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Blake123abc

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 8, 2019
35
3
Hello, I'm thinking about possibly purchasing an iPad this year, when do new iPads get announced usually? is it worth getting one now/in a month or two or waiting for the next gen iPad Air? I'm mostly going to just be using the iPad for web browsing around the house, checking e-mails, etc. and want an iPad that'll last awhile before needing to upgrade again.

Thank you
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,916
13,260
Around 1.5 years has been the gap between the recent models.

However, I don’t think it’s likely to be updated this year mainly because it’s already very close to the iPad Pro.
 
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iStorm

macrumors 68020
Sep 18, 2012
2,034
2,441
There’s a buyer’s guide on this site.

I always say if you need it, buy now; if you want it, buy tomorrow. There will always be something new around the corner. The Air (or even the regular iPad) will last you a long time with basic web browsing and email.
 
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MacCraig Pro

macrumors regular
Jan 1, 2012
146
73
Manchester, UK
Hello, I'm thinking about possibly purchasing an iPad this year, when do new iPads get announced usually? is it worth getting one now/in a month or two or waiting for the next gen iPad Air? I'm mostly going to just be using the iPad for web browsing around the house, checking e-mails, etc. and want an iPad that'll last awhile before needing to upgrade again.

Thank you
I’d say a 4th or 5th gen would suit your needs then even without it being the latest version given what you’ve said your needs are. Save your money.
 

one more

macrumors 603
Aug 6, 2015
5,155
6,572
Earth
iPad Air 5 is great as it is, IMO, and for your described use you could probably go with a base 64 GB model.

Air 5 came out in March 2022 with M1, so the next evolutionary step would probably be giving it an M2 chip and perhaps more baseline storage of 128 GB. However, then it will get even closer to iPad Pro 11”, except for ProMotion, cameras and FaceID.

From what we know now, the next important step would be going OLED, but then again, iPad Pro will be first in line.

So I would not expect anything major happening to Air this year or even next, depending how fast this OLED transition will happen.
 

Algus

macrumors 6502
Jun 8, 2014
353
330
Arizona
Honestly for the basics the cheapest iPad is just fine. My dad still uses an ancient iPad Pro 9.7 and while it would certainly choke on newer games, it's got plenty of horsepower for web browsing and media consumption. Even if Air 6 were released tomorrow, the Air 5 would still be fantastic for your use case for years to come.
 
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