You are the most honest reviewer I know. In addition, you always consider price, which is very important for those of us who don't live in "First World" economies or don't have a well-paid job. Thank you for reminding us that even though the "latest and greatest" is usually the best thing to buy, for most of us the base iPad or a refurbished iPad is a better option, even when working as a professional illustrator. I highly value your reviews above everyone else's.
I used to think the same, however, if I have already made up my mind to invest on a productivity/business tool, I would still go for the latest model. Reasons are straightaway, pains the wallet one time and live happily cause you use it as a business equipment so you will earn back the money (self motivation applies). Secondly, softwares and data are getting heavier and vast, the computing power of a device plays a huge role in future-proofing (your business/productivity esp). An M1 device easily lasts 4-5 years, if i get a refurbished model (A12Z, A14) now 2 years later i will have to upgrade again, the costs add up quickly.
We could actually compare the annual cost of every product by the total price minus resale or remaining value over years of usage. $1,000 over 5 years represents the same cost as $600 over 3 years. The differences are (1) one buys or upgrades to a new unit every 5 years while the other every 3 years. (2) one always uses a model 2 years older than the other. (3) Although the annual cost could be similar, the sunken cost (entry barrier) is still different.
I actually like the idea of having the latest chip available for continuity and in my country the 2020 iPad Pro is still quite pricier. I will actually get the Air this summer.
Really good advice.... provided your country has those refurbished Pro 2020 units on sale. If you don't have those available, and you still insist on an iPad instead of a Samsung tablet, Air 5 is still the best value you can get, IF you can't find a used Air 4. I upgraded from Air 4 to iPad Pro 11" M1 this noon. Air 5 has the M1 and twice the RAM, but so was Pro 11 3, and I COULD AFFORD IT. If you can't afford Air 5 or Pro 11" 3, a used Air 4 is still the best all-rounder option. And if you already have Air 4 and no money to upgrade, you ain't missing much not upgrading to Air 5. Apple recently outed filing a patent that detailed designs for a MacOS Mode which would allow iPad Pros(and maybe Air 5 because it has M1) to run MacOS when attached to keyboard and trackpad, but you should not make purchase decisions based on Apple's patents; several years ago they filed a patent for a laptop-like device that lets you put your iPhone where the trackpad would be and turn your phone into a laptop like Samsung Dex, but that never came.
From what I know the only diff btw air 5 and pro is the screen refresh rate, but is it worth paying extra for that? I can afford both but don't know if it's worth paying extra..
Thank you so so much. After this video I have my own decision that I could not decide from seeing so many other reviewers. The way you review is so honest and precise.
From the get go you gave us a quick time jump table of contents which I appreciate so you get all my time! Thanks for being a great reviewer, this is my first video watching of yours.
Been watching you for over 10 years at this point. I think 10 years anyway, feels like a long time. Really love these videos and especially when you draw outdoors. Keep up the good work.
I do not. For example, I bought the iPad Pro M1 recently and as I was upgrading from an iPad Pro 2018 I already had the Apple Pencil and Apple case. So it worked out cheaper than buying the Tab S7+ as I would have had to buy the keyboard for that. So if you are in the Apple ecosystem that clarification is not always relevant.
Holy Cow.... I had never tried Concepts before. (before hearing you mention it). That app "feels" really good/natural when sketching on it. Definitely a bit of a learning curve (which I haven't done yet) with all of the settings and functions. Great recommendation.
Wow... I JUST purchased this tablet 2 days ago and have been really excited about it. Then I saw you did a video review, and I was like... YAY, let's see what he says... Opening line: "I hope you haven't purchased it yet.... just not worth the money." 😡
@@teohontech7141 Sorry... didn't mean to come across so forward. I did actually consider a Pro, and I watched the refurbished listings for 2 weeks (this is in Ontario Canada). But whenever 2020 pro models was listed, they were always still well over $100 more. I really wanted to upgrade from my iPad 7, and I figured I wasn't going to see a better deal, so I just decided to get a brand new Air. I tend to store most of my files in the cloud so I wasn't too worries about storage. The sound quality and refresh rate seems great and at my age, I wouldn't notice anything that is higher quality over what the Air delivers. LOL I'm happy with it, and in a couple of years I'll probably trade it up with something else anyhow.
@@sadweirdlolafter a year, how do you feel about the air 5? I actually hear a lot that the air 5 is incredible for artists, so I truly wonder if I should get it or the pro 2020. any advice?
@@noone-gf5op Turn out i should said i didnt regret buying it. It support stage manager and it is a beast. If you want something that low in budget but slightly less performance you should straightly go for air 5. Im using ip12pm so not really a problem with 60hz same with the air 5. As an artist im sure it is enough because im also using procreate and luma fusion. No lag just smooth on the go 👍🏻
I bought a new one from the education store and sold my old one. Ended up being reasonable that way. I wish the 1st gen pencil worked though, that part sucks
I agree, a refurbished 2020 iPad Pro is better value for money. I will say that blue is my favorite color and I would truly LOVE to have blue devices. So *for me* the fact that the Air 5 comes in blue would be a huge deciding factor.
Its a great option if you were going to buy tablet anyways but didnt want to spend as much as an iPad pro. I use this tablet and its great, plus I prefer touch id.
He suggested getting the previous iPad Pro model instead. It can much sense, but no mention of the chip. It is 50% faster in iPad Air and Metal is 100% faster. Also more portable then 12.9” Don't waste your time watching this.
Teoh, do you still a screen protector? I’m debating whether to remove my matte and get (yet another) a glass screen protector and just be careful to draw straight lines faster to avoid wobbly lines. I’m tired of not enjoying how high definition my ipad is. I might also get the leather tip you reviewed but still unsure leaving the iPad screen naked. If you could give some advice that would be really appreciated. Thanks!
@@teohontech7141 thank you, I just ordered the leather tip you reviewed in one of your videos. I’ll use a tempered glass for now since I plan to trade in my ipad for a newer one in the future. Maybe my 12.9 ll keep since there is already one scratch from going naked on it before. Excited to try out the leather tip! Thank you for your time and advice.
Great content and very helpful review as always. I have a question... How about 3D sculpting performance by utilizing the apps like Nomad or Forger on the iPad Air 5 M1 with 8gb ram vs iPad Pro 2020 with 6gb ram? In long term use and especially for 3D sculpting / drawing in procreate etc. which one do you really recommend? Thanks in advance!
Very informative video, thanks so much. One question I have is if I buy refurbished(for example, the 11pro), does it last as long as if I buy new? Thanks
Honestly the memory storage part was a big if for me on which version to buy especially for a first timer transitioning to digital media.your review especially on the storage made that decision much easier. I get mine tomorrow. Thank you
I need your suggestions My situation is: I want to buy a new ipad to draw and study. Which one would be a better bang for buck between ipad air 5 and ipad mini 6. Earlier I was thinking about ipad mini 6 but the fact that it has a smaller screen,poor display,mobile processor (as compared to M1 chip in ipad air5) and lower ram i believe it would last significantly less than Ipad air 5.
Both tablets will last for many years. I'm still using iPad Pro with A12X chip and iPad mini 6 uses A15. And my iPad Pro is more than 4 years old and still runs at same speed as day one, so yes the iPad mini processor will last for many years. Main difference really is size. I recommend the larger size. Generally speaking when tablet size is smaller, UI elements, e.g. text, should remain same size, but iPad mini is not only smaller, the UI elements also look smaller and is not as easy to read.
Currently, the iPad Air 5 64GB is going for 500 on 3rd party sellers like Amazon, the iPad Pro 11" 2020 128GB is going for 549 on Apple refurbished, and the iPad Pro 11" 2021 128GB is going for 639! Which one do you think is a better deal?
These suckers are hard to get your hand on, I’ve been on a waiting list for several weeks now…! Wish people would take your advice so that I were able to buy mine LOL
Hi, I am a comic artist and currently use the iPad 9 to do my projects. But the limitation of layers has been bothering me a little bit because I need to detail the pages/frames more. I am in doubt between iPad air 4 and 5, which one do you recommend? 64GB is not a problem for me because I use the cloud. The iPad pros in my country are as expensive as a car and there is no reconditioned option.
iPad 9 can get 26 layers of A4 300DPI. If you need more then it's worth the upgrade. Otherwise if your iPad is still working, I don't see the need to buy a new tablet to do the same thing.
@@teohontech7141 Larger screen and work with higher resolutions. The ideal would be to use the b4 600 dpi format, but there are very few layers available on the iPad 9 :/
@@teohontech7141Is the number of layers depend on the size of canvas? In my ipad air 4, there r 31 layers and in other canvas only 15 layers maximum limit
I really loved your video, but I’m in France and there aren’t as much refurbished ipad on the Apple Store (more like none) should I get the iPad Air ? I’m in animation I’m gonna do 3D animation
Great video! I have a question - you said and demonstrated that the pencil is quite sensitive when drawing. However, when I tried it out at a store, I was so suprised by how many pressure I had to put on the screen in order to draw. The first time I walked away because I thought it wasn't working, but later realized I wasn't putting enough pressure on the screen. Can the sensitivity be changed?? I'm used to using a wacom tablet without any tough pressure. It would be really bad if the ipad needed so much pressure as it can be very tiring.
Something is wrong. As long as the pen tip is touching the glass, you can draw even if you apply no pressure. It is possible to adjust the pressure curve with certain drawing apps. But it's very likely there's something wrong with the pen or tablet you tried.
If you can hold off this year then 2023 may see OLED iPad Air which will have Pro-Motion. This seems to be a filler so that people that want the iPad Air pay the same for a more contemporary Air compared to previous version. This seems fair. As for whether it is worth it, then that is subjective, but the shrewd buyers will get this less than £500 in the UK if they know where to look and that is good value for a device future-proofed as well as this is (assuming 64GB is enough). If you need >64GB then the iPad Pro is a better option.
Current iPad Air just doesn't provide more value compared to existing refurbished 11-inch iPad Pro 2020. It will always be this way. In my iPad Air 4 review, I also recommended getting refurbished instead. I'll probably do that in the iPad Air 6 review too.
@@teohontech7141 ...but once you start seeing refurbished iPad Air M1's then you counter that argument? As I said, if you know what you are doing then you will be able to get the new Air for less and it then becomes a good alternative for the base iPad as well.
@@andyH_England I agree with you. Because refurbished iPads aside, a new M1 iPad Air is better value for money than a new 11" M1 iPad Pro at their original, respective list price. Because the Air costs less but has mostly the same features. So if I'm one of those people that doesn't care about the extra bells and whistles, then I'd choose a refurbished M1 iPad Air over a refurbished M1 iPad Pro any day... ESPECIALLY since it comes in blue 💙
Hi! I don’t know if you’ll answer this but I’ll give it a try. I’m considering buying a refurbished iPad Air 4 instead of the air 5 as I’ve heard that air 5 doesn’t really take advantage of the M1 chip. This will save me 300€ do you think the air 5 is that much better than the air 4 and that I should get it either way or is the air 4 still q good deal? Thank you!
iPad Air 4 is still good. Main difference is 4GB vs 8GB RAM but even with 4GB you can get many layers with Procreate. Another advantage of M1 is there is now some sort of external display support so if you need that, then M1 is the better choice. But in terms of value for money, the cheaper one provides more value.
Hi! Thanks for the review! I wanted to ask which one is better ipad air 5 or the 2020-2021 ipad pro 11 or even older, considering i've never had ipad and i need it for drawing and animation
The main difference would be between the M1 and non-M1 processors (found on iPad Pro 2020). You will get external display support with iPads that have M1 processors. If you have intention to use apps on a larger display, get the M1. If that feature doesn't sound important, you can go with the 2020 iPad Pro if you can find them at good prices from Apple's refurbished store.
@@teohontech7141in my country i couldn't find ipads on refurbished stores. And ipad air 5 is much cheaper (200-300$) than any of 2020-2022 ipad pros. Then how do you think, is buying air 5 is reasonable enough?
Hello Teoh, i just bought this type this morning. now i'm considering to buy stylus pen. need your advice, should I buy apple pencil or just go with cheaper pen? usage for drawing purpose. thanks Teoh
Apple Pencil is the best stylus for iPad. The thing with third party stylus is they don’t have pressure sensitivity. Also check out Penoval or Adonit stylus which are Apple Pencil alternatives
Hej, mam pytanie, słyszałem, że różne typy iPadów pozwalają na tworzenie różnych formatów w procreate, lub ograniczają użycie photoshopa lub procreate. Czy wiesz coś na ten temat?
In my country, the iPad Air 5 costs $750, and the iPad 10th Gen is about the same price. Considering the layer and the ram, I think I will choose the iPad Air 5, because the Pro ones are very expensive (1,438 :D)
Do you still think it's worth buying the 2018 iPad Pro considering it's 4 years old now, will it still be future proof for as long as I want to keep it or will it be problematic soon?
@@teohontech7141 Thank you, I already received my 1TB iPad Pro 11 inch (2018) with 6GB RAM but after comparing price with 2020 and 2021 model with 512GB, i just ordered the 512GB iPad Pro 11 inch (2021) with 8GB RAM, cause it was a very good price and only a few pounds more than the 2020 model and I think 2021 model might be more future proof, so might just keep this
This information is not relevant for other countries, since in my country air costs about $800, and pro costs $1300. (the average salary in my country is $600) Therefore, the choice is obvious in terms of savings in the direction of air. It was necessary to write in the title of the video also about the country in which such prices are.
All the iPads are good for taking notes. Just get the one within your budget. Check out the refurbished section on Apple's website too. www.apple.com/shop/refurbished/ipad
I want to buy an ipad air 2022 because I want to do digital drawing and I need a protective glass (I don't want a foil), but which one should I buy? So that the apple pencil works perfectly.
Even for professionals the 2020 iPad Pro is much better. The 8GBs are not worth it unless you work with very VERY large files (like around 8K resolutions), and even then as you showed you could get the 2021 iPad Pro…
You would be surprised if you creating animatics, or now with the pages option you can do a full comic book. Those layers can ad up pretty quick. You can still do a lot without it and an entry level iPad is plenty good, but if you do have the means you can abuse the power and see it in action.
@@sloppynyuszi oh yes I know. I personally wouldn’t do animation work on the iPad, given how many layers they take, besides Procreate not being the best software to animate on.
@@nicetrayyy yeah, for proper animation it’s not your friend. That’s what Callipeg is for or RoughAnimator. The RAM came in handy in Callipeg though. RoughAnimator I don’t do crazy big projects, just my tiktoks 😅 But I’m doing a comic project now that I discovered pages in procreate. Normally I would use clip studio on my Mac and Cintiq, but since I’m not a subscription fan and I like drawing on the iPad more, this is a not bad alternative. Also animatics are just moving storyboards ;) not clean pretty animations. Those panels of rough drawings really ad up. For projects I plan myself I draw out all the panels and then edit the final stuff in Finalcut. Or lumafusion if I’m on the run. But editing on a touch screen is a cruel punishment. Anyway my case isn’t for everyone. And all levels of iPad are good enough to the point you can’t blame them for your drawings not coming out right.
@@revaldatanaga732 for a student anything with an A13 chip or above will be good enough for artwork. Anything above that is just comfort. Or just big projects where it makes a difference. I could do 95% of my work on an entry level iPad f I was honest.
Latency will also depend on the app you use. Not all apps will have the best latency response. And usually companies that advertise their best latency will mention specifically the app used (usually their own brand note taking app). Anyway for drawing, latency isn't an issue because people don't draw as fast as they write.
So is the ipad pro 4th gen still worth it in 2023? Drawing and animation. I already ordered because I remember your recommendation, but can cancel if anything changed 😅
@@ahmetcakus1572 i have it too and faced the creaking problem for first day when i used it without case but using it with a case then you won't even notice it
@@shreyash__jain which storage op toon did you go for and how is that going? I got mines a few days ago and this seems to be the only thing I’m worried about
In my country Apple don't provide refurbished iPads and other options is to buy from the Amazon but there is Warrenty issue. Now should I go with the ipad air 13 inch
One concern I have is how long procreate will keep supporting the 2nd gen iPad Pro. I want to use my tech products for as long as possible. Do you think the 2nd gen iPad Pro will remain relevant for a long time?
Procreate will be supported as long as the current iPadOS. That will be as long as until Apple no longer releases iPadOS for the tablet. Very long. I’m still using 2018 model
@@teohontech7141 Gotcha. And I suppose if the day does come that Apple stops updating IpadOS for that Ipad I could just stop updating and just use the last avaiable version of procreate. Thanks. Also, do you notice any drop in performance in the older processor vs the M1 in terms of multitasking i.e. using pinterest or the photos app, or a browser at the same time as procreate?
@@eyekzmusic Main and only difference I noticed between the 2018 vs 2021 M1 iPad Pro is the webpages load faster on the new one. But it's not like 2018 is slow, just the new one is faster.
All iPads have similar drawing performance. So you choose based on other features, e.g. laminated display, number of speakers, refresh rate, size, price, amount of storage.
I know I'm a year late but hopefully you'll see this. at 3:37 there is text that says "Download link for the wallpapers in video description" i looked and could not find them.
File management is very basic and there will be things you think is possible but you can’t do. Eg You can’t double click a file to have it open with an app automatically. You have to open the app first, then import the file which could open the file, or you import and then another step to open the file
Hello, I am a beginner in digital drawing and I would like to buy an iPad to use for drawing and study. What is the best iPad for me? iPad mini 6 or iPad 11 pro
They have the same drawing performance. If you have limited budget, get the iPad Air with more storage which is more useful than the 120Hz and 4 way speakers on the iPad Pro.
