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iPad iPad Air 5th Generation or iPad 10th Generation?
- Thread starter kp98077
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The farther one can get from the lighting the better, USB-C is the new standard and it is a lot better.
USB-C is better insofar as its technical capabilities, data transfer rates etc. Absolutely.
But as a physical design, lightning is vastly superior. Lightning is a solid little block of metal, feels indestructible, plugs in and I have zero concern that I’m somehow damaging some fragile leads in either the male or female, in case you insert it at a slight angle or whatnot.
Meanwhile, take a look at the USB-C - inside the male you have some kind of presumably fragile thin leads, that have to go into the female probably also delicate receptacles. Every time I plug in a USB-C cable into my MBA ports, I’m always worried that I should do it at a flat angle not to put stress on the port, which would be a major problem should the port get damaged with time. And a lot of the time, the casing around the USB-C lead is chunky on many devices, and the MBA is so thin that I *have* to insert it at an angle, which stresses me out. I hate it. It’s almost as bad as those micro USB which are such fiddly unstable connectors. Lightening casings are *never* chunky. Meanwhile not infrequently I find myself struggling to fit two USB cables into the MBA ports which are so close together that there’s always the fear that they’re jostling for space and as a result both sit in at an angle. Very distressing.
Bottom line, whether true or not, the USB-C feels fragile and a bit fiddly compared to the rock solid lightening. Working with the lightening is worry free, with USB-C it’s always some minor stress and anxiety. I like my tech to be used without anxiety, and USB-C is not it. Of course, YMMV.
I bought the iPad 10 a few days ago. I had the Air 3 until I traded it in to Apple.
The Air was not a smooth experience for me. I got it in 2019. It worked fine for the first couple of years, but then it went downhill. The worst issue, was that the screen became progressively less responsive. Toward the end (I traded it in in October of this year) it was a real hassle to use it, I kept having to click on things multiple times, and often it just wouldn't work until I restarted it, other times, I had to wait like literally 1-2 minutes before it would work again when it got hung up on my simple attempt to click on a link, or yt video.
The other issue was some kind of weirdness in logging in - it wouldn't allow me to put in a password, instead would ask for a text scan - I had to work around it to trick it to get my password in. A royal pain.
I took it in to the Apple store, and sadly, they were useless - all they did was to wipe out all my data (most of which I of course backed up before I came in) and re-install the OS. That did didly squat. The lady helping me literally didn't know what to do when that didn't work, straight out of ideas. So I took pity on her and just walked out of there muttering "it's OK, I'll manage" - she was very relieved. I traded it in, and was glad to get anything for it - I warned them about the issues (and they had a service record), as I was not about to sell it to someone and saddle them with such an atrocious device. So good on Apple for at least taking it back for credit.
So that's my experience of the Air. I realize it's the 3 and not the 5, but can't say I'm enthusiastic about paying a fortune for a product that might collapse after a couple of years. At least with the 10, I got it pretty cheap at $349, so if it goes south, no big deal. I'll take my chances.
I have only had the 10 for a couple of days (I got the blue one), but so far I'm rather enjoying it. I wouldn't pay for the Air 5 at this time. That said, I have a special purpose for the iPad 10 (to serve as a controller for the Music App on the M2 Mac Mini server I have), and for actual daily use of iPad, I'll see what the 11" iPP will bring to the table next year. But the Air 5 - no thank you, ain't never buying another Air. Basic iPad for special purposes, or an IPP for a daily driver. YMMV.
The Air was not a smooth experience for me. I got it in 2019. It worked fine for the first couple of years, but then it went downhill. The worst issue, was that the screen became progressively less responsive. Toward the end (I traded it in in October of this year) it was a real hassle to use it, I kept having to click on things multiple times, and often it just wouldn't work until I restarted it, other times, I had to wait like literally 1-2 minutes before it would work again when it got hung up on my simple attempt to click on a link, or yt video.
The other issue was some kind of weirdness in logging in - it wouldn't allow me to put in a password, instead would ask for a text scan - I had to work around it to trick it to get my password in. A royal pain.
I took it in to the Apple store, and sadly, they were useless - all they did was to wipe out all my data (most of which I of course backed up before I came in) and re-install the OS. That did didly squat. The lady helping me literally didn't know what to do when that didn't work, straight out of ideas. So I took pity on her and just walked out of there muttering "it's OK, I'll manage" - she was very relieved. I traded it in, and was glad to get anything for it - I warned them about the issues (and they had a service record), as I was not about to sell it to someone and saddle them with such an atrocious device. So good on Apple for at least taking it back for credit.
So that's my experience of the Air. I realize it's the 3 and not the 5, but can't say I'm enthusiastic about paying a fortune for a product that might collapse after a couple of years. At least with the 10, I got it pretty cheap at $349, so if it goes south, no big deal. I'll take my chances.
I have only had the 10 for a couple of days (I got the blue one), but so far I'm rather enjoying it. I wouldn't pay for the Air 5 at this time. That said, I have a special purpose for the iPad 10 (to serve as a controller for the Music App on the M2 Mac Mini server I have), and for actual daily use of iPad, I'll see what the 11" iPP will bring to the table next year. But the Air 5 - no thank you, ain't never buying another Air. Basic iPad for special purposes, or an IPP for a daily driver. YMMV.
FaceTime calls, but I never do those so I wouldn’t benefit from it much. The side camera works fine for me for unlocking purposes.