Ask the Editors: iPad Overtime: Which iPad should you buy?

[MUSIC] Hey everyone, I'm Jeff Bakalar joined by Scott Stein. It's time for another terribly informative episode of Ask the Editors. That's right, it's iPad overtime this time around. It is. Scott Stein got to review the iPad Air 2. Two. so, we're gonna talk about these products Right here Post-mortem, if you will. Let's talk about these iPads. Okay, first things first. What are your knee-jerk thoughts about the iPad Air 2? And, and the iPad Mini 3? We're gonna find out if people should buy these, if you think it's worth their time and money to buy them. What do you think of 'em? Here's the thing. Nobody was really excited about this iPad. Still not. There's a reason, because this looks like last year's iPad. This looks like last years iPad. They both have touch id, we say that in last years iPhone. And this is pretty much the same as last years, just touch id. In this one you've got a faster processor, it's a little thinner. Right. It, it's got improved camera, who uses the camera on their iPad. Nice to have, but I mean you're talking we really care about our screen battery life, and size. Size is almost the same. Screen and battery life are about equivalent. Right. So the average person, probably doesn't need to upgrade to this. And it's not doing anything that is that significantly different. That being said, the speed is a lot faster. If you're a hardcore iPad user, it's a good time to upgrade. But. It's not reinventing anything. Sure, so if someone comes up to you and asks. Okay, I, I'm in the market for a new iPad. Do you tell them, do you say, hey, go right for the iPad Air 2? Or do you say, maybe, the Mini 3 is for you? How do you sort of, you know, assign what someone should buy? Yeah, so it's a tough call, because if you are up for the newest technology, you want a thing that's gonna run apps the best. Right. You get this one. This is the only one that got a processor upgrade, and it's a faster A8 processor than that are in the iPhone, significantly for some tasks. And this one uses the A7, that's the same thing that's basically on the iPhone, of last year. Okay. And, you know, it does fine for reading, for video playing, for basic stuff and now the price drop on last year's model is down to, you can get it for $349 with 32 GB. Okay. That middle one. That's a great price to get what's basically a full-fledged iPad in, in the Mini. The one without touch ID called the iPad Mini 2 now. So then if I weren't doing that and I wanted something that was newer than that I'd get the iPair, iPad Air 2. I'd pay up for this for storage. Because now it's 16 goes to 64 128. For the extra 100 dollars, bumping up to 64, that's a significant upgrade. If someone has an Ipad Air, are they even thinking about upgrading? No, don't think about it. Do not think about it. An Ipad air is fine. In fact, you might even say some people might prefer that. You save 100 dollars getting the Ipad Air. I would say though if you're going for the larger size, I would. Still think about going to the Air 2. Because down the road, iPads last a long time. Right. For a couple of years down the road. Three years from now, which is gonna run the next version of IOS better? It's gonna be the Air 2 because the processor's a lot faster. So you're gonna save yourself. That the anxiety at that point in the future of having to upgrade. Right. So, it, it's worth it. So, I mean, do you think people who are maybe on the fence. Do you think it's worth waiting for an Air 3? Is there, is that ever an option? Anything that's crossed my mind, it seems very tempting because. You have interesting opinions on where this is all going. And I loved using the iPad from the beginning. Right. I thought it really did a lot of things for me. As time goes on I probably use it less. Phones do more. And, I still think the iPad is the best tablets out there. The apps available for it are great. Mm-hm. And it performs great, but it's not doing anything different. So, if you want something that's going to feel more like a laptop. There's reasons why we use our laptops or get them. This doesn't do it. Are they going to have a 12 inch iPad? Are they gonna have [UNKNOWN] that, you know? Does split screen. And becomes more like a surface. Or a MacBook iPad hybrid. I feel like it's gotta happen sometime. Sure it makes sense. Maybe, will it happen next year? Probably not. But I would hold out. If I already owned an iPad Air and it's been a couple of years, this is a pretty safe one to dive into just don't expect that it's going to do anything other than run super fast. One Touch ID is useful. Yeah. It's just not maybe as super useful as you think because Apple [UNKNOWN] that's build in here. Allows you to make payments on compatible apps, not websites. Okay. So you can't just go to Safari, make a payment on something, and then use that. And I don't know what kind of, it does make sense. I don't know what kind of situation you'd find yourself in where you would take this to a retailer. Is that even an option? You never do that cause it's not. Have to pay as you drive. Thankfully you will not be tapping this on a, paying at a Starbucks. Right. Well, it's a nice breeze. Excuse me sir. No, they smartly didn't even think about that. Good. This is instead, what Apple Pay is, they store your credit card information. Centrally. >. Right. And then, compatible apps, again, it has to be an app, which is annoying right now, because a lot of people shop on the, on browsers. So. You do that, you tap, and you pay, and you don't even have to, like with [UNKNOWN]. Things like, you may not have to even create an account Right. You could just use this and bypass that. And be done with it. But, how many apps are gonna use, it's gonna take time. And I still feel like, you want this to work in Safari. definitely. Cuz I feel like 90% of the br, of the purchasing I do on an iPad, you're usually doing with your web browser. Absolutely. That's [UNKNOWN] If I could avoid the old, like, lean to the side with the, you know, that shame lean, you know What's the shame lean? You know, where you just like get the wallet out and you're like oh [UNKNOWN] Oh yeah, well [UNKNOWN] go across the room, get my wallet, gotta make a. So that's, that's nice, knowing which, where the I, touch ID is on an iPad sometimes. Found as I used it I'm like was it on the bottom. Is it on the side. Right, right. Which finger am I using? Because the iPhone is always like in one spot. That's a small note but it's nice to have it's just not. I don't think it's a must have. Right. Okay. [INAUDIBLE] Now the, switching to the mini three really quick. Right. A lot of people are saying the word incremental is generous. Extremely generous Yeah so, so explain that real quick. This is well these are gold by the way that's like a light bronzing that, that's what the gold color looks like. Yeah, I think we all got lightly bronzed over this one. [LAUGH] [LAUGH] Champagne, champagne love on the back, I would not get the gold color. Yeah. But you. Yeah, you take an iPad Air from last year, iPad Mini from last year, you slap touch id on it and you have a gold option Okay, that's it. So you're paying $100 really for touch id. Which is insanely not worth it. Don't do that. Now if you want super high storage iPad Mini, you want 64 or 128. Apple has now forced you into having to get this one. Right. And they shaved 100 dollars off those configurations so you. Justify it and say that it's kinda costing what it would've last year. But. Right. You know, so, you're stuck. The last year's version now is the 32 gig. Okay. That's where they get you. But 32 is fine for most people. Especially if you're not using this for a lot of a hard core things. That's like, you can steam videos. Yeah. You can cloud, you know, store a lot of stuff now. So, I still like the size of this. All right. Very good. Okay, so I think that about wraps it up. The takeaways. Not worth an upgrade if you have an Air. What's like the minimum iPad version that you have that you would recommend [UNKNOWN] ? . That's a good question. I would say, anything before the forth gen iPad. So, if you've got a 3 or below. Which is the one that came out. Fall. Right. The year they came out with two. The **** over. And everyone was pissed off because there was a large line. Yeah, because it was like eight months right after that. And you were like why does this happen. I bought the one from the spring. Oh, so you were. And then the one in the fall. So you were hurt. So the third gen iPad is. Pretty long in the tooth now, and was discontinued a while ago. I would say this is a really good time to upgrade from that. You've got a 4th Gen iPad which has an A6X processor, you know, you could still hold on, it has lightning, I know, I think that if someone, you noticed this was thinner. Sure. But you, you wanna hold on to your iPads I think, as long as possible. Right Until you feel like they're really slow. Unless you're playing a lot of games. Mm hm Or, or if you are a person who is doing video editing- Mm, nine apps open at one time. Leading edge- Yeah iPad graphics work. There are people who do that. Then you could see clear advantages. But most people are using this for web browsing, videos, books, email. You're gonna be fine. All right. So, I'd save that and for the mini. It's, I think it's all about last years versions. There's no significant difference this year. Nice that the price dropped on last years. But there are a lot of tablet options now. Sure. And a bigger market. I still think, overall, for the apps that it runs, it's a really nice deal. I just wish they'd bump the processor up. Just a little bit. Throw us a bone. Just a little bit. Alright, well, there you have it. Whether or not you should buy any of the new iPads. Scott Stein, thank you so much for being here. Yeah, you bet. This is always a pleasure. Tune in next time for the next. Ask the editors. I'm Jeff Bakalar. We'll see you next time. [MUSIC]