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KiraDouji

macrumors member
This again feels like evolution, not revolution.

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EDIT: People have asked repeatedly how it could be improved.

Whilst I agree that it is essentially a flat screen computer with a bezel - therefore how can you improve it - I can think of a few off the top of my head, but I'd love to know what would be on everybody's wishlist:

Storage - they used to swap out the bottom storage option, bump it up at the same price. Why is 128gb extra? Surely 32/64/128 should have been brought in at the same price points.

Speakers - the speakers are decent, but even the Amazon Fire has vastly superior sound. It would be tough, but innovate. Simple things like watching the iPad in landscape (i.e. all the time) mean the speakers are facing one direction.

Battery life - there needs to be a genuine innovation with battery life, that's a criticism levelled at pretty much everyone, not just Apple. However it comes - solar, kinetic, a flippin fuel cell! - it needs to happen. This would be revolutionary.

Split screen/Multitasking - yes, this is venturing into iOS turf. But it is a bit ridiculous that we can't respond to a tweet/iMessage whilst watching a film. But yep, I recognise that is an iOS issue.

Storage (Part 2) - why no external storage options?

Bulletproofing - Make it dust & waterproof (a la Sony Experia Z). This is actually really huge, as so many people use it in the kitchen daily (I come home to mine having flour all over it). Imagine reading in the bath without fear!

Processor/RAM - I actually don't think this is much of an issue. It's pretty great.

Screen - Looks like it will be a revolution in terms of thinness, for sure. How about density/durability?

Price - The iPad is going to face increasing competition, not just technologically, but price wise. They won't drop the price, but if they did, the iPad would rule like the iPod does (i.e for the next decade). Apple has the market share right now, but needs to learn from the iPhone debacle it is currently facing.

The point is also that if I'm completely wrong and it really is ridiculously difficult to conceive ways to revolutionise the iPad, then how can they justify only incremental updates with such a continually high/increasing price?

Google and Amazon are now providing rival tablets for far less (and then imagine 2 years from now). If they can do what the iPad does and more - the Mini was a purely reactive move by Apple - then Apple needs to justify the high price.

Thoughts?

Wow I have to say that was a very thoughtfully put together response, actually.

And I have to agree with just about everything, but mainly the bits about battery and price. (fyi, you can get waterproof your phone/iPad/etc... already, it's just a separate company.) Battery is where I would honestly expect more from Apple anyway - tackling something like that seems right up their alley.

Price... well, I don't expect to see that happen any time soon, but then again the iPod Mini was, what, 400 dollars when it first came out? I honestly don't blame them for being leery of the race to the bottom pricing that could easily happen should they start/engage in a price war, though. :/

2c:apple:
 

larrybeo

macrumors regular
Jul 8, 2008
130
0
Chicago
Too Thick of a Border

There is no reason for the iPad to have that thick of a border. The design itself screems obsolete. I may consider one when the new design comes out. When you compare an iPad Mini to a 4 or earlier, the mini looks futuristic in its design and the other ones look ancient because of the disgusting bezel.
 

maxosx

macrumors 68020
Dec 13, 2012
2,385
1
Southern California
There is no reason for the iPad to have that thick of a border. The design itself screems obsolete. I may consider one when the new design comes out. When you compare an iPad Mini to a 4 or earlier, the mini looks futuristic in its design and the other ones look ancient because of the disgusting bezel.

There's a reason for everything Apple does. It may not be obvious but they used that bezel width for a reason. Then in a rather surprising move when they designed the mini, they either listened to their customers, or decided to make the side bezels thinner like the competition. From iPad 1 to 4, it's not obsolete, just the original design.
 

Renzatic

Suspended
I hope the iPad 5 offers something different because if the mini gets Retina then there will nothing that differentiates the iPad 5 except heavier and faster.

It'll be like comparing the two MBA models. For people who want a lighter weight, smaller device, they go with the 11". If they want a larger screen and a little more hardware behind it, they get the 13".

The same applies to the Mini and the iPad.
 

xdxdaustin

macrumors regular
Sep 28, 2010
191
41
Connecticut, United States
OK, fair enough. What would you want to see in a new iPad to call it revolutionary?

A totally new display shape or resolution? (Taller? Wider?)
Even higher resolution?
Even better battery life?
Maybe a folding display (like Courier)?
Full OS X tablet to compete with Windows 8?

I can't really think of anything else Apple could do to an iPad that would be very exciting at this point.

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

-Henry Ford
 

dwward

macrumors member
May 2, 2010
37
1
Saint Louis MO
Speakers - the speakers are decent, but even the Amazon Fire has vastly superior sound. It would be tough, but innovate. Simple things like watching the iPad in landscape (i.e. all the time) mean the speakers are facing one direction.

Battery life - there needs to be a genuine innovation with battery life, that's a criticism levelled at pretty much everyone, not just Apple. However it comes - solar, kinetic, a flippin fuel cell! - it needs to happen. This would be revolutionary.
Nicely done and sorry I'm late to this.

Innovative speakers are nice but not something I would be will to pay for. My money has been spent on excellent earphones that i can swap between devices. It is extremely rare that I ever use the speakers built into my iPad

Battery life is very important for me. But I don't think major innovation is necessary. I get 10 to 12 hours of battery life on my iPad2 which is plenty even for international travel. Less battery life, however, is a deal breaker no matter how thin iPadX becomes.

iPhone5 battery life is miserable and I would happily go back to the thickness of the iPhone4 for at least the same battery life.

The screen quality on the iPad2 is very good even if it's not retina quality, with solid battery life and thinner than any of it's successors. Why on earth would anyone want to take a step back to a thicker and heavier iPad for very marginal gains in screen quality?

Likewise, why would anyone "upgrade" to a device that is only marginally thinner, but less useful because of poor battery life?

I will buy a new iPad when it's thinner, lighter and has at least the same battery life as my iPad2. I love my iPad2 so I'm in no rush.
 

NewtonDKC

macrumors newbie
Apr 17, 2013
1
0
ummmm so the iPad 5 is now just a larger iPad mini..:confused:


LOL now that's an interesting observation! :)

As such, it will also be interesting to see if Apple tries to differentiate the products to get sales of the full size iPads back up (since theyve been reported as down of late) or if they just accept that as long as customers are buying iPads, it meters not what size they purchase.

A couple things I wouldn't mind seeing:

Biometrics: usually more a gimmick on most platforms than truly useful, Apple tends to only implement technologies when it is useable and elegantly so at that. The slide to unlock is hardly complex, but many companies require a pin when synching Exchange accts; by tiring the security into the swipe, this would be a nice implementation if possible, tho would require moving the swipe location to the fingerprint sensor or front camera area if that's possible to use as the FP scanner.

For a truly revolutionary design change, how about eliminating the bezel altogether? As the plethora of. "Where do oh put your thumbs?" Questions show they haven't read about the software tweaks, put those tweaks to full use and have the screen viewable edge to edge. I can see an option either buil n r as. Free app that provides software bezels for the traditionalists, LOL.

But imagine he possibilities with a fully viewable display front - cases that allow two screens to open as one huge screen (software driven of course) or even a BobW case (best of both worlds) that hold the thin large and mini and allow the mini to become a keyboard for the full size one), and the possibilities for making huge multi screen iPads act as one giant ultra hi res screen!
 
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