All iPads iPad Air 2022 or Air 2024 or Pro 2022 - Please help me decide

[ChiLLon]

Help me decide, pretty please!

So, my budget is around 8000 SEK ($764). My options are the following:

Air 2022 5G 64gb brand new for 6639 SEK ($633)
Air 2024 wifi 128gb brand new for 7190 SEK ($686)
Pro 2022 wifi 256gb used but very good condition for 8000 SEK ($764)

Since both the Air 2022 and 2024 were short term deals I have already paid for both, to not lose out on the options. Air 2024 normally sells for $800 here in Sweden. The Pro 2022 I can buy next week when the seller is home from his travels.

Even if all 3 fall in my budget, I am undecided on how valuable certain functions/specs are for my needs. I will be using it for browsing the web, streaming video content and the occasional facetime to relatives. I will never write with a pen or doing content creation and/or media editing. So with that in mind, is it really worth paying extra for 120hz and bigger storage? Quad speakers is better of course, but $78 better over the Air 2024?

I think I can justify $53 for a better chip, bigger storage, landscape camera and longer software support (which translates into better resale value a few years down the road). That sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

 

[rui no onna]

I'd pay extra for the storage (at least 128GB) since iPadOS seems to be getting more and more bloated.

On a 32GB iPad 7th gen, I couldn't install the 17 Beta OTA unless I delete pretty much all my apps (mainly Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Disney+, etc). iPadOS + System Data used 20GB all by themselves. Iirc, iPadOS+Other only used ~12GB back when we first bought the 7th gen. I remember when I first got the OG iPad Air, the OS only used like 3GB.

If the 2022 Pro was brand new instead of used, I'd consider the upgrade. Personally though, I'd rather have the warranty.

 

[varezhka]

My vote will go to 2024 Air.
You likely won't need as much storage as your iPhone just because you're less app dependent, but with 64GB you will always be conscious of your storage space. 128GB is a good balance.

 

[ChiLLon]

I'd pay extra for the storage (at least 128GB) since iPadOS seems to be getting more and more bloated.

On a 32GB iPad 7th gen, I couldn't install the 17 Beta OTA unless I delete pretty much all my apps (mainly Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Disney+, etc). iPadOS + System Data used 20GB all by themselves. Iirc, iPadOS+Other only used ~12GB back when we first bought the 7th gen. I remember when I first got the OG iPad Air, the OS only used like 3GB.

If the 2022 Pro was brand new instead of used, I'd consider the upgrade. Personally though, I'd rather have the warranty.

Very good point, 64gb most likely will not be enough in a couple years. Definitely not if you sometimes download stuff from streaming services to not constantly leech off your phone's 5G.

I already kind of disregarded the Air 2022 due to the deal on Air 2024, but this just further cements that.

 

[ChiLLon]

If the 2022 Pro was brand new instead of used, I'd consider the upgrade. Personally though, I'd rather have the warranty.

If I tell you Sweden has a legally mandated 3 year warranty, would that change your mind? The Pro 2022 in question was purchased in August of 2023, meaning it still has 2 year warranty left since seller has receipt.

Important to know though is out of the 3 years warranty, during the first 2 years of warranty the burden of proof is the retailer's. Meaning they must prove it broke from my mishandling it. This is very difficult for them to prove, which is good for the consumer. During last year the consumer must prove the factory made an error and it caused the break, which can be difficult.

 

[steve123]

Wait, save your money and purchase an 11 inch 2024 Pro with 1 TB storage so you get 16GB RAM. The new Apple Intelligence AI stuff announced is memory intensive and the reason many of the older devices cannot run it.

 

[GMShadow]

I think the 2024 Air is best for your needs, especially with Facetime being a big use.

 

[ChiLLon]

Wait, save your money and purchase an 11 inch 2024 Pro with 1 TB storage so you get 16GB RAM. The new Apple Intelligence AI stuff announced is memory intensive and the reason many of the older devices cannot run it.

Nice trolling, very helpful

 

[ChiLLon]

I think the 2024 Air is best for your needs, especially with Facetime being a big use.

Would not call facetime a big use, maybe 1-2 times per month. So the camera being landscape is more of a small plus, but nothing I value all that high in monetary terms. It probably holds more value to a future sale than it does for me personally.

 

[boak]

I personally feel the difference in speakers is noticeable. But whether you value that difference at $78 is totally up to you.

 

[steve123]

Nice trolling, very helpful

Dude, did you watch the keynote yesterday? Apple is pushing hard into AI and what you listed only meet the minimum RAM requirements for that. If you do not care to indulge in the coming AI features and the features that will undoubtably evolve rapidly in the next several years then you should make that decision with full knowledge that you will forgo these.

 

[jezbd1997]

I personally feel the difference in speakers is noticeable. But whether you value that difference at $78 is totally up to you.

I would chose a pro over the air for the speakers and 120hz. i trialed an air a couple of years back and they were so dull

 

[jezbd1997]

Dude, did you watch the keynote yesterday? Apple is pushing hard into AI and what you listed only meet the minimum RAM requirements for that. If you do not care to indulge in the coming AI features and the features that will undoubtably evolve rapidly in the next several years then you should make that decision with full knowledge that you will forgo these.

keep trolling, that's an insane waste of money for OP in this case. 16gb of ram on ipad is overkill for 98% of users and the new ipadOS hardly changes anything

 

[boak]

Dude, did you watch the keynote yesterday? Apple is pushing hard into AI and what you listed only meet the minimum RAM requirements for that. If you do not care to indulge in the coming AI features and the features that will undoubtably evolve rapidly in the next several years then you should make that decision with full knowledge that you will forgo these.

What yesterday’s keynote taught us was future-proofing is meaningless. iPhone 15 won’t even get the AI features. There is no point in massively over-buying the hardware specs.

iPad Air 128GB is $599.
iPad Pro 256 GB is $999.
iPad Pro 1TB is $1599.

By the time the current iPad Air misses out on the new AI features, one can simply sell the iPad Air and top up with the $1000 previously saved (+ interest) to buy the latest iPad which supports the new AI features, with huge change to spare.

 

[boak]

I would chose a pro over the air for the speakers and 120hz. i trialed an air a couple of years back and they were so dull

Yeah. Even coming from an iPad Pro 10.5-inch, the diagonal speakers are very noticeable.

 

[ChiLLon]

I personally feel the difference in speakers is noticeable. But whether you value that difference at $78 is totally up to you.

It is tempting, but that iPad is also a pre-owned one. If it was brand new I'd probably pay the $78 too.

I own an Air 2020, now broken, and dual speakers isn't terrible. I'm sure quad speakers is better in every single way, but dual speakers are not bad.

 

[boak]

It is tempting, but that iPad is also a pre-owned one. If it was brand new I'd probably pay the $78 too.

I own an Air 2020, now broken, and dual speakers isn't terrible. I'm sure quad speakers is better in every single way, but dual speakers are not bad.

Yeah I’m not saying you should buy the Pro. The value difference is subjective and it’s totally up to how you perceive the worth.

It’s probably one of those features where you don’t really notice until you’ve spent a lot of time with the more fancy version, e.g. ProMotion.

 

[ChiLLon]

Yeah I’m not saying you should buy the Pro. The value difference is subjective and it’s totally up to how you perceive the worth.

It’s probably one of those features where you don’t really notice until you’ve spent a lot of time with the more fancy version, e.g. ProMotion.

I barely noticed going from 60 to 120hz on my iPhone, so I am absolutely not paying for that on iPad which for me is mainly used for watching youtube, netflix and such.

Speakers has real value though, just cannot put a value on it because I don't have anything to compare with. The Pro 2022 being 1 year old and pre-owned really drags down the added value for me though. I really dislike pre-owned tech for some reason.

 

[sk1985]

2022 pro is a happy medium.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Help me decide, pretty please!

So, my budget is around 8000 SEK ($764). My options are the following:

Air 2022 5G 64gb brand new for 6639 SEK ($633)
Air 2024 wifi 128gb brand new for 7190 SEK ($686)
Pro 2022 wifi 256gb used but very good condition for 8000 SEK ($764)

Since both the Air 2022 and 2024 were short term deals I have already paid for both, to not lose out on the options. Air 2024 normally sells for $800 here in Sweden. The Pro 2022 I can buy next week when the seller is home from his travels.

Even if all 3 fall in my budget, I am undecided on how valuable certain functions/specs are for my needs. I will be using it for browsing the web, streaming video content and the occasional facetime to relatives. I will never write with a pen or doing content creation and/or media editing. So with that in mind, is it really worth paying extra for 120hz and bigger storage? Quad speakers is better of course, but $78 better over the Air 2024?

I think I can justify $53 for a better chip, bigger storage, landscape camera and longer software support (which translates into better resale value a few years down the road). That sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

I'd go Air 2024. You're not doing content creation or media editing (even if you did, the only thing that might irk you about a 2024 (M2) Air over a 2022 (M2) Pro is the lack of ProMotion (which is nice, but not essential for any of the functions you've stated you actually care about). Also, landscape FaceTime camera is pretty much a must for video calls. Cellular on an iPad is pretty great, though 64GB is limiting, especially for an M1 based iPad.

On a 32GB iPad 7th gen, I couldn't install the 17 Beta OTA unless I delete pretty much all my apps (mainly Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Disney+, etc). iPadOS + System Data used 20GB all by themselves. Iirc, iPadOS+Other only used ~12GB back when we first bought the 7th gen. I remember when I first got the OG iPad Air, the OS only used like 3GB.

That's not the OS bloating as much as it is the "System Data" bloating. That happens over time. If you had, prior to installing the iPadOS 17 Beta OTA, done a DFU restore to whatever the then-current version of iPadOS 16, you wouldn't have had so much in "System Data" eating up that space. But yes, to your main point, you'll fill that space with "System Data" much faster when you have less storage to play with from the beginning.

 

[Isamilis]

Help me decide, pretty please!

So, my budget is around 8000 SEK ($764). My options are the following:

Air 2022 5G 64gb brand new for 6639 SEK ($633)
Air 2024 wifi 128gb brand new for 7190 SEK ($686)
Pro 2022 wifi 256gb used but very good condition for 8000 SEK ($764)

Since both the Air 2022 and 2024 were short term deals I have already paid for both, to not lose out on the options. Air 2024 normally sells for $800 here in Sweden. The Pro 2022 I can buy next week when the seller is home from his travels.

Even if all 3 fall in my budget, I am undecided on how valuable certain functions/specs are for my needs. I will be using it for browsing the web, streaming video content and the occasional facetime to relatives. I will never write with a pen or doing content creation and/or media editing. So with that in mind, is it really worth paying extra for 120hz and bigger storage? Quad speakers is better of course, but $78 better over the Air 2024?

I think I can justify $53 for a better chip, bigger storage, landscape camera and longer software support (which translates into better resale value a few years down the road). That sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

For me, Pro is clear winner among the three. There is not much difference between air 2022 vs 2024. But there are nice features on Pro compared to Airs. For software support, I don’t think there will be much different as they’re all M-silicone chip. Also, Pro has 256gb compared to 64 & 128 on Airs (bigger storage means you don’t have to worry on throwing files / video / streaming download to the iPad).

 

[ChiLLon]

For me, Pro is clear winner among the three. There is not much difference between air 2022 vs 2024. But there are nice features on Pro compared to Airs. For software support, I don’t think there will be much different as they’re all M-silicone chip. Also, Pro has 256gb compared to 64 & 128 on Airs (bigger storage means you don’t have to worry on throwing files / video / streaming download to the iPad).

The only feature I value on the Pro is the speaker setup. The rest will have zero or close to zero value for me. 256gb storage gives me nothing over 128gb.

So the struggle for me is if it's worth paying the upcharge for the Pro, to get the speakers, but also get a 1 year old pre-owned model.

 

[Morrissey]

Last week I find a good deal in Bestbuy store, I trade my used 11" Pro M1 128 GB to a brand new 12.9" M2 Pro 128 GB, for just $464 dlls.
I saw a couple of videos and the screen & processor on the Pro is better than the new Air, if you can find a better deal for a 2022 Pro, get it.

 

[macfacts]

If I tell you Sweden has a legally mandated 3 year warranty, would that change your mind? The Pro 2022 in question was purchased in August of 2023, meaning it still has 2 year warranty left since seller has receipt.

Important to know though is out of the 3 years warranty, during the first 2 years of warranty the burden of proof is the retailer's. Meaning they must prove it broke from my mishandling it. This is very difficult for them to prove, which is good for the consumer. During last year the consumer must prove the factory made an error and it caused the break, which can be difficult.

After the 2 week return period, warranty and extended warranty is useless in my opinion. only accidentally warranty (apple care+) is worth anything.

 

[rui no onna]

If I tell you Sweden has a legally mandated 3 year warranty, would that change your mind? The Pro 2022 in question was purchased in August of 2023, meaning it still has 2 year warranty left since seller has receipt.

Important to know though is out of the 3 years warranty, during the first 2 years of warranty the burden of proof is the retailer's. Meaning they must prove it broke from my mishandling it. This is very difficult for them to prove, which is good for the consumer. During last year the consumer must prove the factory made an error and it caused the break, which can be difficult.

It depends on how easy it is to deal with the retailer to get a replacement.

Personally, I keep monthly AppleCare+ on my iPad Pro (M1 1TB cellular) for the stress-free express replacement service. I often read on iPads before sleeping and mine have suffered a few drops to the floor so the extra insurance gives me peace of mind.