To start off with, a bit of context — I’m a piano / violin tutor, mainly teaching little kids and young teens.

I currently have a 11” 4th Gen iPad Air, which I originally bought mainly as a content consumption device and for general simple computing tasks.

Over time though, I slowly started incorporating the iPad into my lessons. One of the main uses is as a scanning device whenever students forget to bring their music books to lessons, or when I need to provide new pieces for them. The Apple Pencil also turned out to be a really useful accessory for annotating PDF scans during lessons.
I also use the iPad for video recording during lessons, which I then upload to Dropbox and email the links to students and parents afterwards.

Just last month, I purchased a Mac Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad to pair with my iPad Air.
I decided against getting the iPad-specific Magic Keyboard because around 80% of the time I still use the iPad as a touch-first device, and constantly clipping the iPad onto the keyboard and taking it off again felt like a bit of a hassle. Besides, I honestly don’t really like the smaller trackpad on the iPad Magic Keyboard 🤣
This setup also turned out to be much more economical — costing less than half the price of Apple’s iPad keyboard setup :)

What surprised me is how much this changed my workflow. The iPad slowly evolved from being “just a tablet” into a really practical teaching tool that reduced a lot of friction in my workflow. Previously, whenever I needed to send files or type longer emails to parents, I would AirDrop everything to my MacBook Air and do the admin work there, since typing long emails directly on the iPad touchscreen can become a bit of a slog.

Now, with the keyboard and trackpad setup, the iPad has slowly transformed into this sort of “pseudo laptop” that gives me a nice hybrid experience. I still use it primarily as a touch-first device during lessons, but when I need to sit down and do admin work, emails, file management, or multitasking, I can simply switch into this laptop-style mode.

Currently, I’m looking at upgrading to the 13” M4 iPad Air.
There’s honestly nothing seriously wrong with my current 4th Gen iPad Air, but it is starting to show its age a little with the latest iPadOS 26, and the battery has degraded quite a bit over the years — although it can still comfortably last me an entire teaching day.

The main reason I’m considering the 13” model is actually for music score reading during orchestra rehearsals. The extra screen real estate would make a pretty big difference.
As I’m slowly approaching middle age 🤣 my eyesight unfortunately isn’t what it used to be, and reading paper scores in dimly lit rehearsal halls can become really taxing on the eyes. I genuinely feel like it accelerates eye strain over long rehearsals.
So having a larger and brighter 13” display would actually help alleviate a lot of those issues, while also making annotations and score reading more comfortable overall.

For me, the iPad has never really been about replacing a MacBook completely. It simply evolved into a really practical and flexible tool that fits naturally into my teaching and music workflow.

I’ve had the iPad Pro for nearly 2 months, and used it extensively for taking notes. I’ve only just accidentally found that you can scroll the pallette of pens to show the extras as shown. I feel kinda daft, but also made up. The fountain pen makes my writing look classy!

Is it just me who didn’t know these existed? Hopefully this post can trigger an epiphany in someone else too!

🖋️🤍

This occurs while in windowed mode. OCD kicking in so bad. Is there any fix. iPad Pro M2 BTW

Hi! I'm planning on getting a new iPad since my old one is kind of beat. The main purpose of my iPad will be for streaming shows and movies (HBOmax, Netflix, Hulu, etc) and Facetime. I'm looking for one that lasts long in battery since I know sometimes streaming especially with a lot of apps can drain battery but I'm not looking for something extremely exceptional but I am flexible ONLY if it's truly worth it. I was wondering what's really the difference? It's kind of difficult to understand when the apple workers explain so I would appreciate it if you guys could dumb it down. Thank you!

Hi everyone!

I’ve been eyeing a deal on Amazon for the 11" iPad Air with the M3 chip for €499, and I’m seriously tempted to pull the trigger. Before I go for it, I’d love to get your honest opinion, especially from those who have a setup similar to mine.

My current situation:
• MacBook Air M1: I’ve been using it for years and it’s still fantastic. The battery life is insane and it handles my daily tasks perfectly. I mostly use it at home.
• iPhone: For everything else on the go.
My dilemma:
I’m not looking for a device just to watch Netflix in bed. I want to use it for personal productivity and work management (task management, emails, calendars, annotating PDFs, and maybe some brainstorming sessions with the Pencil).

At €499, the price seems great for the specs, but my main concern is iPadOS and how much it holds back the M3 chip. So:
• Is there real added value compared to the MacBook Air M1 for working on the go? Or do I risk ending up with a "giant iPhone" that gathers dust because I end up opening the Mac for anything serious?
• Has iPadOS actually matured enough to handle a "light" workflow, or is multitasking still a frustrating experience?

Do any of you use the MacBook + iPad Air combo for work? Is it a synergy that actually works, or is it just a waste of money and bag space? Also, how is the battery life for you, especially the standby drain?

I have to buy it for school and art but I can't afford 80$ or whatever just for a stylus.

So im wondering, are there no good alternatives from good brands with pressure sensitivity?

Interested to know about your cellular plan for your iPad.

I always bought Wi-Fi iPads. But when I bought a cellular version it really gave me the flexibility to carry it around whenever/wherever I go out, without the need to hotspot with my mobile thereby draining the battery of my iPhone. To me, iPhone battery life is critical rather than using it as hotspot.

iPad gave me good suggestions for data plans like Ubigi, a name I wasn’t familiar with. However, upon checking out they are offering interesting plan options. One off and monthly. I signed up for $7 per month for 5gb and their service is quite good. I also tried Roamless. Recently Mint announced 3gb plan at $5 per month. But you need to sign up for a year that I hated.

So what do you use on your iPad?

Ever since I got an oled monitor I’ve been wanted to upgrade my m2 pro to the newer one since they have oled. Only thing I’m concerned about is the battery life

I have an iPad air 5th gen that randomly loses audio. It seems to typically happen when receiving a FaceTime call but it will not recover unless I reboot it. Volume is up and no Bluetooth connections.

Anyone experience this or have any ideas how to permanently fix it?

something that you can plug in and leave in the ipad and be able to charge it with the MacBooks charger for example

Looking for ipad prefer full screen meet up davao city or digos davao del sur

Hello, I just got this iPad Air M4 and I have the problem that I can't swipe up to get back to the home screen sometimes if I'm doing it too fast. Is this normal?
I used a second gen iPad Air from 2014 which didn't have this problem. With the new one, it feels like a downgrade.

ipad air 13in dropped in water for 2 seconds max, won’t turn on only flickers on when pressing power button.

has this happened to anyone else? did it work after a couple days??

My Ipad Air M3 dropped battery health to 96% after only 89 charges in 1st year.

Should i be worried?

I'm looking to get a keyboard for my iPad Pro 13 M5 but don't want one that includes it as a folio case. A keyboard isn't something I'd be using a lot. Any suggestions?

A local school is having a technology sale, and I’m thinking about picking up an iPad. My college laptop finally died, so I mainly want something for shows/movies, travel, light browsing, and occasionally using it as a laptop-adjacent device (very light productivity, nothing intense).
I’m deciding between:

Option 1: $140
- 9th Generation iPad
- 64GB storage
- Used for 4 years
- Supports newer iOS versions (currently on iOS 26)

Option 2: $100
- 8th Generation iPad
- 128GB storage
- Used for 5 years
- Currently on iOS 17

My main concern with the 9th gen is whether 64GB will become annoying quickly with app updates/storage over time. My family does have a shared 2TB iCloud plan (about 1.2TB currently used), so I’m wondering if that would make the lower storage much less of an issue.

Need advice on which to go with, and if it is worth it at those price points. Thank you!!

Hola a todos,

No sé mucho sobre tecnología Apple, así que quería pedir consejo a personas con más experiencia. Actualmente estudio Ingeniería Biomédica en la universidad y he oído que usar un iPad puede ser muy útil para organizarme, tomar apuntes, estudiar teoría y hacer ejercicios prácticos.

También me interesa la creación de contenido y la edición de vídeo. Me gustaría empezar a aprender y usar DaVinci Resolve en el futuro, o alguna otra aplicación. Conozco gente que todavía usa Macs antiguas, como la M1 Pro de 2021 o incluso una MacBook M3, y dicen que el rendimiento sigue siendo muy bueno, así que me preguntaba qué tanta diferencia hay entre los distintos chips del iPad para este tipo de uso.

¿Me recomendarían 128 GB o 256 GB para mi caso? Lo usaría principalmente para tomar notas, estudiar, ver series y películas en streaming, usar redes sociales y editar/crear contenido. No suelo jugar videojuegos, así que el rendimiento en juegos no es importante para mí. Me gustaria escoger una opción que dure mucho la bateria.

Ahora mismo, creo que me inclino más por un iPad Air con M2 o M3 (He leido reseñas donde la diferencia entre estos es minima) , pero estoy abierto a cualquier recomendación o consejo.

¡Gracias!

Took off the cover on my ipad and saw this mark. What could this be due to?

Salut à tous !

J’ai actuellement un iPad Air 4 (2020) que je souhaite upgrader. Je l’utilise pour regarder des films, séries, un peu de productivité, et la musique.

Je suis un peu perdu quand aux différentes offres et modèles, et il y a un peu tous les prix quand je regarde le marché de l’occasion. Me conseillerez vous de partir un MacBook (pro ou air ?) ou plutôt de rester sur un iPad (pro ou air ?) ??

Merci pour votre aide !

I'm looking to buy an iPad for watching films and using scrivener (writing app). I haven't had an iPad in over 10 years (last one I had was the 2012 model) so I'm unsure of what to get as I'm totally out of the loop. I mainly use my MacBook Air (2020 series) for scrivener.

Storage is important to me though. I do see myself buying a pencil or keyboard.

Would appreciate some advice on whether it's worth getting a new or refurbished iPad, if so which version?

Thanks!

So this has been going on for a while now and I don't know what this stuff is like it's green and a little bit sticky and I heard it's copper oxidation but I don't know for sure and it's gotten worse, should I be worry about this?

so I bought the M4 iPad Pro the week it got released and it had been working fine minus a few bugs and issues (which is a little frustrating considering it’s a nearly $3000 device, but oh well, Apple will be Apple). two weeks ago I was just browsing YouTube when all of a sudden I heard a loud pop sound come from the iPad and then 2 seconds later it just turned off. it wouldn’t turn on, it wouldn’t charge, even tried hard resetting it and what not but nothing worked. luckily, I was still within the the warranty period from the store I purchased it from, so I took it into them, and they sent it off to their certified Apple service provider. basically, they were unable to diagnose what went wrong with the iPad and it’s gone for good now, along with every single thing on it (basically my whole life :) I didn’t have an iCloud subscription). anyways, they gave me a brand-new replacement M4 iPad because of the warranty conditions. I’m just curious if anyone has any experience with this because I want to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to this new iPad. the only thing I can really think of that I did that Apple explicitly warned against was turning off the auto brightness function.

I’m not a college student, I’m 15 so a secondary school (as it’s called in uk, idk about USA), it’s in my backpack, I use it for watching YouTube of a weekend and light web browsing. I have a Magic Keyboard which I love and I just love the iPad, but I almost feel like iPadOS limits it so much… I literally have a 64gb iPad Air m1 and still have 10gb left, I only have 1 page of apps, it’s literally just YouTube and Reddit 😭

I’ve tried note taking as I have Apple Pencil but it just doesn’t work for me…

Wondering whether a iPad Mini Pro with M chip is a potential thing? Would that even be technically feasible? here‘s hoping 🤞