96GB or 128GB??? iPad's next big update?

[crackbookpro]

Some of you have got to see this coming... the next update should be forced into higher flash storage. The Retina Display has hurt utility of the iPad because of the larger file size needed now for apps, photos, vids, etc because of the high res.

So, will Apple upgrade... or do they think iCloud justifies them lowballing us on flash storage???

Remind all of you, flash storage gets relatively cheaper as time goes on... and they still use the same flash cards(only 8, 16 & 32GB flash cards), they used for the past 36 months.

In my opinion, this iPad mini was spec'd out a long long time ago... none of the hardware they use is anything new or relatively new for that matter.

If you totally disagree, please mention what you think the next biggest update is for the iPad or iPad mini... could it be NFC & bio-metric scanning?

 

[yegon]

As nice as the 4 is, you've gotta wonder what the next one will be like. Faster faster faster only works for so long.

Much lighter, and some kind of keyboard ala the Surface and - I'm dreaming here - a monumental upgrade of the software in iOS7. I'm not a hater, but iOS6 was far and away the most underwhelming update yet. Which is fine.....if it's followed by a major upgrade in iOS7. Anything less and we're in treading water territory.

 

[paulrbeers]

Memory chips usually come in multiples of 4. The next logical step up would be 128GB. I remember from the original iPad tear down that there were only two memory modules on the motherboard so therefore 96GB could only be accomplished if they suddenly upped it to 3 (and did 3 - 32GB) which would take more valuable space. No if they do up the memory it will be 128GB.

 

[ucfgrad93]

I think the next step will be 128GB storage.

 

[crackbookpro]

Memory chips usually come in multiples of 4. The next logical step up would be 128GB. I remember from the original iPad tear down that there were only two memory modules on the motherboard so therefore 96GB could only be accomplished if they suddenly upped it to 3 (and did 3 - 32GB) which would take more valuable space. No if they do up the memory it will be 128GB.

I still think 96GB may be an option, but I can be wrong... or maybe we are both wrong, and Apple will only give us 64GB for another couple of years of gross-profits to the thermonuclear.

I am grasping that Apple has to be forcing themselves into a ripe situation with an array of flash card manufacturers, or the market opportunity has to be there for Apple at these times. The truth is - the market of a 64GB card is much much cheaper than it was 3-4yrs ago, so, in my opinion Apple should buck-up, and pave way to higher-storage iOS devices, most assuredly the iPad (with the bigger layout & larger file-sized apps needed).

And, I wish I knew the truth to this, but, a simple reason they don't or haven't given us more storage most indefinitely could be because of fixed-cost that doesn't play into their business model/motto of 'profits by margins'. But, I wholeheartedly think 64GB cards are in their ballpark to play their 'margins' game now & even 18 or so months ago...

I do think 2 slots/modules will be available for flash storage. And, we could see a 96GB version (32GB & a 64GB card), and hopefully a 128GB (64GB & a 64GB card).

So, paulrbeers, I see Apple doing 2 slots over 4, but this is something you may be right about nonetheless...

No matter what, Apple has to buck-up for the next release of the Retina Display iOS devices, most notably the iPad.

 

[paulrbeers]

I do think 2 slots/modules will be available for flash storage. And, we could see a 96GB version (32GB & a 64GB card), and hopefully a 128GB (64GB & a 64GB card).

.

Yes they could do 64GB and 32GB, but I assume Apple is probably using their flash memory in "dual channel" mode to get greater performance (which is why they have been doing 2 - 8GB, 2 - 16GB and 2 - 32GB) and if they did 64GB and 32GB they couldn't take advantage of "dual channel" memory which would slow down the iPad overall.

 

[gmanist1000]

I don't see them going huge on iPad storage. I could see them doing massive upgrades to iCloud storage though. All signs point to that as the future.

 

[jabingla2810]

Probably 128.

I'm hoping they improve iCloud and release a 4GB one to be honest.

iTunes Match and Spotify have changed the way I use hard drive space.

If they could impliment something similar to Match for photo's, and in the future maybe stream games... then we could possibly see a device with no harddrive and instant access to ALL your games, music, movies and photos.

 

[crackbookpro]

Yes they could do 64GB and 32GB, but I assume Apple is probably using their flash memory in "dual channel" mode to get greater performance (which is why they have been doing 2 - 8GB, 2 - 16GB and 2 - 32GB) and if they did 64GB and 32GB they couldn't take advantage of "dual channel" memory which would slow down the iPad overall.

Great point!!! I am assuming they are multi-channel flash memory... can tri-channel happen? ...or is quad-channel the next for memory?

I know this is kind of like the fibre/fusion/RAID-O system of using multi-channels...

Probably 128.

I'm hoping they improve iCloud and release a 4GB one to be honest.

iTunes Match and Spotify have changed the way I use hard drive space.

If they could impliment something similar to Match for photo's, and in the future maybe stream games... then we could possibly see a device with no harddrive and instant access to ALL your games, music, movies and photos.

Both will never happen... you need hard storage for boot-ups remind you and 4GB is pointless to say.