It seems like there’s not many discussion about the iPad Air 3 that was released this spring. Is it a relatively “known” quantity that doesn’t generate much discussion or is it just not very popular when compared to the 2018 Pro models?
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All iPads iPad Air 3?
- Thread starter littlepud
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I have an iPad Air 3 that I use every day as my primary driver. Paid about $450. It’s a great value, but I think there are better deals on the Pro. As we get closer to the holidays, I suspect you will see more bargains for the Air.
The iPad Mini 5 overshadowed the iPad Air 3. Nobody was expecting a 3rd generation of iPad Air to come out.
This is MacRumors. The forum is kinda predisposed towards the high end.
It is effectively a worsened version of the 2017 Pro, as it has the same screen size but no promotion or quad speakers. The A12 isn’t benchmarking all that much higher than the A10X of the 2017 Pro and as the Pro could be snapped up for the same price or less, the Air didn’t go down too well unless users were concerned with maximising iOS support or with the white spot issue. Recently there have been a few posts about this surfacing on the Air too, but time will tell on that one.
The Mini 5 received some criticism as the form factor was unchanged, but as another poster said, it was an overdue release catering in part to a specific section of the market. Without the Air 3, users would probably have been happy with the expected 7th Gen iPad or the 2017 Pro.
The 3rd Gen (2018) Pro was a significant redesign and the only Face ID iPad, so appealed to those wanting the latest and greatest. At laptop prices though, it wasn’t for me.
There is a big difference between pro and air
With air what they have given is really really much
Its a non sense thing to say pro is better than air and air is bad
Air is light version and still it has a good chipset display and audio output is awesome even if there are no quad speakers plus there is no fear of bending lol
My air 3 is rocking as all latest games run at 60fps super smooth like pubg fortnite shadowgun legends etc and battery life is also good
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Depends on yr usage
I use my air 3 just for some browsing some games and movies and its really really great
If yu wanna do stuff like editing photos videos or other art work plus heavy multimedia and usb c plus a even better display then go for 2018 pro models
Otherwise air 3 is a beast and all those people who say is bad in comparison with pro dont listen
Its right there in the name ipad AIR 3
Anyone with some common sense with understand the difference
I guess it's kind of like the middle child in a family in getting the least attention.
I recently bought one when it was on sale. I wanted a recent CPU with neural net accelerator and Apple's faster GPU. The 10.5 iPad Pro's CPU is two generations behind and has neither. The price of the Air 3 is much more reasonable than the current iPad Pro IMO. Since I often use my iPad for international travel I also wanted the cellular model with eSIM so I can load multiple pre-paid data plans for different countries without dealing with SIM cards. Compatibility with the old Smart Keyboard (which is frequently on sale for very low prices now) is a plus.I'm quite happy with it.
The Air (2019) offers these two advantages.
If you want a fast processor for longevity or faster LTE speeds, it makes sense to choose Air.
- A12
- Gigabit LTE
If you want a fast processor for longevity or faster LTE speeds, it makes sense to choose Air.
There were tons of rumors suggesting that a 5th generation iPad Mini would come out in March.
And before that? Let’s not ignore the iPad forum almost collectively dismissing the idea that there ever will be a mini 5. This was denied in almost any discussion. At some stage, Apple changed course and decided that updating the device may find buyers, but the mini was left alone for ages.
It also sports a headphone jack, which was the major factor for me to go with the air over the pro (a minor factor being the very expensive pencil 2). I sometimes use it to make music and having to use a powered usb-hub and an usb-to-3,5 mm adapter just for plugging in a (midi/aufdio) interface and audio out at the same time seemed quite ridiculous. bluetooth won‘t work because of the latency. now i just plugin my midi interface and a portable speaker or headphones into the jack and don‘t need an external power source or a dongle-jungle.
unfortunately it only got 3gb ram, which is very evident in higher-end-games where you can see small hiccups as soon as the ram runs out. also, the audio-pipeline either lacks ram or is still very buggy (probably both), as it often acts inpredictable when using 2 apps together. but i‘d be surprised if the 4gb of the pros make a lot of difference. there‘s still not a lot of software that utilizes the power of the newer ipads. in reality it‘s just a matter of needing 1 vs. 1,2 seconds for doing something like noise reduction in lightroom.
before that i had an air 2, which got stolen, so i didn‘t ever test them next to each other. but without the direct comparison they feel exactly the same to me, running software like garageband, auria, lightroom, pixelmator and luma fusion. sure, the air 3 got slighly better (but still crappy small-speaker-) sound and a slightly bigger display, but apart from now being able to use the pencil and being allowed to download „tropico“, I don‘t really notice a difference, even when remembering that those two devices are 5 years apart.
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Sold my 2017 iPad Pro to my sister who is going back to school (with the pencil, cases, etc...). Got an iPad Air 3 myself. Kinda regret getting the smaller storage, but it is working very well so far. I use it every day at work, home, and for reading. With the Apple Pencil it is indispensable with Notability.
I think most people will opt for a budget iPad or just go all out on the new Pro. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying my iPad Air 3. Got it for $460 at Costco.
Yes, it has 3GB of ram vs the 2017 Pro's 4GB but... I'm loving it. Hope to put several years of usage on it and we'll see what Apple has to offer then.
I think most people will opt for a budget iPad or just go all out on the new Pro. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying my iPad Air 3. Got it for $460 at Costco.
Yes, it has 3GB of ram vs the 2017 Pro's 4GB but... I'm loving it. Hope to put several years of usage on it and we'll see what Apple has to offer then.
I wanted a Pro but couldn’t justify the price difference and ended up settling for the Air. Maybe I’ll get a Pro next revision and give the Air to the wife. She’s currently using an Air 2 and is probably due for an upgrade in the next year or so.
I have the 11” pro, but just recently purchased the Air 3 for my grandson. I think it’s a nice device, but I have to admit, I, personally, wouldn’t love the speaker setup. It doesn’t seem to bother him, but he’s 8.
I wouldn’t mind the Air myself but I like the all screen and got used to Face ID with my iPhone X. Also I got the 512GB model on a massive discount at $380 off. I would of preferred the Air because of the lightning port since my phone uses it but I don’t care enough to make it the deciding feature. If I didn’t get the Pro for $380 off I might of considered the 256 Pro or a higher storage air
The Air maxes out at 256GB, unless I’ve missed the introduction of a higher storage option.
I had a problem with one and returned it and the second was just as bad. It also sucked having to hold the iPad differently in landscape mode because of how easy it is to block the camera.
Yeah I got the pro . I implied that when I said I would of decided between an air and a pro 256 without that discount