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All iPads Which one to buy? Air 3rd gen, Pro 10.5, or 9th gen?

C

cxmungler

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 5, 2022
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Looking to buy an ipad more on the cheaper side but with more current software. Wondering which to pick from out of these 3 options.
iPad Air 3rd gen
iPad 9th gen
iPad Pro 10.5

Only will be used for business forms, procreate tattoo stenciling, and multimedia.
 
Jack Neill

Jack Neill

macrumors 68020
Sep 13, 2015
2,272
2,308
San Antonio Texas
I own a 10.5 Pro and a 3rd gen Air. I honestly preferred the Pro, it might have an older CPU but the screen is fantastic and it has the quad speakers. Mine is getting very touchy where it restarts when held wrong randomly and it of course like all 10.5 pros has the white spot in the screen. I retired mine to being mounted it to my fridge for use in the kitchen. The 3rd gen Air is fine too but honestly I don't think either has preformed very well with iPadOS 15. I should have left both of them on 14.8.1. Air 3 is probably a better if you don't care about a better screen or speakers. Both work great with the smart keyboard case.
 
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rui no onna

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,917
13,261
We have all 3 in the household. I vote for the 9th gen. It's not prone to the bright spot issue plus it should have the best battery life of the bunch.

forums.macrumors.com

Bright spot on iPad Pro 10.5 screen

I have an approx 1in spot on my iPad Pro screen which is brighter than the rest of the screen - it's unevenly lit. The spot is about 2in above the home button, and although it has soft edges, I'm anal about my gadgets, and the difference in brightness could be described as 'minor', it's clearly...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com

There's all sorts of silly threads advocating for frivolous class action lawsuits but the 10.5" iPad issue actually deserves one.

Mind, my Pro 10.5 doesn't have the white spot. My Air 3 has it but it's barely visible and you have to hold it at a certain angle in order to see it.
 
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Jack Neill

Jack Neill

macrumors 68020
Sep 13, 2015
2,272
2,308
San Antonio Texas
rui no onna said:
We have all 3 in the household. I vote for the 9th gen. It's not prone to the bright spot issue plus it should have the best battery life of the bunch.

forums.macrumors.com

Bright spot on iPad Pro 10.5 screen

I have an approx 1in spot on my iPad Pro screen which is brighter than the rest of the screen - it's unevenly lit. The spot is about 2in above the home button, and although it has soft edges, I'm anal about my gadgets, and the difference in brightness could be described as 'minor', it's clearly...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com

There's all sorts of silly threads advocating for frivolous class action lawsuits but the 10.5" iPad issue actually deserves one.
Click to expand...
I loved mine, but I agree it was the least durable Apple product I’ve had from this era.
 
azentropy

azentropy

macrumors 601
Jul 19, 2002
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I'd probably say the 9th gen iPad. While the 10.5 Pro and Air 3 are still great, they are harder to get in good condition. I've owned both (in fact my parents still use them daily) and both did develop the white spot issue. For what they use them for it is fine, but it bothers me. But if you can swing an Air 4 (on sale) it would be worth it.
 
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azentropy

azentropy

macrumors 601
Jul 19, 2002
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5,664
Surprise
azentropy said:
I'd probably say the 9th gen iPad. While the 10.5 Pro and Air 3 are still great, they are harder to get in good condition. I've owned both (in fact my parents still use them daily) and both did develop the white spot issue. For what they use them for it is fine, but it bothers me. But if you can swing an Air 4 (on sale) it would be worth it.
Click to expand...
Oh and having owned both the iPad Air 3 and the Pro 10.5, I liked the 10.5 better. While the Air 3 was slightly faster, the Pro 10.5 had much better speakers which I used more frequently and a camera (which I didn't but was nice). I think the Pro has more RAM too.
 
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Six0Four

Six0Four

macrumors 65816
Mar 27, 2020
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9th gen. Just google "Ipad Air white dot". That and the pro 10.5 were plagued with a white blotch defect above the home button.

I picked up 4th gen Air on sale at Walmart for $470 USD.
 
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ACG12

macrumors 6502a
Jun 9, 2015
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I have an Air 3 and my wife has a 10.5 Pro. While I do prefer the screen and quad speakers, the Air 3 is going to be supported longer. I would go that route.
 
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*~Kim~*

macrumors 65816
May 6, 2013
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UK
I would rule out the Air 3 on the basis that it and the 9th Gen have the same 3GB RAM. The 9th Gen also has the better chip.

The 10.5 Pro has an extra GB of RAM, the same as the Air 4, so there are benefits to that, especially with Procreate I’d have thought. The A10X was said to be somewhere in line with the Air 3’s A12 at release, so if you wanted the extra 0.3 inch of screen I would go for that, as the Air 3 doesn’t seem to have resolved the white spot issue as was thought and hoped on release. May as well get the quad speakers and promotion if you are taking the chance.

It mainly comes down to whether you are more concerned with the better chip (in which case get the 9th Gen) or RAM (get the Pro.) If you can stretch to a refurb Air 4 then you wouldn’t have either trade off and it avoids the white spot - you just wouldn’t have the quad speakers and promotion as they are yet to make it to the Air line.
 
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phillies3429

phillies3429

macrumors member
Sep 27, 2014
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