How to choose the best iPad

Bert van Dijk

	The iPad Air is the best iPad for most users

You do not buy an iPad with the tips from this article. With the tips from this article, you do not buy an iPad that needs to be replaced quickly and you have unnecessarily high costs due to a high depreciation. The most important tip to remember is: if you need more storage space, always choose a better iPad. It has more storage space as standard and is also much faster.

BASIC IPAD OR IPAD AIR?
The large differences in performance between the different iPads also affect how long you can use an iPad. After all, the new iPad Pro remains fast enough for the latest applications for longer. It is also important to look critically at the storage space. With 32 GB for the cheapest iPad you will quickly run out. At Apple it is often wise to avoid the cheapest version. But if you compare the price of the basic iPad with 128 GB to the iPad Air, you’re almost a thief of your own wallet if you don’t grab the Air for an extra € 180. Then you get a much faster iPad with a better screen that lasts longer and second-hand yields more. For most people, the iPad Air therefore has the best price-quality ratio.

The iPad versions at the arrows are the most interesting

IPAD AIR OR IPAD PRO?
However, if 64 GB of storage is not enough for you, you should opt for an 11-inch iPad Pro instead of an iPad Air with 256 GB of storage. After all, for € 60 more, you buy a device with a nicer screen, a Thunderbolt connection four times faster and 128GB of storage, which is 45% faster than the iPad Air. You also have better cameras with a LIDAR scanner and better sound through extra speakers.
Don’t skimp on storage space with the iPad Pro, as programs and data keep growing. Later you can no longer expand the memory and an extra 128 GB for only € 110 is relatively cheap. In the image below, the recommended versions are made bold and black. The red versions are much less interesting for most users.
The iPad Mini is missing from this overview, because a new version with narrow edges will appear later this year, making it probably a very popular mini version of the iPad Air.

Many professionals draw with Procreate on the iPad

DIGITAL DRAWING & PAINTING AND 5G
Users of the drawing and painting app Procreate already have a very good reason to purchase the new iPad Pro. The app works no less than four times faster on this device! A larger screen is also nice for digital drawing and painting. But the iPad Pro’s mini LED screen is also 0.5mm thicker. As a result, the distance from the Pencil tip to what you write with it is slightly greater. The 11-inch iPad Pro is also slightly more manageable. Many users should therefore invest in some extra storage space and 5G, so that you can use your iPad everywhere. 5G does not offer many benefits yet, but that will change in the coming years.

IPAD AND MAC ARE AN IDEAL COMBINATION
An iPad with Pencil is becoming increasingly interesting for Mac owners. They can use the iPad as an extra screen and with SideCar you can also use the Pencil for Mac programs. This can be very useful for photo editing. And did you know that with macOS Monterey and iPadOS 15 you can easily use the trackpad and keyboard of your Mac for your iPad? You just swipe the mouse to the iPad screen and you can also type directly on your iPad using your Mac keyboard. You can also use more and more keyboard shortcuts on the iPad.

Trackpad and keyboard turn your iPad into a mini-laptop

KEYBOARDS WITH TRACKPAD
For the iPad Pro, Apple is now also selling a white version of the Magic Keyboard that will get dirty much sooner than the black version. These keyboards are well priced at € 339 and € 399. Logitech also sells an excellent Combo Touch keyboard case with trackpad and detachable keyboard for almost half that, thankfully.

.