NEW IPADS RELEASED!

[MrFixitBlankFace]

https://www.apple.com/ipad-mini/

 

https://www.apple.com/ipad-air/

 

https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/18/18270785/apple-ipad-air-features-pricing-models-display

 

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/18/tech/apple-new-ipad-air-mini/index.html

 

How come nobody saw this coming?????

Stunning how Apple kept the majority of this a secret.   I dont think anyone knew that they had this up their sleeve.  This is crazy!

Quote

New York (CNN Business)Apple on Monday quietly announced new versions the iPad Air and iPad mini, the company's the first refresh for those products in years.

Typically Apple creates fanfare around the arrival of new hardware. But this year it wants the focus of its upcoming spring press event to be all about its rumored streaming service. That's why the company let the world know about its new iPads in a press release.

The iPad Air comes with a bigger 10.5-inch display (starting at $499), and the iPad mini has the same 7.9-inch screen (starting at $399). The devices support the Apple Pencil and a processor that's three times faster than the previous models.

 

The iPad mini will mostly serve as an entertainment device, likely to attract students and teenagers, while the lightweight iPad Air replaces the 10.5-inch iPad Pro in Apple's online store.

Apple was widely expected to tease the iPads ahead of its spring event on March 25. But the press release was a surprise.

"Apple wants to get the iPad out of the way so it can hold its first event truly focused on streaming," Lauren Guenveur, senior research analyst at IDC told CNN Business. "If Apple announced new Pads, it would turn into a hardware event, and that's not what it wants."

Tablet shipments have declined in the past few years, especially among devices that don't come with a keyboard. "Perhaps what's the point for having an event for a declining category?" Guenveur added.

 

Guenveur believes the new 10.5-inch iPad Air could struggle to find a place in the market considering the 11-inch iPad Pro is still a more powerful option that also supports the pencil. The iPad Mini, however, could push a decent amount of people to upgrade.

"There is certainly a market for the iPad Mini, especially among students and teens, but I don't know for how long the upgrade cycle for it will be,' Guenveur said. "I suspect it will do very well for one large upgrade cycle for the rest of the year and then slowly drop off."

It would have been better if the IPads were released at the March 25 event, but according to this article, they wanted the 25th to be a services event.

This truly is pretty amazing.

[pinksnowmanshandle]

I find it funny they're going back the iPad Air name

[star_pilot475]

Pretty cool. I've always liked the iPad airs but this one seems, I don’t know, kinda not special. The original iPad Air was so light, the second one was the first iPad to have Touch ID, I don’t know, sure this one is wicked fast but it’s not in any way special.

[DrMacintosh]

3 minutes ago, star_pilot475 said:

sure this one is wicked fast but it’s not in any way special.

I don't think it has to be special. Keeping the existing body keeps cost down for everyone. And besides, what are people going to do, buy a Galaxy Tab? LOL

 

$499 is not bad for a tablet with that level of performance. It just looses the 120Hz screen, quad speakers, and some other quality of life features. 

[MrFixitBlankFace]

3 minutes ago, star_pilot475 said:

Pretty cool. I've always liked the iPad airs but this one seems, I don’t know, kinda not special. The original iPad Air was so light, the second one was the first iPad to have Touch ID, I don’t know, sure this one is wicked fast but it’s not in any way special.

Yeah.   In phones and tablets, companies are kinda running out of ideas.

[FezBoy]

Cool.  Not gonna buy one, but cool.

[YaBoiWill]

So cutting through the marketing BS the only thing I really notice that is different on the mini is that it now supports the pen. 

Wow fuck me sideways I better go and spend money replacing my one immediately, I like the size of them, but I won't use half the features, as I'm not going to spend £100 on a pencil thing that just looks stupid, I have a laptop for making plans on. 

But actually the price appears to be the same as the current one, so at least that's a good point.

Overall I'm unimpressed, My dads original mini put next to this one, and unless you started to use them you probs wouldn't notice an aesthetic difference, apart from about 4 years of use.

[Bouzoo]

9 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

I don't think it has to be special. Keeping the existing body keeps cost down for everyone. And besides, what are people going to do, buy a Galaxy Tab? LOL

Well, there are arguably few tablets (read: basically none) from android that are decent for the majority of regular users. Meaning if you want a proper tablet, you have to go Apple or go home. 

 

EDIT: Wait, the Air has the 2GB of RAM on all models, same what Air 2 had in 2014? Is that the same back camera as the 2014 model as well WITHOUT a flashlight? That thing is horrible. What a letdown. Owen Wilson WOW

At least it has the headphone jack.

[Techstorm970]

1 minute ago, DrMacintosh said:

I don't think it has to be special. Keeping the existing body keeps cost down for everyone. And besides, what are people going to do, buy a Galaxy Tab? LOL

I'll be honest...Microsoft Surface tablets are getting pretty legit.  Apple is not at all worried about the Android tablets (except for Amazon Kindle Fire, possibly); they're competing with Microsoft now.

 

They're still the kings of tablets, but a new (and historically familiar) challenger is approaching.

[YaBoiWill]

Oh and reading the fine print its only the first gen pencil that the mini supports. Even better hey, why not make it current? 

[star_pilot475]

It’s just kinda disappointing. When the first iPad Air was released it was the slimmest and lightest iPad everyone had ever seen!  Then with the second iPad Air, it introduced Touch ID to iPad, which before had been limited to iPhone. Agh, I guess it’s me just being weirdly sentimental but oh well...

 

New iPad Air is just like a successor to the 6th gen from last year. The mini needed something new though, it was kinda lame compared to the rest of Apple's lineup. 

 

Honestly though, the new iPad Air is not worth it all because for $200 more you could have an iPad Pro.

[pinksnowmanshandle]

Just now, YaBoiWill said:

Oh and reading the fine print its only the first gen pencil that the mini supports. Even better hey, why not make it current? 

They'd have to make new shells basically, and that costs money and well. They wanna keep costs down lol

[Techstorm970]

2 minutes ago, YaBoiWill said:

So cutting through the marketing BS the only thing I really notice that is different on the mini is that it now supports the pen. 

Wow fuck me sideways I better go and spend money replacing my one immediately, I like the size of them, but I won't use half the features, as I'm not going to spend £100 on a pencil thing that just looks stupid, I have a laptop for making plans on. 

But actually the price appears to be the same as the current one, so at least that's a good point.

Overall I'm unimpressed, My dads original mini put next to this one, and unless you started to use them you probs wouldn't notice an aesthetic difference, apart from about 4 years of use.

I will admit that the only significant change is the improved hardware specs.  The new iPad Air is probably at least 2x faster than the previous model, though, with storage options more suitable for 2019.

[79wjd]

9 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

I don't think it has to be special. Keeping the existing body keeps cost down for everyone. And besides, what are people going to do, buy a Galaxy Tab? LOL

 

$499 is not bad for a tablet with that level of performance. It just looses the 120Hz screen, quad speakers, and some other quality of life features. 

The pricing is honestly pretty bad compared to the 9.7" iPad.

 

The 10.5" Air is basically just a slight improvement over the 9.7" iPad and really should only be marginally more expensive ($350-$400). Meanwhile the Mini should either be in the $330-$350 range or it should be more akin to a Pro.

[Commodus]

1 minute ago, YaBoiWill said:

Oh and reading the fine print its only the first gen pencil that the mini supports. Even better hey, why not make it current? 

To do that, they'd have needed a significant redesign of the iPad itself, and it'd probably have raised costs.  $399 is already quite a bit for an 8-inch tablet... let's not give Apple any ideas!

[Techstorm970]

Just now, 79wjd said:

The pricing is honestly pretty bad compared to the 9.7" iPad.

 

The 10.5" Air is basically just a slight improvement over the 9.7" iPad and really should only be marginally more expensive ($350-$400). Meanwhile the Mini should either be in the $330-$350 range or it should be more akin to a Pro.

 

Maybe think about it this way...

 

"As a traveling *insert title here*, I would love an iPad Pro, but it's too expensive for me..."

 

*Apple releases smaller, but less expensive iPads.*

 

[YaBoiWill]

Just now, Commodus said:

To do that, they'd have needed a significant redesign of the iPad itself, and it'd probably have raised costs.  $399 is already quite a bit for an 8-inch tablet... let's not give Apple any ideas!

They could just modify their "new" design into the 8" FF, and keep the same sized bezels as before with the same screen, there is loads of space for them to put the NFC charging stuff that it needs. 

Thats my opinion, I think they're just trying to squeeze a few more years of life out of the machines that make the chassis, and making products that will make them more profit

[pinksnowmanshandle]

I've always sorta wanted an iPad Mini, so it is good to see that Apple isn't giving up on its nice size.

 

 

But frankly I don't have any real use for a tablet right now. Well at least not one that focuses more on the tablet aspect over being able to double as more of a traditional laptop more inline with like the Surface Go and Surface Pro but frankly for me the Surface Go is possible a wince too small to really be good as a laptop substitute and better as a tablet and for me, the surface pro just costs a little too much...

 

Just now, Commodus said:

To do that, they'd have needed a significant redesign of the iPad itself, and it'd probably have raised costs.  $399 is already quite a bit for an 8-inch tablet... let's not give Apple any ideas!

I want an iPad Mini Pro /s

[Zando_]

10 minutes ago, YaBoiWill said:

So cutting through the marketing BS the only thing I really notice that is different on the mini is that it now supports the pen. 

Wow fuck me sideways I better go and spend money replacing my one immediately, I like the size of them, but I won't use half the features, as I'm not going to spend £100 on a pencil thing that just looks stupid, I have a laptop for making plans on. 

But actually the price appears to be the same as the current one, so at least that's a good point.

Overall I'm unimpressed, My dads original mini put next to this one, and unless you started to use them you probs wouldn't notice an aesthetic difference, apart from about 4 years of use.

You'd instantly notice a difference in how it performs though. IIRC the Mini 4 had an A7 or A8, this has an A12. The 7 and 8 are starting to show their age, whereas the A12 is an absolute monster. The iPads with an A10 are snappy AF (whereas the iPad Mini 2 I've used with the A7 is pretty slow in a lot of things), the A12 is even faster and with a smaller screen. So yeah, not much of a difference in the look, but a massive, eyeball searing difference in performance. 

[79wjd]

6 minutes ago, Techstorm970 said:

Maybe think about it this way...

 

"As a traveling *insert title here*, I would love an iPad Pro, but it's too expensive for me..."

 

*Apple releases smaller, but less expensive iPads.*

 

Less expensive iPads make perfect sense -- I'm not arguing against them. However the 10.5" Air doesn't offer much extra compared to the old $330 9.7" iPad to warrant the $170 price difference (call it a $120 price difference to account for the extra storage). The same is true of the Mini compared to the 9.7" iPad -- with the Mini you're paying a premium for a smaller (and ultimately cheaper device).

 

The 128gb 10.5" Air should really be $350-$400. While the 128gb Mini should be $330-$350 or should be spec'd like a Pro and be $450-$500. The Air just ends up being overpriced while the Mini is just in a really weird place.

[YaBoiWill]

Just now, Zando Bob said:

whereas the iPad Mini 2 I've used with the A7 is pretty slow in a lot of things

Im still on iOS 10 I think and mine is still as it was when I got it. Or maybe I have the mini three, its hard to tell. 

Parents on the other hand are now regretting going to 12 as it just tanks their one, which is the main purpose to get them to buy a new one

[Zando_]

4 hours ago, YaBoiWill said:

Im still on iOS 10 I think and mine is still as it was when I got it. Or maybe I have the mini three, its hard to tell. 

Parents on the other hand are now regretting going to 12 as it just tanks their one, which is the main purpose to get them to buy a new one

The A7 is the SoC that came in the iPhone 5S (2013). It's a near 6 year old design now, ofc there'll be a performance hit with the newer iOS versions that have more stuff going on. It's not Apple maliciously destroying the performance on your device to force an upgrade, it's a 6 year old SoC trying to run the latest OS. 

[79wjd]

2 minutes ago, YaBoiWill said:

Im still on iOS 10 I think and mine is still as it was when I got it. Or maybe I have the mini three, its hard to tell. 

Parents on the other hand are now regretting going to 12 as it just tanks their one, which is the main purpose to get them to buy a new one

Ummmmm, iOS 12 improved performance on older devices across the board.

[Guest]

I have an old iPad that is unusable soooo maybe I'll buy this if I'm interested. But first I will see if the prices go down on the 2018 models. 

[YaBoiWill]

Just now, 79wjd said:

Ummmmm, iOS 12 improved performance on older devices across the board.

I'm sceptical tbh, it doesn't seem like something apple would do. Although, they did have the backlash about slowing the OS "to conserve batteries" so it does make sense. 

I'm happy on 10, I don't use it enough to justify wasting the data to update it