All iPads: So the iPad 5 might be coming in March after all

[gadget123]

According to the rumours the Ipad 5 could be arriving in March. Makes sense Ipad 4 was essentially an Ipad 3.

Bring on the thinner lighter design like Ipad mini.

All those prudent Ipad 2/3 owners holding off would be proven right to.

[KeepCalmPeople]

Originally Posted by gadget123

Makes sense Ipad 4 was essentially an Ipad 3.

That comment is going to send this thread in a whole different direction...

[MisterKeeks]

Originally Posted by KeepCalmPeople

That comment is going to send this thread in a whole different direction...

Yeah. Blatantly false statements tend to do that.

[racoonboy]

Why would apple do that twice?

Make Ipad out-of-date within 6 month. In future, no one would buy Ipad again.

[Ayemerica]

Originally Posted by racoonboy

Why would apple do that twice?

Make Ipad out-of-date within 6 month. In future, no one would buy Ipad again.

How will the iPad 4 be out of date when the 5 comes out?

Electronics do not cease to work when a new model comes out. People wanted apple to speed up their production they said they were falling behind, apple does that, now they don't care about the consumers.

[AppleRobert]

Originally Posted by Ayemerica

How will the iPad 4 be out of date when the 5 comes out?Electronics do not cease to work when a new model comes out. People wanted apple to speed up their production they said they were falling behind, apple does that, now they don't care about the consumers.

Depends on the specs of the ipad5. The 4 may not be out of date and cease to function per se but will it continue to sell afterwards?

[MF878]

It simply cannot happen, and if it does, I may just lose a whole lot of faith in Apple.

No, not because I'll be all uptight about having my device prematurely discontinued, but because if they start getting unpredictable with their iPad releases, they lose the hype. The queues, the buildup, nobody really knew the iPad 4 was coming until it did (some people still don't know, but that's another matter entirely...). Hype equals sales.

If they make it five in March, it will be without a new chipset (A7X) because they must debut the standard A7 first, probably in the iPhone 5S which at this stage looks set to stick with its usual Q3 cycle. This means they would have to update the iPad AGAIN in Q3 or 4 to include an A7X, creating another year with two iPad releases, resulting in them having pissed off everyone who bought the iPad 3 in the seven months before the iPad 4, the iPad 4 in the five months before the iPad 5, and the iPad 5 in the six/seven months before the iPad 6.

They must stick to this new cycle or they're going to create headaches for themselves. Three short lived cycles in a row could permanently kill the iPad hype machine. I don't think Apple is this stupid, and if they suddenly do become this stupid, we're in for sad times.

[Defender2010]

Originally Posted by MF878

It simply cannot happen, and if it does, I may just lose a whole lot of faith in Apple.

No, not because I'll be all uptight about having my device prematurely discontinued, but because if they start getting unpredictable with their iPad releases, they lose the hype. The queues, the buildup, nobody really knew the iPad 4 was coming until it did (some people still don't know, but that's another matter entirely...). Hype equals sales.

If they make it five in March, it will be without a new chipset (A7X) because they must debut the standard A7 first, probably in the iPhone 5S which at this stage looks set to stick with its usual Q3 cycle. This means they would have to update the iPad AGAIN in Q3 or 4 to include an A7X, creating another year with two iPad releases, resulting in them having pissed off everyone who bought the iPad 3 in the seven months before the iPad 4, the iPad 4 in the five months before the iPad 5, and the iPad 5 in the six/seven months before the iPad 6.

They must stick to this new cycle or they're going to create headaches for themselves. Three short lived cycles in a row could permanently kill the iPad hype machine. I don't think Apple is this stupid, and if they suddenly do become this stupid, we're in for sad times.

There will always be hype surrounding Apple releases even if they released something every two months! It is the desire by ever more tech hungry consumers to have the latest and greatest that drives this. To Apple devotees (millions) a new product is like another hit of a drug, but they are always left asking: What's next? When can I get it? How can I get it first? There are always rumours...such as the one this thread is based on, so the wheel keeps spinning!
Does anyone else think if the iPad is updated in March, the Mini might get a bump, not retina, maybe an A6 chip and improved camera?

[Lesser Evets]

Originally Posted by gadget123

According to the rumours the Ipad 5 could be arriving in March. Makes sense Ipad 4 was essentially an Ipad 3.

Now, either you are ridiculously blind or uninformed, or that is the troll-moment to cap 2012.

As for the March update that is rumored, it would only make sense if Apple has something new to offer. The "newness" to offer doesn't have to be amazing, but it could be more memory, a thinner device, a new screen of some sort, a new processor, or upgrades to cameras and internal bits which make the new iPad something desirable to keep the market moving.

Apple realizes it can't allow products to stall if they want to retain the market they have busted open and conquered. Doing minor improvements every 6 months would help, and they might start doing that with the iPads. iPhones and iPods don't need so much updating; neither do the desktops.

The iPads could easily add more RAM, improve the design, beef up cameras a little, add better processors as they are developed. Don't expect iPads to start delivering wondrous rounds of fellatio or anything... there isn't much farther to go in terms of the device's use within iOS.

[Pressure]

I think the real answer to your question would be:

Does the iOS platform have room to grow? Yes/No?

If it does, why not be more aggressive on the hardware release schedule, if they can release better hardware at the same price points?

Sure, long time existing users might be crying that they no longer have the newest and greatest. No shed tears, you already bought their products, you are already a customer.

[Mrg02d]

I think it's good apple is coming out with new models twice a year. I like to see what they have come up with. My ipad3 is fast enough for what I do. It has very little lag and just works fine. Newer models mean older ones will become cheaper and easier to get. I don't plan on needing the ipad5 unless it can do something dramatically better than my ipad3.

Heck, even my GFs ipad2 suits her perfectly. I'll bet ipad3 becomes even cheaper once ipad5 comes out.

I'm all for quicker releases! You shouldn't be buying electronics for their resale value, you should be buying them to suit your needs.

Same goes for the iPhone 5. I could have sold my gs3 and added a little more to get the iPhone 5. Since sprint won't have LTE in my area for another year, I chose to go back to the 4s. It's nearly as fast as the iPhone 5 in real world tasks but now I will be able to pocket some extra cash.

[AppleRobert]

Maybe they released the 4th gen to have the user community test the waters somewhat? ie. speed

I'm new to Apple pretty much and if the answer is they test themselves, well maps didn't go to over to well and the community of users is larger than the test community so...

Pardon me if this is outrageous. It is New Year's Eve and I already started partying!

[Paulywauly]

I dont see what the big deal is; you dont see people complaining when Dell release a revised laptop, how is the iPad any different?

[Mrg02d]

Originally Posted by Paulywauly

I dont see what the big deal is; you dont see people complaining when Dell release a revised laptop, how is the iPad any different?

People want to feel special and apple products used to fit the bill. " oh is that the iPad 4?"

My younger brother insists on the MacBook Pro despite not needing one. He plays college football and occasionally writes a paper. He recently got robbed and they got his MacBook Pro so he is going to drop another $1200.00 on a new one instead of just getting a basic laptop for writing small papers. He'd rather be poor but have his MacBook Pro.

[Paulywauly]

Originally Posted by Mrg02d

People want to feel special and apple products used to fit the bill. " oh is that the iPad 4?"

My younger brother insists on the MacBook Pro despite not needing one. He plays college football and occasionally writes a paper. He recently got robbed and they got his MacBook Pro so he is going to drop another $1200.00 on a new one instead of just getting a basic laptop for writing small papers. He'd rather be poor but have his MacBook Pro.

Yeah i think thats true, its what us brits sometimes call "bragging rights" lol

Maybe bringing releases closer together would get rid of that. If Apple continuously revised products people might stick with what they have for as long as it works, rather than post on here by the thousands that their new shiny toy is now "obselete" after every release

[Lesser Evets]

Originally Posted by Pressure

I think the real answer to your question would be:

Does the iOS platform have room to grow? Yes/No?

That's the biggest question about the future of the iPad. Well, the near future of the next 3-4 years.

Ultimately the iPad will either have to become more like a "laptop" in function, or the laptops will become more like iPads in form. Somewhere in the latter half of this decade they will either merge or one will become a much lesser device within the market.

The iMac is already becoming iPad-ish, meaning there might be a point in a span of years when the iPad can be docked on a base and be an iMac mini-of-sorts.

It remains to see how iOS expands and how OSX contracts or vanishes.

[WilliamLondon]

Originally Posted by Paulywauly

I dont see what the big deal is; you dont see people complaining when Dell release a revised laptop, how is the iPad any different?

I think this is what Apple wants to avoid like the plague, which is one reason they stick with long refresh cycles. They aren't viewed as a commodity supplier, which Dell is, along with every other Dell-type company out there (they're all pretty much the same - ask any consumer what makes these companies different from one another and I'd doubt any could answer). Apple would like to maintain some distance from those type of companies and not get pulled into that crab pot, who nearly always have nothing new to release, but release a bunch of new models anyway.

[AppleRobert]

Originally Posted by WilliamLondon

I think this is what Apple wants to avoid like the plague, which is one reason they stick with long refresh cycles. They aren't viewed as a commodity supplier, which Dell is, along with every other Dell-type company out there (they're all pretty much the same - ask any consumer what makes these companies different from one another and I'd doubt any could answer). Apple would like to maintain some distance from those type of companies and not get pulled into that crab pot, who nearly always have nothing new to release, but release a bunch of new models anyway.

They probably do want to avoid it like the plague.

But:

I don't know your stand on how you feel the Mini did in sales versus the 4th gen. If there was a large inmbalance, Apple I'm sure would rather avoid that continuing like the plague as well if that wasn't their intention.

[WilliamLondon]

Originally Posted by AppleRobert

They probably do want to avoid it like the plague.

But:

I don't know your stand on how you feel the Mini did in sales versus the 4th gen. If there was a large inmbalance, Apple I'm sure would rather avoid that continuing like the plague as well if that wasn't their intention.

Logically speaking, I think it's fairly safe to conclude that the mini sold more than the iPad 4, simply because it is a new product.

Forgive if I'm being thick here, but I fail to understand how that matters whether an iPad 5 might be coming in March.

[irDigital0l]

Originally Posted by Lesser Evets

Now, either you are ridiculously blind or uninformed, or that is the troll-moment to cap 2012.

Actually, it makes perfect sense for Apple to release new iPads in spring. That's when the iPad gets refreshed every year.

[WilliamLondon]

Originally Posted by irDigital0l

Actually, it makes perfect sense for Apple to release new iPads in spring. That's when the iPad gets refreshed every year.

Except *last* year (it's 2013 here!) - btw, Happy New Year!

[rowspaxe]

Originally Posted by Lesser Evets

Ultimately the iPad will either have to become more like a "laptop" in function, or the laptops will become more like iPads in form. Somewhere in the latter half of this decade they will either merge or one will become a much lesser device within the market.

I was thinking this way until the release of the mini. The mini presents a more compelling complementary--rather than convergent--role for the tablet. Its seeming weightlessness and almost 8" display suddenly made the ipad and all its hybrid imitators look a decade behind the curve. It now seems clear that the path will be people having multiple divices with overlapping functionality. No one will be plugging thier phone into a 27" monitor. Why? because electronics are cheap, data is moving to the cloud.

That said, laptop touch interfaces will be universal in 5 years. It seems likely ios will run as a window in OSX. Its seems likely ios will get a file tree and split screen multitasking. But I dont see it running x86 software. like win 8 I think of windows 8 as having gotten every thing inside out

[Michaelgtrusa]

Too soon.

[ThatsMeRight]

Originally Posted by WilliamLondon

Except *last* year (it's 2013 here!) - btw, Happy New Year!

Last year, there was also a refresh in March.

[Lesser Evets]

Originally Posted by rowspaxe

It now seems clear that the path will be people having multiple divices with overlapping functionality. No one will be plugging thier phone into a 27" monitor. Why? because electronics are cheap, data is moving to the cloud.

That said, laptop touch interfaces will be universal in 5 years. It seems likely ios will run as a window in OSX. Its seems likely ios will get a file tree and split screen multitasking. But I dont see it running x86 software. like win 8 I think of windows 8 as having gotten every thing inside out

I think that view also depends on the capability of the "lower-end" devices and the need for "higher-end" devices.

The processing is already faster in a top iPad than it was on a 2004-model Mac notebook. Aside from connectivity, the iPad has a smaller form and greater capability; however, the iPad's OS doesn't allow it to function quite as versatile as an older notebook.

Yet.

Processor development is rocketing for the iDevices. Within a few years we could have some extremely strong processing in tablets as the nm's decrease and power consumption lowers. Couple that with a lack of necessity for most people to own or use a desktop, because the tablets can do everything (sooner or later) that 99% of the market needs to do on a computer.

It will be a long time before we see desktops vanish. Probably never. Within this decade the tablet will be strong enough to bump off the tabletops in most homes, if companies are smart enough to develop the tablet as a desktop-mobile solution.

People already speculate that Apple could make a fusion OS in the future. I get the feeling iOS will overtake their products as iOS inflates usefulness, while the OSX platform will be wedged into "professional" computing. We'll probably see a full iOS-within-OSX platform in the next couple years.