Alright, so you’ve been glued to your monitor the past few hours, drooling over the new iPad’s ridiculous screen, crazy camera, and insane apps. Now you’re just wondering which iPad model you should buy. Are you torn between Wi-Fi only and LTE? Or maybe the decision between the black and white model is too hard for you to make on your own. Don’t worry. We’re here to help you out and find the absolute best new iPad for you.
Black or White?
This is the decision I grapple with the most when purchasing a new Apple device. The White looks so cool. It’s an Apple classic, and fingerprint smudges aren’t as visible on the white background. Then there’s Black, and it’s always classy, never goes out of style. While this option might come down to personal preference, we still recommend getting a black iPad. The black bezel disappears into that background when you’re using the iPad, whereas when using a white iPad you’re always cognizant of the white border around your video. To enjoy your games and videos more fully, we think the black iPad offers the best overall experience.
Decision: Black
How Much Storage Do I Need?
That 64GB iPad is staring you down. Winking. Telling you that you need all its delicious gigabytes to be happy in life. With a Retina display iPad you’re going to need more storage space than usual because apps are going to be bigger than ever. It’d be a travesty to have a new iPad without keeping a couple HD movies on the device just so you can drool all over the screen. The average file size of an HD movie is about 1.5GB. 16GB is definitely too paltry, but we think 64GB is overkill because you’re never going to use up all that storage unless you’re a digital hoarder. 32GB is the sweet. It’s just enough space to have some extra room when things get tight, but it’s not too much, and it certainly won’t break the bank to upgrade to that amount of storage.
Decision: 32GB
Wifi-only or LTE/3G?
There are so many amazing apps on the iPad, but a lot of the great ones require a data connection to have their content updated. It sucks when you’re away from your house and decide to cruise Flipboard, Devour, or Netflix on your iPad but can’t find an open Wi-fi hotspot. Tethering to your iPhone is one option to avoid paying the extra $129 to upgrade to an LTE model iPad, but tethering is tedious, and it drains your iPhone’s battery quicker than Charlie Sheen consumes angel dust. Spending the extra $129 to ensure you’ll always have a data connection is worth it more than ever with the addition of 4G LTE. But before you dash out to buy your LTE-equipped iPad, make sure you live in an area that has 4G coverage, otherwise you’ll just be wasting your cash.
Decision: LTE/3G
Which Carrier?
Ok, you decided to go with the LTE/3G iPad, and your last decision to make is which carrier do you go with. This depends on where you live. Right now AT&T’s LTE network is only launched in 28 markets. If you don’t live in a big city then you’ll have a hard time getting LTE with AT&T. On the other hand, Verizon’s LTE network is currently available in 196 cities, covering more than 200 million Americans. When it comes to 4G LTE, Verizon is the clear winner right now.
Decision: Verizon
Wrap up
The new iPad is going to be one of the best visual experiences technology can bring to you. Take advantage of all the new pixels by storing and streaming more high-def videos on a 32GB LTE and keep it classy by going with the black model.
Conclusion: 32GB LTE iPad in black.
Agree? Disagree? Let us know which new iPad you’ll be buying in the comments!
