Buying a new iPad

saddletramp

saddletramp

Line Up and Wait
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Oct 15, 2015
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Walla Walla. WA
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saddletramp
I need a new iPad. It would primarily be for Foreflight & to pair it with a Sentry for ADSB in. I'd also use it occasionally for travel when a laptop wasn't needed.

The "new" iPad as Apple calls it on their website is available in 128gb which according to FF is adequate. They highly recommend the iPad Pro but it appears it's for better graphics. There is a pretty fair price difference. For the money I'd spend on the Pro model, I could buy the regular iPad & Sentry for the same dollars.

I also want a screen that's not too large as my straight-tail 182 doesn't have the roomiest cockpit. My previous standard iPad seemed fine.

Sometimes spending more upfront is the cheaper option in the long run.

Thanks! (I did do a search BTW)
 
Standard iPad has the A10 chip. The iPad Pro has the A12 chip (2 generations newer). It won't matter now but will in the future as the older chip will go obsolete earlier than the newer chip.
 
Is this just for the plane, or for personal use at home too? If just for the plane, and especially if you don’t want to block the view of your instruments, then in my opinion you definitely want to go for a mini. I just bought a mini 5 (I think?) and it fits perfect on my yoke, easy to read, but doesn’t block the instruments. A normal iPad is too big for the yoke (blocks instruments, feels clunky). A pro model would be waaay too big for me.
 
If you can wait, new models are expected soon. That will either give you a slightly more powerful iPad for about the same price, or drop the price of current models for more bang for the buck.

I’m typing this on a Mini 2, so I’m long overdue. I’m holding out for the next iteration of the iPad, hopefully bezel-less and ditching the home button, which seems logical. But if my iPad took a dump right now, I’d not hesitate to replace it with the current Mini, which is quite powerful. In general, I use my iPhone X in the cockpit, but have just come to prefer the Mini form factor for general use.
 
A month-ish ago I picked up an AirPad2, WiFi-only, 128GB, for a good price. I do not run any of the commercial flight apps, like foreflight. I use something simple, and "off-brand" which is sufficient for my VFR needs.
 
I went for the iPad Pro 11" 64gb for the screen sunlight readability. Very happy, fits on the yoke. I see they are in the apple outlet store now.
 
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