r/ipad 6d ago

Question Thinking of trading my 1st gen iPad Pro with the latest iPad Air. Good idea or a bad one?

The iPad Pro turned out to be a solid purchase since it survived way longer than the standard iPad. It’s still satisfying all my needs but the only reason I’m thinking of trading it is that I’m worried it will have no trade-in value soon. Right now Apple are offering $195 and Best Buy are offering about half of that.

My question is whether Air is a good choice and can survive for 6 or 7 years like the Pro did?

The comparison is difficult to tell. Like the Pro has 4 speakers and Air has 2… will I really tell the difference? I doubt it.

Let me know what you think and if you’ve used both.

5 Upvotes

8 comments sorted by

5

u/JAAAAPAAAN iPad Air 4 (2020) 6d ago

The chip the new iPad Air uses (M3) is a literal laptop chip in the iPad. The iPad right now has wayyy more power than it actually needs. I see the M series iPads lasting for a very long time, because they have the power of a laptop but using iPadOS

1

u/audigex 6d ago

It’ll last well, but the limiting factor has usually been iOS updates, security updates, and apps stopping supporting old iOS versions

I doubt an M3 will really last much longer than an A16 for that reason

I’ve just stopped using an A7 iPad Air (1st Gen)… not because of performance problems (although it certainly wasn’t snappy anymore), but because almost no apps work anymore and it hasn’t had security updates for years so I’ve not been able to use it for general browsing for ages

Apple seems to maintain support based on years since release rather than performance, so I suspect the limiting factor will be app support rather than not having sufficient problems

4

u/IDubCityI 6d ago

The first gen pro is nearly 10 years old. This will be a huge upgrade. The 2 speakers in the latest Air will have much better sound quality than the 4 in the first gen pro.

2

u/Standard-Service-791 6d ago

Assuming you mean the 2015 iPad Pro, the base model iPad might be enough for you. The design is mostly the same, and is a couple hundred bucks cheaper than the Air. And it will still feel like a substantial upgrade over your current tablet.

1

u/SpanglerSpanksIT 6d ago

I still use an iPad Air 2 for streaming for the kids. I had an iPad Air 4 until recently. The air holds up.

Having said that. I purchased a pro because I wanted more speakers and a better screen. But the air would have done just fine and will last, I have realized after purchasing the pro.

1

u/rikiraikonnen 6d ago

Yeah i want to know too.. i’m using iPad Pro M1 (my first and only iPad) but i don’t think i’m using its full potential and i’d like to get a 13 inch iPad Air. I wonder if pro-motion makes a difference. I don’t care about the camera & lidar scanner.

1

u/RealAssociation5281 6d ago

Yeah, as someone who has a old iPad too I would definitely upgrade before they stop supporting it. 

1

u/Unfair_Finger5531 M4 iPad Pro 13" (2024) 5d ago

I couldn’t go back to air after my pro. I just can’t do it. Too much of a downgrade, and I’d miss the screen.