iPad Cheapest iPad that's still worthwhile?

[spiderman0616]

Agreed. I'm a network admin, do most of my heavy lifting with my Surface Pro, but I use my base model iPad every single day. I use it as my computer at home (pay bills order online, etc), I even VPN into my office with it and use Remote Desktop, use Word, Excel, iCloud for my files, text, surf the web, email, music streaming, watching a movie or TV and so on. Not one time has this thing slowed down. It is the first device I pick up in the morning when getting my kid ready for school because she wants to know what the lunch menu will be that day (I like to save paper so the schools menu, in PDF, is easily saved and accessed on my iPad). It is a fantastic little device, and when iPad OS becomes mainstream, pair it with a mouse and keyboard and you have a mini computer (with a quad core processor) that runs iOS/iPad OS blazingly fast.

The "saving paper" aspect is so great, especially with the advent of the Pencil. We still get a lot of forms emailed to us from our kids' schools and little league teams asking to fill it out and return via email or on paper at school. Instead of doing any printing or scanning of any kind, I just mark it up right from the email attachment and email it right back. When I'm using Affinity Designer and need to sketch something out to get an idea of what I want to do, I sketch it out in Procreate first and import the sketch if needed instead of printing, scanning, and then importing.

I've actually been using my iPad as my main computer for years--it's been my preferred computing device ever since the iPad 2 in 2011. My employer gives me a new Mac every few years, and I will happily do my 9-5 job on their equipment instead of putting wear and tear on my own, but I would not replace it or miss it if they took it away. I'd just stick with my iPad Pro.

 

[mguzzi]

The 9.7 iPad Pro has a A9X chip which is as powerful as the non X "Graphics" A!0 chip. Plus it works with Apple Pencil has 4 speakers and uses the True Tone display.

 

[*~Kim~*]

I might well have picked up the 9.7” Pro myself had it come with more than 2GB RAM, which is the same RAM as in the older Air 2 and the newer base iPad models. If only it had 4GB like the 12.9” 1st Gen, I feel it would be worthwhile for a lot longer into the future. 1st Gen Pros also don’t seem to have a huge problem with the white spots like the 2nd Gen.

 

[spiderman0616]

I might well have picked up the 9.7” Pro myself had it come with more than 2GB RAM, which is the same RAM as in the older Air 2 and the newer base iPad models. If only it had 4GB like the 12.9” 1st Gen, I feel it would be worthwhile for a lot longer into the future. 1st Gen Pros also don’t seem to have a huge problem with the white spots like the 2nd Gen.

This seemed to be the biggest sticking point with a lot of people when the 9.7" came out. It had some display features that the first gen 12.9" model didn't have, but only half the RAM. Never ended up being a problem in my daily usage, but I don't know how well it holds up in 2019. I know that it was able to run Ferrite with no issues. I used to do a weekly podcast and would record all my local audio, edit and sync all the audio tracks, and export for publishing all right from Ferrite on the 9.7" iPad Pro and it worked flawlessly. As far as the finished product, I got better sound quality out of that 9.7" iPad Pro than I ever got from a Mac, and I didn't have to do a whole lot in the recording or editing phase to achieve that. I often wonder how the Affinity apps run on that first gen 9.7" Pro. I wasn't using them back then, but use them heavily now.

 

[rui no onna]

This seemed to be the biggest sticking point with a lot of people when the 9.7" came out. It had some display features that the first gen 12.9" model didn't have, but only half the RAM. <snip> I often wonder how the Affinity apps run on that first gen 9.7" Pro. I wasn't using them back then, but use them heavily now.

Well, I highly doubt the Pro 9.7 would perform worse than Air 2. That's the only other option back then at that size.

Granted, I'm not really fuzzed about longevity. The Pro 9.7 lasted me 3 years which was already longer than I expected. I use my iPads enough that I anticipate upgrading yearly and set aside ~$100/mo in the budget for it. The $1700 1TB LTE Pro 11 was unexpectedly way off budget. I'll likely wait until Apple restructures their storage tiers again or see if iPadOS + USB storage is a good enough alternative for my usage.

 

[spiderman0616]

Well, I highly doubt the Pro 9.7 would perform worse than Air 2. That's the only other option back then at that size.

Granted, I'm not really fuzzed about longevity. The Pro 9.7 lasted me 3 years which was already longer than I expected. I use my iPads enough that I anticipate upgrading yearly and set aside ~$100/mo in the budget for it. The $1700 1TB LTE Pro 11 was unexpectedly way off budget. I'll likely wait until Apple restructures their storage tiers again or see if iPadOS + USB storage is a good enough alternative for my usage.

I know it's not a popular opinion around here, but I feel the iPad is the most underpriced machine Apple makes. I know from many of your past posts that you like to go with larger storage than I do, so you may not be of that same opinion up at that end, but I often say I would pay double what they charge right now for any iPad Pro. I get that much usage and satisfaction out of it.

 

[wmitch]

I have the $249 entry Level iPad. It's a phenomenal device and cheap enough to be handed down to the kids if I upgrade. Had mine 6 months and use it constantly! have never had issues watching video, taking notes with the Apple Pencil, browsing the internet or using any other apps. Run Pages, Keynote & Numbers on it regularly

 

[Mainsail]

I have the $249 entry Level iPad. It's a phenomenal device and cheap enough to be handed down to the kids if I upgrade. Had mine 6 months and use it constantly! have never had issues watching video, taking notes with the Apple Pencil, browsing the internet or using any other apps. Run Pages, Keynote & Numbers on it regularly

I agree, and the stuff you listed are great examples of things you can easily do with a basic iPad It is really hard to beat the 2018 iPad on sale for $250. It its a great companion device. Also, when you go on vacation, it is nice to leave the laptop at home.

There are rumors that a new base iPad will be released this Fall, so that's another possibility.

 

[spiderman0616]

I have the $249 entry Level iPad. It's a phenomenal device and cheap enough to be handed down to the kids if I upgrade. Had mine 6 months and use it constantly! have never had issues watching video, taking notes with the Apple Pencil, browsing the internet or using any other apps. Run Pages, Keynote & Numbers on it regularly

It really is such a great deal. For me the Apple Pencil compatibility adds such value. I much prefer the Pro models by far, but if I had to go down to a base model for budget reasons or whatever else, having the Apple Pencil would make it easier to swallow. I would definitely miss the nicer audio, bigger/nicer screen, and FaceID though.

 

[rui no onna]

I know it's not a popular opinion around here, but I feel the iPad is the most underpriced machine Apple makes. I know from many of your past posts that you like to go with larger storage than I do, so you may not be of that same opinion up at that end, but I often say I would pay double what they charge right now for any iPad Pro. I get that much usage and satisfaction out of it.

Shhh... Don't give Apple any ideas.

I don't buy Macs because they're out of my price range. Personally, I find the iPads (bar 2018 Pro) to be the only ones reasonably priced while most other Apple products are overpriced (at least as far as my budget goes).

Granted, I'm not in the habit of selling my gadgets and tend to just pass them down to family (or use as backup/experimental device for iOS Betas, etc) so I don't recoup any of the purchase cost.

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

I haven't had an ipad since the first generation and generally don't need one. But due to an unreliable windows laptop being the only alternative to our iphones, we are considering picking up an ipad. The use case is minimal. It will be for web browsing on a larger screen. And for linking to an exercise bike to use the Trainerroad app.

As someone who always likes the 'best' gadgets I would love an ipad pro. But instead am considering going down the cheap route and getting the best value for money.

What would you consider the best buy at the moment to minimize spend? Is a 32 gig too limited (I expect so)? Are the older generation ipads fairing well or struggling with the latest OS?

I like how OP has gone MIA and the conversation/debate has gotten pretty intense. Haha.

As stated the current 6th gen iPad really is killer, especially for your use case, and can often be purchased for $250 (32gb) and $330 (128gb) if you find a deal. If you are ok with used then I would also recommend either the 5th Gen iPad or the 9.7” iPad Pro as possibilities. Those both have the A9 series chip (iPhone 6S series). I don’t think I’d recommend anything less than A9. If you follow these models you should be able to get a pretty capable device for under $300. Not bad if you ask me.

 

[Aydy]

Cool? From somebody who owned an Air 2, pro 10.5 and a 11 that is nothing ... who cares. It’s nice but 60hz panels are fine. You can’t even tell that much of a difference unless you’re looking for it

Sorry, but you really can tell. Obviously not something I’d miss had I not seen it in person, but side by side, it’s noticeable and imho, it actually sort of feels different. Navigating with PM feels incredibly slick.

 

[Closingracer]

Sorry, but you really can tell. Not so much if you don’t see it, but side by side, it’s noticeable and imho, it actually sort of feels different..if that makes sense?

Not everybody can or cares