Hi all! I am in a little bit of a weird (though very fortunate) predicament: my college is issuing free iPad Pro 2020s (with Pencil and Magic Keyboard) to all of their students, including me. Obviously, this makes the Air 3 I bought this time last year a little bit redundant as the Pro is going to be better in a lot of ways. The question is therefore whether it is worth keeping my iPad Air 3 - I still really love it and I have spent $200ish on accessories for it recently, so I have invested in it. Would it be best to keep the Air for personal stuff and use the Pro solely for work - if anyone with experience with iPad device management wishes to weigh in, that will be great. We also get the option of buying the iPad back for $1 once I graduate in a year’s time, which also adds complexity to my decision. It‘s a “first world problem” for sure, but if anyone wants to weigh in that would be highly appreciated! 😂😃
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iPad Pro Getting college-managed iPad Pro for free - is it worth keeping my Air 3?
- Thread starter jafico1
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For me, it would depend on a few things:
1) Will you have the option of just keeping or purchasing the one your school gave you after a certain amount of time
passes? EDIT: Sorry--didn't see your comment that you DO have the option of buying it later. I would definitely get rid of the Air 3 and roll with the 2020 Pro in that case.
2) Are you allowed to log in to the college issued iPad with your own Apple ID?
3) How locked down is the school issued iPad? Are you allowed to do all your personal stuff on it too?
Even if it's not an option to eventually purchase or just keep the iPad Pro eventually, if you're able to log in to your personal ID with it, that means you can create a backup when you have to give it back, and then get whatever the new shiny model is at that time and restore it from your school iPad's backup.
Long story short: I don't think it's worth it to have two iPads if you more or less have full freedom on the iPad Pro your school gave you. In that situation, I'd be selling the Air 3 and all the accessories on Swappa, using the school iPad as long as I can, and then either buying it from the school later or buying my own and restoring it from backup later. But if the school iPad is super locked down, I would just keep the Air 3 as my personal machine.
1) Will you have the option of just keeping or purchasing the one your school gave you after a certain amount of time
passes? EDIT: Sorry--didn't see your comment that you DO have the option of buying it later. I would definitely get rid of the Air 3 and roll with the 2020 Pro in that case.
2) Are you allowed to log in to the college issued iPad with your own Apple ID?
3) How locked down is the school issued iPad? Are you allowed to do all your personal stuff on it too?
Even if it's not an option to eventually purchase or just keep the iPad Pro eventually, if you're able to log in to your personal ID with it, that means you can create a backup when you have to give it back, and then get whatever the new shiny model is at that time and restore it from your school iPad's backup.
Long story short: I don't think it's worth it to have two iPads if you more or less have full freedom on the iPad Pro your school gave you. In that situation, I'd be selling the Air 3 and all the accessories on Swappa, using the school iPad as long as I can, and then either buying it from the school later or buying my own and restoring it from backup later. But if the school iPad is super locked down, I would just keep the Air 3 as my personal machine.
1) Definitely tempting, especially when I get an upgraded iPad for $1 😜
2 + 3) I don’t know until I get it, I suppose. I have, however, used multiple college-managed MacBook Pros in the past as loaner laptops while my MBP 15 (previous laptop before I got a 16 from Apple) was being repaired, and these were very ”loosely“ managed - I could log in to iCloud fine, and they even used a utility to give me admin permissions if and when I needed them (as a CS major I do need them a lot!). I hope, then, that device management will be fairly permissive.
My only argument against using the school’s iPad is privacy - can the managing organisation see your activity on the iPad (websites/apps/etc)? If privacy isn’t a concern and I am free to do what I want with the iPad, then I will definitely look at selling the one I am using right now (I may give my mum/brother my keyboard and new sleeve as they have 10.5 Pros).
My work Mac is managed through JAMF. Is that what they’re using for your iPad? If so, there’s actually a lot they still can’t see as far as your private info. I see where you’re coming from for sure though as far as them snooping your data.
Either keep them both and have them completely separate by function study / private or get rid of the Air 3. Maybe just give it a month or so and analyze your usage patterns then.
If you don’t know anybody else who wants to buy your old iPad and you run out of family members that could make use of it, consider a donation to somebody with maybe a little less fortune.
If you don’t know anybody else who wants to buy your old iPad and you run out of family members that could make use of it, consider a donation to somebody with maybe a little less fortune.
Thanks to everyone for their feedback - it is much appreciated! I think I am going to wait and see what the college issued iPad is like until I decide what to do with my Air – there’s going to be some issues getting it here anyway as I am currently in the UK because of COVID. I’m honestly still shocked at the generosity of the college in the first place - especially as I am on a scholarship and pay nowhere near full tuition! It’s probably a win-win situation regardless to be honest.
Hopefully my college will sort out a way to get the iPad to me without me having to pay loads in VAT and customs fees - could they buy mine through the UK Apple store or something like that?
Sent from my iPhone so apologies for any mistakes.
Hopefully my college will sort out a way to get the iPad to me without me having to pay loads in VAT and customs fees - could they buy mine through the UK Apple store or something like that?
Sent from my iPhone so apologies for any mistakes.
Great situation to be in
Will it be your primary computer? If so, having another iPad next to it in tablet/scribbling mode with the pencil would be good. I have a work laptop, and use my iPad to organise things and scribble notes down, glad to have both devices.
Alternatively, consider a work/Study/focus device, and a relax/fun device for home.
Will it be your primary computer? If so, having another iPad next to it in tablet/scribbling mode with the pencil would be good. I have a work laptop, and use my iPad to organise things and scribble notes down, glad to have both devices.
Alternatively, consider a work/Study/focus device, and a relax/fun device for home.
Great situation to be in
Will it be your primary computer? If so, having another iPad next to it in tablet/scribbling mode with the pencil would be good. I have a work laptop, and use my iPad to organise things and scribble notes down, glad to have both devices.
Alternatively, consider a work/Study/focus device, and a relax/fun device for home.
That’s the issue in a lot of ways - I can’t really program on my iPad so my primary device is my 16” MBP. I use the Mac as a primary work device for typing etc, but my iPad as a secondary device - it works well for light Word use, web, Sidecar etc, but as a CS major, it is quite difficult to program on it (there are online IDEs like repl.it for Java for instance, but it’s no replacement for a Mac/PC). I’ve tried programming on an IPad before (currently working on a compiler), as my laptop is currently being repaired, but I’ve had to resurrect my Samsung laptop from 2010 because it’s just easier. There’s probably space for only one iPad right now in my workflow as a result.
Yeah wait first. We use Jamf and intelligent hub on mobile devices. We can limit wallpaper change, push out our apps, limit settings, lock down the Apple ID I believe, and a few other things. We don’t check website usage, we respect privacy. We just use management to push our apps and prevent users from installing unnecessary stuff on the company iPads.
Personally I wouldn’t use any kind of device that was supplied by an organisation such as work or college for personal uses.
If I were in your position I’d keep the air for personal usage and consider keeping the pro after graduation if you know for certain that it has been properly removed from their management system and is them safe to use.
If I were in your position I’d keep the air for personal usage and consider keeping the pro after graduation if you know for certain that it has been properly removed from their management system and is them safe to use.
Thanks again to everyone - I think the best thing to do would be to wait and see how the iPads work - the wording is a little unclear on whether it will be completely managed or if it’s just to do with licensed app installation etc.
If the Pro is not too restricted, it looks like I may sell the Air: I still have my MacBook and iPhone as personal devices, and perhaps I gave up some control anyway as I enabled Exchange on them. It can be my personal iPad after a year anyway (as I am a senior)!
If the Pro is not too restricted, it looks like I may sell the Air: I still have my MacBook and iPhone as personal devices, and perhaps I gave up some control anyway as I enabled Exchange on them. It can be my personal iPad after a year anyway (as I am a senior)!