The Best iPad - iPad Pro vs iPad Air vs iPad 8th Generation

2021-06-21 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 16:28 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Tools, apps and tech · mode: Review and recommendation · tags: Aimed at students

Ali rates the five iPads of 2021 on performance, value for money and the joy of using them, and recommends the budget iPad for anyone on a budget and the 11-inch iPad Pro for those with more to spend; the iPad mini, the iPad Air and, for most people, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro are hard to recommend.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Which iPad you should buy in 2021: five options, rated on performance, value for money and fun factor

★★ Ali would not recommend the iPad mini to anyone in 2021: it has not been updated in a while and does not give the full experience of using an iPad. — 00:00:00 · iPad, iPad Pro

00:00:35 — The iPad mini

★ For a small device to read on, Ali says to get a Kindle or use your phone rather than an iPad mini. — 00:00:44 · Kindle, iPad, iPad Pro

00:00:58 — The budget iPad

★★ Unless you do professional-grade work on an iPad such as video editing, 3D modelling or very intensive gaming, Ali says the budget iPad's performance will be completely fine; he knows no iPad owner who does such work. — 00:01:42 · iPad, iPad Pro
★ The budget iPad uses the old-generation Apple Pencil, which Ali calls no huge deal but slightly annoying to charge through the Lightning connector. — 00:01:42 · iPad, Apple Pencil, iPad Pro
★★ The budget iPad does not work with the Magic Keyboard; it takes the Smart Keyboard, which has no trackpad and is not as nice, though Ali calls it still pretty good. — 00:02:25 · iPad, Magic Keyboard, iPad Pro
★★★ The budget iPad starts at $330 for 64 GB, costs $430 with 128 GB, and $700 as a package with the Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard. — 00:02:25 · iPad, Apple Pencil, iPad Pro
★★★ Ali gives the budget iPad five stars for value for money: $700 for the package is a lot, but the iPad is the best tablet on the market, so it is solid value. — 00:02:54 · iPad, iPad Pro
★★★ Ali calls the iPad lineup a demonstration of diminishing returns: the budget iPad gives a lot for the money, while the iPad Air and the two iPad Pros give less and less for each extra dollar. — 00:03:24 · iPad, iPad Pro
★★★ Ali suggests the budget iPad gives about 90% of the overall goodness of owning an iPad, so on any kind of budget it is the way to go. — 00:03:24 · iPad, iPad Pro
★★ The budget iPad has only a 60 Hz display, a FaceTime HD camera of about 4.2 megapixels that looks poor on Zoom calls, and an old design, which is why Ali rates its experience low. — 00:04:22 · iPad, iPad Pro

00:05:12 — The iPad Air

★★ Ali advises against buying any iPad with 64 GB of storage, because it will run out of space. — 00:05:40 · iPad, iPad Pro
★★★ The iPad Air starts at $600 for 64 GB; its only storage upgrade, to 256 GB, takes it to $750, close to the 11-inch iPad Pro's $799. — 00:05:40 · iPad Pro
★★★ With the Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard the 256 GB iPad Air costs about $1,200; with that money Ali would never get an iPad Air and would pay about $50 more for the 11-inch iPad Pro, which has many more quality-of-life improvements. — 00:06:39 · iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, Magic Keyboard
★★ The only thing that makes the iPad Air less nice to use than the iPad Pro is the screen: 60 Hz against the iPad Pro's 120 Hz ProMotion display, which Ali found far smoother than he expected. — 00:07:04 · iPad Pro

00:08:04 — The 11-inch iPad Pro, and the choice for students

★★★ The 11-inch M1 iPad Pro starts at $800 for 128 GB, which Ali finds completely fine from his own use; with the Apple Pencil ($129) and Magic Keyboard ($300) it comes to about $1,200, basically the iPad Air's price. — 00:08:38 · iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, Magic Keyboard, iPad
★ The new iPad Pro's higher-quality front camera follows you as you walk around on a call, a feature Ali has never needed because he sits during calls. — 00:09:07 · iPad Pro
★★ The M1 chip in the iPad Pro is, as many people say, overkill, because iPadOS does not broadly let you use apps that use the M1 to its full potential. — 00:09:36 · iPad Pro, iPad
★★★ Ali puts the 11-inch iPad Pro at about 99% of the value of owning an iPad at double the budget iPad's price: with Pencil and keyboard $1,200 against $700, about $500 more for about 9% more user experience. — 00:10:03 · iPad Pro, iPad
★★★ For Ali the iPad Pro's extra cost is worth it: he uses it more for the joy of its screen, keyboard and pencil, and a few extra hours a year of focused work such as writing easily pay for it. — 00:10:31 · iPad Pro, iPad
★★★ For a student choosing between the budget iPad and the iPad Pro, Ali says it comes down to how much money you want to spend: the Pro is nicer, the budget iPad does the job just as well, and the extra money buys user experience rather than performance. — 00:11:06 · iPad, iPad Pro
★★ The 12.9-inch iPad Pro is the same as the 11-inch except for a fancier screen, which Ali thinks is an OLED display; side by side the difference is hard to tell. (hedged) — 00:11:46 · iPad Pro

00:11:57 — The 12.9-inch iPad Pro and Ali's own devices

★★ Ali recommends the Paperlike screen protector he always uses on his iPads, which makes the screen much nicer to write on and feels like paper; it is not sponsored, though he gets an affiliate kickback. — 00:12:45 · Paperlike, iPad, iPad Pro
★★★ The 12.9-inch iPad Pro costs $1,100 for the base model and $1,500 to $1,600 with the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil, which Ali calls not very good value for money. — 00:13:14 · iPad Pro, Magic Keyboard, Apple Pencil
★★ For most people Ali thinks the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is a bit overkill; it suits those who are not price-sensitive and really want a big screen. — 00:13:14 · iPad Pro
★★★ The 12.9-inch iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard used to be Ali's daily driver for writing and work, but since the M1 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air came out he has hardly needed it. — 00:13:14 · iPad Pro, Magic Keyboard, MacBook
★★ If you carry a thin, light 13-inch laptop with great battery life, Ali has not found it handy to also carry a 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a keyboard, which works a little less well than a laptop. — 00:13:53 · iPad Pro, MacBook
★★★ Ali's main devices are now the 11-inch iPad Pro and the 13-inch MacBook Pro, carried together: the MacBook for anything needing a laptop or a desk, the iPad Pro for writing on the sofa or on a train. — 00:13:53 · iPad Pro, MacBook

00:14:52 — Which iPad Ali recommends

★★★ Ali's iPad advice in 2021: on a budget, the budget iPad; with more money to spend, the 11-inch iPad Pro; the iPad Air is very hard to recommend because of its pricing, storage upgrades and 60 Hz display. — 00:14:59 · iPad, iPad Pro

“If however, you have more money to burn, then the iPad Pro 11 inch would be my recommendation.”
★★ Ali finds the 12.9-inch iPad Pro very hard to recommend unless the iPad is to be the only device you carry; then its larger screen makes it better than the 11-inch. — 00:14:59 · iPad Pro, iPad
★★ Ali says his mind on choosing between the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro has changed a little since he chose the 12.9-inch, because the M1 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are now his daily driver. — 00:16:05 · iPad Pro, MacBook

Threads in this video

shift · Which iPad should you buy? — Ali's iPad advice in 2021: on a budget, the budget iPad; with more money to spend, the 11-inch iPad Pro; the iPad Air is very hard to recommend because of its pricing, storage upgrades and 60 Hz display. (00:14:59)
refine · Which iPad should you buy? — Ali finds the 12.9-inch iPad Pro very hard to recommend unless the iPad is to be the only device you carry; then its larger screen makes it better than the 11-inch. (00:14:59)
restate · Which iPad should you buy? — For a student choosing between the budget iPad and the iPad Pro, Ali says it comes down to how much money you want to spend: the Pro is nicer, the budget iPad does the job just as well, and the extra money buys user experience rather than performance. (00:11:06)
shift · Can an iPad replace a laptop? — Ali says his mind on choosing between the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro has changed a little since he chose the 12.9-inch, because the M1 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are now his daily driver. (00:16:05) → refers to I WAS WRONG - iPad Pro 11 vs. 12.9 inch
refine · Can an iPad replace a laptop? — If you carry a thin, light 13-inch laptop with great battery life, Ali has not found it handy to also carry a 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a keyboard, which works a little less well than a laptop. (00:13:53)
restate · Can an iPad replace a laptop? — Ali's main devices are now the 11-inch iPad Pro and the 13-inch MacBook Pro, carried together: the MacBook for anything needing a laptop or a desk, the iPad Pro for writing on the sofa or on a train. (00:13:53)
refine · How do you decide whether a purchase is worth it? — For Ali the iPad Pro's extra cost is worth it: he uses it more for the joy of its screen, keyboard and pencil, and a few extra hours a year of focused work such as writing easily pay for it. (00:10:31)
restate · Should you read on a Kindle, on paper or by audiobook? — For a small device to read on, Ali says to get a Kindle or use your phone rather than an iPad mini. (00:00:44)
refine · Which tech is worth buying? — Ali recommends the Paperlike screen protector he always uses on his iPads, which makes the screen much nicer to write on and feels like paper; it is not sponsored, though he gets an affiliate kickback. (00:12:45)

Mentioned

Central: diminishing returns · iPad · iPad Air · iPad Pro

Also: Products: Apple A12 Bionic · Apple A14 Bionic · Apple M1 · Apple Pencil · iPad mini · iPadOS · Kindle · MacBook · Magic Keyboard · Paperlike · Smart Keyboard

Also centred on iPad Air: Which iPad should you buy - Analysis of iPad Pro vs iPad Air vs iPad Mini vs iPad · iPad Mini Review - The Perfect Consumption Device · HEAD TO HEAD - iPad Pro vs MacBook Air (2020) · iPad Air Review - Productivity Powerhouse

Replies to

corrects · I WAS WRONG - iPad Pro 11 vs. 12.9 inch

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