Thinking about a new iPad

[6miths]

Just in the process of buying my first tablet - not counting PalmPilot or HP iPaq smartphone back at the dawn of time. The impetus is two fold. First, and primarily, to have something that I can easily use with JamBoard as we teach students online and secondarily to have something to read eBooks on as my local library has far more of these than my preferred audiobooks.

I was going to trial the iPad Pro 11" and the Samsung that is currently on sale at Costco but DS pointed out that I can save money and get a free set of EarPods if I go direct with Apple and use academic pricing. He let me trial his newish iPad Air in a Zoom meeting and his EarPod Pros. I think I will go this way as the noise canceling in the EarPod Pros is pretty good and unlike any other earphone I have tried (including various Bose products) the EarPods allow R/L balance control for playback and this is great for my almost shot right ear. The 11" iPad Pro is also $70 less with academic pricing. Definitely luxuries but what the heck.

 

[misanman]

Ori

Just in the process of buying my first tablet - not counting PalmPilot or HP iPaq smartphone back at the dawn of time. The impetus is two fold. First, and primarily, to have something that I can easily use with JamBoard as we teach students online and secondarily to have something to read eBooks on as my local library has far more of these than my preferred audiobooks.

I was going to trial the iPad Pro 11" and the Samsung that is currently on sale at Costco but DS pointed out that I can save money and get a free set of EarPods if I go direct with Apple and use academic pricing. He let me trial his newish iPad Air in a Zoom meeting and his EarPod Pros. I think I will go this way as the noise canceling in the EarPod Pros is pretty good and unlike any other earphone I have tried (including various Bose products) the EarPods allow R/L balance control for playback and this is great for my almost shot right ear. The 11" iPad Pro is also $70 less with academic pricing. Definitely luxuries but what the heck.

 

[6miths]

Ori

I am guessing you are referring to pending Dell products. I need something asap and my understanding is that these won't be ready to go for a bit yet. Dell was my go to PC and laptop back in the day but have been an Apple family for 15 years now.

 

[FIYes]

Okay, Costco now has the iPad I want. Question is..do I wait for Black Friday or go ahead now. It is a good Costco price, but not on any kind of special.

 

[Christine]

I'm thinking about a new tablet too.
I now have an old Samsung which I almost exclusively use to watch Netflix.
I have been considering an iPad since I've never had any Apple gadgets. And I'm a nerdy kind of curious.
The one thing holding me back from the iPad so far is that it has no audio jack. And I'm old fashioned enough to think that remembering to charge headsets is a hassle.

 

[mpeirce]

The one thing holding me back from the iPad so far is that it has no audio jack.

$7.99 Apple Lightning to 3.5 mm Headphone Jack Adapter

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXJFMGF/

 

[audreyh1]

I limped along just fine with older iPhones, updating no problems. I still bought an oldish model when I finally got a newer one (iPhone8). Works great. My experience is that Apple products will run for a very long time - years and years. And you can still get fairly old ones repaired if needed.

 

[Rocket Man]

Bought my new iPhone 6 two years ago for $99.00. Still works great. Charge lasts about three days. No problems with updates. No problems ever. DW has same phone but three years old. No problems. Maybe upgrade when the iPhone eight comes down to $99.00. DW and I both love our iPads.

 

[steelyman]

The one thing holding me back from the iPad so far is that it has no audio jack. And I'm old fashioned enough to think that remembering to charge headsets is a hassle.

I thought so too but am now totally onboard with Bluetooth earbuds. I happen to use and really like the Bose Soundsport buds but will probably go AirPods when the Bose die.

Freedom from the wire is worth it. I frequently forget I’m wearing the buds throughout the day. They charge pretty quickly in the case and last for hours on a charge.

They (the Bose buds) look a little weird (imagine Frankenstein with the bolts moved up from the neck to the ear) but sound great.

 

[braumeister]

The AirPods Pro have wonderful sound quality IMHO, and I learned on a plane trip last month that their noise canceling ability is nearly the equal of my Bose over-the-ear headphones. They also have a much longer battery life than I expected.

 

[davebarnes]

The AirPods Pro have wonderful sound quality IMHO, and I learned on a plane trip last month that their noise canceling ability is nearly the equal of my Bose over-the-ear headphones.

My wife wore her Bose headphones during 18 hours of flying and thought they were very good. She was happy.
Then, she got AirPods Pros and wore them for the same trip time. She was super happy. The Bose are just rotting away now.

 

[6miths]

The AirPods Pro have wonderful sound quality IMHO, and I learned on a plane trip last month that their noise canceling ability is nearly the equal of my Bose over-the-ear headphones. They also have a much longer battery life than I expected.

What sold me on the AirPod Pros was the individual volume control for each ear. My poor, feeble right ear can now hear. I was almost to the point of buying an AfterShokz bone conduction headset (which are wonderful) but the AirPods will do for now and are much more compact.

For air travel, I discovered that absolute quiet can be achieved by wearing an in ear noise cancelling set and then my over-ear Bose. Eureka!

 

[explanade]

Okay, Costco now has the iPad I want. Question is..do I wait for Black Friday or go ahead now. It is a good Costco price, but not on any kind of special.

New iPad Air expected this month or next. Will have fewer bezels, faster processor.

Then some time in the first half of next year, new iPad Pro expected with a 5G option.

iPhone 12 coming this month or next will be the first Apple devices with 5G radios.

 

[Dd852]

Just got a new large iPad with the floating keyboard - it is super and the keyboard is “real”. The only drawback is it isn’t light. It could just about do away with the need for a laptop while traveling

 

[Midpack]

Okay, Costco now has the iPad I want. Question is..do I wait for Black Friday or go ahead now. It is a good Costco price, but not on any kind of special.

You realize the iPad Air 4 is supposed to be announced on Tuesday. I'm in the market too (I have an Air 2) but I'll wait for the new one. There aren't typically big discounts on most Apple products, I doubt there will be on BF either and 'the iPad you want' probably won't be around by then anyway if it's an Air 3. FWIW

https://appleinsider.com/articles/2...for-tuesday-ipad-air-4-launch?ocid=uxbndlbing

We still have iPhone 6+'s, but we expect to upgrade to the larger 12 in the next few months. Our batts aren't lasting very long now, it would be nice to have a better camera, and we're looking forward to the iOS 14 privacy features.

 

[audreyh1]

I thought so too but am now totally onboard with Bluetooth earbuds. I happen to use and really like the Bose Soundsport buds but will probably go AirPods when the Bose die.

Freedom from the wire is worth it. I frequently forget I’m wearing the buds throughout the day. They charge pretty quickly in the case and last for hours on a charge.

They (the Bose buds) look a little weird (imagine Frankenstein with the bolts moved up from the neck to the ear) but sound great.

I also love the wireless feature of airpods. I just lay the phone or iPad somewhere in the vicinity - doesn't even have to be in the same room, and move about doing stuff, talking on the phone, or whatever. I can be cooking while chatting on the phone no problem.

 

[Christine]

For air travel, I discovered that absolute quiet can be achieved by wearing an in ear noise cancelling set and then my over-ear Bose. Eureka!

Now that is really interesting! Thank you!

 

[steelyman]

I also love the wireless feature of airpods. I just lay the phone or iPad somewhere in the vicinity - doesn't even have to be in the same room, and move about doing stuff, talking on the phone, or whatever. I can be cooking while chatting on the phone no problem.

Right, it’s very flexible and freeing. You can also put the phone on a wireless charging pad so it’ll stay juiced.

 

[audreyh1]

Right, it’s very flexible and freeing. You can also put the phone on a wireless charging pad so it’ll stay juiced.

Oh yeah, we have one of those.

 

[explanade]

iPads are often discounted.

You have to look but you can find deals.

My 2017 iPad Pro, I paid $949 for 256 GB and LTE. I think list price was about $200 more.