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Apple Announces Fourth-Generation iPad with Lightning Connector, New A6X Chip
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I think it's a stretch to call it a new generation. The processor bump is nice, but it's not like this thing I have is slow. Aside from the new connector and I thin a slight camera upgrade, it's not really much different. I think part of this was to make a product that would last a year so the company's hottest device would get a new model before the holidays, not after.
If you're complaining about your third-gen iPad, get a grip. Did it stop working? Would you have waited seven months for this one?
If you're complaining about your third-gen iPad, get a grip. Did it stop working? Would you have waited seven months for this one?
I agree, it's no reason for us iPad 3 users to get upset about, but the difference between this and a desktop Windows PC is the modularity. I know this will never happen, and I understand why, but it would be kind of cool to be able to go to Fry's, buy an OEM A6, and be able to just pop it in instead of getting a new model. Not trying to start a tired Mac v. PC argument, but as a tinkerer that is one thing I enjoy about building PC desktops.
I am not really that phased by the new release of the iPad. I have a 3, or "The New iPad" and it isn't going to do anything for me to get the new one. The things I use it for don't require crazy processing power or anything like that (just uni work / emails etc), so there is no need for me to get the new one, nor is there any 'want' for it either.
Perhaps the iPad 5 will be a big enough increase to warrant me getting it.
I do however, like the idea of LTE in Australia which would be a bonus, but still, not worth the extra money just yet.
Perhaps the iPad 5 will be a big enough increase to warrant me getting it.
I do however, like the idea of LTE in Australia which would be a bonus, but still, not worth the extra money just yet.
I think they took all the iPad 3's they had and changed the chip and the connector and put them back together and did not even addresss the prior problems of the iPad 3, so the consumer will get a different chip and connector and the same ole problems. Maybe, this is why no more iPad 3's. IJS 
Ok guys, pony up. I'll take that iPad 3 off your hands for $150. Line em up lol. I'm typing this on an iPad 1st gen. Does it suck? Yes. It can't even hold three web pages in memory and has to refresh toggling between them. Still I read, surf, and chat on it every single night. This update does nothing to degrade your purchase. If resale value was a major part of your iPad purchase decision you may not have understood apples planned product cycle for these 'consumable' devices (god, what a first world concept; $600 consumable devices, but it's true).
Anyhow, I'm all for more frequent updates. The lightening connector release made this timing a nobrainer for an update.
Seriously though, I thought igzo was the other half of the point...
Anyhow, I'm all for more frequent updates. The lightening connector release made this timing a nobrainer for an update.
Seriously though, I thought igzo was the other half of the point...
Like many others here - iPad 3 is still a very potent machine! The other complainers - are you seriously meaning that Apple should withhold the market updates? What's the benefit with that? This time it is a cpu/gpu-upgrade on an already fast machine and other small things.
My bet for iPad 5 gen is smaller bezel and maybe focus on weight. And for iPad mini it is obvious they save the retina for next gen mini.
On another note: the ipad mini fits my needs much better than the original ipad size. I will convert to mini from regular iPad (iPad 3 in this case). I have MBA that overlaps too much with iPad 3. iPad mini on the other hand complements much better. Love the smaller footprint and weight - still a large enough of a display (i dont mind not having retina).
My bet for iPad 5 gen is smaller bezel and maybe focus on weight. And for iPad mini it is obvious they save the retina for next gen mini.
On another note: the ipad mini fits my needs much better than the original ipad size. I will convert to mini from regular iPad (iPad 3 in this case). I have MBA that overlaps too much with iPad 3. iPad mini on the other hand complements much better. Love the smaller footprint and weight - still a large enough of a display (i dont mind not having retina).
I'm expecting to see the 5th gen in March. They just weren't ready for the new dock connector till the iPhone and decided to make a few tweaks with the iPad along the way. The 5th gen will have an all new design and will look more like the mini with two speakers.
HOW DARE APPLE RELEASE NEW PRODUCTS! MY IPAD 3 HAS INSTANTLY TURNED TO RUST.
You say that sarcastically but one of the selling points of apple products was that they had good resale value. Now not so much with new products coming out faster.
After thinking about it with the iPod Mini and iPod Touch both sporting the A5 and being new devices its not likely you'll see much support (if any) drop for the A5X in the iPad 3.
Developers aren't going to drop the iPod Touch, iPad Mini, 3rd gen iPad and 2nd gen iPad and trade that support for just the iPhone 6 and iPad 3.5 or 4.
The questions I have are: Is this really the iPad 4 or is it just iPad 3 v2? Is Apple now going to have the iPad cycle with the holidays or are they going to continue to release a March update?
Developers aren't going to drop the iPod Touch, iPad Mini, 3rd gen iPad and 2nd gen iPad and trade that support for just the iPhone 6 and iPad 3.5 or 4.
The questions I have are: Is this really the iPad 4 or is it just iPad 3 v2? Is Apple now going to have the iPad cycle with the holidays or are they going to continue to release a March update?
The hate from ipad3 owners is that Apple just made their tablets depreciate $130+ in one day. (ipad3 is $130 cheaper from apple's refurbished devices section on their web store)
This is phenomenal, I'm only 34% more disappointed with the quick update than I was with the update cycle of the previous generation. While at the same time my satisfaction is still 80% higher than it was for iPad2.
I'll stick with my current New iPad or my wallet will be 74% lighter and 68% thinner.
I'll stick with my current New iPad or my wallet will be 74% lighter and 68% thinner.
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It's usually from the ppl who want to always have the latest.
Burned
Yes, I feel burned by Apple with a 7 month release cycle of the iPad. I'm not going to bitch and moan about it, but I'm not going to pretend that I don't feel slighted. For those who say it's just a minor spec bump, I beg to differ.
720p HD front facing camera vs 0.3MP
Simultaneous Dual Band / Dual Antenna Wi-fi vs single band (yes, iPad 3 will do 2.4GHz OR 5GHz, but not at the same time).
Lightning vs 30-Pin
Image Stabilization Processor
But most importantly the A6X processor vs A5X processor which is according to Apple, twice as fast.
The change from the iPad 2 to the iPad 3 was A5 to A5X, basically adding in Quad-Core graphics, but otherwise no MAJOR speed improvement. Now those same Quad core graphics are (supposedly) operating twice as fast as well as core CPU functionality.
I WOULD NOT call that incremental at all. Especially considering the speed difference between my 4S and my 5.
I maintain that the iPad 4 was the answer to the quesion no one was asking. If they held this with the same specs they announced and released it next spring, no one would feel that Apple had fallen behind. They'd have been selling through the iPad 3s just as well, even through the holidays. Tim said himself that the sales were phenomenal (paraphrasing). So what was the benefit? Having a single connector? If you check the Apple Store, you'll notice they're still selling the iPad 2 (new) with 30-pin and the iPhone 4 and 4S with 30-pin. So I can't buy that excuse. While it's speculation, those of us with 3rd gen can't help but wonder if we're one step closer to obsolescence after just 7 months on a product that STARTS at $500 (higher than most tablets with comparable specs) since Apple is only selling the 3rd gen iPad as refurbished.
If this came out in the spring would people really feel that it wasn't enough to warrant a year product cycle? I understand that Apple has share holders, but when you burn your loyal customers, the ones who continue to come back year after year, what do you think will happen to your bottom line? Contrary to what some people may say, we're not all sheep.
Yes, I feel burned by Apple with a 7 month release cycle of the iPad. I'm not going to bitch and moan about it, but I'm not going to pretend that I don't feel slighted. For those who say it's just a minor spec bump, I beg to differ.
720p HD front facing camera vs 0.3MP
Simultaneous Dual Band / Dual Antenna Wi-fi vs single band (yes, iPad 3 will do 2.4GHz OR 5GHz, but not at the same time).
Lightning vs 30-Pin
Image Stabilization Processor
But most importantly the A6X processor vs A5X processor which is according to Apple, twice as fast.
The change from the iPad 2 to the iPad 3 was A5 to A5X, basically adding in Quad-Core graphics, but otherwise no MAJOR speed improvement. Now those same Quad core graphics are (supposedly) operating twice as fast as well as core CPU functionality.
I WOULD NOT call that incremental at all. Especially considering the speed difference between my 4S and my 5.
I maintain that the iPad 4 was the answer to the quesion no one was asking. If they held this with the same specs they announced and released it next spring, no one would feel that Apple had fallen behind. They'd have been selling through the iPad 3s just as well, even through the holidays. Tim said himself that the sales were phenomenal (paraphrasing). So what was the benefit? Having a single connector? If you check the Apple Store, you'll notice they're still selling the iPad 2 (new) with 30-pin and the iPhone 4 and 4S with 30-pin. So I can't buy that excuse. While it's speculation, those of us with 3rd gen can't help but wonder if we're one step closer to obsolescence after just 7 months on a product that STARTS at $500 (higher than most tablets with comparable specs) since Apple is only selling the 3rd gen iPad as refurbished.
If this came out in the spring would people really feel that it wasn't enough to warrant a year product cycle? I understand that Apple has share holders, but when you burn your loyal customers, the ones who continue to come back year after year, what do you think will happen to your bottom line? Contrary to what some people may say, we're not all sheep.
As a iPad 3 owner I too fell at least a little bit jaded. I honestly feel like the product they announced today is what the iPad 3 should have been. I look back on the iPad 3 release and can't help to feel like they really half-assed the release just to get some quick bucks instead of pushing the release date back.
As for the lightning connector, that move was nothing more than marketing. They changed the adapter so they could corner users into purchasing their conversion adapter so they can make at least $25 from the millions of users out there. This wouldn't have bothered me except for the fact they screwed 3rd party developers and also wouldn't allow any other 3rd party companies to develop their own lightning adapter.
From the benchmarks I've seen the A6 is actually almostthree times as fast as the A5..could be wrong though.
On the other hand I don't feel like this has necessarily made my iPad 3 (A5X) rust overnight, in fact with the release of the iPod Touch 5G and iPad Mini both with A5 processors the iPad 3 is going to have quite a bit of life left.
You do know that it's not compulsory to update your ipad?
So why did you bitch and moan about it seeing as you said you weren't going to do that?
Someone posted this link, but here you go https://www.macrumors.com/2012/01/0...ctober-launch-with-ipad-3-as-interim-upgrade/
Interestingly they changed the name from "new ipad" to just "iPad" - wonder when the phone is simply called "iPhone" ... Although that would stop 1000s of pages of "no, it's x-generation, no, it's y-generation" posts and I am sure MR wouldn't want the massive drop in postcounts
my guess is Tim and friends wanted to move the ipad refresh date to fall instead of spring to line up with Christmas....this certainly was one way to do it...i remember the rumors back in May that they could release an updated ipad before Christmas..and everyone thought that was nuts and impossible...well, they finally did it...
Apple makes more profit from a $399 ipad2 vs a $399 ipad3
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Talking about iphone4s->iphone5 or ipad3->ipad4 ?
Apple has a price premium. One of the arguments in favor of that is the longevity of those devices. If the upgrade cycles becomes shorter that argument tends to fail.
People can sugarcoat all they want or try to make a weak case about the normal technology upgrades what indeed is very common. Ignoring the fact that not a lot of companies within a period of 6 months release an upgrade for their premium flagship products but more important since when is Apple like Dell or HP in that regards ?
A speed increase like that - and I'm speaking from a dev POV - isn't a minor speed bump. If if it was minor then off the record they wouldn't talk about the iPad 4. When the evolutionary upgrades come in their other products for most parts they suddenly talk about a new iMac or Macbook.
No an iPad 3 suddenly won't stop working but you can bet on it that a lot of developers will target the 4 instead of optimizing the hell out to get it on the 3. Developers - being one - are inherent lazy in that regards.
BTW the iPad 3 wasn't released simultaneous in all markets BTW so you 6 months millage can vary... . And if this makes me a whiner then care--, I will speak in the future in the only language companies seems to understand and that is money... .