If you check out the subreddits for Apple products, it’s common to see photos from people who went all-in, dropping huge sums of cash on devices and accessories. I’ve never been that guy, despite my being a regular on the Apple beat since 2006. I often dig my heels in when I buy a new Apple product, aiming to spend as little as I can be comfortable with, regardless of whether I have the budget for extra. I don’t even own AirPods — I’m quite happy with my Jabra Elite 7 Actives.
When it comes to iPads, it’s effectively impossible to avoid at least one add-on: an iCloud+ or Apple One subscription. You probably already have a sense of why, but if not, I’ll explain why it’s something you should (probably) budget for before you so much as dream about an Apple Pencil.
Why iCloud+ is so vital on iPads
Bigger screen, bigger stakes
Frankly, it’s already hard to get by without iCloud+ on an iPhone, never mind an iPad. The 5GB Apple gives you for free used to be tolerable, but today, a barebones iPhone backup can eclipse that amount. Pairing that with 4K videos and hundreds of photos instantly pushes you over the top. The situation is only going to get worse as iOS and camera technology improves.
On an iPad, everything is scaled up. iPadOS tends to weigh heavier than iOS, as its native apps are more powerful and include larger art assets. That may be compensated for to a degree, since most people don’t shoot a lot of photos and video on a tablet — chances are, though, you’re already filling up iCloud with media you shot elsewhere.
That actually leads me to my main point, which is that iPads are increasingly capable of replacing laptops, and that means tackling more demanding tasks. If you’re a photographer, for example, you might hook up your camera to import projects into Lightroom and Photoshop, and edit them there. You can produce commercial-quality 4K video using apps like DaVinci Resolve or Final Cut. Heck, a high school or college student might fill up an iPad with notes, presentations, and essays.
With that in mind, bumping up against that 5GB ceiling can potentially be more painful on an iPad than it would ever be on an iPhone. Vast swaths of work or school data might be lost in a crisis, assuming it’s not foisted on a third-party service that you’re already paying for. Many people depend on cloud services for accessing files across multiple devices, including Windows PCs, and nothing is as deeply integrated on an iPad as iCloud.
There are ways around iCloud+, if you’re determined. You can upload some files to services like OneDrive and Google Drive, or copy them to external SSDs via the Files app. Some apps will let you leave documents (or other content) exclusively in the cloud. But you can’t create a straightforward iPad backup this way, and that can be a dealkiller if you legitimately depend on your iPad instead of turning to it for casual web browsing, streaming, or games. Restoring an iPad from iCloud is slow, but still better than losing essential data and recreating your app layout from scratch.
What about Apple One?
A very subjective value-add
Unlike the solo version of iCloud+, no one truly needs Apple One. Its Individual and Family plans bundle iCloud upgrades with Apple TV, Apple Music, and Apple Arcade, and no one’s going to have an existential crisis if they can’t watch Severance or play Balatro+. If you spring for a Premier subscription, you do get features in the Family tier plus Apple Fitness+ and News+ — but those may be harder sells. I’ve been able to deadlift over 450lbs without paying a dime for online coaching, and a lot of key publications are missing from News+, like the New York Times.
That said, there’s a better argument for Apple One with an iPad than if you just own an iPhone or a Mac. It’s nicer to read news and magazine articles on a tablet than any other form factor, and one of my small pleasures in life is binging movies and TV shows during long flights. For that, an iPhone is too small, and a laptop is overkill unless you need to get work done.
Even Arcade and Fitness+ make more sense. With the former, you get to play games that benefit from a larger display — like Slay the Spire or Stardew Valley — without being tethered to a Mac. I’d rather put Fitness+ on a TV, but the portability of an iPad means being able to work out anywhere while still being able to follow along from a few feet away.
You’ll have to decide for yourself how much these things actually matter. While I recommend being frugal, given how expensive the rest of the Apple ecosystem is, an Apple One bundle may be a no-brainer if you were already seriously considering add-on services.
