128 GB iPad Launch Suggestive of Fall iPad 5 Release

[MacRumors]

Apple's decision to launch the 128 GB iPad in February seems to make rumors of a new model in March or April appear unlikely, suggesting the fall as a more likely time for a refresh.

iLounge was among the sites to suggest a Spring 2013 date for the launch of the iPad 5, although the site has since backtracked from that claim to suggest that the device will be arriving in or around October. The generally reliable KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also predicted a Q3 launch.

World of Apple's Alex Brooks notes that Apple's release of the 128 GB iPad next week lends weight to the idea that Apple will henceforth be returning to an annual release cycle for new iPad models, keeping the tablet more closely in line with iPhone launches and major iOS updates.

This is where the 128GB iPad comes in, the release sends a clear message that despite rumours to the contrary Apple will not release a new iPad in March or April and the next update to the iPad will come in October alongside the second iPad mini, iOS 7 and will ready Apple for another blockbuster year end.

Brooks notes that it would be strange for Apple to return to releasing the iPad midway through the iPhone/iOS cycle, suggesting that the double update for the iPad in 2012 was an opportunity to both align the iPad with the launch schedule for the rest of Apple's device lineup and iOS and to make a wholesale shift to the new Lightning connector.

Article Link: 128 GB iPad Launch Suggestive of Fall iPad 5 Release

[unlimitedx]

Makes sense

[MisterKeeks]

Now, the people complaining about the short timeframes for release will have to wait until fall...

[applesith]

Makes sense for Christmas quarter blitz. I guess there is no need to do Spring and Fall block buster items to spread consumer interest and buying into two different times. Interesting.

[Rocketman]

We only this week saw leaks of the new casing. It will take months to ramp the new unit and we all know there will be a wide worldwide rollout of tens of millions of units. Logistically alone it would be surprising to see it released before September.

Rocketman

[DarkWinter]

Aren't they having enough issues meeting demand as it is without squeezing all their new product releases to within 2 months of each other and before the crucial last quarter? Surely this will be close to the iPhone release cycle unless they bring that forward to July/August.

[Szarky]

Originally Posted by Rocketman

We only this week saw leaks of the new casing. It will take months to ramp the new unit and we all know there will be a wide worldwide rollout of tens of millions of units. Logistically alone it would be surprising to see it released before September.

Rocketman

Very good point. They keep adding to the list of countries for every release. Could you imagine by the time Fall comes around what a huge release that will be! They might even do a simultaneous worldwide release instead of releasing it in different groups of countries like they've done in the past.

[medi.freak]

and the question remains: To buy or not to buy.

I really WANT an iPad Mini, but I don't NEED it. And I know I will be pissed if there is a Retina one around the corner.

I will wait.

[Szarky]

Originally Posted by DarkWinter

Aren't they having enough issues meeting demand as it is without squeezing all their new product releases to within 2 months of each other and before the crucial last quarter? Surely this will be close to the iPhone release cycle unless they bring that forward to July/August.

That's been the latest rumor hasn't it, that iPhone 5S to release in July now I thought.

So iPad(+Mini) = Oct.
iPhone = July
I could live with that if true. Makes sense to release to iPad closer to the Christmas rush. New model=big consumer interest. iPhone earlier in the year as they can never make enough of them so don't want supply constrained into Christmas rush.

[RJCP]

It made no sense whatsoever to release a new iPad in the spring. iPad 4 last October was both an opportunity to align the whole 2012 iOS ecosystem with lightning connector and also to upgrade the iPad 3 processor which was seriously slow for that screen.

October seems like the obvious choice for updating the whole iPad segment (retina display on the mini and a new redesigned retina iPad) and also to release the 5S and iOS 7. I don't really think that iOS 6 will receive any further updates until then. They'll probably keep improving the maps service and concentrate on a new iOS which will surely have at least major app redesigns.

[toughboy]

Once a year update on a major product line does not feel right to me..

[goobot]

Why they didn't just release the iPad 4 with the 128G in Febuary is beyond me.

[ghost187]

This was obvious. Only thing that is not fully certain now is the release date of the iPhone 5s (June-September). Also I expect the iPads to be refreshed on September not October, that's a bit too late.

[Menel]

Originally Posted by Szarky

That's been the latest rumor hasn't it, that iPhone 5S to release in July now I thought.

So iPad(+Mini) = Oct.
iPhone = July
I could live with that if true. Makes sense to release to iPad closer to the Christmas rush. New model=big consumer interest. iPhone earlier in the year as they can never make enough of them so don't want supply constrained into Christmas rush.

That would imply.
1. They make no significant API changes for iOS7, and app developers don't need a beta period. The 7th iPhone and iOS 7 launch simultaneously.
2. They launch the 7th iPhone on iOS 6. iOS 7 doesn't launch until fall with iPads.
3. They launch the 7th iPhone with non-beta'd iOS 7, and all our apps blow up worse than ever before, with a LONG period to being fixed.

[Snowy_River]

Originally Posted by Szarky

That's been the latest rumor hasn't it, that iPhone 5S to release in July now I thought.

So iPad(+Mini) = Oct.
iPhone = July
I could live with that if true. Makes sense to release to iPad closer to the Christmas rush. New model=big consumer interest. iPhone earlier in the year as they can never make enough of them so don't want supply constrained into Christmas rush.

That's pretty much what I was thinking. There's a degree to which the iPad releases being in March never made sense. My parents bought my nephew an iPad a couple years ago for Christmas, but almost didn't because they knew that there was likely to be a new model in just a couple of months. I imagine that a lot of people follow the same line of reasoning, with many of them coming to the conclusion that they shouldn't buy, or worse (from Apple's perspective) that they should buy a recently released Android device.

Originally Posted by RJCP

It made no sense whatsoever to release a new iPad in the spring. iPad 4 last October was both an opportunity to align the whole 2012 iOS ecosystem with lightning connector and also to upgrade the iPad 3 processor which was seriously slow for that screen.

October seems like the obvious choice for updating the whole iPad segment (retina display on the mini and a new redesigned retina iPad) and also to release the 5S and iOS 7. I don't really think that iOS 6 will receive any further updates until then. They'll probably keep improving the maps service and concentrate on a new iOS which will surely have at least major app redesigns.

The only way that I saw it making sense was if Apple was choosing to move to a 6 month release cycle, making more minor changes/updates as they went. Under those circumstances, having an April/October refresh time would be a pretty good schedule. Now, the question about whether a six month cycle makes sense is another question and I've seen reasonable arguments on both sides. For me, suffice it to say that I'm quite happy with an annual release cycle.

Originally Posted by medi.freak

and the question remains: To buy or not to buy.

I really WANT an iPad Mini, but I don't NEED it. And I know I will be pissed if there is a Retina one around the corner.

I will wait.

I feel similar. I have a 64GB iPad 2 that serves me quite well. However, I've been saying for some time that when the 128GB model came out, that's when I'd really look to upgrade. Now, I had expected that the release of the 128GB model would see the whole product line move up in capacity (32GB for $499/$629, 64GB for $599/$729, and 128GB for $699/$829). The fact that they added it as a more expensive model, and my strong suspicion that the whole line will move up when the new major update is released, does hold me back.

But still, there's now a 128GB model to be had...

Tempting.... Very tempting....

[hlfway2anywhere]

Originally Posted by goobot

Why they didn't just release the iPad 4 with the 128G in Febuary is beyond me.

i'm pretty sure that is, in fact, exactly what they are doing.

[macs4nw]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

.....and the next update to the iPad will come in October alongside the second iPad mini, iOS 7 and will ready Apple for another blockbuster year end.....

Article Link: 128 GB iPad Launch Suggestive of Fall iPad 5 Release

For everybody's sake, let's see if they can do better with their supply pipeline this time around.

[Ungibbed]

So much product in such little time. 128GB iPhone? Overkill or just a pipe dream? ;-)

[saving107]

Originally Posted by toughboy

Once a year update on a major product line does not feel right to me..

And if you release it just 6 months later, everyone complains and feels ripped-off.

Nobody wins.

Also, 5 years ago (Feb 5th) Apple did the same with the iPhone and iPod touch, they bumped up the memory to 16GB (iPhone) and 32GB (iPod touch) and in the summer released new products (iPhone 3G).

Apple Announces a 16GB iPhone and 32GB iPod touch
http://www.macrumors.com/2008/02/05/...gb-ipod-touch/

[commander.data]

Originally Posted by Menel

That would imply.
1. They make no significant API changes for iOS7, and app developers don't need a beta period. The 7th iPhone and iOS 7 launch simultaneously.
2. They launch the 7th iPhone on iOS 6. iOS 7 doesn't launch until fall with iPads.
3. They launch the 7th iPhone with non-beta'd iOS 7, and all our apps blow up worse than ever before, with a LONG period to being fixed.

Our they simply do as they've traditionally done before they moved to a September launch for the iPhone 4S/iOS 5 and hold a software event in the spring to introduce iOS 7 and release the final version alongside the iPhone 5S in June at WWDC. Since an AppleTV refresh is apparently coming they could launch that at the same event along with possible iTunes/iCloud improvements if they want additional content in the event. The fall iPad will then launch with iOS 7.1.

The iPhone launching in June and the iPad following in September/October makes sense to properly align SoC development. The iPad uses an expanded GPU version of the iPhone SoC, so it's better that in each calendar year the iPhone introduces the A_ first and the iPad comes after with the A_X rather than being based on the previous year's SoC.

[Overg]

Ok.....
So I guess we won't see any apple new product
Until September????
That means the appl stock will dive to 200...

[Futuresgreen]

Hhmm I'm not so sure . Sony is already making light of the fact they gave the thinnest 10" tablet on the market, will Apple be happy for them to hold that accolade for another 8 months plus whatever else the market brings out by that time. Apple are supposed to be market leaders

[Menel]

Originally Posted by Futuresgreen

Hhmm I'm not so sure . Sony is already making light of the fact they gave the thinnest 10" tablet on the market, will Apple be happy for them to hold that accolade for another 8 months plus whatever else the market brings out by that time. Apple are supposed to be market leaders

Lot more to market leader than 'thinness'. I've gotten over that since iPhone 4/ iPad 2. Most everything is, thin enough.

[BornAgainMac]

In 10 years, people will laugh at the 128 GB. Just like we do now with traditional hard drives of today.

[Slusho]

Originally Posted by RJCP

the iPad 3 processor which was seriously slow for that screen.

The GPU drives the screen, not the CPU. And my iPad 3 is perfectly fast at everything. In fact, developers still haven't created anything that the iPad 3 has any trouble with, or even anything that the iPad 4 does better than the iPad 3 (besides minor differences in load times), as far as I know. When the iPad 5 comes out, I bet the iPad 3 will still be able to handle everything fine, unless Apple designs iOS 7 to not function well on iPad 3 to make people upgrade. (The minor improvements to the OSs shouldn't have such a big affect on past hardware. We don't see this problem with desktop OSs nearly as much, and many times the OSs run more efficiently.)

Originally Posted by BornAgainMac

In 10 years, people will laugh at the 128 GB. Just like we do now with traditional hard drives of today.

Laughing at 128 GB today wouldn't be a huge leap. The rate at which the technology has advanced and the prices have decreased is vastly greater than the rate at which the available capacities on these devices increase. Apple must keep them as they are for as long as possible to increase profit margins by a lot with each iteration, although other costs decrease profit margins (the iPad has increased in cost to produce over at least the first three generations).