Upgrading to a New iPad: 2024 iPad Air vs. My Old iPad Pro

Farkinell said:

Buying *any* device in 2024 that you’ll primarily use for content consumption that has a 60hz refresh rate is insane. The fact Apple still offers slideshow displays for this kind of price is surprising in itself, but obviously there’s people willing to buy them.

The difference is night and day, big mistake in my opinion.

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$500 extra is a lot just for higher refresh rate...

I would love to see a future article comparing the new Pro (with M4) to the Air - as well as perhaps comparing the Air to a slightly newer Pro (maybe M1 or M2 Pro).

I have a 13" Pro from 2020 and it still runs great - I doubt I'll "need" (see: want) to upgrade it for another couple of years.

Interesting article, for me the main problem is I use a tablet mainly to watch videos and Ipad are not worth it: way too much expensive compared to others tablets, just to watch video!

Thelbkaarn said:

Interesting article, for me the main problem is I use a tablet mainly to watch videos and Ipad are not worth it: way too much expensive compared to others tablets, just to watch video!

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Well, if you're just buying an iPad (especially a Pro) to watch videos, you are definitely wasting your money. What makes iPads great is that they do so many OTHER things as WELL as being the best content browser money can buy.

I love older iPads for reading books - and each device syncs so I can pick up a book on one iPad and continue where I left off on another.

Squid Surprise said:

$500 extra is a lot just for higher refresh rate...

I would love to see a future article comparing the new Pro (with M4) to the Air - as well as perhaps comparing the Air to a slightly newer Pro (maybe M1 or M2 Pro).

I have a 13" Pro from 2020 and it still runs great - I doubt I'll "need" (see: want) to upgrade it for another couple of years.

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That's why you don't buy Apple. The Air should have had a 90Hz refresh at the minimum.

I would buy a 2-in-1 with a real OS over any tablet though thesedays.

I'm a digital illustrator and have been daily driving the Pro M1 12.9inch for 2 years using Procreate. It's still BLAZING FAST, no hiccup or anything I'm aware of. I don't see myself upgrading in the near future, unless Apple intentionally slows it down with update, which is a crappy move.

Meanwhile for reading and content consumption I have the Redmi Pad SE which is more than enough.

2018 iPad Pro 11" still rolling strong, only problem is materials and 4GB RAM that bottlenecks the whole gadget and holds it back even when netsurfing. SoC, screen, even battery is still OG and lasts long, and only those fkin 4gigs of RAM....

This kind of article is great. I would love to see more upgrade articles in the future. Keep up the good work!

Bought a Xiaomi Pad 6 for $260 USD the other day, coming from an iPad Pro 10.5 2017, exactly like the author, so I have some comparison on this, too. The difference is night and day. The SOC, albeit being an SD 870, is powerful for everyday usage, battery life is great, the thing never throttles, the 144Hz display is clear and bright with over 300ppi at 2880*1800. It has 8GB RAM, 256GB storage, UFS 3.1, USB-C 3.2, Harman Kardon speakers with Dolby Atmos. Yes, it comes with bloatware, but you invest 10 minutes, and you are clean as a sheet. Again, $260 USD.

Yes, Android is not iPadOS, but for what I'm using it for (web browsing, Netflix, some games like Genshin or PUBG, general note-taking), it is very snappy and delivers more than I hoped for. Miles better than the aged iPad Pro. To be true, the only thing I miss from the iPad Pro is GoodNotes and 3:2 display factor. I looked at the 3:2 6s Pro, but wanted a portable travel tablet, so just tried out the 11" Pad 6, and surprisingly it delivers everything I needed.

The best but most time overlooked part is the full USB-C 3.2 connection with TV-Out, a rare feature in this budget price class. I can bring this device to any display in a hotel and hook it up with a regular USB to HDMI cable, no need for any USB-C docking station or any of the Apple HDMI adapters. And battery life is great. The perfect travel companion. That for $260 USD is a steal. I know it won't last three good years in software updates, but I don't care. To be true, the new iPadOS won't include iPad Pros from 2017 anyway, and running an aged iPad Pro for many years to come is not a great experience either. You still overpaid to begin with, especially if you eyeball the bigger variants with more RAM. And then your device lasts longer, yes, but how much longer? 1-2 years, then you feel the age anyway.

And now the Pad 6. I did not take this purchase seriously, But the thing delivers. And friggin $260 USD for that experience?! I still can't believe it. What do you get from Apple for this money? Even their most basic iPad 64GB device is more expensive. No way will I personally shell out the money for the new iPad Pros. They can have OLED and multiple Antutu Scores out of M4 as they want; I don't care about Antutu Scores, as long as the expierence for everyday tasks is snappy and smooth. You still don't need this kind of power for browsing the web, watching Netflix, or the occasional game.

I don't even own a tablet. Never have.

Waste of money and more completely useless e-waste for the landfills.

I love my iPad pro, if it broke or started slowing down I wouldn't hesitate to replace it. I wouldn't go for the Air myself though.

Achaios said:

I don't even own a tablet. Never have.

Waste of money and more completely useless e-waste for the landfills.

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very insightful post thank you.

We have 4 13" ipad pros in my family. All are used for Art (ProCreate), Streaming, even work. They are great if you are able to utilize the very closed Apple ecosystem.

My only concern is Apple going all in with AI. I'm going to avoid ANY device that you don't have an option to disable AI.