I just ordered a 9.7in - there’s unlikely to be any refresh until at least October and my 2nd generation iPad still runs plenty of music apps just fine so I doubt that it’ll struggle.
The 9.7inch iPad is great value imo and that’s pretty damn rare for an Apple product…hell, why not buy 4 of them for the price of an op1? 
I’m glad this question was asked as I’m contemplating a tablet upgrade. Truthfully, I don’t use my first-gen mini ipad that much beyond reading, though I do have Rebirth on there, so I suppose I have to keep it forever? However, it seems like there are a lot more music and music-related apps out there that are really good quality and usable.
I think the phones are usually on the Sept.-Oct. update cycle. Aren’t the tablets usually unveiled in May, or am I thinking of something else? It’s so hard to keep up, I can’t imagine what it’s like actually working at Apple.
Same here (iPad2). The only thing that would want me to upgrade is to get rid of the 30-pin connector.
Looks like a good chance the new iPad will be out in the next couple of months, possibly March: https://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#iPad
Instead of starting a new thread, I figure I’d ask this year. ANyone know of any good iOS compatible small interfaces with stereo I/O AND MIDI I/O? I’ve heard about the iRig stuff, but the reviews discuss flaws in it’s robustness (as in, it’s mad fragile and breaks easily). I could just use my current separate soundcard and MIDI IO with a hub, but that’s just more wires and such than I’d like.
Easy. Zoom U24.
This is dirt cheap!
PERFECT! Thanks!
Looks like the new iPad Air might be a more economical contender for my money: https://www.apple.com/ipad-air/specs/
Granted it means another dongle (lightening to USB) and it’s not the A12x chip, but the A12 should last for a good long while. For 256gb, it’s $300 cheaper than the Pro.
Ha - I just saw the headlines come out this morning. I had a feeling a refresh was on its way soon. I’m curious about the new model as well.
Now my only question is 64gb or 256gb. It’s a $150 difference, which is the cost of a bunch of apps or a better portable soundcard or a case. I wonder how much space apps will take up. I plan on using this for ONLY music production stuff, so I won’t be adding much besides sound files and music apps.
I’d lean towards as much as you can afford. While apps themselves don’t take up tons of room (although a few do), you’ll have samples, loops, all of your recordings from the various apps inside Audio Share, etc. So, the more GB the merrier. Have fun
it depends how comfortable you are with using dropbox / audio share
ive got lots on my ipad (lots of apps , art packages , audio and gfx and lots of games)
128gig … its still got 40gig spare.
it can take an age to sync too (though i’m not on usb3)
personally i’d probably spend the extra .
Just sold my OT, so I could def. swing a 256gb, but then I have less money up front for apps.
Yeah. I mean, I can use Google Drive and audio share and such, but I do like having everything all available. I try to avoid cloud stuff except for backing shit up.
I’ve had mine for approx 1 month. I got the 128 and I’m already at 60GB. Just music production, nothing else. You’ll thank yourself later. Plus apps are like cheeseburgers, you want one, you buy it. 
if you go crazy in aum , recording 10+ audio tracks as individual streams , for an hour or two … it;ll fill up.
and your battery will run down.
but it makes for a good virtual tape thing.
Another thing to consider when thinking about storage is that the devices with more storage tend to retain their value relative to the barebones models. I’m not sure if that’s a factor for you, but if you’re on the fence, it may help tip you one way or the other.
Word. I tend to keep my tablets for years (going on year 5 with my Galaxy Tab 4) and then sell it for whatever I can get when the time comes. I figure I can keep this iPad for a bunch of years even if they don’t update the OS since all the previous stuff will still work as long as it doesn’t get updated to incompatibility.
Welp, just bought one of those cheapo 9.7in 128gb iPads off Amazon for $380. Figured most people over various forums have said that’s more than enough for a sketchpad and synth machine. Plan is to use it for ideas on the go, then occasionally sequencing my hardware in the studio, or sequencing a specific synth on the iPad from my computer and recording directly into my DAW. I don’t mind having a “legacy” machine as long as it runs the few apps and such that I’m currently interested in. Plus, I figure I’m still not 100% on using an iPad in the studio, so spending upwards of $650 on just the tablet seemed a bit crazy.
Wish me luck!
I can do a lot more than that on my original iPad Air from late 2013…