iPad Pro 64 GB or 256 GB

[pika2000]

To be honest, school notes and even ebooks don't take a lot of space. Plus you will want everything in the cloud anyway (OneDrive or Google drive) so you can share them easily with friends. Even 64GB is more than enough.

For school, I would put money on a laptop first. Although the iPad is increasingly productive, imo a laptop will get more mileage.

And let's be honest, life in university also includes games and torrents. Unless you already have a laptop, for the price of the 256GB iPad Pro, I rather prioritize a laptop first.

 

[lsutigerfan1976]

I have the 64gb. I couldn't imagine getting close to filling it up. Of course every person is different. I don't overload my iPad with games, apps, movies etc. I have enough cloud space if I need that also. So 64gb should do me fine for the next couple of years.

 

[OKLY]

I wonder if there are any difference in speed/performance? IIRC, the iPhone 7 had that issue with the base model 32GB having a significantly slower drive.

 

[rui no onna]

I wonder if there are any difference in speed/performance? IIRC, the iPhone 7 had that issue with the base model 32GB having a significantly slower drive.

Practically only when benchmarking. Higher speeds with higher capacities is pretty much par for the course when it comes to SSDs.

That said, for operating system performance, random small block read and write is more important and the different capacities are around the same there.

Really, where fast sequential performance would have been helpful is during backup/sync via iTunes through USB but Apple gimped that by not supporting USB 3 to Mac/PC.

 

[OKLY]

Practically only when benchmarking. Higher speeds with higher capacities is pretty much par for the course when it comes to SSDs.

That said, for operating system performance, random small block read and write is more important and the different capacities are around the same there.

Really, where fast sequential performance would have been helpful is during backup/sync via iTunes through USB but Apple gimped that by not supporting USB 3 to Mac/PC.

So in reality, people are only concerned about the benchmark numbers which most of the time isn't noticeable through day-to-day use?

 

[rui no onna]

So in reality, people are only concerned about the benchmark numbers which most of the time isn't noticeable through day-to-day use?

Unless your use case involves manipulating multi-GB files or transferring them to network storage via 802.11ac in no interference, lab-like conditions, then nope, not really noticeable.

For the most part network connection, random small block read/write, CPU and GPU will be the bottleneck in normal day to day use.

 

[Vidd]

I've never had space issues on my 64GB iPad Air 2 and the local Apple store only had the 64GB in stock, so the decision was made.

Really worried about the future-proof aspect of it, especially with all the new iOS 11 productivity features but I think it'll do for now. I've 25GB left on my iPhone which is laden with apps and photos so I think it'll do just fine...

...I hope.

 

[justinTlME]

I thought this was a no brainer at 256GB. It's expensive, but the 64 is expensive too. I wanted future proofing and Apple never gives 4x space upgrade for the mid. My wife originally ordered the 64 but when hers showed up yesterday we drove to the closest Apple Store and exchanged for the 256. Mine will hopefully arrive by Friday.

 

[wjcole]

I am in this dilemma myself, and new to the apple world, so not much to go on. I like the Samsung Tab S3, but have read lots of good things about apps, and environment in the ipads. Here is my thinking. Go with the 64. The newest ipad pro has transfer speed via the port that will work at USB 3 speeds. With an adapter you could quickly migrate stuff to external storage if needed. At least, that is how I am currently thinking about it.

 

[rui no onna]

I am in this dilemma myself, and new to the apple world, so not much to go on. I like the Samsung Tab S3, but have read lots of good things about apps, and environment in the ipads. Here is my thinking. Go with the 64. The newest ipad pro has transfer speed via the port that will work at USB 3 speeds. With an adapter you could quickly migrate stuff to external storage if needed. At least, that is how I am currently thinking about it.

Some clarification. iPad to computer via USB/Lightning cable is limited to USB2 speeds. iPad to, say, microSD via adapter is USB3 (assuming the microSD is fast enough to take advantage of USB3 of course).

 

[wjcole]

Is this true for all ipad versions (2016 ipad pro 9.7, 2017 ipad 9.7, 2017 ipad pro 10.5)?
[doublepost=1515346764][/doublepost]

Some clarification. iPad to computer via USB/Lightning cable is limited to USB2 speeds. iPad to, say, microSD via adapter is USB3 (assuming the microSD is fast enough to take advantage of USB3 of course).

Is this true for all ipad versions (2016 ipad pro 9.7, 2017 ipad 9.7, 2017 ipad pro 10.5)?

 

[rui no onna]

Is this true for all ipad versions (2016 ipad pro 9.7, 2017 ipad 9.7, 2017 ipad pro 10.5)?

None of the current iPads support USB3 to PC via Lightning cable. Someone's already tested on the 2nd gen iPad Pro 12.9 both via USB Lightning and USB-C Lightning.

I'm not sure which iPads support USB3 to microSD via adapter. The 2nd gen Pro 12.9, for sure. Dunno about the rest.

 

[Neodym]

Go with the 64. The newest ipad pro has transfer speed via the port that will work at USB 3 speeds. With an adapter you could quickly migrate stuff to external storage if needed.

I'd consider that too inconvenient in the long term (irrespective of USB speeds). iOS is not exactly designed to give good fine tuning options to the user, so it'd probably a bit cumbersome to regularly swap out data selectively.

I also expect storage needs to increase even more with more powerful CPU/GPU combos and even higher res panels in combination with AR becoming increasingly mainstream. Just watch the impressive AR demo from Apple's WWDC2017.

More disciplined people than me would probably delete and/or swap out unused data and apps and be fine with 64GB. But I prefer to buy convenience for a comparably moderate additional price and allocate my rare free time to something else .

 

[Jimbo Limbo]

On my iPhone I still have 97 GB left (128 GB Version)
But the thing is, I want to use the iPad for the university and I don't know, if the uni stuff will take too much storage. Like pdfs, a lot of notes etc. I want to go Apple only this year and I don't wanna use a normal notebook or anything like that but also I don't wanna delete anything if the storage is full after a half year. Sure I could get the 256 GB model but it's also pricier.

At University, your iPad will fill up faster than your phone has. You will offloading some stuff onto iCloud/Google Drive/Dropbox, but there are times when you need stuff to be right on your device.

Consider the LTE version of the iPad, and then somedays, you do not need to take the phone with you also.

 

[nburwell]

I went from a 128GB Mini to 64GB 10.5” Pro. Both iPad’s were only kept a quarter full since I primarily utilize iCloud for storage.

 

[unibility]

10.5" iPad Pro 512GB cellular myself.

 

[JCapps]

My last few iPads have sat around 100gb usage. Pictures, podcasts, movies, games etc. Even with internet everywhere i would think only having 64gb on a laptop type device would at some point turn into a major regret. Especially with apple starting to steer iPads towards pc replacements instead of just consumption devices. Who knows where this will go with iOS 12/13, if real local file storage comes sooner rather than later 64gb would be pretty crippling.

 

[DNichter]

I have 256, but definitely don't need it. I am moving towards the smallest available capacities on my iOS devices as I use the cloud for everything. I don't need the space.

 

[sparksd]

I went with 256GB on my 10.5. I've traveled to too many places where Internet access is either very dodgy or completely unavailable so I don't want to rely on the cloud.

 

[unobtainium]

64GB works for me. I use iCloud, Spotify, Netflix, etc.

 

[MjWoNeR]

I chose a 256GB iPhone but for iPads I always go for the cheaper, least space. I think my Air 2 is 16GB and I have no problems. I even have ~5GB free space.

This is because I use them differently. I never take the iPad out of the house for example, which means I use a lot of cloud services and streaming for entertainment.
I don’t sync photos/videos, or take photos with it either. If I want to go through my photos on a bigger screen that the iPhone I use the iMac.

The used space is taken solely by the 20-30 installed apps and games.

 

[Mack812]

I got the 256GB last year as I use it to store photos and ebooks. It’s always better to have too much storage space on your iPad than to have too little.