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iPad Is the iPad (A16) a good buy?

Andy_2341

Andy_2341

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 2, 2024
462
490
Southeastern US
Like the title says, I'm considering an iPad A16 since the deals are really good right now. I used to use an iPad mini (6th gen) for everything from notes to gaming to daily school work, but sold it and got a M4 MBA since I wanted a bigger screen, built in keyboard, and full os.

I'm now starting to kinda miss the iPad, and want to get one before they all ship with OS26. I really like the iPadOS18 style multitasking as it compliments my Mac instead of trying to replicate it. The MBA will still do 99% of my day to day work, but I'm thinking of the iPad for play and just to have a device with more screen than my iPhone but less restraint (i.e. a hinged screen and physical keyboard).

The main question is, will the 11th gen iPad get chopped sooner due to it's lower grade chip, like at the same time as the regular iphone 15's? I don't want to buy something that will age poorly. I just want a fun device for some gaming and content consumption.

Any thoughts or insights to use are greatly appreciated.
 
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It will get chopped first because Apple generally provides fewer firmware upgrades to the base iPad versus other iPads.

However, going by previous products I do expect it will be supported longer than the iPhone 15. The iPhone XR (A12) maxes out at iOS 18 while the iPad Air 3, iPad mini 5 and iPad 8 all got iPadOS 26.
 
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rui no onna said:
It will get chopped first because Apple generally provides fewer firmware upgrades to the base iPad versus other iPads.

However, going by previous products I do expect it will be supported longer than the iPhone 15. The iPhone XR (A12) maxes out at iOS 18 while the iPad Air 3, iPad mini 5 and iPad 8 all got iPadOS 26.
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That makes sense given it costs less sorta like the SE models. Thank you!
 
Definitely worth it! I have one on iPadOS 18 and it is great for content consumption. Great battery life, great performance, just perfect.

Keep in mind, however, that downgrading is no longer possible. Getting one on iPadOS 18 might still be possible, but I’d pretty much buy it immediately.

You won’t have any issues with that usage pattern.
 
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FeliApple said:
Definitely worth it! I have one on iPadOS 18 and it is great for content consumption. Great battery life, great performance, just perfect.

Keep in mind, however, that downgrading is no longer possible. Getting one on iPadOS 18 might still be possible, but I’d pretty much buy it immediately.

You won’t have any issues with that usage pattern.
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Thank you! That's exactly what I was thinking. I figured one from my local Walmart (small town) would likely be somewhat older inventory with iPadOS 18 still on it.
 
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P.S.
Don't restore from an iCloud backup. I'm setting up an iPhone 13 right now. It's being restored from an iCloud backup (iPhone 11 on iOS 18.7) and setup is still forcing an iOS 26.0.1 update in order to proceed.
 
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rui no onna said:
P.S.
Don't restore from an iCloud backup. I'm setting up an iPhone 13 right now. It's being restored from an iCloud backup (iPhone 11 on iOS 18.7) and setup is still forcing an iOS 26.0.1 update in order to proceed.
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Very good to know. Do you happen to know if doing a restore from a Mac would cause the same thing?
 
Andy_2341 said:
Very good to know. Do you happen to know if doing a restore from a Mac would cause the same thing?
Click to expand...
Yes, it would. Restoring from a Mac always installs the latest version. I don’t think you can even restore from a backup. All restore types will update it to iPadOS 26.0.1.

Remember: if you get it on iPadOS 18 (big if) downgrading is NO longer possible. You want iPadOS 18? You cannot touch iTunes. Start anew, sync iCloud stuff, and install things manually.

And like I said, I think Apple has a way of updating devices while they’re inside the box. If you want a shot at iPadOS 18, buy now.

I don’t update anything and I pretty much don’t touch iTunes, ever. No backups, nothing. I start fresh, log in with the account, sync what I can, and transfer the rest manually.
 
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Here is a link to an informative list of apple devices with their initial and final OS versions.
The website is in german but you may get your information in just scrolling down a bit.

btw: I'm using the iPad11 since april with no regrets so far. I upgraded from an iPad6 after 6 years (the device ist still in use though).
 
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rui no onna said:
It will get chopped first because Apple generally provides fewer firmware upgrades to the base iPad versus other iPads.

However, going by previous products I do expect it will be supported longer than the iPhone 15. The iPhone XR (A12) maxes out at iOS 18 while the iPad Air 3, iPad mini 5 and iPad 8 all got iPadOS 26.
Click to expand...

not that I agree with you which I do but the A16 is in a situation similar to the A11 when it comes to software support. 2 SoCs running on 3 different types of hardware. Just Apple was smart in releasing 3 A16 devices in 3 different years compared to the A11 which was released between September and November hence why.

And even the 14 Pro and the 15 sharing the same A16 Chipset I do believe the fact that the 14 Pro’s heinously bad battery which is the last to support 500 cycle counts ( and everything bad about it that I won’t really mention).

The 15 despite its 1000 cycle battery should help its A16 better because it’s one of the worst CPU’s to manage battery capacity because of the 14 Pro.

The 11th Gen iPad will last longer than them OS Wise despite its one less efficiency core.
 
FeliApple said:
Yes, it would. Restoring from a Mac always installs the latest version. I don’t think you can even restore from a backup. All restore types will update it to iPadOS 26.0.1.

Remember: if you get it on iPadOS 18 (big if) downgrading is NO longer possible. You want iPadOS 18? You cannot touch iTunes. Start anew, sync iCloud stuff, and install things manually.

And like I said, I think Apple has a way of updating devices while they’re inside the box. If you want a shot at iPadOS 18, buy now.

I don’t update anything and I pretty much don’t touch iTunes, ever. No backups, nothing. I start fresh, log in with the account, sync what I can, and transfer the rest manually.
Click to expand...

Does Apple block iTunes firmware install now? I remember before you can downgrade with iTunes as long as Apple is still signing the older firmware.
 
rui no onna said:
Does Apple block iTunes firmware install now? I remember before you can downgrade with iTunes as long as Apple is still signing the older firmware.
Click to expand...
I haven’t ever downgraded myself (because I never update and the few times I’ve updated were either forced or the earlier version wasn’t signed anymore), but I assume that still works.

However… if the iTunes version is too old then it won’t have compatibility. My Mac on OS X El Capitan is not compatible with iOS 18.
 
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Andy_2341 said:
Very good to know. Do you happen to know if doing a restore from a Mac would cause the same thing?
Click to expand...

Ignore my earlier post. I think the reason the iPhone 13 was forcibly updated to 26 was because it was originally on 18.6 while the backup was on 18.7.

I just did a restore from 18.7.1 iPad 7th gen to 18.7.1 iPad Air 4th gen and that worked fine.

I recommend setting up the A16 iPad as new first, don't bother signing in to any accounts and just go through setup quickly then update to 18.7.1. After it's been updated, do a factory erase and then you can set it up again with migrate/restore from your old device/backup.
 
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This bickering about OS 18 and 26 is starting to remind me of people having these same thoughts and conversations of staying on iOS 6 or migrate to iOS 7. Yes iOS 26 is another repeat of iOS 7, but Liquid Glass or not more or less with the extra design cues not rested to Liquid Glass the result is a design similar to previous iOS’s (tvOS 26 on the A8/A10X Apple TV is a clear example)

(Please install OS 26 it’s better than seeing the formula of OS15-18 (hence why iOS 15 onward had a recently security update))
 
Homme said:
This bickering about OS 18 and 26 is starting to remind me of people having these same thoughts and conversations of staying on iOS 6 or migrate to iOS 7. Yes iOS 26 is another repeat of iOS 7, but Liquid Glass or not more or less with the extra design cues not rested to Liquid Glass the result is a design similar to previous iOS’s (tvOS 26 on the A8/A10X Apple TV is a clear example)

(Please install OS 26 it’s better than seeing the formula of OS15-18 (hence why iOS 15 onward had a recently security update))
Click to expand...
Everything else I own is on OS26 and I love it. It's just that I think iPadOS26 is too Mac-like, which is great if you use it for main productivity like I used to. In fact, if I had upgraded to an ipad 11 or an Air I would have been pretty much in the same position as I am with my Macbook given how and what I do. IPadOS26 makes a redundancy in 95% of how I use the two devices.
 
Andy_2341 said:
Everything else I own is on OS26 and I love it. It's just that I think iPadOS26 is too Mac-like, which is great if you use it for main productivity like I used to. In fact, if I had upgraded to an ipad 11 or an Air I would have been pretty much in the same position as I am with my Macbook given how and what I do. IPadOS26 makes a redundancy in 95% of how I use the two devices.
Click to expand...
On iPadOS26, you can turn windowing off in settings, so it will not be too "Mac-like".
 
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Mainsail said:
On iPadOS26, you can turn windowing off in settings, so it will not be too "Mac-like".
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This goes the other direction for me, effectively handicapping it as an iOS style experience for multitasking(one screen at a time, swipe on home bar to jump between apps). This brings me to a conclusion. The ipad 11 is a great ipad, but it's not for me. Thank you everyone for your inputs.
 
I’m hesitant about the recommendation of the A16. I received mine in early April and my battery already looks like this (I never leave it charging overnight):

IMG_0667.jpeg


Maybe that curve will flatten out at some point but I am looking at 76% health by the time it’s two years old 😕
 
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The deals on the M3 iPad Air (keep seeing it dip to $450) are hard to ignore if you can spring it--I couldn't resist. Maybe it's just me, but the screen gap on the base iPad makes me nuts and it shows its age quick. My last iPad Air lasted 6 years, was still getting the latest software, and seemed snappier than my (newer) base iPad. Spend less now more often, or more now less often -- you're call. However, an M3 in an iPad is already overkill so I expect mine to last a longggg time.
 
It’s always something said:
I’m hesitant about the recommendation of the A16. I received mine in early April and my battery already looks like this (I never leave it charging overnight):

View attachment 2566278

Maybe that curve will flatten out at some point but I am looking at 76% health by the time it’s two years old 😕
Click to expand...
Mine has far fewer cycles so it is at 100%, but honestly I’d just ignore this. No on-device indicators for my 9.7-inch iPad Pro. I purchased it in 2016, a few months after release. After a year, it was at 164 cycles and 91% health according to Coconut Battery. A forced update to iOS 12 from iOS 9 and the consequent reduced battery life, added to the fact that I bought an Air 5 three years after the forced update, made it so I used it less.

But nine years later, it is at 800 cycles and 85% health. And that’s with diminished use. Had I used it more, its numbers would be even better. And I used it to play games, with no concern at all for battery health.

Even if it doesn’t flatten, iPads are ridiculously resilient. iOS updates will kill battery life, not battery degradation.

For gaming and content consumption, OP will be perfectly fine, especially if they decide to keep it on iPadOS 18.
 
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