iPad Air 3 opinions?

[nordique]

I think it’s a good machine but man the 10.5” pro is cheaper new at stores around here in Canada and is a much, much better purchase. The screen and speakers alone make the air 3 a nonstarter imo

A10X and A12 are more or less indistinguishable and the 10.5” has more ram.

The 120hz screen makes a HUGE difference


If you can find a 10.5” Pro, go with that

 

[Herrpod]

I think it’s a good machine but man the 10.5” pro is cheaper new at stores around here in Canada and is a much, much better purchase. The screen and speakers alone make the air 3 a nonstarter imo

A10X and A12 are more or less indistinguishable and the 10.5” has more ram.

The 120hz screen makes a HUGE difference


If you can find a 10.5” Pro, go with that

I tried numerous times and always ended up getting an iPad with bright glowing spots on the screen. The 10.5 is known for them apparently, so eventually I gave up and went with the Air 3. No issues whatsoever so far.

 

[AutomaticApple]

The screen and speakers alone make the air 3 a nonstarter imo

This is a child with autism we’re talking about. They wouldn’t care about the speakers.

 

[Shirasaki]

Here's what I've learned - Apple products, like ALL products are unreliable. I have the iPad Air3 and am very pleased. However, the more Apple moves to wireless solutions, the more it fails. I have had very, very bad experiences with such on my iPhone. For example, when my iPhone syncs with iTunes on the computer wirelessly throgh Wi-Fi, half the time it butchers the podcasts I've downloaded, by only downloading half of each podcast which is extremely frustrating if you are listening to a podcast while jogging and suddenly your podcast quits and starts over again in the middle.

The solution: use a cable to hook up the iPhone to the computer. Reality: Wi-Fi syncing is garbage (for me). Wireless FAIL!

Next - I have bluetooth earbuds (not Apple) - those worked fine for about a month, then randomly quit working. Nothing I did brought them back. So I switched to wired earphones (Apple ones). THANK GOD the iPhone 6S (which I have) has a headphone jack. So, reality: Bluetooth connectivity is garbage (for me). Wireless FAIL!

Next - external keyboard (not Apple) - same FAIL story as with earbuds - keyboard worked for awhile, then stopped. THANK GOD I have an Apple ASK - even if it doesn't do portrait orientation which is what I used the bluetooth for. So, reality: Bluetooth connectivity is garbage (for me). Wireless FAIL!

And so on. Seemingly we're making progress, getting rid of wires, but as we all know, it's just another vector for failure to occur (recently my bluethooth Apple Magic Keyboard started failing to connect with my iMac).

The fact is, as these things get increasingly complex, they also increasingly fail. Which is why I like to have options, such as wired solutions, headphone jacks and so on. The more Appple removes such options, the more you're left up the creek with no paddle when the *inevitable* failure occurs.

Which is why I never rely exclusively on iCloud or cloud services, instead like to have my files also kept locally - I've had cloud failures before, where syncing failed or updates didn't occur when I was counting on them. That's a big reason why I bought the 256GB version of the Air3, because I simply will not rely on iCloud as it will INEVITABLY fail at some point. Yet, more and more Apple is pushing iCloud only apps and solutions.

Apple - and everyone else - is moving more and more toward unreliability, and I'm trying to fight it as much as I can.

I find the Air3 more reliable than the iPad Pros in various configurations, what with their screen problems and various other nonsense for which I refuse to pay a premium.

FOCUS ON RELIABILITY PLEASE, APPLE!!!!

While I feel your rant here is slightly off topic, I strongly agree all points. The sad truth is, very few cares about reliability, only fancy new cutting edge tech that barely last a year, as soon as it is not broken. I am kinda surprised cause quite a few of them don’t have easy throwaway cash.

As for wireless connectivity issue, yes, wireless IS unreliable, by design.

There is no business for Apple to make more reliable products.
If it last two years that plenty enough by Apple (and other corporations) standards.
year after year products are more and more unreliable and „repair proof”...

Yeah, throwaway culture. And people are enjoying it.
Because there is no need for repairing the device, engineers can spend zero time optimising their Bad or lazy design until something terrible has already happened. Can’t blame engineer too much though.

 

[musicpenguy]

If you can find a 10.5” iPad Pro I think that is a slightly better iPad for a similar price, but the Air 3 is overall great.

 

[Herrpod]

If you can find a 10.5” iPad Pro I think that is a slightly better iPad for a similar price, but the Air 3 is overall great.

If you can spare the extra 100 dollars, you can now get a comparable iPad Pro 11 inch at Best Buy during their Black Friday in July sale.

 

[Shirasaki]

If you can spare the extra 100 dollars, you can now get a comparable iPad Pro 11 inch at Best Buy during their Black Friday in July sale.

Given the context of OP’s situation though, iPad Pro 11” would be overkill. 8yr old does not need bleeding edge tech.

“One can go from poor to rich easily, but difficult other way around”.

 

[rui no onna]

If you can spare the extra 100 dollars, you can now get a comparable iPad Pro 11 inch at Best Buy during their Black Friday in July sale.

Note, Air 3 LTE is $630 MSRP ($31.50/20 months) while Pro 11 LTE is $800 already discounted ($950 MSRP). No discount on Pro 11 if using AT&T Next.
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“One can go from poor to rich easily, but difficult other way around”.

Lol, I believe that should be the other way around.

 

[Shirasaki]

Lol, I believe that should be the other way around.

Actually, what I want to highlight here is the mentality. Like, after enjoying lavish lifestyle for a couple of years, one can hardly adapt to a budget lifestyle which counts every single cents just to meet the end of line.

 

[rui no onna]

Actually, what I want to highlight here is the mentality. Like, after enjoying lavish lifestyle for a couple of years, one can hardly adapt to a budget lifestyle which counts every single cents just to meet the end of line.

"A luxury, once enjoyed, becomes a necessity."

Certainly, my monthly cellphone bill is $170 (4 phones + 1 tablet) without any device payments when it used to be $100 but I just can't imagine going back to the days of flip phones where all you use the phone for are calls and texts.

For that matter, I can't imagine giving up running water, hot showers, air conditioning and fast internet. Funnily enough, we didn't have any of those while growing up.

 

[littlepud]

I ended up settling on the Air 3. I think it’s a great device. I sort of miss the stereo speakers but the Air form factor just seems more tried and tested, plus it’s cheaper.

 

[ssledoux]

This is a child with autism we’re talking about. They wouldn’t care about the speakers.

Actually, the new iPad is not for a child with autism. I am replacing my oldest grandson’s iPad, so we can give his 6th gen with LTE to his little brother who is on the spectrum (mainly because he gets frustrated if he can’t do things when there’s no wifi, and he doesn’t understand WHY he can’t).

Bought the Air 3 and let my grandson come over and “unbox” it yesterday. He’s super excited, and it’s quite a nice little device that I’m sure no 8yo really needs, but it’s his only tech-y thing, and I’m happy I’m able to do this for him and all the grandkids.

 

[AutomaticApple]

Bought the Air 3 and let my grandson come over and “unbox” it yesterday. He’s super excited, and it’s quite a nice little device that I’m sure no 8yo really needs, but it’s his only tech-y thing, and I’m happy I’m able to do this for him and all the grandkids.

Aww, that’s sweet!

 

[Herrpod]

Actually, the new iPad is not for a child with autism. I am replacing my oldest grandson’s iPad, so we can give his 6th gen with LTE to his little brother who is on the spectrum (mainly because he gets frustrated if he can’t do things when there’s no wifi, and he doesn’t understand WHY he can’t).

Bought the Air 3 and let my grandson come over and “unbox” it yesterday. He’s super excited, and it’s quite a nice little device that I’m sure no 8yo really needs, but it’s his only tech-y thing, and I’m happy I’m able to do this for him and all the grandkids.

All my grammy ever gave me was hard candies. Blech! But also lots of hugs. Can't watch Netflix on hugs though. Great gift!

 

[nordique]

This is a child with autism we’re talking about. They wouldn’t care about the speakers.

I believe op mentioned not for the child he was getting the air 3 for

Regardless, doesn’t change the 10.5” pro has some strengths over the new air 3, and *if* someone can find them new, given that they tend to be the same price or cheaper (50$ cheaper over here), they are overall much better value than the air 3 - so a consumer should have that information to make the decision

Looks like op went with the air 3 which is perfectly fine!

I tried numerous times and always ended up getting an iPad with bright glowing spots on the screen. The 10.5 is known for them apparently, so eventually I gave up and went with the Air 3. No issues whatsoever so far.

Ah that’s fair. Never had that issue on 3 separate iPad Pro 10.5” models, didn’t realize it was an issue

In the end, 120hz display makes the 10.5” pro worth it if someone is debating between the two, not just from using the device for general purpose or media consumption but most importantly for a better, more fluid, more accurate, more lifelike Apple Pencil experience

 

[QCassidy352]

There is no business for Apple to make more reliable products.
If it last two years that plenty enough by Apple (and other corporations) standards.
year after year products are more and more unreliable and „repair proof”...

Do you find apple's products to be unreliable? That has not been my experience at all. My 2.5 year old iPhone 7 works like new. My iPad Air 2 was 4.5 when I sold it (got an unbeatable deal on an Air 3), and it worked like new. My MBP is pushing 6 years and basically functions like new also. My Time Capsule is nearly 10 (!!) and both the hard drive and router function as normal.

I think it’s a good machine but man the 10.5” pro is cheaper new at stores around here in Canada and is a much, much better purchase. The screen and speakers alone make the air 3 a nonstarter imo

A10X and A12 are more or less indistinguishable and the 10.5” has more ram.

The 120hz screen makes a HUGE difference


If you can find a 10.5” Pro, go with that

I prefer the Air 3 for the A12, no (known) white spot issue, and no camera bump on the back. Don't care at all about the speakers, and the 120hz is nice, but I've never had a screen with that so don't feel like I'm missing out. Maybe it's hard to go back after you have it?