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Homme

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 17, 2014
951
869
Sydney
My opinion of this but many of you would have guessed some of these but trying my best to pick iPads was far harder as almost all iPads have been successful with a few which Apple stuffed you for your money but here is what I mustered

5. Original iPad Mini

For an Original Product it wasn’t a bad iPad but Apple shouldn’t given it the A5, a non Retina display but given that it got besides the base OS 3 extra updates, 2 of them ( iOS 8-9 stuffed A5 up as we know it) and the fact that it’s successor a year later is one of the greatest iPads of its time and fixes everything wrong about the OG iPad Mini

4. iPad 4th gen

This product only existed to fix the iPad 3 but if this product was released instead of the iPad 3 then it wouldn’t be on the list but like the OG Mini it’s successor again another GOAT iPad which fixed everything good and bad about the 4th gen A6X (32bit) iPad which lost support a year after the OG Mini ( and it was a lot expensive)

3. Original iPad

If that had 512MB instead of 256 it would had easily gotten iOS 7 but people forked a fortune to get it in which Apple ****ed them by making the iPhone 3GS which was released 6 months prior to get iOS 6 despite a slightly weaker processor and not this iPad, add to that the iPad 2 being one of the greatest iPads ever this is a very unlucky iPad

But the top 2 are for people who deep down regretted getting these iPads, the 3rd gen iPad and the Mini 3rd gen

But despite the 3rd gen iPad being worse than the Mini 3 it’s on number 2 and why

Because despite it being replaced 6 months later it at least felt more newer than the Mini 3, had plenty of features new to iPad at the time ( and also when iOS 6 was revealed that the iPad 2 didn’t get like Siri)

But why Mini 3 was just the most unluckliesy iPad ever, too unlucky that some people noticed from the start when it was priced the same as original Air and $100 IIRC less than Air 2 unlike the iPad 3 in which no one expected Apple to reveal the 4th gen straight away

For $150 for an “barely enhanced” Mini 2 ( why Apple put the same A7 I don’t know) you got and you lost

Touch ID
NFC for Apple Pay on the web
Loss of Mute Switch
Loss of a good amount of OS Updates thanks to 1GB Of RAM ( no AirPods/Beats support, AirTags and so much more)


Plus the Air 2 released the same time and it’s baby brother the Mini 4 a year later made Mini 3 users feel very unlucky on how bad the device is especially since it sits between two value for your buck A8 iPads at the time)


I’d love to hear your opinions
 

Abazigal

Contributor
Jul 18, 2011
20,392
23,891
Singapore
IMO,

The 2020 ipad pro - I have no idea why Apple released this (except maybe as a placeholder because the M1 iPad Pro would be released only 2.5 years later). It lacked the M1 chip, and so would not get the external display support that the M1 iPad in 2021 would have. I suspect it won't be supported any longer than the 2018 iPad Pro, by virtue of both essentially having the same A12x chip (A12z is basically a better binned version).

The current 10th gen iPad - I am struggling to find the value proposition of this Frankenstein of a device. It not that cheap, lacks the M1 chip, requires an adaptor just to pair and charge the 1st gen pencil, the keyboard accessory is freaking expensive, the usb c port has only 2.0 speeds, and you have to really want the camera in landscape position in order to choose one over the existing M1 iPad Air.

And well, the iPad 3, with its underpowered A5x chip (and my first iPad).
 

Cheruman

macrumors member
Apr 30, 2007
88
232
I’d say the iPad 3 was the unluckiest, discontinued in less than a year. Yes, I am still bitter 😂
 
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Falhófnir

macrumors 603
Aug 19, 2017
6,146
7,001
iPad 3 was my first iPad, and I think it's a little bit over maligned. The retina display was largely offset by the A5X with significantly more graphics power, and worth it for the display IMO. It was also the first iDevice with 1GB RAM IIRC? Yes it sucked that it was replaced after 7 months and the A6X was possibly the biggest single generational improvement ever (closest to 3x the performance of the previous chip we ever got!) - but I disagree the iPad 2 was a better buy, it was just as laggy on iOS 8 and 9, and you lacked the great display and only had half the RAM. Even the iPad 4 started getting laggy on its later iOS versions, so ultimately it wasn't so far off par for the course for the products of the time. It got me through until the first iPad pro came along, and I wasn't so put off that I never bought another iPad!

Worst updates I would say were, yes, iPad mini 3 (you got nothing but touch ID and the gold colour option over the $100 cheaper mini 2) and probably the 4th generation iPad pro - again, nothing but new cameras/ LIDAR and there was a RAM bump 4-6GB, but this was for their expensive flagship iPad.
 

sack_peak

Suspended
Sep 3, 2023
1,020
959
These are the tablets I've had

- 2011 iPad 2
- 2013 iPad Air
- 2018 iPad Pro 11"

Key mistakes I had with buying these and the iPad is skimping of storage. I always bought base model SKU. It became more relaxed when Apple made 32GB & 64GB their base model SKU. If I gotten the ideal storage size for my 2011 iPad 2 I'd likely have kept it a few months after its final Security Update in July 2019 like the 2019 iPad.

Another key problem I encountered is not buying a quality case that matches my uses. I'm a self confessed klutz so I cannot use an iPhone or iPad without it. Difference though is I need a more rugged case with the iPad than any iPhone.

I think any Apple device is top notch and sometimes our short shortsightedness is what limits us.

I'm likely to keep my 2018 iPad Pro 11" until 2028.
 

*~Kim~*

macrumors 65816
May 6, 2013
1,178
470
UK
I’d say the iPad 3 was the unluckiest, discontinued in less than a year. Yes, I am still bitter 😂
Me too. I deliberately didn’t get the iPad 2 because I wanted Retina, but the iPad 2 turned out to be luckier, its support probably extended because the 1st Gen Mini was internally the same. It was the first time that two generations of a device were dropped at the same time, I think.

There was me thinking even when the iPad 4 came out that it would still get an extra year of support compared to the 2, because it had the extra RAM.
 

Digitalguy

macrumors 601
Apr 15, 2019
4,643
4,469
Me too. I deliberately didn’t get the iPad 2 because I wanted Retina, but the iPad 2 turned out to be luckier, its support probably extended because the 1st Gen Mini was internally the same. It was the first time that two generations of a device were dropped at the same time, I think.

There was me thinking even when the iPad 4 came out that it would still get an extra year of support compared to the 2, because it had the extra RAM.
Honestly the iPad 2 is unusable on IOS 9 so the addition support actually destroyed usability....
 

alien3dx

macrumors 68020
Feb 12, 2017
2,193
524
Mini 6 - rip
Mini 5 - screen issue

Now only using ipad 10th gen . Quite odd pencil
 
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