Hello, I have fallen in love with gaming on iOS (with my budget and limited free time it is perfect for me), but I am left wanting a larger screen than my iPhone 5. In order to have an iPad that will last me for gaming and other things, such as mail and web browsing, for years to come, do I need to purchase the latest iPad Air, or is there a refurbished model that you would recommend that will serve me just as well for upcoming apps and game releases? Thank you!
Hey Unfortunately even the Air probably won't last "for years to come" for the latest games so I would say if you can afford it go for the newest to future proof yourself as much as possible. Definitely don't go for less than iPad 4. Don't bother with current mini, but the new mini would be a good bet if you want something a bit more "hold able" for gaming. Size wise, don't go for the smallest. Some games are pretty big these days with retina and all! I just ordered a 128 Air coz even on my 64 gig iPad 4 I have now I always need to delete stuff I'd rather not be deleting to install new games or update xcom!
I'm in the same boat, I have iPhone 5s, but now I'm considering iPad in the near future. But not this years releases.
Depends on what you mean by "affordable": if your budget allows you to stretch to the latest and greatest, do it. Any full-sized iPad from this generation or the previous one will easily last you a minimum of two years of fluid gameplay from when it was released, however, if not longer. While I'd recommend the Air for the sake of "future-proofing" and all its other improved attributes, the 4th-gen iPad will still hold up well through the end of next year without hassle if you want to go refurbished. If you do a lot of web browsing, read books or magazines, or play games that rely on player immersion or have a lot of small graphical details (including ported RPGs, and modern board or card games), I'd definitely recommend the Air over the new Retina mini, as you'll find the bigger screen a noticeable plus in that regard. The weight difference between those two devices is a mere 138g, so I personally find any benefit provided by the tiny difference in weight to be overshadowed by the drawbacks of the smaller screen. As advised by Mr. T, you should probably also always go for the biggest storage size you can afford if you're a gamer or other heavy user, because you can't manually expand that later; I've known soooo many people who have started off thinking that there's no way they'd ever even fill a 32GB device, let alone anything bigger, and only a few days later have realised just how wrong they were.
Well I'm a college student, so affordable for me is probably dirt cheap for anyone with a full-time income. I could potentially afford the 16GB iPad Air, but 16GB is simply too small to justify purchasing. I'm thinking of picking up a refurbished 32GB iPad 4th gen. Any 64GB model that is relevant is simply out of my price range, unfortunately, and I doubt I can use a student discount for any refurbished product.
If you want to save money, buy a used ipad 4, there are probably people now trying to sell them to get an ipad air. Or even consider buying an used ipad 3, you may get one dirt cheap cause of it's tarnished image. But trust me, the ipad 3 isn't all that bad, and only a handful of games still to this day don't play well on it.
That's probably your best option under the circumstances, then; I wouldn't go any smaller or further back than that if you're looking for a device that will last you a while. You should be able to get by with a 32GB device as long as you can resist the typical iOS gamer's hoarding urge, and don't try to keep every app you own on your device at the same time. ^_^
I have no issues deleting some apps after I have either completed the game or gotten bored with it, or simply find no use for it anymore; my biggest problem on my iPhone 5 is the sheer lack of space (for example, GTA Vice City takes up a good 10% of my remaining space, which is an issue considering the types of games that I am interested in are all "serious/complex," large, big-budget titles. Oh, and Angry Birds Star Wars II. Damn is that game fun.
I'd say wait a little bit then get a 32GB retina iPad mini. It has the same specs as the iPad air and the 32GB model is the same price as the 16GB air. If you go for an iPad 2 or mini 1 or a refurbished 4 I think it'll be outdated quick.
True. $450 vs. $499. I could wait a little while longer (I make ~$300 a month with my job on campus, though that money often goes to necessary purchases rather than things like this). I just hope some game controllers launch for it! Hopefully they will.
lol... Affordable iPad? Buy a '13 Nexus 7 if you want cheap power. iPads will NEVER, EVER, EVER be affordable. The only reason a person can justify being bent over by apple is the handful of devs like Foursaken that will likely never port their stuff to android. (lol affordable iPad can't stop giggling)
Its not that stupid a question. The trick is to buy an ipad a generation or so behind. I've sold my past devices, ipod touch 4, ipad 2 on ebay and i'm stunned at how cheap they go for. My ipod touch was a 64 gig but that went for peanuts. iOS gaming isnt cheap if you buy brand new but just like with everything else if you buy a second hand older device it can last you a fair amount of time. I've had an ipad 3 for some time and i'm not having any issues with apps crashing or not being compatible etc. Ipad 2's and 3's are probably cheap on ebay right now, they should last a fair while but with the A7 chip coming out at some point these ipads will be 'old'. At this moment in time they run 99% of the apps and can be bought quite cheaply on ebay But as for 'years to come' i dont think you can say that about any iOS device
Quick question off this topic... But how many years do we have smooth gaming on the latest A7 chip in 5s & iPads air/mini 2 ? I'm guessing about 3 years.
I keep hearing this about the mini and ipad2, I bought both mine brand new only three months ago, I've only came across one game that would not work at all but that was the game and not the iPads themselves. I love my mini and my daughter loves her ipad2 and I'm hoping I get another year out of both, if new releases stop working I've got a big enough back catalogue to keep me going until I can afford an upgrade (probably never lol) If were to upgrade now I'd prefer larger storage on an older device than smaller storage on a newer device. That's just me though.
It depends on what kinds of games you like, to an extent. More and more new releases aren't supporting the old devices at all, and even technically-supported 512MB devices using iOS 7 are already running into issues with some games (Deus Ex and Shadowrun Returns, for example) because of the new operating system's increased memory demands. That'll likely only get worse as developers push things further, although simpler 2D games, adventures, runners, puzzle games, and K/JRPGs shouldn't run into too many problems in that regard.
I never said it was a stupid question, but in the case of apple products it becomes one. It NEVER makes sense to buy anything but the absolute newest product, EVER. Even used or refurbished iPads are never affordable. Once you recognize how horrifyingly overpriced iPads are, and still rationalize buying one, then you may as well go all the way. Everyone who bought a 32 gig iPad 3 regretted not getting the 64 gig. The cycle of pain and regret never ends. If a person is asking about affordable iPads, they should really consider a Nexus 7.
Go for the newest one and ask yourself the question if you would like to carry around 20 games or are you playing one game after another? If you play through a game and then star a new one you are fine with 16gig. If not you should alt least get the 32 gig. Also if you would like to watch a movie or a tv show while you're traveling. I'm on an ipad 2, 32 gig for now and I didn't have any problems or regrets but it's now time to switch to a new model for gaming. X-Com and Deus Ex are the limits for the ipad 2 now but it took over 1.5~2 years to get there. So you should be fine with the ipad air or at least an ipad 4.
I would absolutely get a Nexus 7 (2013) if I didn't use other Apple products and software that the iPad would complement (such as iCloud, Macbook Pro, iPhone 5, etc). Also, the Nexus 7 does not have access to the App Store, and for gaming, that is what I intend on continuing to use. At this point I am (tentatively) planning on saving up for a 32GB iPad Mini Retina that is launching sometime this month.
iPad 2 still rocks most games but with some big 3D titles, not at their full visuals, also at a lower 1024x768 res. iPad 3rd gen has a nice screen but it's overall worse to game on, the CPU is not much different to the iPad 2. iPad 4th has the A6 in it and as an iPhone 5 user, all the games I play still run really well on that chip, the iPad version has slightly better gpu to help power the iPad retina screen. iPad Air has the 5S A7 64bit processor, most bang for your buck but also the most expensive as it's new. All I can suggest is decide, a new iPad Air or a used older model which will still cost you a few hundred.
