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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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30,380



iOS 7.1, released earlier today, includes support for existing iPad models along with support for two unannounced models, labeled iPad4,3 and iPad4,6. It is possible that these new model numbers represent minor hardware revisions for existing iPads that will be introduced to the market silently, as a more substantial upgrade would push the model numbers higher.

On occasion, Apple has implemented new hardware components for its iOS devices without a public announcement and these minor changes often go unseen by consumers as they tend to introduce very minor improvements in efficiency. For example, an Apple TV update in January of 2013 revealed a new Apple TV, which turned out to be a minor update with a smaller A5 chip. That change was not obvious to Apple TV purchasers, but it did warrant a model number jump to 3,2 from 3,1.

newipads.jpg
Image courtesy of 9to5Mac

Existing iPad Air models are numbered 4,1 and 4,2, while Retina iPad mini models are numbered 4,4 and 4,5, suggesting one new iPad Air for the 4,3 designation and one new Retina mini for the 4,6 designation.

As noted by 9to5Mac, it is also possible that iPad4,3 and iPad4,6 represent iOS devices that are optimized for networks in other countries.

Article Link: iOS 7.1 Includes Support for Two Unannounced iPads, Likely Minor Tweaks
 

bushido

Suspended
Mar 26, 2008
8,070
2,755
Germany
another iPad "3" fiasco? what was the jump between the iPad 3 and 4 reference numbers back then?

or which one up there is the "new iPad / 3" and which one the 4th
 

Menel

Suspended
Aug 4, 2011
6,351
1,356
2GB and TouchID...

F me :(

I keed. That's unlikely cause if they made that kind of critical change, they'd need a WIFI, and Cellular differentiation.
 

sundragon

macrumors 6502
Dec 27, 2011
255
93
Washington, DC
Maybe they're the models with 2GB of RAM, since 1GB is a joke.

Ultimately, 2GB is would be fantastic but the comparison is not a direct apples to apples. It's Apples to Androids... :D

LOL, unlike Android, nothing runs in VM (it's all native code and 64-bit OS/Apple apps on the 5S iPad Air - 32bit OS/Apple apps on previous models) so the need for 2GB is a lot less than Android which runs the UI in VM along with everything else...

Google (LOL) ART is replacing Android's Dalvik to improve this disparity. It's the reason a dual core A7 1.3 GHZ with 1GB of RAM runs circles around a quad core Snapdragon 800 at 2.2 GHZ...

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/0...-apple-lays-groundwork-for-a-brighter-future/
http://www.extremetech.com/computin...-dalvik-to-boost-performance-and-battery-life
https://source.android.com/devices/tech/dalvik/art.html
 
Last edited:

57004

Cancelled
Aug 18, 2005
1,022
341
Maybe they're the models with 2GB of RAM, since 1GB is a joke.

So true. It's constantly killing apps on me now. Just switching to the web browser and opening a tab or two while Palaver (IRC) or Prompt (SSH) is open causes them to be killed. I guess apps have become bigger now that retina is standard.

It's really a problem because I use those apps a lot and they're connection based so you lose a lot when it is killed.

Even springboard crashes a lot since iOS 7 when doing lots of stuff.

I only have the iPad 3 but it has the same 1GB as the iPad Air.
 

sundragon

macrumors 6502
Dec 27, 2011
255
93
Washington, DC
So true. It's constantly killing apps on me now. Just switching to the web browser and opening a tab or two while Palaver (IRC) or Prompt (SSH) is open causes them to be killed. I guess apps have become bigger now that retina is standard.

It's really a problem because I use those apps a lot and they're connection based so you lose a lot when it is killed.

Even springboard crashes a lot since iOS 7 when doing lots of stuff.

I only have the iPad 3 but it has the same 1GB as the iPad Air.

FWIW, it may not be memory as much as it was buggy memory handling and springboard.

Try 7.1, you may experience a lot fewer crashes - I beta tested 7.1 and it made a huge difference on crashing apps...
 

pscl

macrumors 6502
Jun 3, 2013
396
61
OMG

NEW IPADS ARE COMING!!!! THEY STILL PUSH OUT NEW IPADS EVERY YEAR!!!W OOW....


ehm... wait...
 

myrtlebee

macrumors 68030
Jul 9, 2011
2,677
2,242
Maryland
I remember reading that they were going to re-release the 4th gen iPad in place of the iPad 2. Could that be it?
 

Jacquesass

macrumors regular
May 6, 2003
211
40
TouchID for the iPads now that the sapphire shortage has been fixed.

True new iPads come out later with A8.
 

Charliebird

macrumors 6502a
Mar 10, 2010
843
102
They're going to revise the iPad Air and rMini with 3gb ram, full color gambut screens, 32 GB min storage space, shaved off another 1/3 pound weight, 15 hour battery life, and Touch ID. It's going to be the bees knees and you really should have held out for it.
 

Saturn1217

macrumors 65816
Apr 28, 2008
1,264
834
I am generally of the opinion that what comes out next should have no bearing on how you feel about your current device (a.k.a. something new doesn't make your current device suddenly less functional).

HOWEVER...

If Apple releases a new iPad Air and iPad mini with the only differentiators being 2gb of ram and touch ID I may have to hit someone...

Ok the obvious solution is to not check Macrumors until I am ready to upgrade again. Like that is going to happen...
 
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