iPad Air iPad Air 5 should start at 128 GB storage.

[JPack]

The M1 11" Pro with 128GB will still be $799 post A15 Air launch

-There's no way Apple is offering an A15 128GB iPad Air with a 10.9" bezel-less display for $599, $200 less.

Think about it rationally for a second: iPads are waaaaaaay too similar already. The black Air and Space Grey 11" Pro are pretty much indistinguishable upon first sight. No way Apple is closing the gap between these two product categories even further.

This is Apple under Tim Cook -limitations and segmentation is abundant and ensures you always understand the difference between small(iPad 9 Gen), medium(mini & Air), L(11" Pro), and XL(12.9" Pro).

You are not getting key 11" M1 Pro specs in the baseline 10.9" Air for $599. No iPad will ever really compete with another iPad in terms of price and core features. It's all obviously segmented to make sure you only get everything and all the features you could want if you go with an iPad Pro.

Agreed.

Some people are thinking way too much from their perspective and not from Tim Cook's angle of "how do we make it a tough choice for consumers and extract the most profit?"

 

[sracer]

Just as the swallows return to Capistrano, so too, the Apple faithful debate the base storage capacity. As long as people pay the extra for the higher capacity options, Apple has no incentive to increase the base storage capacity.

There are so many who convince themselves and others that spending more for more storage helps "future-proof" the device, or are driven by FORO... "Fear Of Running Out" (of space).

If Apple were to bump the base storage on the Air, expect a bump in the price too.

 

[rui no onna]

While I'd never buy another iPad with less than 256 GB, and I'd love to get more storage for less money, I can't imagine that the majority of iPad users need more than 64 GB based on my highly anecdotal observations of friends and family. They mostly use their iPads for social media, streaming videos, and FaceTime, rarely using more than a few tens of GB.

True for my family. Only concern is growing iOS firmware. My dad has a 32GB iPad and System+Other now takes up a huge chunk (around half). These things are lasting as long as laptops nowadays so higher base storage (without a price increase) would be quite welcome.

 

[mebehere]

Why? I don’t want any of those any more than I want a 64GB version…

So you actually want less storage for the same amount of money. You would prefer to pay $599 and get 64GB instead of 128GB.

You have a strange outlook on value.

 

[Analog Kid]

So you actually want less storage for the same amount of money. You would prefer to pay $599 and get 64GB instead of 128GB.

You have a strange outlook on value.

Wait, what? Less storage for the same amount of money as what? Where did I say anything about what I prefer to pay? I thought this was a discussion of what the lowest tier of storage should be. I would prefer to pay $599 for the 2TB I think they should start at, but I don't have any expectation that that will be the case. I don’t have any expectation that a 128GB iPA will be $599.

When you say "the iPA5 should start at 128GB", are you really saying "I want more for less, but instead of risking looking greedy I'm going to make the misdirection argument that what Apple is obviously selling quite of few of is, in fact, useless and shouldn't even be sold and thus they should give me something more while I implicitly assume that the price will be the same as last year."?

Because what you said was "the iPA5 should start at 128GB". You didn't mention a price or anything about value.

 

[iPad Bro]

The M1 11" Pro with 128GB will still be $799 post A15 Air launch

-There's no way Apple is offering an A15 128GB iPad Air with a 10.9" bezel-less display for $599, $200 less.

Think about it rationally for a second: iPads are waaaaaaay too similar already. The black Air and Space Grey 11" Pro are pretty much indistinguishable upon first sight. No way Apple is closing the gap between these two product categories even further.

This is Apple under Tim Cook -limitations and segmentation is abundant and ensures you always understand the difference between small(iPad 9 Gen), medium(mini & Air), L(11" Pro), and XL(12.9" Pro).

You are not getting key 11" M1 Pro specs in the baseline 10.9" Air for $599. No iPad will ever really compete with another iPad in terms of price and core features. It's all obviously segmented to make sure you only get everything and all the features you could want if you go with an iPad Pro.

This makes total sense too. Well said.

 

[yabeweb]

At the end of the day, iPad Air is largely a media consumption device with a single rear camera lens.

Apple is likely sticking with 64GB.

At the end of your day may be....

I do all my work on iPads, not for everyone I give you that, but still.

 

[snipr125]

I’m curious : if you guys have to choose what would you prefer: quad speakers or more base storage?

Ive said this in other threads, but the Air 5th gen should come with BOTH quad speakers AND full fat 120 mhz Pro-motion 120 display, just to even compete with the Tab 8, its direct rival. Hopefully it gets one of them at the least. It does not matter how this affects the Pro 11 sales, as from Apples perspective they are already being Cannibalised by the current air and sell in low numbers anyway as a niche product for those who need the M1 performance.

 

[Isengardtom]

The promotion will not happen, of that i‘m 100% sure. I agree on the quad speakers though.
Samsung is definitely closing in on apple with the higher end tablets.

I’m less a fan of their cheaper tablets like the A8. The iPad 9 is much better value at that price in my opinion because you loose a lot of the advantages such as the pen and Dex.

We’ve al said it before. Apple needs to do something amazing on the software side soon, or I have a feeling that Samsung is on its way to slowly overtake apple in the high end tablet space.

 

[SkiHound2]

Everyone keeps calling it the “sister“ of the iPad Mini. This is ludicrous. The Mini is small. It’s fine that it starts at 64 GB.

How long has it been since the Air has been refreshed? 1.5 years? So after 1.5 years we’re still at 64 base storage?

I will buy it at base of 128. Otherwise, no way.

I'd like to see it start at 128gb too, but I'd be surprised. A 128gb Air 5 at the same price as the current 64gb Air 4 would likely compete strongly for sales with the entry level 11" Pro. Now with list pricing (which I wouldn't pay on any of them right now) the 64gb Air 4 is $599, the 256gb upgrade is $749, and the 128gb 11" Pro is $799. A 128gb Air 5 at $599 would be a wicked attractive value. I wouldn't buy a 64gb device at this point. I typically have too much downloaded media on the physical device, but 128gb would suffice. And because of the price structure I just don't see a 128gb base Air being offered.