For school purposes, as long as your iPad has the following, then it will be adequate to serve as your child's 1 to 1 device:
However, some parents with children already in the program are offering feedback about the iPad's storage capacity that may influence your purchasing decisions...
The 16GB iPad model has limited storage capacity. Although it is sufficient for the school projects that your child may be working on in any given week, there will be little room to 'play with'. This could be a good thing in that it reinforces the importance of good file management and vigilance in culling of unnecessary photos and videos. You may also see it as an advantage that your child will have no space for additional games and recreational apps. But please keep in mind that a 16GB iPad will be almost full once all the school apps are installed. If you are purchasing a new iPad for your child, you may find the 32GB models (and above) will be viable for longer. Even the basic operating system (before any apps are installed) takes several gigabytes of space and with each update, iOS seems to grow.
The need for "free space"
Regardless of storage capacity, as a general rule, an iPad needs 10% free space to function efficiently. To illustrate, if you have a 32GB model, you'll need to keep the available free space above 3.2GB. If you have a 64GB version, you'll need at least 6.4GB free memory. I regularly see children who come to me with a "broken" iPad, which won't open an app they need to use or which freezes in the middle of a task. Often they won't be able to install an update or save a file... all because they have an over-full device.
How do I check usage?
Open the Settings app.
Tap General. Scroll down and tap Usage.
Under STORAGE you will see how much space is Available. This number should represent 10% of the total storage capacity of the iPad. If it is less than that you need to remove some of the contents.
Tap Manage Storage to see which apps need to be trimmed or deleted. This view lists all apps in decreasing order of size.
In the screenshot above you can see the Photos & Camera app is the main culprit, using 3.5GB of storage. This iPad owner needs to offload most of the contents of the Photos & Camera app. Videos take up more space than still photos so deleting the videos (from the Photos app) should restore sufficient free space.
You can also delete apps from this view (above). Tap an app you can do without and tap Delete App.
This will delete the app from the device but as it is still associated with the Apple ID, you can download it again (at no extra charge) at a later time, or on up to 5 different devices, as long as you are signed in with this Apple ID.
I hope this information has been helpful. If you are subscribed by email, you will receive all future posts via email. Depending on your email settings, you may need to "allow photos" to view any images in the posts. Alternatively, you can click the link and visit the blog in your browser.
- a working camera
- a full-sized screen
- no sim inserted (or wi-fi only model), and
- a battery that will last through a school day
However, some parents with children already in the program are offering feedback about the iPad's storage capacity that may influence your purchasing decisions...
The 16GB iPad model has limited storage capacity. Although it is sufficient for the school projects that your child may be working on in any given week, there will be little room to 'play with'. This could be a good thing in that it reinforces the importance of good file management and vigilance in culling of unnecessary photos and videos. You may also see it as an advantage that your child will have no space for additional games and recreational apps. But please keep in mind that a 16GB iPad will be almost full once all the school apps are installed. If you are purchasing a new iPad for your child, you may find the 32GB models (and above) will be viable for longer. Even the basic operating system (before any apps are installed) takes several gigabytes of space and with each update, iOS seems to grow.
The need for "free space"
Regardless of storage capacity, as a general rule, an iPad needs 10% free space to function efficiently. To illustrate, if you have a 32GB model, you'll need to keep the available free space above 3.2GB. If you have a 64GB version, you'll need at least 6.4GB free memory. I regularly see children who come to me with a "broken" iPad, which won't open an app they need to use or which freezes in the middle of a task. Often they won't be able to install an update or save a file... all because they have an over-full device.
How do I check usage?
Open the Settings app.
Tap General. Scroll down and tap Usage.
Under STORAGE you will see how much space is Available. This number should represent 10% of the total storage capacity of the iPad. If it is less than that you need to remove some of the contents.
Tap Manage Storage to see which apps need to be trimmed or deleted. This view lists all apps in decreasing order of size.
In the screenshot above you can see the Photos & Camera app is the main culprit, using 3.5GB of storage. This iPad owner needs to offload most of the contents of the Photos & Camera app. Videos take up more space than still photos so deleting the videos (from the Photos app) should restore sufficient free space.
You can also delete apps from this view (above). Tap an app you can do without and tap Delete App.
This will delete the app from the device but as it is still associated with the Apple ID, you can download it again (at no extra charge) at a later time, or on up to 5 different devices, as long as you are signed in with this Apple ID.
I hope this information has been helpful. If you are subscribed by email, you will receive all future posts via email. Depending on your email settings, you may need to "allow photos" to view any images in the posts. Alternatively, you can click the link and visit the blog in your browser.
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