 10, 2023
11
9
I ended up buying a 512 GB M1 iPad pro. This happened because the model that I truly wanted wasn’t available. What I actually wanted was the 256 GB in the space grey, which was unavailable at the time. Usually, I always buy the 256 GB models. I do this because I like to save movies (these are big files) locally. Also, I have the tendency not to delete apps. If I was to upgrade my iPad yearly, save everything to iCloud, and not download large apps, then I would get the 128 GB. However, since flexibility and future-proofing are important to me, I tend to go with the larger storage capacity.
 

darngooddesign

macrumors P6
Jul 4, 2007
18,362
10,114
Atlanta, GA
I know it might have been asked before,however, I keen to understand after people have purchased the 256gb on the thought 128gb might not of been enough were they right, or should have gone 128gb. And vice versa

this is reference to m1/m2 iPad Pro

thank you all in advance
Heck, 256GB wasn't enough for me.

But think about it this way, if you plan on keeping your iPad for several years, that storage upgrade probably costs less than one cup of coffee per month.
 
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Yebubbleman

macrumors 603
May 20, 2010
6,024
2,616
Los Angeles, CA
You should always get one size larger than you think you'll need because you can't change your mind later without getting a whole new iPad. Also, apps bloat and content (especially higher resolution content) requires more space. You will be inconvenienced by a smaller capacity iPad with not enough free space. You will not be inconvenienced by a larger iPad with plenty of free space. Minimize inconvenience, considering you're already spending the cost of an iPad Pro to begin with.
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,916
13,260
You should always get one size larger than you think you'll need because you can't change your mind later without getting a whole new iPad. Also, apps bloat and content (especially higher resolution content) requires more space. You will be inconvenienced by a smaller capacity iPad with not enough free space. You will not be inconvenienced by a larger iPad with plenty of free space. Minimize inconvenience, considering you're already spending the cost of an iPad Pro to begin with.

Depends how good your grasp is of your storage usage.

I got 1TB which is more than enough for my essentials and still has plenty of room for "fat". I don't see a need to go 2TB at all.
 
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PeterJP

macrumors 65816
Feb 2, 2012
1,136
896
Leuven, Belgium
I got a 64GB base model 4 years ago. It's served me pretty well. And I'm doing multi-track audio recording more or less on a daily basis. That means about half a gigabyte per day. Which I back up to a server, then delete after some time from the iPad.

128GB should be plenty except if you're really into very large apps/games, or video/photo/audio editing. Use your money for a nice dinner with your family. And clean up your iPad from time to time.
 

madeirabhoy

macrumors 68000
Oct 26, 2012
1,673
622
ive a 128gb iphone and a 64gb ipad and both have plenty of space. Looking just now i have used 86.2gb of 128gb on my iphone (at work so cant check my ipad).

however on both machines i have games that i download and think i might play but never do. On my phone now, there's 8 games over 1gb that add up to 18.38gb, i reckon i could get my iphone storage down under the 64gb without effort.

on my ipad 64gb is a wee bit tight, as in when i go on holiday and want to fill it with tv apps i might need to delete an app or a game.


of course in so many years time that will change, my original iphone 3gs had 8gb i think. but in buying the lowest model it means i can upgrade them slightly more often so think its swings and roundabouts.
 
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SkiHound2

macrumors 6502
Jul 15, 2018
458
377
I have a 256gb Pro. I'm not a power user. When traveling I often download a bunch of movies, TV shows, and other media. I will also do that If I know we have weather systems coming in that might take out power. Streaming is great but sometimes... I also sometimes load quite a few photos as well. The media often brings me well over 128gb. 256 just gives me considerably more flexibility storing media locally.
 

someoneoutthere

macrumors 6502
Jul 27, 2014
327
126
Someplaceoutthere
iPad is an investment. You will hold onto it next 5-8 years, if not longer. While you know exactly what you use it for TODAY does not necessarily mean that you will be using it the same way few years from now. Think about picking up a hobby that would require more storage (photography, videography, drones, etc.) or starting to travel more frequently as you'd actively store more content on your device in the future. You could perhaps find yourself using it as a computer replacement down the road. They are very versatile devices. $100 extra cost today to get 256gb is nothing when it is spread over 5-8 years.
 

CoMoMacUser

macrumors 65816
Jun 28, 2012
1,076
408
Look at your phone and your laptop, if you have one. How much storage are those currently using? Then consider how much of what you store on those devices would be stored on your iPad. I wound up going with the 128 GB model for this reason. Good luck!
 

sgszeta

macrumors newbie
Feb 10, 2024
1
0
I use my iPad for work a great deal - because of the iPencil combined with Goodnotes. (Otherwise an iPad is just a big iPhone -- it's not a computer and does not have the utility of a computer, rather it has all the limitations of an iPhone. The only thing that makes an iPad useful for work is the iPencil combined with a suitable app for writing notes etc. Otherwise I would not consider having one.) Nevertheless, I do have photos etc . I just checked --I'm using 75gB after 2 years of use. All large items are kept in iCloud. So I could have done perfectly well with 125GB, rather than the 256Gb I chose 'just in case'.
 

Isengardtom

macrumors 65816
Feb 14, 2009
1,346
2,193
I have a 256 GB and have exactly 128 GB used. So another vote for 256

here’s hoping 256 becomes the base on the M3 pro’s
At least the Air urgently needs to move up to 128 from 64. I can accept it on the base iPad but on an air It’s no longer acceptable in my view
 

ipos

macrumors 65816
May 4, 2011
1,182
157
unless u do ALL your work using a ipad instead of a laptop/pc. otherwise, 128gb is the sweet spot for most users.
like a user said, spent the money on a meal with your family instead of getting additional space that u dun really need if u housekeeping your apps
 
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