Some thoughts:
iPad Mini: GREAT
IMO, great overall. I think it's wise they stuck with the resolution they did. We already have 5 resolutions for developers to support - we don't need a 6th:
- 320x480
- 640x960
- 640x1136
- 1024x768
- 2096x1536
So it's great that out of the box, lots of apps will be supported. Sure, it's not retina, but I think given how thin, light and cheap it is, they need a non-A6 CPU in there. The consumers that frequent such a device likely don't care as much about PPI, and for all intents and purposes, the PPI is still better than the iPad 2.
They should have penetrated the $299 price point, but I'm sure they're saving that for iPad mini 2 with retina next year. At that point the iPad 2 will be dead, and the iPhone 3GS and lower will be out of the picture, so Apple can afford to maintain a new resolution (likely 1536x1152). LTE is great too!
iPad 2: FAIL
WHY is this thing still around? Easily over 1.5 years old, and does NOTHING better than the iPad Mini. Okay, it's bigger. If I want bigger, I'll pay for an iPad 4. It just seems so confusing that the iPad 2 is an in-between option still, with out-dated technology/interface and customer options. At LEAST give us the iPad 3 as the $399 option instead!
iPad (4th Gen): NEUTRAL
I'm brutally confused as to why they are disrupting their update cycle. The iPad 3 still hauls ass against the tablet competition, and there is nothing on the horizon, other than the Nexus 10 which is a rumor at this point. That said, even if we were to see new tablets before 2013, the iPad event is merely weeks to a few months away at that point. This definitely seemed premature, and un-Apple like.
In addition, it seemed like a desperate update. The A6X will surely be a beast, but we are still dealing with the same internals otherwise, as well as the chassis. Thunderbolt? Who cares at this point ... it's almost an inconvenience at present as we still need third party support to take off first!
Thoughts!?
iPad Mini: GREAT
IMO, great overall. I think it's wise they stuck with the resolution they did. We already have 5 resolutions for developers to support - we don't need a 6th:
- 320x480
- 640x960
- 640x1136
- 1024x768
- 2096x1536
So it's great that out of the box, lots of apps will be supported. Sure, it's not retina, but I think given how thin, light and cheap it is, they need a non-A6 CPU in there. The consumers that frequent such a device likely don't care as much about PPI, and for all intents and purposes, the PPI is still better than the iPad 2.
They should have penetrated the $299 price point, but I'm sure they're saving that for iPad mini 2 with retina next year. At that point the iPad 2 will be dead, and the iPhone 3GS and lower will be out of the picture, so Apple can afford to maintain a new resolution (likely 1536x1152). LTE is great too!
iPad 2: FAIL
WHY is this thing still around? Easily over 1.5 years old, and does NOTHING better than the iPad Mini. Okay, it's bigger. If I want bigger, I'll pay for an iPad 4. It just seems so confusing that the iPad 2 is an in-between option still, with out-dated technology/interface and customer options. At LEAST give us the iPad 3 as the $399 option instead!
iPad (4th Gen): NEUTRAL
I'm brutally confused as to why they are disrupting their update cycle. The iPad 3 still hauls ass against the tablet competition, and there is nothing on the horizon, other than the Nexus 10 which is a rumor at this point. That said, even if we were to see new tablets before 2013, the iPad event is merely weeks to a few months away at that point. This definitely seemed premature, and un-Apple like.
In addition, it seemed like a desperate update. The A6X will surely be a beast, but we are still dealing with the same internals otherwise, as well as the chassis. Thunderbolt? Who cares at this point ... it's almost an inconvenience at present as we still need third party support to take off first!
Thoughts!?