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Which iPad should you buy - Analysis of iPad Pro vs iPad Air vs iPad Mini vs iPad

2019-04-23 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 17:27 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Tools, apps and tech · mode: Review and recommendation · tags: Aimed at students, Family, Sponsor segment present

In a Tech Tuesdays comparison of Apple's 2019 iPads, Ali recommends the iPad mini for pure consumption, the $489 iPad Air for students and most people, the £319 iPad on a tight budget and the iPad Pro only for pro users or those with cash to spare, arguing from diminishing returns and the value of delight.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Intro: comparing the budget iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air and 11-inch iPad Pro

00:00:54 — Overall conclusion: which iPad for which people

  • ★★★ For using an iPad purely to consume content such as Netflix, YouTube and web browsing, Ali recommends the iPad mini, and calls the budget iPad pretty solid if you want a bigger screen. — 00:00:58 · iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★★ For creation work on an iPad, such as a student using the Apple Pencil, Ali recommends the $489 iPad Air. — 00:00:58 · iPad Air, Apple Pencil, iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali places iPad use on a spectrum from consumption (YouTube, Netflix, web browsing, reading) to creation (video and photo editing, music production), with typing, handwritten notes and email in between. — 00:01:27 · iPad, iPad Pro

00:01:45 — What do you use an iPad for: the consumption-to-creation spectrum

  • ★★★ The closer your iPad use is to the creation, pro end of that spectrum, the more money Ali recommends spending on an iPad. — 00:02:14 · iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali says a more detailed review of the iPad mini is coming a little later. — 00:02:43 · iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★ For a student taking handwritten notes or typing, Ali says you can get by with an iPad mini, but its screen is too small to do anything meaningful. — 00:02:43 · iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali tried planning some of his videos on the iPad mini and found it doable but would not want to do it all the time, while the iPad Air is a joy for handwritten notes. — 00:03:19 · iPad Air, iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★★ Whenever buying anything, Ali says, keep diminishing returns in mind: spending more money does not necessarily bring an equal gain in benefit. — 00:03:49
  • ★★ Ali gives the most basic iPad Pro's price as about £770. — 00:03:49 · iPad Pro

00:03:58 — Diminishing returns: valuing the four iPads at their prices

  • ★★ Ali gives the prices of the budget iPad (£319), the iPad mini (399) and the iPad Air (about £479, or $479). — 00:04:29 · iPad, iPad Air, iPad Pro
  • ★★ Taking the iPad Pro as 100%, Ali values the budget iPad at about 91%, the iPad mini at about 90–92% and the iPad Air at about 95%. (hedged) — 00:04:29 · iPad, iPad Air, iPad Pro
  • ★★★ Ali recommends the iPad Air for most people because he thinks the £180 price jump from the budget iPad to the iPad Air is worth it. — 00:05:31 · iPad Air, iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali names three differences that make the iPad Air worth £180 more than the budget iPad: screen quality, keyboard attachment and power. — 00:06:01 · iPad Air, iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★ The iPad Air has a very nice glass screen, while the budget iPad's screen feels plasticky, a difference Ali calls significant though fine if budget is really an issue. — 00:06:01 · iPad Air, iPad, iPad Pro

00:06:02 — iPad Air vs iPad: screen, keyboard and power

  • ★★ The budget iPad has a slightly bigger gap between the screen and its internals, so the Apple Pencil lags very slightly, which Ali says you only notice side by side. — 00:06:28 · iPad, Apple Pencil, iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali calls the iPad Air's Apple Pencil writing identical to the iPad Pro's, feeling like writing directly onto the screen. — 00:06:28 · iPad Air, iPad Pro, iPad, Apple Pencil
  • ★★ Ali highly recommends that any student using the Apple Pencil on an iPad get the Paperlike screen protector, which he has used for over a year. — 00:07:16 · Paperlike, Apple Pencil, iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali says the screens of the budget iPad and the iPad Air differ only a little, but writing on a Paperlike screen protector and writing on glass differ by a world. — 00:07:46 · Paperlike, iPad, iPad Air, iPad Pro · also in: iPad Mini Review - The Perfect Consumption Device
  • ★★ Apple's origami Smart Keyboard attaches to the iPad Air and semi-easily turns it into almost a laptop replacement; Ali likes typing on it. — 00:08:15 · iPad Air, iPad, iPad Pro, Apple
  • ★★ The budget iPad cannot take Apple's keyboard and needs a third-party Bluetooth case such as Logitech's, which Ali says cost about £70 against about £150 for Apple's. (hedged) — 00:08:50 · iPad, iPad Pro, Apple
  • ★★ On a real budget, if you need to type on the budget iPad, Ali says a third-party Logitech keyboard case works, though it is heavier and less nice than Apple's. — 00:08:50 · iPad, iPad Pro, Apple
  • ★★ The iPad Air has the newest processors and higher Geekbench benchmark scores than the budget iPad. — 00:08:50 · iPad Air, iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali thinks the iPad Air will probably last longer than the budget iPad. (hedged) — 00:09:19 · iPad Air, iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★★ The value of delight: the iPad Air does the same things as the budget iPad but is a little nicer and more delightful to use, and that justifies the £180 for Ali. — 00:09:19 · iPad Air, iPad, iPad Pro

00:09:38 — The value of delight: spend money where you want to spend your time

  • ★★ Ali cites common financial advice to spend your money where you spend your time, such as on a good bed and good shoes, because the extra value compounds over the long term. — 00:10:09
  • ★ Ali and his brother discuss spending money where you spend your time in an episode of their new podcast, Not Overthinking. — 00:10:38 · Taimur Abdaal, Not Overthinking

  • ★★★ Ali adds a rule he hears less often: spend your money where you want to be spending your time, since a purchase encourages you to spend more time on it. — 00:10:38

    “we wanna be spending our money where we want to be spending our time”

  • ★★ Buying a Tesla would make Ali spend more time driving, which he does not want to do with his life. — 00:11:07

  • ★ Ali's house has no TV, so Game of Thrones nights are watched on the monitor; he says buying a TV would only make him, his housemate and friends watch more TV. — 00:11:07 · Game of Thrones
  • ★★ Ali thinks spending £180 to upgrade from the budget iPad to the iPad Air is worth it, because time he spends on his iPad, as a student and now as a doctor, is inherently productive. — 00:11:37 · iPad Air, iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★ As a student Ali used his iPad for lecture notes, all his textbooks, past paper questions and medical books. — 00:11:37 · iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★ For someone using an iPad for productive, creative work, Ali says the iPad Air's extra delight encourages more use, making it an investment that adds value over time rather than a liability. — 00:12:14 · iPad Air, iPad, iPad Pro

00:12:22 — The case for the iPad Pro

  • ★★★ Ali says the iPad Pro is a slight increase in quality of life over the iPad Air, but unless you have a lot of money to spare it does not justify the extra £300. — 00:12:53 · iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad
  • ★★ Apple Pencil writing on the iPad Pro and the iPad Air is identical and the screens are nearly so, Ali says; the only real difference is that the Pencil sticks magnetically to the Pro. — 00:12:53 · iPad Pro, iPad Air, Apple Pencil, iPad
  • ★★ The iPad Pro's keyboard costs about another £200 and is slightly nicer than the origami-folding one, but Ali thinks it probably does not justify the iPad Pro's extra cost. (hedged) — 00:13:19 · iPad Pro
  • ★★ The iPad Pro's extra power does not matter to Ali, but pro users doing graphic, video or music editing will want it. — 00:13:19 · iPad Pro
  • ★★★ For anyone on some kind of budget, Ali calls the iPad Air the sweet spot between price and value. — 00:13:48 · iPad Air, iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali works full time as a doctor with a side income from YouTube and a side business, and uses his iPad Pro almost only for business, so it is a tax-deductible expense. — 00:13:48 · iPad Pro
  • ★★★ Ali's own reasons for choosing the iPad Pro are not a recommendation he can in good conscience pass on to other students: he asks them to get the iPad Air. — 00:13:48 · iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad

00:14:24 — Sponsor read: Skillshare

  • ★★ Ali says he is going to work on his own Skillshare classes, taking a deep dive into how he makes his videos: filming, editing and post-production. — 00:14:54 · Skillshare classes
  • ★★ For pure consumption Ali thinks the iPad mini's one-handed use, for example while commuting, beats all the benefits of a slightly bigger screen. — 00:15:23 · iPad, iPad Pro

00:15:25 — Wrapping up: the recommendations restated

  • ★★ Ali recommends students get Apple's official keyboard for the iPad Air, which makes it more of a laptop replacement, if they can afford the extra £150. — 00:15:55 · iPad Air, iPad, iPad Pro, Apple
  • ★★ For students or most people on a budget, Ali calls the £319 iPad absolutely incredible, though its screen is plasticky, it is less powerful, harder to add a keyboard to and will last less long. — 00:15:55 · iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★ For pro users, people with a ton of spare cash, or those who can justify it as a business expense, Ali calls the iPad Pro absolutely incredible. — 00:16:25 · iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali uses his iPad Pro for over 10 hours every day, but says that without it he would use an iPad Air just as often and probably not notice much difference. (hedged) — 00:16:25 · iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad
  • ★ In episode three or four of Not Overthinking, the podcast Ali started with his brother, they talk about purchasing decisions, such as investing in a kitchen bin rather than a Tesla. (hedged) — 00:16:25 · Not Overthinking, Taimur Abdaal

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: iPad · iPad Air · iPad mini · iPad Pro

Also: People: Taimur Abdaal

Projects: Not Overthinking · Skillshare classes

Organizations: Apple · Logitech · Tesla

Concepts: diminishing returns · value of delight

Products: Apple Pencil · Paperlike · Smart Keyboard · Smart Keyboard Folio

Only in the description or credits: Tech Tuesdays

Also centred on iPad mini: iPad Mini Review - The Perfect Consumption Device

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