2018 iPad long term review

[1BadManVan]

So I have been dying to finally get myself an iPad to bring me to work, I work for the railroad and am away from home between 24-36 hours at a time. Been eying up the 2018 iPad (6th gen) for awhile and right now my carrier has the cellular version on for $250 off when you add to your plan.

Considering this will be mainly for browsing and multimedia/some gaming, how future proof is this model? I feel the A10 fusion being a quad core chip helps future proof this device more.

Anybody who’s owned this from the get go please chime in!

 

[1rottenapple]

Future proof? Expect this ipad to work well for 1/2 a decade at the very least. You will be fine, though the new ipads are way more exciting than the previous design. Apple is designing these chips in their ipads and iphones that are way more powerful than the competition. They haven't realized their potential yet.

 

[1BadManVan]

Yea I can’t justify the insane prices right now. Especially in Canada, it’s way out there. $1000 starting price for the 11” pro, $1250 for the 12.9. The 64gb 10.5 is still $869 as well, and that’s all for wifi only models!

As much I love the design of the 10.5, for what I’m using it for, it’s literalt twice as much money and that’s not even for the 4g model which I need if I want to take it with me with work.

But good to know this will last me awhile. I have an old LG Gpad III tablet that I’m going to pass off to the kids for minecraft lol

 

[1rottenapple]

Ya I guess if you think about it. iPad last a while. The support is there for 5 years right? I’m not sure how long as I am not an iPad expect. More of an iPhone head myself. But they last for a while. But there’s trade offs. They cost more. You can seriously buy an amazon table for $80 but software support is lacking and I doubt it’s last 3 years without severe slow downs.

I’m waiting for the right iPad. Maybe the 12.9 new iPad but I’ll wait till the prices go down and if it’s useful for reading articles, policy, pdf for my job.

 

[rui no onna]

Ya I guess if you think about it. iPad last a while. The support is there for 5 years right? I’m not sure how long as I am not an iPad expect. More of an iPhone head myself. But they last for a while. But there’s trade offs. They cost more. You can seriously buy an amazon table for $80 but software support is lacking and I doubt it’s last 3 years without severe slow downs.

You can also buy Android phones for $30 but I don't think anyone here is rushing to replace their iPhones with those.

@UnLiMiTeD558
As far as longevity, I think at least 3 years of decent performance can be expected and at current rate, 5 years certainly seems feasible. It really depends on your tolerance level and the features they cram into newer iOS updates.

The Air is still supported but I personally wouldn't want to use it at this point in time. Everyone else in the household would be quite fine with it, though.

The Air 2 is 4 years old and still doing quite well but thus far, it's the exception rather than the rule. I know many folks like to tout the iPad 2 as a longevity model but I found it quite frustrating to use past iOS 7 even if it got supported until iOS 9. I felt it had worse performance than iPad Air today.

 

[1BadManVan]

I hear you, for me, I usually upgrade phone every 2 years once my contract is up. I have no idea how settled I would be on an iPad, if I would be ok for 3-5 years on it or would want to jump to the next after 2 years as well.

Unfortunately the 10.5 pro model is not on sale at all, it’s full price through my carrier. Where as the 2018 iPad is $250 off. So the difference between them is nearly $700.

The basic iPad is the 128gb model vs 256gb for the pro. 4gb of ram vs 2 gb

Are these differences in screen quality and performance worth that much?

 

[1rottenapple]

You can also buy Android phones for $30 but I don't think anyone here is rushing to replace their iPhones with those.

@UnLiMiTeD558
As far as longevity, I think at least 3 years of decent performance can be expected and at current rate, 5 years certainly seems feasible. It really depends on your tolerance level and the features they cram into newer iOS updates.

The Air is still supported but I personally wouldn't want to use it at this point in time. Everyone else in the household would be quite fine with it, though.

The Air 2 is 4 years old and still doing quite well but thus far, it's the exception rather than the rule. I know many folks like to tout the iPad 2 as a longevity model but I found it quite frustrating to use past iOS 7 even if it got supported until iOS 9. I felt it had worse performance than iPad Air today.

I can't believe my iphone 5s is still around. I'm gonna fix it actually. Heck I gave a iphone 4 to a gf mom and it WORKS!!!!!!! Iphone 4 people it still works 100%.

 

[rui no onna]

The basic iPad is the 128gb model vs 256gb for the pro. 4gb of ram vs 2 gb

Are these differences in screen quality and performance worth that much?

That's a very personal call. Do you have an Apple Store nearby? Maybe you can compare at least the display and UI performance in-store.
[doublepost=1541137456][/doublepost]

I can't believe my iphone 5s is still around. I'm gonna fix it actually. Heck I gave a iphone 4 to a gf mom and it WORKS!!!!!!! Iphone 4 people it still works 100%.

Lol, I have an OG iPhone that's used as an alarm clock.

 

[secretk]

I have been using the 2018 iPad (6th gen) for a month already. I bought it mostly for taking notes during work. For such specific and niche purpose I could not justify getting iPad Pro so I settled on the 2018 6th gen. I am completely newbie to the iOS and iPad experience so take this into account when reading below my review and impressions.

The display is not bad but not something super unique so I honestly would not use it for media consumption at home. I have better monitors/displays for that. I guess it could be used as a such when you are travelling, but I have not tried this yet. I do have to say that I find the display small for media consumption. The few times I tried I found it uncomfortable. I guess I need bigger and better screen.

The Notes app is unusable. It crashes every 3/4 days. The only way to fix this is to restart the iPad. Killing the app does not help. Switching off and on iCloud sync does not help either. And on top of it restarting the iPad means you have to pair again the pencil. You won't find this annoying if you don't want to use the iPad for notes taking and if you don't have the pencil.

Both Safari and Chrome do not handle properly the cases of multiple open tabs (say more than 4/5). It starts reloading and refreshing everything and it just does not work.

If you open too many apps you start noticing some lags and some apps become unresponsive. Luckily unlike the Notes app killing the others help and you don't need restarting the iPad.

In other words the iPad works for what I bought it - taking notes (as I can use OneNote). However if I get carried away (just like I do on any computer) then it is not that good. I can only imagine how worse it will get in the next 2 years. I don't care that much as the iPad is not my main device. I rely on my laptop mainly. So yeah just have in mind that you should treat this iPad as a primitive tablet and not as a powerful device because it's not powerful.

I also don't like the iOS experience. For me the OS is too cluttered, chaotic (settings menu is a complete mess) and restrictive for my usage. I have to go through 2-3 steps to do something that takes me just one step on my computer. I find this annoying. And yeah files management is just primitive. I like to open the same files in multiple apps and manipulate them differently. That's part of my regular workflow and that's not something I can do on the iPad easily.

If you like iOS you won't have issues with this. If you are OK with such usage then you will be fine with it. If you don't want to rely on this iPad to do something more than media consumption and occasional browsing and if you are OK with taking care to kill apps when you won't use them, killing tabs when you stop using them (I rarely do this on computer either) then this iPad works for you.

 

[1BadManVan]

The one reason I’m weighing on the pro a bit is the double the ram and the better, larger display for media consumption. I feel the ram will really help future proof it for hopefully more advance iOS updates down the road; It’s just the price difference. I’m financing it through the carrier for 0% over 24 months and can pay the tab off whenever I like

2018 iPad is $0 down and $19 a month for the 128gb

iPad Pro 10.5 256gb is $319 down and $37.50 a month

Keep in mind these are Canadian prices (rape) and for LTE models.

I want to wait for Black Friday but apple stuff never really goes on sale for that much up here and my carrier is offering 1gb bonus data (we also have no such thing as unlimited data here either)
[doublepost=1541139102][/doublepost]

I have been using the 2018 iPad (6th gen) for a month already. I bought it mostly for taking notes during work. For such specific and niche purpose I could not justify getting iPad Pro so I settled on the 2018 6th gen. I am completely newbie to the iOS and iPad experience so take this into account when reading below my review and impressions.

The display is not bad but not something super unique so I honestly would not use it for media consumption at home. I have better monitors/displays for that. I guess it could be used as a such when you are travelling, but I have not tried this yet. I do have to say that I find the display small for media consumption. The few times I tried I found it uncomfortable. I guess I need bigger and better screen.

The Notes app is unusable. It crashes every 3/4 days. The only way to fix this is to restart the iPad. Killing the app does not help. Switching off and on iCloud sync does not help either. And on top of it restarting the iPad means you have to pair again the pencil. You won't find this annoying if you don't want to use the iPad for notes taking and if you don't have the pencil.

Both Safari and Chrome do not handle properly the cases of multiple open tabs (say more than 4/5). It starts reloading and refreshing everything and it just does not work.

If you open too many apps you start noticing some lags and some apps become unresponsive. Luckily unlike the Notes app killing the others help and you don't need restarting the iPad.

In other words the iPad works for what I bought it - taking notes (as I can use OneNote). However if I get carried away (just like I do on any computer) then it is not that good. I can only imagine how worse it will get in the next 2 years. I don't care that much as the iPad is not my main device. I rely on my laptop mainly. So yeah just have in mind that you should treat this iPad as a primitive tablet and not as a powerful device because it's not powerful.

I also don't like the iOS experience. For me the OS is too cluttered, chaotic (settings menu is a complete mess) and restrictive for my usage. I have to go through 2-3 steps to do something that takes me just one step on my computer. I find this annoying. And yeah files management is just primitive. I like to open the same files in multiple apps and manipulate them differently. That's part of my regular workflow and that's not something I can do on the iPad easily.

If you like iOS you won't have issues with this. If you are OK with such usage then you will be fine with it. If you don't want to rely on this iPad to do something more than media consumption and occasional browsing and if you are OK with taking care to kill apps when you won't use them, killing tabs when you stop using them (I rarely do this on computer either) then this iPad works for you.

I haven’t used a laptop for over a year now, but my work requires no laptop or tablet, so this is purely for my own personal use. Mainly my portable device when I’m away from home, play games, watch movies, FaceTime family etc

 

[secretk]

The one reason I’m weighing on the pro a bit is the double the ram and the better, larger display for media consumption. I feel the ram will really help future proof it for hopefully more advance iOS updates down the road; It’s just the price difference. I’m financing it through the carrier for 0% over 24 months and can pay the tab off whenever I like

2018 iPad is $0 down and $19 a month for the 128gb

iPad Pro 10.5 256gb is $319 down and $37.50 a month

Keep in mind these are Canadian prices (rape) and for LTE models.

I want to wait for Black Friday but apple stuff never really goes on sale for that much up here and my carrier is offering 1gb bonus data (we also have no such thing as unlimited data here either)

Almost same here when it comes to prices and data limits. The prices are far higher than in USA and there unlimited data plans, but they still have limit for the fast internet. Everything afterwards is quite slow. And it's not that cheap either.

[doublepost=1541139102][/doublepost]
I haven’t used a laptop for over a year now, but my work requires no laptop or tablet, so this is purely for my own personal use. Mainly my portable device when I’m away from home, play games, watch movies, FaceTime family etc

You mentioning Facetime makes me believe that you might want to use it for video chats. If that's the case I suggest testing also the front camera of the 2018 6th gen iPad because the video quality there is rather poor. I don't video chat so it does not matter for me, but you might not like it.

Also the Pro has 4 speakers (compared to two in the regular one) and better display. This means that as far as media consumption goes you could be more satisfied with the Pro.

I know that the Pro is far more expensive. I am just trying to point out the differences that might matter to you. I would suggest to go to Apple store and test them both out and compare the experience.

 

[1rottenapple]

That's a very personal call. Do you have an Apple Store nearby? Maybe you can compare at least the display and UI performance in-store.
[doublepost=1541137456][/doublepost]
Lol, I have an OG iPhone that's used as an alarm clock.

Wow that’s cool. Let me know if you ever wanna sell it.
[doublepost=1541141835][/doublepost]

That's a very personal call. Do you have an Apple Store nearby? Maybe you can compare at least the display and UI performance in-store.
[doublepost=1541137456][/doublepost]
Lol, I have an OG iPhone that's used as an alarm clock.

Wow that’s cool. Let me know if you ever wanna sell it.

 

[1BadManVan]

I have

Almost same here when it comes to prices and data limits. The prices are far higher than in USA and there unlimited data plans, but they still have limit for the fast internet. Everything afterwards is quite slow. And it's not that cheap either.



You mentioning Facetime makes me believe that you might want to use it for video chats. If that's the case I suggest testing also the front camera of the 2018 6th gen iPad because the video quality there is rather poor. I don't video chat so it does not matter for me, but you might not like it.

Also the Pro has 4 speakers (compared to two in the regular one) and better display. This means that as far as media consumption goes you could be more satisfied with the Pro.

I know that the Pro is far more expensive. I am just trying to point out the differences that might matter to you. I would suggest to go to Apple store and test them both out and compare the experience.

played with both models every time I go to Costco and very much love that 10.5 model just for the display alone, I haven’t played with them in depth to know the performance difference

I just hope I won’t regret spending this much on last years iPad. The only reason I’m considering it is because it’s specs were overkill for last year and still seems to run great a year later. Even though it’s older than the 6th gen iPad, it’s specs make it more future proof

The new pros don’t really entice me much, I like a headphone jack for one on my tablets, plus the price is way way out there in Canada

 

[Hotpinkflamingoaz]

I’ve been using a 2018 iPad for over 6 months and I like it! I got it to use for procreate as it was pencil capable. I’ve watched movies on it, played games etc. Its obviously not a pro but I find it to be just fine for my needs! Do your research and test them out like others have suggested but lots of great deals on them right now!

 

[1BadManVan]

I’ve been using a 2018 iPad for over 6 months and I like it! I got it to use for procreate as it was pencil capable. I’ve watched movies on it, played games etc. Its obviously not a pro but I find it to be just fine for my needs! Do your research and test them out like others have suggested but lots of great deals on them right now!

In Canada the big deal is on the 6th gen right now through Rogers for $250 off. Where as the pro has no discount which is why the price difference is so extreme right now. I’m worried if I sit on it and wait that I’ll miss the deal and the pro won’t hit that big discount at all. But I don’t want to regret getting a lesser model

Sorry, big decision for me with a family of 5. Dad doesn’t get to get himself toys too often lol. Last iPad I had was an iPad 2
[doublepost=1541144356][/doublepost]You know what? That deal is too hard to pass up, $250 off an iPad? They are literally selling the 128gb lte model for almost $100 cheaper than the wifi only models anywhere else. $0 down and $19.54 a month with 0% interest for 24 months or $469 outright (Canadian prices remember this is regular $720 for us up here)

As much as I love to get the pro, it’s $469 vs $1219. Every review I’m reading and comparison is saying even at regular price for the 6th gen it’s the better buy over the pro.

Maybe they will have an awesome Black Friday deal later on and if it’s tempting enough i can sell the other one off and go that route. But I be crazy to pass up such a huge discount. Us Canadians don’t get deals like this too often lol
[doublepost=1541144820][/doublepost]

I’ve been using a 2018 iPad for over 6 months and I like it! I got it to use for procreate as it was pencil capable. I’ve watched movies on it, played games etc. Its obviously not a pro but I find it to be just fine for my needs! Do your research and test them out like others have suggested but lots of great deals on them right now!

I appreciate the feedback! I think the 2018 iPad makes way more sense for the price discount

If they were both on for $250 off I would jump on the pro.

 

[Hotpinkflamingoaz]

In Canada the big deal is on the 6th gen right now through Rogers for $250 off. Where as the pro has no discount which is why the price difference is so extreme right now. I’m worried if I sit on it and wait that I’ll miss the deal and the pro won’t hit that big discount at all. But I don’t want to regret getting a lesser model

Sorry, big decision for me with a family of 5. Dad doesn’t get to get himself toys too often lol. Last iPad I had was an iPad 2
[doublepost=1541144356][/doublepost]You know what? That deal is too hard to pass up, $250 off an iPad? They are literally selling the 128gb lte model for almost $100 cheaper than the wifi only models anywhere else. $0 down and $19.54 a month with 0% interest for 24 months or $469 outright (Canadian prices remember this is regular $720 for us up here)

As much as I love to get the pro, it’s $469 vs $1219. Every review I’m reading and comparison is saying even at regular price for the 6th gen it’s the better buy over the pro.

Maybe they will have an awesome Black Friday deal later on and if it’s tempting enough i can sell the other one off and go that route. But I be crazy to pass up such a huge discount. Us Canadians don’t get deals like this too often lol
[doublepost=1541144820][/doublepost]
I appreciate the feedback! I think the 2018 iPad makes way more sense for the price discount

If they were both on for $250 off I would jump on the pro.

You’re welcome For something that uses the pencil too it is a great deal!

 

[secretk]

In Canada the big deal is on the 6th gen right now through Rogers for $250 off. Where as the pro has no discount which is why the price difference is so extreme right now. I’m worried if I sit on it and wait that I’ll miss the deal and the pro won’t hit that big discount at all. But I don’t want to regret getting a lesser model

Sorry, big decision for me with a family of 5. Dad doesn’t get to get himself toys too often lol. Last iPad I had was an iPad 2
[doublepost=1541144356][/doublepost]You know what? That deal is too hard to pass up, $250 off an iPad? They are literally selling the 128gb lte model for almost $100 cheaper than the wifi only models anywhere else. $0 down and $19.54 a month with 0% interest for 24 months or $469 outright (Canadian prices remember this is regular $720 for us up here)

As much as I love to get the pro, it’s $469 vs $1219. Every review I’m reading and comparison is saying even at regular price for the 6th gen it’s the better buy over the pro.

Maybe they will have an awesome Black Friday deal later on and if it’s tempting enough i can sell the other one off and go that route. But I be crazy to pass up such a huge discount. Us Canadians don’t get deals like this too often lol
[doublepost=1541144820][/doublepost]
I appreciate the feedback! I think the 2018 iPad makes way more sense for the price discount

If they were both on for $250 off I would jump on the pro.

This is definitely an awesome deal . You are right. I am not sure that you get that much benefits to warrant the price difference. Especially now considering the discount. I hope that you like the iPad and it meets your needs!

 

[1BadManVan]

Just got back from picking up the 6th Gen, has to try 4 different stores since everyone was sold out lol.

 

[iapplelove]

I’m still using an iPad Air. For my needs it does the job well. And this was bought in 2013.

iPads go a long way, I’m finally upgrading this time around and expect another 5 years of solid performance.

 

[gsucyclist]

Just got back from picking up the 6th Gen, has to try 4 different stores since everyone was sold out lol.

I just went out today and picked up a 6th gen myself. I was still rocking an iPad mini 2 so this is a huge upgrade. I really wanted an iPad Pro, but just can’t justify that price for what I use it for which is sitting on the couch surfing the web and watching YouTube

 

[Jago]

I think basically all ipads released in recent memory (2018 pro, 2018 regular, 2017 pro) are going to serve you a stupidly long time (5 years or more) with pros having a slight edge for obvious reasons (the 2017 pro outperforms the 2018 regular ipad).

 

[1BadManVan]

So far very pleased with everything on it, no lag, nice and fast, the display looks awesome. Even though not quad speakers, still very loud.

My concern was about longetivity when I was considering the pros but seems I should be safe for a long time on this. I’m happy that it’s got the a10 as well, seems to be a furureproofed chip
[doublepost=1541215175][/doublepost]Geek bench is a bit higher than average from when I was reading up.

 

[Hotpinkflamingoaz]

So far very pleased with everything on it, no lag, nice and fast, the display looks awesome. Even though not quad speakers, still very loud.

My concern was about longetivity when I was considering the pros but seems I should be safe for a long time on this. I’m happy that it’s got the a10 as well, seems to be a furureproofed chip
[doublepost=1541215175][/doublepost]Geek bench is a bit higher than average from when I was reading up.

Yay! So glad you were able to grab one! Did you go with a pencil too or it’s not a need?

 

[1BadManVan]

Yay! So glad you were able to grab one! Did you go with a pencil too or it’s not a need?

Not a need for me right now, might pick up a second hand one just to play with it and let my wife try it, she’s the more artistic one of the two of us lol

Just looking at screen protectors and a case now before it leaves this house

 

[Hotpinkflamingoaz]

Not a need for me right now, might pick up a second hand one just to play with it and let my wife try it, she’s the more artistic one of the two of us lol

Just looking at screen protectors and a case now before it leaves this house

Totally get it! I bet you’ll find a good deal from someone upgrading though!!