Tempted by the Apple Air 4

[Kaysclie]

Now that the Apple Air 4 is coming down in price at Amazon and other places, I am thinking it would be a good time to purchase one. My current ipad is an Ipad Pro 10.5 purchased in 2017. I really do not need the power of a pro model and think an Air 4 would do all that I need. I guess what I am asking is would this be a good time to trade in the Ipad Pro based on its age. It can't last forever. Opinions would sure help me make my decision. Thanks for your thoughts.

[ilovejedd]

Discounts on Air 4 are likely because the Air 5 is expected to be released soon.

I expect to see more or less what we got on the mini 6. Performance-wise, I expect just a very marginal increase over the Air 4. Air 5 might get more RAM and/or base storage but it's also entirely possible that Apple retains the current 4GB/64GB.

Personally, the only reason I would regret purchasing the Air 4 right now is if Apple upgrades RAM. Storage not really since I've seen the 256GB Air 4 on sale for $649. I don't see the base Air 5 (whether 64GB or 128GB) going for less than $599 and it'll likely be a while before we see any sales.

[OtinG]

I like my iPad Air 4 (2020 model). I agree that the new iPad 5, whenever it gets released, will most likely be a small, incremental update to the iPad 4, so at the discounted prices these days I would get one if I didn’t already have one.

I’m not sure what you can get in trade for your iPad Pro though. But you will probably get more if you sell it to a friend or on eBay than doing the Apple trade-in program. Also, if you opt to trade it in to Apple, the company they contract with to manage the trade-ins is notoriously slow and sometimes even sleazy. So beware. It will likely take you 3 to 4 weeks to get the money from them on the trade in, assuming they don’t tell you some BS story and claim it is of zero value.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by Kaysclie

Now that the Apple Air 4 is coming down in price at Amazon and other places, I am thinking it would be a good time to purchase one. My current ipad is an Ipad Pro 10.5 purchased in 2017.

You can always go online at the Apple site and see what a trade-in of your machine would be worth. Especially handy of you have an apple store you can go to, and get a gift card. We've traded in various apple devices and the store has always given us the trade-in price listed on the web site.

It was one of the reasons I kept an old Touch, because the trade in was $0. they didn't even want it except to recycle it. (Which we died elsewhere, when it finally died.) And decided to keep my older iPad mini, because the trade-in value was only $40. For that, it's still a great screen, so now I have two mini's since I did want the new one.

Mailing in trade-ins are always iffy for me. You never know where they are, or how long it'll take for them to process. I'd rather just walk in and do it.

[Kaysclie]

Best Buy does offer to take trade ins toward your ipad purchase so that wouldn't be a problem. What I am really concerned about is if I would be better off with a new ipad air 4 (256) rather than a pretty old ipad pro 2017(512). Its a mind boggling question.

[tomsem]

I recently tried to trade in my iPhone 11 (offer was for $300). There is a VERY minor ding on one corner and they sent it back to me. Also I had neglected to remove it from Find My before sending it back. And although I did this after the fact, when it came back, it still ‘remembered’ my Apple ID (because probably it never got a chance to connect to iCloud and learn that it wan not associated any longer).

Apple only offered about $200 trade-in for my iPad mini 4 (just a couple of months earlier it was more like $260) so I sold it to a friend.

Trade-in is convenient, but it’s not always going to be automatic.

[Deskisamess]

You can compare the devices on Apple's web site. The processor on the Air 4 has to be faster than the 2017 Pro.

You're much better off selling the iPad yourself on eBay or Facebook marketplace. I don't know the details, but Apple doesn't handle their trade-ins, a third party does.

I sold my 2nd gen iPad Air on eBay, with a cracked screen, for much more that I thought possible.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by Kaysclie

Best Buy does offer to take trade ins toward your ipad purchase so that wouldn't be a problem. What I am really concerned about is if I would be better off with a new ipad air 4 (256) rather than a pretty old ipad pro 2017(512). Its a mind boggling question.

Here is a short comparison:

• Pro has A10X processor, Air4 has A14 processor. A14 is probably a bit better.
• Pro has Lightning port, Air4 USB-C. Air4 has faster file transfer capability.
• Pro has ProMotion technology, Air4 no ProMotion technology. Pro will have better video refresh rate at 120Hz.
• Pro has better sound with quad speaker sound, Air4 so-so sound with stereo sound.

I think the Pro is the probably the better choice if you want to watch video or listen to music. It also has more storage capacity.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by Kaysclie

Best Buy does offer to take trade ins toward your ipad purchase so that wouldn't be a problem. What I am really concerned about is if I would be better off with a new ipad air 4 (256) rather than a pretty old ipad pro 2017(512). Its a mind boggling question.

How much storage are you actually using?

I own both and I'd personally go with the Air 4. The Pro 10.5's CPU/GPU is starting to show its age. The Air 4 has 2x CPU performance of the Pro 10.5 and should last longer.

The Air 4 has better battery life as well and that's before considering the battery wear on a used Pro 10.5. I know my 10.5 dies pretty quickly now.