iPad Pro 256 or 512 GB - opinions appreciated

[Fairy Penguin]

Hi, I'm looking into buying an iPad Pro 12.9" and I'm wondering which storage option would be better for use with Affinity Designer and Photo. I'm wondering if I really need to pay the extra to get the 512GB version or if I'll be okay with the 256GB one.

I have the Windows desktop versions but health problems mean I'm not able to use my pc much anymore. The iPad offers a lot of flexibility in terms of using the Apple pencil and finger gestures, and the 12.9" Pro's screen size offers the best working space for me as I'm used to sketching on A4 paper. However, the 256GB version will take up all of the budget I put aside for a new computer and printer/scanner before my health got worse, so if the 512GB is the more recommended option I'll need to raid extra savings.

As someone who's never used an Apple device before I'd appreciate some informed opinions. Also, I usually back up everything to my external hard drive when I edit a project so can I use the USB-C port for this on the iPad rather than cloud storage? If this can be dones easily do I really need the larger storage option?

Many thanks

Edited March 13, 2022 by Fairy Penguin
Extra bit added to question

[NotMyFault]

Hi,

this really depends on how many files you need to have stored on the iPad without the inconvenience of moving them between devices.

I personally think 256GB is enough, and never run into an issue of not enough storage.

More could be useful in case of traveling without the option to backup / offload your files frequently.

I personally wouldn’t use devices any more which need physical cabling. These physical ports are notoriously causing connection issues (cable breaking, dirt accumulation in usb ports) and try to find solutions which work over (wireless) network. There are several solutions which can sync your data to an on-premise storage device or PC.

[Fairy Penguin]

@NotMyFault thank you for sharing your opinion on this. Thanks also for the advice on physical port connections.

[BarKeegan]

I’d also say 256 is enough, it’s what I have, I also use an external HD to backup

[Fairy Penguin]

@BarKeegan thank you, I appreciate your input.

[Paul Mudditt]

I concur, 256GB is more than enough, to be honest I never ran out of space on my older iPad Pro 128GB but that is because I use iCloud which is much more cost effective and practical than a larger capacity iPad. Just remember to turn on Optimise Storage.

[Alfred]

22 minutes ago, Paul Mudditt said:

Just remember to turn on Optimise Storage.

Unfortunately, ‘Optimise Storage’ only applies to the Photos app. By far the biggest space hog for me is my large collection of Affinity documents.

[Paul Mudditt]

37 minutes ago, Alfred said:

Unfortunately, ‘Optimise Storage’ only applies to the Photos app. By far the biggest space hog for me is my large collection of Affinity documents.

That is strange, all my documents are in (iCloud 142GB)and take up very little space on my iPad (9GB). I do store in my own private folders though and not the app created folders.

 

[Alfred]

16 minutes ago, Paul Mudditt said:

take up very little space on my iPad (9GB)

9 GB isn’t much when you have 256 GB, but my iPad Air 2 has only 64 GB and my docs from two Affinity apps take up at least 9 GB each (not to mention about 2 GB for the apps themselves, and the same again when there are current beta versions). Add another 10 or 12 GB worth of files stored in Documents by Readdle and there’s soon very little space left.

[Paul Mudditt]

54 minutes ago, Alfred said:

9 GB isn’t much when you have 256 GB, but my iPad Air 2 has only 64 GB and my docs from two Affinity apps take up at least 9 GB each (not to mention about 2 GB for the apps themselves, and the same again when there are current beta versions). Add another 10 or 12 GB worth of files stored in Documents by Readdle and there’s soon very little space left.

Yeah 64GB is a little low for the iPad agreed.

My iPhone is 64GB and also has access to all my 2TB of iCloud documents and photos but usually keeps about 17GB free automatically for software updates, which are every other week for me as I'm on the IOS beta program as well. I also use the Offload Unused Apps for my 107 apps on the iPhone and 151 apps on my iPad. which I think is a great idea, saved me having to decide which apps to delete from all the ones I've collected since 2010.

[Fairy Penguin]

7 hours ago, Paul Mudditt said:

I concur, 256GB is more than enough, to be honest I never ran out of space on my older iPad Pro 128GB but that is because I use iCloud which is much more cost effective and practical than a larger capacity iPad. Just remember to turn on Optimise Storage.

Thank you

[Fairy Penguin]

Just looked up iCloud storage prices and I'm pleasantly surprised, especially when compared to Dropbox. The 50GB to start off with might be a good idea, just to make sure everything is safely backed up if I forget about updating to external hard drive regularly.

[iuli]

At first I had in mind 512 but in the end I opted for 256GB cellular. Even without cellular (which I only used a handful of times in over a 8 months) and no constant iCloud connection, I think 256GB are plenty.

[Fairy Penguin]

15 minutes ago, Away79 said:

At first I had in mind 512 but in the end I opted for 256GB cellular. Even without cellular (which I only used a handful of times in over a 8 months) and no constant iCloud connection, I think 256GB are plenty.

Thank you