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One thing I wish was updated was the screen to a laminated one.

Still, I’ve been perfectly happy with the screen in my IPad 6th gen for the last 3 years, although that might have been a decisive upgrade IMO.
 
One thing I wish was updated was the screen to a laminated one.

Still, I’ve been perfectly happy with the screen in my IPad 6th gen for the last 3 years, although that might have been a decisive upgrade IMO.
I think it's really targeted toward students and the current screen is not only cheaper but cheaper to replace and works with existing accessories like the 1st gen pencil. I do agree that the current screen does not compare well to the screens on the Air and especially to the Pros. But, it's still a pretty darn nice looking and functional screen.
 
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There is something so beautiful and functional about the base iPad. Without all the bells and whistles of the Air and Pro, it feels so much more like a tool for getting things in life done. It doesn’t try to be anything.

I’m very tempted to upgrade from my 6th gen thanks to Center Stage, 12MP FaceTime camera, and True Tone (this is a massive reason). Also, the 6th gen doesn’t get the Siri and Maps features of iOS 15.

A nice perk is the silver-with-black faceplate of the 9th gen. It’s most likely a cost-saving measure on Apple’s part but it looks good!

When the base iPad gets P3 wide colour, that’s when I’ll be tempted to upgrade again.
 
Neat, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Do you plan to get a pencil or crayon to go with it? I can only speak for myself but being able to handwrite notes, highlight text, and markup photos definitely pushed the iPad into my main device, even though I really want a MacBook Air to go with it.

Not yet, but I'll see how much I use it and may add on. Mostly will use iPad for media/email/basic web browsing.

There is something so beautiful and functional about the base iPad. Without all the bells and whistles of the Air and Pro, it feels so much more like a tool for getting things in life done. It doesn’t try to be anything.

Great point, and it's another reason I went with base iPad. It just feels natural and I miss touch ID on iPhone. The higher tier iPad's are amazing for what they do- I just don't need all that myself.
 
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Haven’t had an iPad for a while since I sold my Air 2. I’ll probably get a 9th gen in silver. Mini screen is still too small for me. Air is nice but I’m cheap and the iPad is still just a secondary device for me for simple stuff: browsing, email, etc. Pros are too expensive any more.
 
biggest ipad 9 problem is 3Gb RAM. it is third generation with 3Gb RAM. ipad 7 with 3Gb RAM was good in 2019. ipad 9 in 2021 with 3Gb RAM... well, we have to see how it will perform with ipados 15, probably ok, but i have my doubts that ipad 9 will not face problems with further ipados iterations after 3-4 years.. what do you guys think?
 
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biggest ipad 9 problem is 3Gb RAM. it is third generation with 3Gb RAM. ipad 7 with 3Gb RAM was good in 2019. ipad 9 in 2021 with 3Gb RAM... well, we have to see how it will perform with ipados 15, probably ok, but i have my doubts that ipad 9 will not face problems with further ipados iterations after 3-4 years.. what do you guys think?
I think too much hootenanny is made of the RAM capacity. The fact that Apple just released this new generation iPad with 3GB RAM is an indication that it (3GB RAM) will be sufficient for at least 3-4 more years. iPadOS is mature. Apple isn't going to be adding more functionality to it that will drive the need for more RAM.

The "RAM is a limiting factor" countdown timer doesn't start with the first device at a particular RAM capacity level, but with the last. The time to start being concerned about 3GB RAM is when no currently sold model has 3GB RAM.

If the iPad 10th gen is released with 4GB, THAT would be the time to start being concerned about 3GB RAM.

The greater concern, IMO, has to do with poorly written/designed apps that don't use memory efficiently. Some of the most popular iPad OS apps are ones that use resources in an inefficient manner.
 
I think too much hootenanny is made of the RAM capacity. The fact that Apple just released this new generation iPad with 3GB RAM is an indication that it (3GB RAM) will be sufficient for at least 3-4 more years. iPadOS is mature. Apple isn't going to be adding more functionality to it that will drive the need for more RAM.

The "RAM is a limiting factor" countdown timer doesn't start with the first device at a particular RAM capacity level, but with the last. The time to start being concerned about 3GB RAM is when no currently sold model has 3GB RAM.

If the iPad 10th gen is released with 4GB, THAT would be the time to start being concerned about 3GB RAM.

The greater concern, IMO, has to do with poorly written/designed apps that don't use memory efficiently. Some of the most popular iPad OS apps are ones that use resources in an inefficient manner.

You'd hope so but both 13 and 15 got more bloated RAM-wise. Even 4GB gets to be pretty annoying for me as far as reloads and occasional Safari freezing on 13/14.

I only have 15 Beta installed on the iPad 7th gen (3GB) but that appears to be reloading even more often than the 6th gen (2GB) on 14.
 
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If you sold your 6th gen because you were tired of the design then why is the 9th gen even an option at this point? Besides a slightly bigger screen, it’s the same
 
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If you sold your 6th gen because you were tired of the design then why is the 9th gen even an option at this point? Besides a slightly bigger screen, it’s the same

I’m cheap, I like a good budget device and I don’t want to spend more than 600€ on a tablet after spending 800€ in the iPhone 12 earlier this year.

The Air is my dream device if it were 10.5 size. It’s just a tad too big and tall after coming from the 9.7 screen.

Summing all that I might buy the new basic iPad, since the mini is too small and the Pros too expensive.
 
I’m cheap, I like a good budget device and I don’t want to spend more than 600€ on a tablet after spending 800€ in the iPhone 12 earlier this year.

The Air is my dream device if it were 10.5 size. It’s just a tad too big and tall after coming from the 9.7 screen.

Summing all that I might buy the new basic iPad, since the mini is too small and the Pros too expensive.
You realize the air 4 is physically almost identical in size to the 10.5 design? It’s actually a bit shorter and 0.2 inches wider. I think you would be more then happy with it
 
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You realize the air 4 is physically almost identical in size to the 10.5 design? It’s actually a bit shorter and 0.2 inches wider. I think you would be more then happy with it

To me they are both just "big"

I loved the 9.7" size and the bezels for holding it -- just so comfy
 
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To me they are both just "big"

I loved the 9.7" size and the bezels for holding it -- just so comfy
I guess.. I had a 9.7 6th gen, then the air 4 and now the pro. I find the new gen just as easy to hold. My wife still uses my old 6th gen so I have access to it, was just using it today, don’t miss that design myself lol
 
You realize the air 4 is physically almost identical in size to the 10.5 design? It’s actually a bit shorter and 0.2 inches wider. I think you would be more then happy with it

Yeah I know. It’s just the feeling I get when holding it at the store. Since the screen is bigger I get the feeling that the device is bigger too, but it’s not, I know. Still, the taller screen is not ideal for me. A 10.5 I think would be the sweet spot.
 
Yeah I know. It’s just the feeling I get when holding it at the store. Since the screen is bigger I get the feeling that the device is bigger too, but it’s not, I know. Still, the taller screen is not ideal for me. A 10.5 I think would be the sweet spot.
I assume you mean 10.5 based on the new design? As it’s actually shorter then the current 10.5 models
 
I assume you mean 10.5 based on the new design? As it’s actually shorter then the current 10.5 models

The Air design with a 10.5 screen would reduce a little bit the overall package I think, making it more balanced for holding it with one hand.

Having the Pro 11 I don’t see the point in making the Air so similar in size, except for the accessories. Not everyone wants a huge tablet or something so small as the Mini.
 
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I'm still running fine on iPad 5 with no real degradation from the latest iPadOS. It's slated to accept iPadOS 15, so we'll see. But for me, the 9.7" form factor is ideal, and for now no compelling reason to upgrade to either 8 or 9.

What I appreciate is Apple's improvement in iPad longevity that hardly existed before. iPad 3 was unbearable shortly after the next couple releases of iOS. Now with the tweaking of iPadOS to manage older devices, it's amazing that a 4 generation-old iPad still works pretty well.
 
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The Air design with a 10.5 screen would reduce a little bit the overall package I think, making it more balanced for holding it with one hand.

Having the Pro 11 I don’t see the point in making the Air so similar in size, except for the accessories. Not everyone wants a huge tablet or something so small as the Mini.
Yea fair enough. My kids use the 10.5” Air 3 and love them. Got used to the size very quick after coming from 8” android tablets.
 
I will be getting the iPad 9 to replace my heavily used iPad Air 1 (8 years old) that’s becoming a bit too slow and having minor issues probably caused by the small amount of RAM (only 1 GB).

ipad 9 will probably be enough for my needs which is mostly reading a lot of investment related documents. The higher end iPads would not do that any better, although no doubt do a better job on photos, videos, and content creation.

Base 64GB iPad 9 probably enough for me as I don’t have a lot of media files, although the 256GB version is tempting.

I might wait a few weeks for some reviews on iPad 9 to see if it has any screen quality problems. My iPad Air 1 and iPad 2 were bought early and had screen issues and I wish I had waited a couple of months for early production problems to be fixed. Maybe now that Apple has more years of experience the first release devices will be perfect?
 
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I will be getting the iPad 9 to replace my heavily used iPad Air 1 (8 years old) that’s becoming a bit too slow and having minor issues probably caused by the small amount of RAM (only 1 GB).

ipad 9 will probably be enough for my needs which is mostly reading a lot of investment related documents. The higher end iPads would not do that any better, although no doubt do a better job on photos, videos, and content creation.

Base 64GB iPad 9 probably enough for me as I don’t have a lot of media files, although the 256GB version is tempting.

I might wait a few weeks for some reviews on iPad 9 to see if it has any screen quality problems. My iPad Air 1 and iPad 2 were bought early and had screen issues and I wish I had waited a couple of months for early production problems to be fixed. Maybe now that Apple has more years of experience the first release devices will be perfect?
Good plan, IMO. I have always made it a point of waiting 3-4 months before buying a new model (except for the 1st gen iPad, I pre-ordered that on day-1) for that very reason. I've never had an iPad that had a screen issue. (at least for the first few years of ownership... my 12.9 Pro started to suffer from touch disease which caused me to immediately trade it in before it became problematic).
 
So I decided to throw caution to the wind and bought the iPad 9 64GB on first day. Works great, very fast compared to the old iPad Air 1 which will be retained as backup.

At first I thought I got a bad screen or maybe it needed “break-in time”as the colors were very warm in comparison to my other LED screens, white pages looked slightly yellow/brown, but it was just the effect of True Tone, so I turned that off and colors look very good now.

Set-up went OK with almost everything copied by Bluetooth from the old iPad. However the process seemed to be hung, or maybe was just taking too long to transfer media files by BT, so instead I restarted set-up by copying from the iCloud backup of the old iPad, and that worked fine.

Got it at BestBuy paying most of the price with BB gift cards received in previous purchase deals there 2 and 3 years ago.

Interesting that almost all the new threads here in the iPad forum are about the latest iPad mini, but certainly the new iPad 9 is an excellent product.
 
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