Which iPad, Air or 11" Pro?

[fairmarketvalue]

I'm coming from a PC touch laptop background and need to grab an iPad for my business (I also have an iPhone 11 Pro). The 11" Pro looks future proof to me - M1 chip, Face ID, 128 GB, which I'd like to mate up with a magic keyboard (to type in client orders) and a 2nd gen pencil, to have clients sign the order at our meeting. It must include cellular, and I believe the 11" Pro's is 5G.

The Air seems to me to be more middle of the pack technology-wise. It has the A14 chip, Touch ID, 64GB and can be used with the magic keyboard and 2nd gen pencil. It's cellular capability is 4 LTE. It's main benefit is the Air bundle would be $265 cheaper on an all-in basis.

I like the savings on the Air, but am conflicted about buying a mid-pack machine I presumably will need to replace in a shorter time. I'd appreciate any thoughts from those who may be facing the same dilemma.

 

[imwjl]

FWIW, I buy iPads and provision them in business by the dozens. All of them are good. Basic models have a tremendous life span. The high end models are more about the super premium display and can have the premium keyboard.

I see no rights or wrongs in this. The big issue is no iPad is a general purpose computer. For a lot of use it sort of makes the higher end models classic premium products where you get diminishing returns but at times that is worth it to many. The newer Air models are sort of a sweet spot in the middle.

The Pro are super nice and I think I see less interest in them with my users is in what the price and weight are when you would compare to a MacBook Air.

With most people able to hot spot a phone, and with Apple Watch cellular popularity we are at a point where cellular tablets are not so popular anymore but they are a good tool for our staff who do events, and delivery.

There's nothing wrong with "mid-pack" as you put it. I didn't really save any money and actually returned both high end iPads and one of the fantastic new Pro MacBooks not because something's good, bad, high or low but to have what fits my work flow the best. High end desktop, basic iPad, M1 Air laptop, Max phone and cellular Apple Watch add. It's just that the basic iPad and Air laptop are ideal for my work flow and routines.

Artists are my user niche where the Pro and pencil make a lot of sense. Browser compatibility can be an iPad matter none of our nearly 1000 employees have with a general purpose computer.

 

[fairmarketvalue]

Thanks for the reply. Just to be clear, the concerns I expressed over the Air are not significant, and I could achieve the same result using it that I could by spending the extra $260 and getting the Pro 11, yes?

 

[imwjl]

Thanks for the reply. Just to be clear, the concerns I expressed over the Air are not significant, and I could achieve the same result using it that I could by spending the extra $260 and getting the Pro 11, yes?

This is a you have to decide. All the products are great. I see it this way. The Pro is not a luxury item for our primary corporate graphics/media manager but maybe so for an acquaintance who just likes nice things. I really need general purpose computers so for that reason my personal choice has been basic models. The dozens at a time basic models I buy for work are pretty darn great for less than $300.

 

[EdwinG]

Thanks for the reply. Just to be clear, the concerns I expressed over the Air are not significant, and I could achieve the same result using it that I could by spending the extra $260 and getting the Pro 11, yes?

Unless you need more performance (like heavy video processing), I would stick with the iPad Air. Most workloads will work more than okay on that device.