iPad Air iPad Air 3rd gen 10.5 (2019) RAM?

[sdfox7]

According to Best Buy's website they have two models of the iPad Air 3 10.5, one has 3GB and the other has 4GB. Is this a typo or are there actually two different models with different amounts of RAM? Apple tech specs don't mention how much RAM is in their iPads and iPhones.

Link 1: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/certified-refurbished-apple-ipad-air-10-5-inch-3rd-generation-2019-wi-fi-64gb-silver/6444988.p?skuId=6444988

Link 2: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/certified-refurbished-apple-ipad-air-10-5-inch-3rd-generation-2019-wi-fi-64gb-silver/6444988.p?skuId=6444988

 

[rui no onna]

The Air 3 (and mini 5) is 3GB RAM only.

 

[Reverend Benny]

I think they sometimes confuse the 10.5 air with the 10.5 pro, that has 4gb ram.
Will be interesting to see if any of them will get iOS 18 next year.

 

[sdfox7]

Thanks for confirming. I just came across iFixit teardown which confirms the same. From a value proposition the Geek Squad Certified model seems to justify the extra $30.

iPad Air 3 Teardown

 

[sdfox7]

I think they sometimes confuse the 10.5 air with the 10.5 pro, that has 4gb ram.
Will be interesting to see if any of them will get iOS 18 next year.

Dropping the iPad Air 3 with iOS 18 would seem premature since they have the 3GB RAM and aren't yet 5 years old.

As with I'm guessing some of the newest features will not be supported, but these tablets ranged from $500 for the 64GB WiFi to $779 for the WiFi/Cellular. I'd be shocked if they were dropped with iOS 18 or even iOS 19.

As a precedent the iPad Air 2 (a 128GB model I still own) supported iOS 8 to iOS 15--7 versions with only 2GB RAM.

All-new iPad Air and iPad mini deliver dramatic power and capability​

 

[Reverend Benny]

Dropping the iPad Air 3 with iOS 18 would seem premature since they have the 3GB RAM and aren't yet 5 years old.

As with I'm guessing some of the newest features will not be supported, but these tablets ranged from $500 for the 64GB WiFi to $779 for the WiFi/Cellular. I'd be shocked if they were dropped with iOS 18 or even iOS 19.

As a precedent the iPad Air 2 (a 128GB model I still own) supported iOS 8 to iOS 15--7 versions with only 2GB RAM.

​

All-new iPad Air and iPad mini deliver dramatic power and capability​

Its hard to know what devices that will be supported based on HW sometimes. If you look at the iPhone X as an example, that has 3GB of ram. The 1st iPad pro 12.9 had 4gb of ram but them both can't run iOS 17.
The iPad 6 has 2gb of ram and does support iOS 17.

The bizarre thing is that iOS 17 seem to be more optimized and run better than iOS 16 did on some devices.

I can only hope the 10.5 air and pro will live on for a good bit longer with support from Apple, they are great devices.

Edit: The iPad Air 2 is a great example of how long a device can be supported, I don't think we will ever see something like that again, but I sure hope we will

 

[sdfox7]

Its hard to know what devices that will be supported based on HW sometimes. If you look at the iPhone X as an example, that has 3GB of ram. The 1st iPad pro 12.9 had 4gb of ram but them both can't run iOS 17.
The iPad 6 has 2gb of ram and does support iOS 17.

The bizarre thing is that iOS 17 seem to be more optimized and run better than iOS 16 did on some devices.

I can only hope the 10.5 air and pro will live on for a good bit longer with support from Apple, they are great devices.

Edit: The iPad Air 2 is a great example of how long a device can be supported, I don't think we will ever see something like that again, but I sure hope we will

I think the limiting factor with the iPhone X (2017) and 1st gen iPad Pro (2015) is they are nearly 7 and 9 years old. There are likely hardware limitations involved or that the performance might be unacceptable. I'm sure Apple wants to avoid another battery throttling lawsuit so they cut them off at iOS 16.

The iPad 6 is only nearing its 6 year birthday.

 

[Reverend Benny]

I think the limiting factor with the iPhone X (2017) and 1st gen iPad Pro (2015) is they are nearly 7 and 9 years old. There are likely hardware limitations involved or that the performance might be unacceptable. I'm sure Apple wants to avoid another battery throttling lawsuit so they cut them off at iOS 16.

The iPad 6 is only nearing its 6 year birthday.

Yes, the iPad is is still quite "young" but seen from a HW perspective it actually contains older "hw" than the iPhone X and also less memory.
But, there might me other aspects that we don't know of of course. And they have to draw the line somewhere.

 

[Digitalguy]

A10X may or may not get iPadOS 18, but A12 should get iPadOS 19. You have have a look at my predictions (and what they are based on) here https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/predictions-for-ipados-updates-over-the-next-8-years.2391411/