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iPad Air (1) still worth it?

hendrikch said:
I happen to see a deal for new iPad Air 1 Wifi 16GB going for about $200 and am thinking it's a good upgrade for my parents who are still rocking iPad 2. I know about the budget iPad but it's about $375 in my third-world country, so almost twice the price of that Air 1.

All my parents use for their iPad is >90% on YouTube app (based on Battery stats in Settings)

What do you think?
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Might be okay if you do NOT update to iOS 11. I’d still recommend the 5th generation iPad which is only $329 brand new and it’s more powerful than iPad Air 2. I’m sure you could find a great deal on one of those.

Floris said:
My mother uses the iPad Air 1 for almost the same reasons, and I've thrown iOS 11 on it for a while to get her feedback on the changes, and to find more issues with it. It runs quite smoothly on it, well, the same as my Air 2.

I think it's still a great option if you can get it for like $200 through a good source. I wouldn't pay over $300 for it, because for $350 you can get a much better device.
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I put iOS 11 on my iPad mini 2 (same power as iPad Air) and it was horribly slow. It was awful. Everything lagged, and chopped, and stuttered, and crashed. Not sure what you’re talking about.

iOS 10 was already getting kinda bad for A7 iPads but imo iOS 11 is going to be what puts the nail in the coffin.
 
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Stefan johansson said:
As you will use it for video playback,a refurbished Air 2 would most likely be the best choice.
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iPad 5th generation would bring a far better bang for buck. $329 brand new for A9 chip/2GB RAM, A9 is a bit better than A8X.

Main difference is display isn’t laminated, so there will be a small gap between the glass and what’s being displayed.
 
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XTheLancerX said:
Might be okay if you do NOT update to iOS 11. I’d still recommend the 5th generation iPad which is only $329 brand new and it’s more powerful than iPad Air 2. I’m sure you could find a great deal on one of those.
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Note, that difference of $175 can be the equivalent of a month's paycheck in some countries and many months of saving up.
 
tweak25 said:
Hey all!

I'm (finally) looking to get a new iPad. This would be strictly for web browsing, mail, Netflix/YouTube, reading eBooks/magazines and such. This means I definitely do not need the iPad Pro.

With Apple's new iPad just released I am now torn between the new model and a refurb Air 2. However, I've also seen refurb IPad Airs (the original) going for very good prices.

Considering my intended usage, would this still be a viable alternative at this point? Or should I just spend the extra cash and get the latest model for peace of mind?

Thanks for your input!
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Honestly, anything you would use that iPad Air for can easily be done. If all you will be doing is browsing the web and watching videos, it can handle that.
 
hendrikch said:
I happen to see a deal for new iPad Air 1 Wifi 16GB going for about $200 and am thinking it's a good upgrade for my parents who are still rocking iPad 2. I know about the budget iPad but it's about $375 in my third-world country, so almost twice the price of that Air 1.

All my parents use for their iPad is >90% on YouTube app (based on Battery stats in Settings)

What do you think?
Click to expand...

I would say go for it! If they’re not into heavy gaming or anything, they shouldn’t have any issues. If they’re still using the iPad 2, they probably won’t notice the slight lag with the Air 1 because the lag on the iPad 2 must be worse lol
 
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If you're okay with sticking to iOS 10 and it being sluggish out of the box, USD 200 is worth it. The new iPad will work like a dream in comparison for at least another 12 months.
 
The bare minimum I would touch are Air 2 and iPhone 6S. And, that's because they both have 2GB of ram.

So, if they device doesn't have 2GB of ram, I wouldn't even buy it. You can pick up an Air 2 for less than $300 now a days. I recently picked up a mint condition 64GB Air 2 for $200. It runs great with iOS 11 - aside from the occasional iOS 11 beta bugs.
 
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XTheLancerX said:
Might be okay if you do NOT update to iOS 11. I’d still recommend the 5th generation iPad which is only $329 brand new and it’s more powerful than iPad Air 2. I’m sure you could find a great deal on one of those.



I put iOS 11 on my iPad mini 2 (same power as iPad Air) and it was horribly slow. It was awful. Everything lagged, and chopped, and stuttered, and crashed. Not sure what you’re talking about.

iOS 10 was already getting kinda bad for A7 iPads but imo iOS 11 is going to be what puts the nail in the coffin.
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The first ten minutes it needed some time to index everything and make new memories and that sort of stuff, but it's working fine for me, i was at my parents yesterday and spent an hour on it going through pictures and emails etc that needed a clean up, everything was working just fine. Sorry to hear you have a different experience.
 
Act3 said:
THIS !!!!!!!!!
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Yeah, I do agree to that, but for few hundred you have a pretty good ipad air, if you dont want to invest a bit more in the air 2 or a pro. Personally, if i would upgrade, it would be a pro, the mini or normal ones, or the air, or whatever they are called now .. i personally wouldn't consider them but i do a lot more than average usage on them.
 
XTheLancerX said:
iPad 5th generation would bring a far better bang for buck. $329 brand new for A9 chip/2GB RAM, A9 is a bit better than A8X.

Main difference is display isn’t laminated, so there will be a small gap between the glass and what’s being displayed.
Click to expand...

depends how you look at it, the 5th generation is a definite step back in the display quality , something you are looking at all the time. The performance boost with the A9 isn't that noticeable. Sure it may load things slightly faster, but unless you are constantly opening and closing apps, it is my opinion the better display is the better value here.
 
nfl46 said:
The bare minimum I would touch are Air 2 and iPhone 6S. And, that's because they both have 2GB of ram.

So, if they device doesn't have 2GB of ram, I wouldn't even buy it. You can pick up an Air 2 for less than $300 now a days. I recently picked up a mint condition 64GB Air 2 for $200. It runs great with iOS 11 - aside from the occasional iOS 11 beta bugs.
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Yeah the 2GB RAM is huge. Performance between the iPad Air and the iPad Air 2, or even iPad Air to iPad 5th generation is absolute night and day.

You also will gain functionality such as split view. That can make watching video while doing something else much better. Sure, iPad Air gets picture in picture video but it LAGS while you are using it.

If you don’t have 2GB RAM, light usage and video will suffer because you won’t be able to leave the video to do a simple task and come back to a video that is still where you left off. It will reload and lose your place and it is very annoying.

Act3 said:
depends how you look at it, the 5th generation is a definite step back in the display quality , something you are looking at all the time. The performance boost with the A9 isn't that noticeable. Sure it may load things slightly faster, but unless you are constantly opening and closing apps, it is my opinion the better display is the better value here.
Click to expand...

Yeah performance between A8X and A9 isn’t HUGE but there is a difference. Display quality definitely is a step back, you’re right.

Refurbished 32GB iPad Air 2 is only like $10 more than the 5th gen iPad which also has 32GB so I would probably go with the Air 2 for the better display at $10 or so more.
 
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I take back what I said earlier. When I had the Air, I forgot how everything has to reload once you leave it and then video is lagging. Even opening the Messages app was a chore.
 
rui no onna said:
Still going to be much, much, much better than the iPad 2.
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Give it 6 months to a year and it won’t be much better. This iPad is right on its last breath. It’s similar to buying an iPad 2 just as iOS 9 was about to come out. And iOS 9 made it the unusable mess that it is today.
 
tweak25 said:
Hey all!

I'm (finally) looking to get a new iPad. This would be strictly for web browsing, mail, Netflix/YouTube, reading eBooks/magazines and such. This means I definitely do not need the iPad Pro.

With Apple's new iPad just released I am now torn between the new model and a refurb Air 2. However, I've also seen refurb IPad Airs (the original) going for very good prices.

Considering my intended usage, would this still be a viable alternative at this point? Or should I just spend the extra cash and get the latest model for peace of mind?

Thanks for your input!
Click to expand...

I love my original ipad air. I ended up returning the new ipad pro. I like the fact it doesn't have that anti reflective coating on the glass. Works great for me.
 
I wouldnt even consider buying an Ipad Air 1right now. A 4 year old Ipad, no touch id , no anti reflective coating, no 2GB . I wouldnt even buy an Air 2 now.

Buy an Ipad 2017. or an Ipad mini 4 its a good choice NOW. anything lower than that, its not worth it .

Air 1 is very slow now with IOS 11.
 
XTheLancerX said:
Give it 6 months to a year and it won’t be much better. This iPad is right on its last breath. It’s similar to buying an iPad 2 just as iOS 9 was about to come out. And iOS 9 made it the unusable mess that it is today.
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Having been able to compare performance of iPad 2, 3, 4 and Air, the Air's nowhere near as bad. It's just slower and laggier compared to newer devices but it's not at A5 on iOS 9-level unbearable.

And again, it seems for the poster, the $175 difference appears to be a significant amount. Having lived in a third-world country previously, I can understand. There are people who earn less than that in a month.
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Math889 said:
I wouldnt even consider buying an Ipad Air 1right now. A 4 year old Ipad, no touch id , no anti reflective coating, no 2GB . I wouldnt even buy an Air 2 now.

Buy an Ipad 2017. or an Ipad mini 4 its a good choice NOW. anything lower than that, its not worth it.
Click to expand...
The Air 2 has a darned sight faster GPU than the mini 4. If form factor is not a concern, I'd easily choose the Air 2 over the mini 4 if one has a low budget and display quality was a priority.
 
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Math889 said:
I wouldnt even consider buying an Ipad Air 1right now. A 4 year old Ipad, no touch id , no anti reflective coating, no 2GB . I wouldnt even buy an Air 2 now.

Buy an Ipad 2017. or an Ipad mini 4 its a good choice NOW. anything lower than that, its not worth it .

Air 1 is very slow now with IOS 11.
Click to expand...
Wait. Mini 4 over the Air 2? That doesn’t make any sense. You named 4 things the Air 2 offers and of those 4, only 3 are available on the iPad 2017; however, you recommended it over the Air 2?
 
nfl46 said:
Wait. Mini 4 over the Air 2? That doesn’t make any sense. You named 4 things the Air 2 offers and of those 4, only 3 are available on the iPad 2017; however, you recommended it over the Air 2?
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I reccomend a Mini if the OP prefers a small tablet.

Yes , I reccomend to choose an ipad 2017 over the Air 2. buying anything older than A9 is a waste of money.

Both Mini 4 and Air 2 is now 3 years old .
 
Floris said:
My mother uses the iPad Air 1 for almost the same reasons, and I've thrown iOS 11 on it for a while to get her feedback on the changes, and to find more issues with it. It runs quite smoothly on it, well, the same as my Air 2.

I think it's still a great option if you can get it for like $200 through a good source. I wouldn't pay over $300 for it, because for $350 you can get a much better device.
Click to expand...

Good to know, though I may leave it on iOS 10.3 unless speed test on final iOS 11 shows it's not any slower. Thanks.
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XTheLancerX said:
Might be okay if you do NOT update to iOS 11. I’d still recommend the 5th generation iPad which is only $329 brand new and it’s more powerful than iPad Air 2. I’m sure you could find a great deal on one of those.
Click to expand...

The thing is the cheapest iPad 5 32GB I could find here is ~$375, and that's for imported devices. The official ones are going for ~$450 here. iPad Air 2 is still going for $550 for imported, maybe $650 for the official ones. Last I checked last week, the Pro 9.7" 32GB was on sale for ~$830.
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Freakonomics101 said:
I would say go for it! If they’re not into heavy gaming or anything, they shouldn’t have any issues. If they’re still using the iPad 2, they probably won’t notice the slight lag with the Air 1 because the lag on the iPad 2 must be worse lol
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Yeah, I thought the lag on my iPad 3 is so bad already, until I saw their iPad 2 when I visit lol.
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Math889 said:
I reccomend a Mini if the OP prefers a small tablet.
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My dad actually prefers big screens (he mentioned before that his iPad screen is small), but no way I'm buying him a Pro 12.9" just for watching YouTube.
 
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