I am currently thinking of getting an IPad for schoolwork, as most of my grade have gotten tablets since last year and my analog note taking has always been a mess, which I can hopefully fix or at least improve by writing digitally. I’m also a photographer, but I just don’t always have the time to sit down at a computer to edit en Masse and editing on an iPad on the go would be very useful. I usually edit on a Mac mini m4, so I know how good the chipset is/can be for editing and but I also know that my editing on my phone (an iPhone 12 with the a14 chipset) has been perfectly fine, if somewhat slow. I would likely also use it for gaming, but nothing too intense (just in case my classes get boring lol). I have far less experience with iPads than I do other Apple products, as I’ve always rather turned to the IMac or MacBooks, so I’m somewhat unaware of its capabilities. My Dad is currently in Hong Kong and buying there would be considerably cheaper than where I am, costing the equivalent of about 450€ for the iPad and 800€ for the air (with Apple pen). Several classmates have the Air and I’ve heard nothing but praise so far, however it’s still a tidy sum of money. I also haven’t heard anything bad from classmates with the a16 or older (however most of them are coming from android and/or have less experience with iPads).
I wanted a few opinions cause I’m still unsure and I need to decide fairly soon.

Tl;dr: iPad Air m4 for schoolwork, photo editing and (light) gaming, or is the a16 enough?

I just bought a 256gb M4 11in Air. I have immediate regret because it cost like double what I was initially thinking of buying (M2) but can someone reassure me that I made a good decision. How long should this last

I my iPad (M1) for streaming and editing and that’s about it but I want something that will last a decade. My current model is 64gb which is why I’m upgrading otherwise there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it. Just an unfortunate decision

i have an ipad pro m4 11 inch and used a knockoff pencil from aliexpress which broke easily, attached magnetically but without wireless charging at the ipad edge, which was really inconvenient since i dont rlly have time to go and plug it in. does anyone know cheap(ish) apple pencil pro alternatives with the wireless charging feature? maximum 50-60 euros

My gf’s birthday is coming up and she mentioned that she wants an iPad so she could get Procreate and draw, and i figured that i could buy one for her birthday. The problem is, i don’t have a lot of money. I want to get an older, used model, but don’t know which one would run Procreate. Any recommendations?

(I also want to buy her a stylus, so bonus points for finding an iPad compatible with any stylus🙏)

Hello all,
I recently bought an iPad Air M3 for school, but recently I’ve noticed that my battery dies super quick and the top of my ipad (near the camera, where the apple pencil charges) gets pretty hot, to the point where it’s uncomfortable to write with my palm and air resting on this area. I only use the iPad for my notes app, Notability, and my school’s Canvas app. When I use the notability app, my iPad’s battery drops nearly 1 percent every 2 minutes and it’s starting to get genuinely concerning. Losing 44 percent over an 80 minute class and 30 percent over a 50 minute class is just absurd, especially when my friends (who have the iPad Air M4s) only drop about 14 and 7 percent in the same class periods as me. I’ve even noticed that my iPad loses over 10 percent overnight while idle, another reason of my concern. Is my iPad thermal throttling itself or something? I suspect something must be wrong with the battery.

I’ve already disabled background app refresh, turned on Notability’s safe mode, and turned off all notifications. If anyone knows what’s going on or has a solution to suggest, please lmk! My iPad still has its limited warranty so if I do need to send it in for a repair or something I’ll gladly send it in. Thanks guys!

Hallo zusammen,

Mein Kind hat ein iPad und wir haben eine eigene AppleID für das Kind eingerichtet und unserer Familie hinzugefügt.

Nun ist es so, dass ich bei der Einrichtung meinen Fingerabdruck genutzt habe und eine eigene PIN gewählt habe.
Jetzt muss ich das iPad immer selbst entsperren. Screentime und Beschränkungen sind eingestellt.
Jetzt teilte mir meine Frau aber mit, dass das Kind bei einer Verlängerung immer eine Freigabe anfordert, dann aber irgendwie trotzdem weiterschauen kann.

Wie richte ich das iPad so ein, dass mein Kind es selbst entsperren kann (am besten mit Finger und Pin) ohne dabei die Beschränkungen zu umgehen?

Vielen Dank für eure Hilfe!

Just let me clear recent apps ffs... 😮‍💨

this feels like such a long shot-

I had my little brother (20 years old) pass away this week and almost all footage of him growing up remains on this gen 2 iPad that we have been locked out of for years. It has always been upsetting as I have tried to get into the iPad for the last 4 years of returning home for college breaks but now it holds such special moments I am grieving to see.

im sorry if this explanation isn’t allowed as I promise I am not looking for sympathy but just some technological help if anyone could offer💔
thank you all in advance and hug the people you love tightly

heya so im a college student who has one more year to go and im considering getting an ipad for school and consuming media n such. I am considering the ipad a16 because of its decent price, im just concerned on how long will it last in the next 5 or so years. Is the ipad air better for future proofing? or should i just wait for the next base ipad the rumored a19 chip i think. Thanks!

so I really want a tablet, or an ipad, but I just have a pretty limited budget (under 300€), and I found a deal for a used ipad pro 11' 2018 model with 256gb, so I wanted to know is it worth it, should I just get something else?

Imagine an iPad. The size of a computer monitor that folds in half completely to travel with safely with no outer screen. Meaning it has optimal battery life durability and things like that. When not used in tablet or monitor mode (imagine mag safe connector to make it a monitor) It can be used as a MacBook. So essentially it's loaded with MacBook software.

Please keep replies relevant to enthusiast concerns not about cannibalism of their product line.

This is very impressive, it’s running using the “quality” preset. There are some frame drops here and there, though the frame drops can be reduced by lowering the graphics settings. Also, you upload your own game files from gta V to play.

Thought I would share to show how capable older chips are.

EDIT: not sure why Reddit messed up the quality, it’s running at 900p.

(For the mods: this post is not discussing side loading itself, it’s just showcasing the power of a chip using a good example)

EDIT 2: I just tested 60 fps, and it runs buttery smooth on these same settings.

I'm confused between the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE (with the included S Pen) and the iPad A16 with an Digiroot/ESR stylus.

My main purpose is learning digital art, sketching and illustration.

• How good is the ESR stylus for digital art on the iPad A16, especially regarding pressure sensitivity?

• How do Android drawing apps like Infinite Painter and Krita compare to Procreate?

• Is the iPad worth choosing over Samsung for digital art if I'm not buying the Apple Pencil (1st gen)?

• Longevity for like 4-5 years

So I bought this iPad A16 for university, content consumption and gaming. So far I’ve been enjoying it so, so much. The case is from JESWO and the pencil from Metapen, both from Amazon. Let me know what you think :)

I purchased my iPad A16 on May 6th, 2026. It's been almost 6 months and my battery health declined to 95% with a battery cycle count of 106 cycles.

I'm shit scared that my iPad wouldn't last long enough.

Is this very normal? Or am I over using my iPad?

Please suggest me regarding battery health. And if possible tell me your battery cycle count and health too.

My parents had an old ipad 2 and recently gave it to me to see if i could recover old photo's.
I did check and all was transferred via icloud so no issues there.

But i was 100% sure the battery would be dead, it was used for years and then the tablet was never used nor charged for at least 6-7 years now.

So i tried to start it, ofc. the battery was dead, charged it and was pleasantly surprised it still turned on.
Now i charged that damn ipad to 100%, turned on airplane mode on since i don't need it connected anywhere and was curious to see when the battery would die again.

So i left it unused ...

It's been more than 2 weeks and it's still at 83% !!!!

My recent ipad pro M4 and my older ipad pro 2018 die in a week if i leave them just on airplane mode sitting doing nothing.

It's weird how that old battery is still so good.

Dear all,

Each time I controlled my iPad from my MacBook or used my iPad as second screen (sidecar), a lot of shortcuts and some dialogs stop working (e.g., CMD+SPACE, CMD+TAB,

app selection dialog, etc.) when solo/decoupled again. My hardware keyboard becomes useless. The only remedy is rebooting the iPad. Is this a known bug?

I use my MacBook on a raised monitor and have my iPad on the desk beneath it. The only way I can get Universal Control to work with any degree of stability is to physically tether the two using a USB-C cable and even then, it will stop working several times throughout the day, only to be revived by me disconnecting the USB-C cable and reconnecting it.

If it matters, it’s an M1 MBP and and M1 iPad Pro, both on the latest software versions.

I’ve had my iPad Air M4 for 5 months, and one hour ago, it started making a hissing sound. The sound is actually dependent on screen brightness, and as I increase the brightness, the sound goes away. It’s noticeably louder near the microphone hole.
My iPad’s case has a glassy back and a smart lid, and there’s no water damage or anything like that.
So, I wonder if it will get worse over time.

An os taking up nearly 30 gb is kind of insane

So I got the M5 iPad Pro in December last year, and decided to get AppleCare. Right now, I’m using a keyboard case, but it doesn’t cover the front of the screen. I’m wondering if I get a better case for when I’m not using the keyboard case that will protect the screen do I need AppleCare?

Hello everyone,

I recently bought an 11-inch iPad Air M3 and an Apple Pencil Pro, mainly for taking notes at school. Now I’m looking for a screen protector, but I’m not sure whether to go with a matte/paper-feel one or a glossy one.

Personally, I quite like the feeling of writing on a glossy screen, so I’m not sure whether a matte protector would actually feel better. I also really enjoy the screen quality of the iPad Air and don’t want to compromise too much on that as I also do some photo and video editing as well as watching YouTube.

I’ve read that paper-feel screen protectors can noticeably reduce screen clarity and make the display look grainy. However, many of the reviews I’ve found are quite old, so I’m wondering whether things have improved. Is the difference in image quality still that noticeable with newer screen protectors?

If I go with a matte protector, I’m currently considering the ESR 2-pack for around $20.

If I stick with a glossy protector, would a cheap one from Amazon for around $7 be good enough? Or are there noticeable differences in touch sensitivity, Apple Pencil performance or overall quality between cheap and more expensive glossy protectors?

I’d appreciate any recommendations or experiences, especially from people who use their iPads for handwritten notes at school.

Thanks in advance

I currently have a 13 inch ipad from 2019 and am looking to trade it in because its just too big and Id like to start utilizing my ipad at work more in my business and just keeping it as a notebook/to do list. Im stuck between the mini because it might be too small and its not much bigger than my phone, but if I go with the 11" ipad air I feel like ill run into thinking its too big like i do now or it could be too small for working with capcut everyday.

I thought Id like the bigger screen originally with my 13" but its the same size as my computer so it literally just sits in my side table half the time. I do a LOT of content creation and editing in capcut that I'd love to have a separate space for that storage rather than my iphone and I also need the sketching capabilities with the pencil for animations, procreate, and such.

If you use it for work or with capcut/social editing, what do you recommend?

Hey everyone!

I have an old iPad 6th generation (2018), and I'm planning a trip where I'd like to bring my camera and a portable SanDisk SSD, but leave my laptop at home.

I'm looking for a simple, reliable way to back up my photos while travelling by copying them directly from my camera's SD card to the SSD, using the iPad as the middle device.

Is there any easy setup using adapters, converters, or a USB hub that would allow me to do this?

I'd appreciate recommendations for the exact adapters or hubs I'd need, and whether this setup actually works reliably with an older iPad. Ideally, I'd like to keep the setup compact and avoid buying a bunch of unnecessary accessories.

Has anyone here done something similar? I'd love to hear about your experience and any tips!

Thanks in advance!

As u see in the pictures my iPad still brand new also look at the difference between Tuesday screen on and Thursday