256GB vs 512GB Storage

[eoblaed]

This is definitely a 'you know your use case/needs better than anyone' kind of thing.

I went with the 512GB because I have a tendency to carry lots of photos, videos, tv shows, and movies on my iPad, especially while traveling. With my previous 256GB iPP, I was always having to curate what I had on there to give my wife and I choices on viewing stuff.

 

[max2]

This is definitely a 'you know your use case/needs better than anyone' kind of thing.

I went with the 512GB because I have a tendency to carry lots of photos, videos, tv shows, and movies on my iPad, especially while traveling. With my previous 256GB iPP, I was always having to curate what I had on there to give my wife and I choices on viewing stuff.

Bingo.

 

[admob71]

This is how i made my decision.
I see the storage as 'hours of offline'.
So with 64 iPad, i can pretty much get ~40G of free space after regular documents and apps.
And for a decent quality movie, it's about 10G for 90minutes to 120minutes.
So 40G free space means 6-9 hours of offline watching.
I take a lot of long haul flights that are over 12/14 hours. So 64gb iPad is not enough to help me survive the flight. Therefore it's a no go.

However, 256 will give me more than 36 hours of offline playback, which will at least take a round-trip-trans-pacific-flight to consume. And i can delete/download/update in between flights, so 256 is enough for me.

For 512, first I don't *necessarily* need the extra 256gb. Yes i may want the extra 256 occasionally, but in that kind of rare circumstances, I'd put my money towards those wireless hard-drives (like wd, lacie, or even seagate), the same amount of money can bring me >2TB of space, which will also serve me as storage for my laptop (IF i bring one, thumbs up for iPad)

10 gig for a film, you are not classing 1080p as decent quality then.. a 90 min film is 1.5 gigs at full HD. Are you one of those bluray or nothing guys...

 

[rui no onna]

10 gig for a film, you are not classing 1080p as decent quality then.. a 90 min film is 1.5 gigs at full HD. Are you one of those bluray or nothing guys...

A 90 min film at 1.5 gigs is probably just 720p unless you're using HEVC to encode. Honestly, seems low even for 1080p HEVC.

For H.264, a 2-hour 720p movie clocks in at around 2GB for me. On 1080p, the same movie is around 4-5GB, iirc. Movies purchased through iTunes use even higher bitrates.

Blu-ray would actually be around 20-35GB.

 

[Aluminum213]

I currently have the 512GB iPad and wondering if this is too much, especially since the 256gb is $200 less. I'm wondering if I should exchange mine for the 256gb and save $200. I previously had an iPad Air 2 which had 128GB of storage and I literally had less than 1gb of storage left. I have about 50gb of music, 10gb of pictures (with another 300gbs in the cloud), 30+gbs of apps, 10+gbs of videos (I have a ton of movies in the cloud, but didn't have enough space to download more to my iPad). So with this in mind, I knew that when I upgraded I needed more storage. But even with downloading a few more videos, I don't see how I could possibly get to 512gb. I plan on keeping this iPad for the next 3 to 4 years, so wanted to make sure I had enough space.

For those who have the 256 or 512, what made you decide to get one vs the other? Do you see yourself using more storage with the new file system coming with OS 11?

I had a 128GB and used little more than half the space, with 256GB it's more than enough

512GB is something I'd recommend only to those that will make the iPad their main device and laptop replacement, otherwise it's overkill
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It's not only about how much you use, but the bigger the storage capacity the faster your iPad will perform. I highly recommend 512GB to everyone who wants the best iPad experience imaginable.

What's the speed difference? 1%?

 

[rufas2000]

I went with 512. I had 50 gigs free on my 256 but if I get more music (most of the storage is local music), have more games and programs etc. I might bump up against that. $200 now is better than 4 months from now wishing I had got 512 (actually 300 or so would about do it but alas, not an option).

 

[symphara]

I currently have the 512GB iPad and wondering if this is too much, especially since the 256gb is $200 less. I'm wondering if I should exchange mine for the 256gb and save $200. I previously had an iPad Air 2 which had 128GB of storage and I literally had less than 1gb of storage left. I have about 50gb of music, 10gb of pictures (with another 300gbs in the cloud), 30+gbs of apps, 10+gbs of videos (I have a ton of movies in the cloud, but didn't have enough space to download more to my iPad). So with this in mind, I knew that when I upgraded I needed more storage. But even with downloading a few more videos, I don't see how I could possibly get to 512gb. I plan on keeping this iPad for the next 3 to 4 years, so wanted to make sure I had enough space.

For those who have the 256 or 512, what made you decide to get one vs the other? Do you see yourself using more storage with the new file system coming with OS 11?

I got the 256. Since it's the LTE version and I also got AppleCare and the Logitech Slim Combo keyboard/case, it came to about $1000 which is just crazy expensive for a tablet.

I know the 512 is a bit faster for storage, but I really don't need that much. In fact, 128 would have done, 64 is too little - my music collection being the primary concern - and I couldn't find it in me to justify in any way spending another $200 on it, given I don't really need it to begin with...

 

[missbing]

I'm not 100% decided yet, but I'm leaning towards switching to the 256gb. I currently have about 95gb used (this includes my entire music library, some movies, a years worth of pictures and apps). I could probably get rid of 20gb of apps that I haven't used in years (I literally have over a hundred apps). I also just realized I don't really need my music on my iPad. Since I've had an iPad for 6 years now, I've probably listened to my music a hand full of times, since my library is also on my iPhone which is what I use to listen to music. The only thing I really need to store on my iPad is movies, photos and apps. This is the most I've ever spent on an iPad/laptop ($1700 with the ASK, pencil and case) and possibly another $100 for AppleCare if my home insurance doesn't cover it. So that's $1800.

Also, downgrading and saving that $200 would be easier to justify upgrading sooner. The more I spend, the more I have to justify keeping the iPad as long as possible.

 

[cdmoore74]

For the average power user (yes, I made that up) 256GB is just fine. But if you're a graphic designer transferring huge files that require space and a potential speed increase in transfer rates then get the 512GB. If you have money to burn then get the 512GB.

The only reason why I got the 256GB iPhone was because I had the belief it would arrive quicker during preorder which it did. But because I'm not a extreme power user I just got the 64GB 10.5". I'm happy with my decision. It all depends on your situation.

 

[MrGimper]

For the average power user (yes, I made that up) 256GB is just fine. But if you're a graphic designer transferring huge files that require space and a potential speed increase in transfer rates then get the 512GB. If you have money to burn then get the 512GB.

The only reason why I got the 256GB iPhone was because I had the belief it would arrive quicker during preorder which it did. But because I'm not a extreme power user I just got the 64GB 10.5". I'm happy with my decision. It all depends on your situation.

I’ve gotten the top storage on every iDevice I’ve owned. Now have 512gb cellular 10.5” and 256gb iPhone 7. I used 180gb on my 256gb 9.7 pro. I don’t need 512gb, but I like not having to worry about space and hindering any potential usage.

 

[rui no onna]

I'm not 100% decided yet, but I'm leaning towards switching to the 256gb.

Also, downgrading and saving that $200 would be easier to justify upgrading sooner. The more I spend, the more I have to justify keeping the iPad as long as possible.

In my case, storage is often a limiting factor. The more storage I get now, the less chances I'd need/want to upgrade sooner.

 

[cdmoore74]

I’ve gotten the top storage on every iDevice I’ve owned. Now have 512gb cellular 10.5” and 256gb iPhone 7. I used 180gb on my 256gb 9.7 pro. I don’t need 512gb, but I like not having to worry about space and hindering any potential usage.

If you need that type of local storage you should do it. I personally store all my media content on a 4TB hard drive connected to my router which me and my family can access anywhere. With unlimited data making a comeback and LTE speeds getting even faster that makes more sense in my case. I never store media on any of my devices; just stream from wifi, LTE, Netflix or Google music. Makes more sense for me to keep content I own in one location instead of being spread out over multiple computers, phones and tablets. Much more efficient that way at least for me.
I think it's better to beef up your router and network storage than spend money to get the top storage option each time you upgrade. Again everyone is different. Currently I have 4 desktops, 1 laptop, 2 Xbox One's, 2 PS4's, 3 iPhones, 2 Android phones and 2 tablets accessing 1 hard drive. My only rule is not get 32GB or below on any mobile device.

 

[MrGimper]

If you need that type of local storage you should do it. I personally store all my media content on a 4TB hard drive connected to my router which me and my family can access anywhere. With unlimited data making a comeback and LTE speeds getting even faster that makes more sense in my case. I never store media on any of my devices; just stream from wifi, LTE, Netflix or Google music. Makes more sense for me to keep content I own in one location instead of being spread out over multiple computers, phones and tablets. Much more efficient that way at least for me.
I think it's better to beef up your router and network storage than spend money to get the top storage option each time you upgrade. Again everyone is different. Currently I have 4 desktops, 1 laptop, 2 Xbox One's, 2 PS4's, 3 iPhones, 2 Android phones and 2 tablets accessing 1 hard drive. My only rule is not get 32GB or below on any mobile device.

You should mirror that drive

 

[Closingracer]

In my case, storage is often a limiting factor. The more storage I get now, the less chances I'd need/want to upgrade sooner.

If it wasn't a $200 upgrade I would of gotten the 512gb but it's not worth that premium IMHO. Gladly would of spent $850 though.

 

[rui no onna]

If you need that type of local storage you should do it. I personally store all my media content on a 4TB hard drive connected to my router which me and my family can access anywhere. With unlimited data making a comeback and LTE speeds getting even faster that makes more sense in my case. I never store media on any of my devices; just stream from wifi, LTE, Netflix or Google music. Makes more sense for me to keep content I own in one location instead of being spread out over multiple computers, phones and tablets. Much more efficient that way at least for me.
I think it's better to beef up your router and network storage than spend money to get the top storage option each time you upgrade. Again everyone is different. Currently I have 4 desktops, 1 laptop, 2 Xbox One's, 2 PS4's, 3 iPhones, 2 Android phones and 2 tablets accessing 1 hard drive. My only rule is not get 32GB or below on any mobile device.

Some of us already have dedicated 10+TB NAS or even full blown servers. That said, I wouldn't stream from the NAS to my mobile device over the internet. For one thing, that would be just frustrating on my ISP's 5 Mbps upload (max for residential).

 

[cdmoore74]

Some of us already have dedicated 10+TB NAS or even full blown servers. That said, I wouldn't stream from the NAS to my mobile device over the internet. For one thing, that would be just frustrating on my ISP's 5 Mbps upload (max for residential).

You gotta to do what you gotta do. Spring for that extra storage my man.

 

[rui no onna]

If it wasn't a $200 upgrade I would of gotten the 512gb but it's not worth that premium IMHO. Gladly would of spent $850 though.

I was looking at the 1st gen iPad Pro 12.9 256GB LTE back in March 2016 and that was $1229. It's the same price for the 2nd gen iPad Pro 12.9 512GB. I was prepared to pay that much for just an upgrade to A10X. The upgrades for 2017 were so much more significant than I expected.

 

[Closingracer]

I was looking at the 1st gen iPad Pro 12.9 256GB LTE back in March 2016 and that was $1229. It's the same price for the 2nd gen iPad Pro 12.9 512GB. I was prepared to pay that much for just an upgrade to A10X. The upgrades for 2017 were so much more significant than I expected.

Well I'm talking relative to the 10.5 and 2nd Gen 12.9 only. I'm not paying $200 more for a bigger tablet I already don't like or for storage for one upgrade up. Using Apple upgrade logic I would pay $949 for 1TB of storage not for 512gb.

My iPad pro 10.5 with Apple care and Apple pencil costed me around $980 after tax so adding around $230 for tax isn't worth it for me IMHO specially when it's not my only tablet or pc

 

[tivoboy]

Personally I got the 256 version. I wasn't even using 50% of my 128 go 9.7 and that had a ton of photos and movies on it. If there is any difference in speed between the 256 and 512 version you are likely to never notice it on any regular basis. For regular tasks I would wafer it is going to have ZERO measurable or noticeable effect. 200$ frets one a lot of nice additional accessories for the new IPad.

 

[shyam09]

Filled up my iPad to a little less than 50% of the 256 GB storage and I was questioning whether to splurge extra. I thought the extra $200 people were talking about here was the jump between 64 --> 512; so I gave it some thought. Now that I realize it's a $200 jump from 256->512, hell no.

Most of the stuff I have isn't necessary anyway - movies, books, comics, pdfs.

 

[Traverse]

256GB is plenty for me. I had 64GB for the longest time and then about 128GB for a year. 256GB seems ludicrous. I can fit 50GB of apps, 16GB of Music, 5GB of other, and 150GB of shows (hundreds) and then have 30-40GB to spare.

 

[mosesming]

Initially want to grab the 512GB one cuz I have so many songs to fill in, but the extra $200 just stopped me from buying this.
256GB is fine, I just downloaded all my songs from iCloud to my new 256GB iPad Pro, and still have 60GB left. Should have plenty of space for my videos.

 

[ipos]

Unless this is going to be your main laptop , go 256bg. Just nice with your wallet

 

[Dave245]

I think if you have a lot of video you like to keep with you I would go 512GB. Keeping a series like Game Of Thrones on your iPad will take up quite a bit of storage space for example, if you also have a lot of files that's another reason to go larger especially with IOS 11 Files app that will becoming later in the year.

 

[Analog Kid]

Everybody has different sensitivities to cost, so I can't really tell you how to spend your money. All I can do is share my personal preference which is that I tend to always maximize storage. My iPad is a convenience device for me, and I want it as convenient as possible. Time spent deciding what I can and can't fit is time wasted and that almost always happens when I'm trying to prepare for a trip of something when the time is most valuable to me.

Currently I have a 256GB iPad Pro, 9.7". I have most of the apps I'd like on it, all of my music at 128kbps, all of my books, a few photo albums, and just a subset of my movies and TV. I'd like to get my music encoded to 192kbps (I keep it stored lossless in iTunes, so it's just a change in dropdown selection), I'd like more of my photo library available, and I'd like to make less decisions when it comes to the movies I load.

Someone else could rightfully look at that set of priorities and ask "if you can't watch all the movies you have on there in one trip, then why are you spending $200 just to carry them around?". Valid point. For me, it's purely the value of convenience.