iPad iPad 6th Gen to iPad 8th Gen: worth the small upgrade cost?

[scottSE]

Hey. I’m a guy who tends to like seeing what the low end offers, and holding onto tech until it no longer gets software updates - but I’m tempted by the low cost of the new iPad.

Apple will give me £140 for my current iPad. For day-to-day usage, do you folks (preferably with experience of this upgrade) reckon £189 (plus the £49 Smart Cover) is worth the upgrade?

Improvements:
- larger screen
- extra 1GB RAM (bringing support for 3 active apps at a time)
- Smart Connector (although this only opens up a path to spending more money)
- faster processor
- 20w USB-C cable/charger in the box
- a different colour

Cheers!

 

[james10in]

well tbh, there is no significant difference with the screen quality ( only half a inch of screen size )
you wont feel much improvement moving from A10 to A12 on daily tasks, multi tasking is going to far better than a10.
which comes along with extra 1gb ram.

My say : if you are a multimedia consumer, social media, reading, then I dont see what you will gain with this upgrade bcz this involves display quality which has been same..

you may refer to this video

 

[Lerten]

If you have the means, I would go for it. Mostly because of the A12 performance and extra ram.
Larger screen doesn’t hurt with media consumption as well.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I would go for it. It’s only a small cost to upgrade as you say. If you use it for gaming at all you will notice the difference in performance and you will now be able to use the Smart Keyboard with it. You can also consider the Logitech keyboard with a built in track pad and backlit keys.


Also faster charging.


I think you will notice the change in screen size too.

I upgraded first from the iPad Air 2 to the iPad Pro 10.5 and then from the 10.5 inch pro to the 11 inch iPad Pro and I noticed the difference in screen size too.

 

[secretk]

I have 6th gen iPad and for single task users I think that it is great. Problem is I am not single task user. I am multi task user. I would put Spotify on, chat with friends over skype while reading a book in Apple Books. Or I will read a book in Apple Books and then go through my highlights there to create handwritten notes in Notability. I tend to have between 15 and 20 open tabs in Safari.

And for this the 6th gen struggles. I have experienced often enough app crashes (Apple Books mostly). I have seen far too much tabs reloading. And I do not even game. I cannot imagine what happens if people game on top of what I mentioned so far. So I do believe that iPad 8th gen would help in this regard - more RAM, new CPU.

Now I got iPP 2018 so I don't need the 8th gen but I so appreciated the better CPU and the more RAM. I am still experiencing some crashes and reloads but it is a lot less often and I can truly be multi tasks user. I had stopped using my 6th gen for something other than Notability because the multi tasking sucked so much.

 

[ian87w]

Imo only upgrade for getting a fresh new battery (normal price for battery replacement only: $99) or if you want larger screen. I doubt that the A12 will give any significant difference in day to day normal use versus the A10. Personally, if the current iPad is not giving you problems, I would probably wait it out for 2021. Seems like Apple is now refreshing the iPads of a yearly basis, and maybe next year they will convert the basic iPad into the new form factor with USB-C.

 

[Torty]

I have 6th gen iPad and for single task users I think that it is great. Problem is I am not single task user. I am multi task user. I would put Spotify on, chat with friends over skype while reading a book in Apple Books. Or I will read a book in Apple Books and then go through my highlights there to create handwritten notes in Notability. I tend to have between 15 and 20 open tabs in Safari.

Sounds it’s more a RAM issue than CPU. A10 is dual core not Single Core and stuff like chatting, reading or listening to music is not cpu demanding at all.

 

[Joplin]

I also have the 6th generation iPad and I’ve been pondering just like you if an upgrade to the 8th gen would be worth it. As you mention the cost would be fairly minimal.

Watching these announcements we get all excited and because the A12 is still a very fast chip, and the extra RAM and the slightly bigger screen, well, it all feels so nice to have!

But of course that is exactly what companies like Apple want. For me the real question is: is there anything I want to do with my iPad that I can’t do with my current one? I use it for reading newspapers, browsing, Spotify, Garageband and sometimes Netflix.

The most resource intensive app is Garageband and that works just fine. Sure, I get ocassional tab reloads in Safari (esp. YouTube through Safari) but honestly it‘s nothing problematic (plus there are still people with higher end iPads that have this issue once in a while).

Imo only upgrade for getting a fresh new battery (normal price for battery replacement only: $99) or if you want larger screen. I doubt that the A12 will give any significant difference in day to day normal use versus the A10. Personally, if the current iPad is not giving you problems, I would probably wait it out for 2021. Seems like Apple is now refreshing the iPads of a yearly basis, and maybe next year they will convert the basic iPad into the new form factor with USB-C.

Totally agree with this poster. Do you ever feel as if the A10 is really choking? I don’t. I can’t imagine the A12 would be that noticeable day to day. Sure, having the devices side by side there’s a slight performance edge on the A12, but who cares if the A10 is still perfectly fine?

Why not keep using our device until it no longer does what we need from it? I decided to be happy with what I have and use it until it does not function well anymore. And while the resale value of our 6th gen iPads will drop a little the coming years, the price/performance ratio of an upgrade we do in 2021 or 2022 will still be a lot better than what we get by upgrading to the 8th gen now.

Browsing a lot of forums and Reddit these past few days it’s kind of astonishing how a lot of people recommend the Air or even a Pro if people say they want to use their iPads for basic stuff and maybe some drawing. These base iPads really are great nowadays and I think the 6th gen holds up perfectly well in 2020 for most tasks.

 

[*~Kim~*]

£140 seems a good price for the 6th Gen for a trade in, depending on the configuration, as there are now two models later than it. It seems tempting to grab it while it lasts. By comparison when I went onto the Apple Store app the other day it says I could get up to £170 for my 64GB Cellular Mini, which is still a current model.

I wouldn’t have recommended a 6th to 7th Gen upgrade last year as the processor was the same, but now you get extra screen, the extra RAM and 2 generations forward in the processor. I suppose the equation is do you feel that the better deal is a decent price for yours and upgrading now, or losing more money on yours and skipping another model?

If a 9th Gen gets USB-C etc the base price is likely to go up (looks like £100 if it goes the same way as the Air), perhaps they will keep selling the 8th alongside for education users et al.

 

[AutomaticApple]

Hey. I’m a guy who tends to like seeing what the low end offers, and holding onto tech until it no longer gets software updates - but I’m tempted by the low cost of the new iPad.

Apple will give me £140 for my current iPad. For day-to-day usage, do you folks (preferably with experience of this upgrade) reckon £189 (plus the £49 Smart Cover) is worth the upgrade?

Improvements:
- larger screen
- extra 1GB RAM (bringing support for 3 active apps at a time)
- Smart Connector (although this only opens up a path to spending more money)
- faster processor
- 20w USB-C cable/charger in the box
- a different colour

Cheers!

If I were you, I would take a look at this video.

 

[TVreporter]

I've got the 6th generation (128GB) and out of curiosity checked to see what Apple might offer on a trade in... $170 Canadian.
Disappointing.

Kids mainly use it — think I'll hold off on updating it. My wife and I use the 2019 iPad Air (64GB) which we bought back in March just as the pandemic hit.

Apple is offering a pathetic $240 Canadian for it. I paid $730 ($820 with AppleCare).

Ridiculous and an insult to my wallet!

 

[*~Kim~*]

Their trade in values do seem to have gotten worse, at least in certain countries. I think they were offering £30 for my iPad 3 16GB Cellular in April 2019. Looking at the £170 they offer on a device they currently sell new for £519, it’ll be worth nothing by the time it has been out for 7 years.

 

[Mainsail]

Sounds it’s more a RAM issue than CPU. A10 is dual core not Single Core and stuff like chatting, reading or listening to music is not cpu demanding at all.

I fully agree. For common day to day tasks, the iPad processors have out distanced the software for years. I had a 3rd gen iPad Air with A12 and 3GB RAM, and now have a 7th gen iPad with A10 and 3GB RAM. Honestly, for my purposes, I didn’t notice a difference in performance.

If you have a 6th gen or older with 2 GB RAM or less, the upgrade might be worth it.

These iPads are real sweethearts. Very durable. Great value. For folks that use laptops as their primary computer, this iPad makes a great secondary device.

 

[secretk]

Sounds it’s more a RAM issue than CPU. A10 is dual core not Single Core and stuff like chatting, reading or listening to music is not cpu demanding at all.

Аgree with you. For my usage (what I explained above which I do not even consider power user) 2 GB RAM is just not enough. With the upgrade you get also better CPU but I never saw the CPU as a bottleneck on the 6th gen iPad. It was the RAM that was not enough for what I need.

 

[punchdrunk55]

Just FYI, ipads are going to A LOT on facebook marketplace right now, lots of parents looking to buy them for kids. I had a 6th and 7th gen that I sold in anticipation of this event.

The 6th gen fetched me 230 and the 7th 270. I would look at selling instead of trading in. People were falling over themselves to get in line to buy these. Heck, I even see old 4th gen ipads going for 120

 

[MrKennedy]

I’m tempted to do the same thing, OP. Feeling the pinch of the low ram on the 6th gen. A12 + extra ram is a win in my book.

Financially it’s probably smarter to just use what I have until it stops working... but it truly is an annoyance for my apps and app pairs to reset so often.

Keep us posted if you upgrade. I might in the next few weeks.

 

[scottSE]

I’m tempted to do the same thing, OP. Feeling the pinch of the low ram on the 6th gen. A12 + extra ram is a win in my book.

Financially it’s probably smarter to just use what I have until it stops working... but it truly is an annoyance for my apps and app pairs to reset so often.

Keep us posted if you upgrade. I might in the next few weeks.

Its a frustrating device in a way, in that it’s really pretty perfect. Anything the Air and Pro can do are just better versions of what the base iPad can do, and nothing different. I think I’m going to keep my 6th gen until it no longer gets software updates.

 

[Lerten]

Its a frustrating device in a way, in that it’s really pretty perfect. Anything the Air and Pro can do are just better versions of what the base iPad can do, and nothing different. I think I’m going to keep my 6th gen until it no longer gets software updates.

Not entirely true — usb-c interface on the Pro and the Air (to a lesser extent) allows for more use-case scenarios: external hard drives, charging devices directly from the iPad etc.

But for, lets say, 80% of use-cases I would actually agree, the Pro and the Air — in many cases — are just a nicer representations of what an iPad is capable of. If you’re in the 20%, that’s a different story

 

[EugW]

My favourite upgrade going to the 10.2" iPad from most of the 9.7" models is the Smart Connector for the Apple Smart Keyboard.

Also important are the 3 GB RAM and the wider screen, which means not only more space on-screen, but also a full-sized keyboard (albeit the smaller version of full-sized). The 9.7" Pro gets only a non-full-sized Smart Keyboard, and the 9.7" non-Pros can't use Smart Keyboards at all.

You can buy refurbed Smart Keyboards for relatively cheap on Amazon.

 

[Jxdawg]

Has the iPad 8th gen been confirmed to have 3gb of RAM?

 

[Mainsail]

Has the iPad 8th gen been confirmed to have 3gb of RAM?

I suspect Apple is just using the same A12 chip as the prior Air (generation 3), and that had 3GB of RAM.

This is the budget iPad, so Apple probably used an off-the-shelf chip.

 

[EugW]

Has the iPad 8th gen been confirmed to have 3gb of RAM?

It will have at least 3 GB RAM, as the previous iPad 7 had 3 GB RAM.

I'm guessing, but I think it's unlikely it will get 4 GB RAM.

EDIT:

Everymac.com has confirmed 3 GB RAM for iPad 8. (No info on iPad Air 4 yet.)

 

[MrKennedy]

It will have at least 3 GB RAM, as the previous iPad 7 had 3 GB RAM.

I'm guessing, but I think it's unlikely it will get 4 GB RAM.

EDIT:

Everymac.com has confirmed 3 GB RAM for iPad 8. (No info on iPad Air 4 yet.)

3gb works for me! A12 is the bonus coming from a 6th gen

 

[Mainsail]

3gb works for me! A12 is the bonus coming from a 6th gen

I think the 8th gen iPad is a worthy upgrade from 6th gen: faster processor, more RAM, larger screen, smart connector, faster charging brick. It’s probably not worth it if you have the 7th gen iPad.

 

[MrKennedy]

I think the 8th gen iPad is a worthy upgrade from 6th gen: faster processor, more RAM, larger screen, smart connector, faster charging brick. It’s probably not worth it if you have the 7th gen iPad.

Forgot about the new charging brick. This is shaping up to be a nice upgrade for me. The ability to use the Smart Keyboard might make it easier to leave my laptop behind while traveling, too! I have a bluetooth one for my 6th and it's OK - just having it integrated into the Smart Cover that I already use makes it a little more handy.