iPad Ipad Air M2 Decision Point

[prady2581]

Based on my needs, the iPad Air M2 seems sufficient. I'm not particularly interested in features like ProMotion 120Hz display, quad speakers, or an OLED screen.


However, I have three specific questions to help me decide between the iPad Air M2 11-inch and the iPad Pro M4 11-inch:

1. Can I effectively work on photo and video editing directly from an external SSD on the iPad Air M2, given its 10 Gbps transfer speed limit?
2. I understand the M2 chip also has a Neural Engine, but I'm not sure about its capabilities compared to newer chips. Will it support future AI features in iPadOS 18 and beyond, even if slower? Or is it that it will not support only.
3. What are at least five practical applications for the LiDAR scanner on the iPad Pro?

Thanks in advance for your responses

 

[Aka757]

1. I’ve read that you can work directly off of an external SSD, but someone else would need to confirm as I don’t have experience with that

2. The M2 will support all of the AI features with iPadOS 18 as far as I know. My guess is that you may get 1-2 years less with regard to software support in the future, but my guess is that both will be supported for at least 6-8 years

3. I feel that if you need to ask, it won’t really be of any use to you

If you don’t care about OLED or ProMotion, there is very little reason to go with the M4 pro over the M2 air

 

[prady2581]

1. I’ve read that you can work directly off of an external SSD, but someone else would need to confirm as I don’t have experience with that

2. The M2 will support all of the AI features with iPadOS 18 as far as I know. My guess is that you may get 1-2 years less with regard to software support in the future, but my guess is that both will be supported for at least 6-8 years

3. I feel that if you need to ask, it won’t really be of any use to you

If you don’t care about OLED or ProMotion, there is very little reason to go with the M4 pro over the M2 air

Thank you Aka757. This response gives me more confidence that my decision to go to M2 is correct. Can you advise me on the size to go for 13 inches vs 11 inches?

 

[Aka757]

Thank you Aka757. This response gives me more confidence that my decision to go to M2 is correct. Can you advise me on the size to go for 13 inches vs 11 inches?

One thing I forgot to mention was that if you’re in the US, Best Buy seems to be having a sale on the M2 iPad Pro 11” - $599 which is the same price as the M2 iPad Air. For the same price the M2 iPad Pro is a no-brainer. However, I am not sure of the availability of this deal, so you may want to check yourself.

Now with regards to 13” vs 11”, that is the real dilemma lol. Having both the 13” and the 11” M4 iPad Pro, after nearly 2 months with both I still am going back and forth between the two sizes. It really comes down to how you will be using them. Although I don’t do any myself, I can imagine that the extra screen real estate of the 13” is a big advantage for photo and video editing. The obvious downside though is that it’s much less easy to hold comfortably in regular tablet use compared to the 11”. If this is your only machine (not to be paired with a MacBook), 13” is a good option. If this is more of a companion device, you can’t go wrong with the 11”. One thing I will say here is that either way, you will get used to the size you pick, so I wouldn’t sweat it too much. You don’t want to be like me and waffle between the 2 for an extended period of time. What you could do if you’re able to is get both and try them out within the 14 day return window to see which fits your needs and use case better!

 

[prady2581]

One thing I forgot to mention was that if you’re in the US, Best Buy seems to be having a sale on the M2 iPad Pro 11” - $599 which is the same price as the M2 iPad Air. For the same price the M2 iPad Pro is a no-brainer. However, I am not sure of the availability of this deal, so you may want to check yourself.

Now with regards to 13” vs 11”, that is the real dilemma lol. Having both the 13” and the 11” M4 iPad Pro, after nearly 2 months with both I still am going back and forth between the two sizes. It really comes down to how you will be using them. Although I don’t do any myself, I can imagine that the extra screen real estate of the 13” is a big advantage for photo and video editing. The obvious downside though is that it’s much less easy to hold comfortably in regular tablet use compared to the 11”. If this is your only machine (not to be paired with a MacBook), 13” is a good option. If this is more of a companion device, you can’t go wrong with the 11”. One thing I will say here is that either way, you will get used to the size you pick, so I wouldn’t sweat it too much. You don’t want to be like me and waffle between the 2 for an extended period of time. What you could do if you’re able to is get both and try them out within the 14 day return window to see which fits your needs and use case better!

Thank you, buddy. This information really helps. I'm not from the US, so we don't have those trading options in our country. We have a 9th-gen iPad (10.2) that is shared - used for general entertainment by our son and myself. So, I was thinking should we go for 13 inches for serious use in video editing, articles, web page design, or other similar tasks.

 

[prady2581]

Hi Aka, just checking with you if you can direct me to some related posts for my query below. Scenario: 4 Apple devices (1 Mac, 2 iPhones, 1 iPad) are all using the same Apple ID. But now I want to have a separate Apple ID for one phone, and also a separate Apple ID for my MacBook/another iPhone/iPad. I can create these new Apple IDs, but what are the implications and things to take care of when trying to log in with another Apple ID from existing ones? I heard that apps may have to be reinstalled with a new Apple ID - such things worry me, say data issues. I was searching for some relevant videos, but I haven't found any yet. If you can help with this, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Aka757]

Thank you, buddy. This information really helps. I'm not from the US, so we don't have those trading options in our country. We have a 9th-gen iPad (10.2) that is shared - used for general entertainment by our son and myself. So, I was thinking should we go for 13 inches for serious use in video editing, articles, web page design, or other similar tasks.

In that case I think the 13” will work well for you. FWIW, I initially was dead set on the 11” but am now heavily leaning towards the 13” because the extra screen real estate seems worth it to me, especially given that the 13” M4 is barely heavier than the 11” M4.

Hi Aka, just checking with you if you can direct me to some related posts for my query below. Scenario: 4 Apple devices (1 Mac, 2 iPhones, 1 iPad) are all using the same Apple ID. But now I want to have a separate Apple ID for one phone, and also a separate Apple ID for my MacBook/another iPhone/iPad. I can create these new Apple IDs, but what are the implications and things to take care of when trying to log in with another Apple ID from existing ones? I heard that apps may have to be reinstalled with a new Apple ID - such things worry me, say data issues. I was searching for some relevant videos, but I haven't found any yet. If you can help with this, it would be greatly appreciated.

I personally haven’t been in this scenario, although I don’t know that you can really get around downloading apps again when you create a new Apple ID. I think the best you could do would be to create a family group and add your second Apple ID to the group; this way at least certain app subscriptions carry over to the second Apple ID. You can also do things like create a shared library between the 2 Apple IDs and share iCloud storage. Sorry I don’t have a more robust answer for you here.

 

[prady2581]

In that case I think the 13” will work well for you. FWIW, I initially was dead set on the 11” but am now heavily leaning towards the 13” because the extra screen real estate seems worth it to me, especially given that the 13” M4 is barely heavier than the 11” M4.

I personally haven’t been in this scenario, although I don’t know that you can really get around downloading apps again when you create a new Apple ID. I think the best you could do would be to create a family group and add your second Apple ID to the group; this way at least certain app subscriptions carry over to the second Apple ID. You can also do things like create a shared library between the 2 Apple IDs and share iCloud storage. Sorry I don’t have a more robust answer for you here.

Thank you for response.

 

[HDFan]

Can I effectively work on photo and video editing directly from an external SSD on the iPad Air M2, given its 10 Gbps transfer speed limit?

Haven't tried but would try to avoid as there a lots of issues.

1. An external SSD is going to tax your IPad battery so you would likely need to use a powered dock.
2. File handling on the iPad isn't ideal. You may have to go through a log of contortions to do edits. It all depends on the the program used to do the editing. The most convenient way is to access photos from the cloud, such as with Photos or Lightroom.

I want to have a separate Apple ID for one phone, and also a separate Apple ID for my MacBook/another iPhone/iPad.

this way at least certain app subscriptions carry over to the second Apple ID.

Not normally a good idea to have multiple ID's. Causes all sorts of issues such sharing app purchases, cloud data synching, etc. You may have to purchase an app multiple times for each apple ID.

I understand the M2 chip also has a Neural Engine

The M2 will do the job for now. Just be aware that the hardware requirements for AI are rapidly escalating so expect that later M chips will likely have better performance. At some point an upgrade may be needed to support new features. Impossible to guess when.

11" vs 13" is a difficult choice. It depends on how you are using it. I primarily use my iPads for consumption and the 13" is just too heavy for me to hold for long periods of time. I would make sure to have a return option if whatever you chose doesn't meet your needs.