This will finally be my first iPad... been waiting for a model that is a little bit thinner than the previous model iPads. Thanks Apple for always redesigning! At least trying 
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5th Generation iPad to Begin Production in July-August
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The iPad Mini already sells like hot cakes with a processor introduced in March 2011, that is TWO years ago.
Of course, it sports a revised die-shrinked version of A5 which runs cooler and uses less energy. But that's the idea, it took like a year for the revised A5 to be possible.
The full iPad has a much bigger battery than the mini, and much more volume to absorb heat. They can't put the latest full iPad CPU in the mini without risking reducing the battery life and burning user's hands.
Seriously I shouldn't even have to explain this. Smaller devices don't get the latest and fastest processors compared to bigger ones, it's an obvious technical issue. Add to that the fact that the mini already has smaller margins that the stock holders would like to.
It's possible that the mini will get an A6X processor (as opposed to an A5X), but then the full iPad will likely still remain ahead with an A7X processor.
You are very much Apple's target audience. The iDevices and now the Macs with the App Store Apple's products are designed to be Vending Machines.
Yes I don't get the logic either. I can understand them updating all the iOS devices in the second half of the year ready for the back to school and holiday buying season but why not balance it with Mac updates in the first half of the year so we get a steady stream of new products.
It wouldn't be that difficult to have an Mac desktop event in Feb and a laptops event in April or just have one bumper Mac only event in Feb, bit like they used to with the old MacWorld keynotes.
Then ok update the iPhone in July and the iPod/iPad in Sept.
I know what some are going to say - that Apple is dependent on Intel processor release dates to determine their Mac release dates. Well it doesn't have to be like that. It's not like I'm going to rush out and buy a Windows PC instead just because they have the latest processor first. I'm going to wait for the Mac update. I mean why launch a new iMac in December for heavens sake? I doubt anyone in the wider public even noticed. They could have sorted out the manufacturing problems just in time for a Feb media event and launch, nicely timed not long after CES.
It's also significantly less powerful than the big iPad.
Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk 2
Apple rarely advances new tech, just typically implements it better than its competitors, but not always. In fact, Jobs-Apple frequently mocked tech not in their products up until the day Apple adopted it -- then it was suddenly the bees knees, and all that jazz. And yes, The Jobs II era was all about the senses - "beautiful," and thin, and feels great, so I'm not sure what you are talking about above. Ergonomics IS a huge part of the equation. You could stuff lots of tech in a heavy, battery eating tin box, but no one would want it.
I agree iOS is getting a bit long in the tooth, but the hardware side is still top notch. What tech advancement are you specifically looking for Apple to include?
Then why does the iPhone, which happens to be smaller than an iPad Mini, have an A6, Mr. Condescending?
Hint: newer SOCs are more efficient while also being more powerful, news at 11. The A5X was a huge power hog; things will only get better.
I can only speculate as to why Apple didn't give the Mini an A6 to begin with - maybe they wanted to see if it takes off first. Well, it certainly has and thus shouldn't be burdened by second rate hardware.
Don't make me!
/s
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This will finally be my first iPad... been waiting for a model that is a little bit thinner than the previous model iPads. Thanks Apple for always redesigning! At least trying
Always redesigning? They've been releasing the last couple of phones all with the same design. 3g-3gs, 4-4s, iPad 2-4. There isn't a ton of redesigning going on here....
I'll upgrade when I'll eventually need to.
for now, I like my bezel and the A6x is plenty fast!
for now, I like my bezel and the A6x is plenty fast!
It's no secret that MR members hate digitimes. So let's say everyone is right and digitimes has nothing even remotely accurate.
What comes to mind aside from that fact... is what if Apple is using them to run the "smoke and mirrors" machine to buy time?
I wouldn't put anything past Apple. This is a high stakes game of hardball. There's more money at stake every year.
Besides it seems as though they are lagging badly with the next iPhone. Anything to take the spotlight off that... is great for Apple.
What comes to mind aside from that fact... is what if Apple is using them to run the "smoke and mirrors" machine to buy time?
I wouldn't put anything past Apple. This is a high stakes game of hardball. There's more money at stake every year.
Besides it seems as though they are lagging badly with the next iPhone. Anything to take the spotlight off that... is great for Apple.
You're such a tool.
First iPad: the entire product was innovation.
iPad 2: thinner AND lighter yet way more powerful, two cameras.
iPad 3: stunning retina display.
iPad 4: small iteration, but I think the home-brewed A6 deserves with spectacular battery life deserves 'innovation points'.
iPad 5: ???
I think every iPad has had some significant innovation when it comes to hardware, let alone the software which has been improving constantly.
The iPad is made to be actually used, that means keeping it simple yet so that people actually want to use it. E.g. Facetime, iMessage, the whole concept of the iTunes store itself which lures people into actually buying music, apps like iBooks and Garage Band, etc. Making people actually use technology, that's the real innovation. Tim Cook didn't just bash Android when he said Android tablets were in some one's drawer, he meant it to emphasize the fact that making products that people actually use is a great achievement that should not be neglected.
Maybe I'm sounding a bit harsh but I think you're an idiot for using the word 'innovation' when you don't really know what it means.
You're kidding right?...never saw that iPod Touch thing?...or that iPhone thing YEARS before the iPad?
Innovation...yeah, right. iPad = (iPhone size x 4) - phone features
You just don't get it. Innovation is not about finding the most advanced technology and put it in a device. Innovation is about creating a device that people actually want and love to use. If you don't think the iPad, a device that started an industry that is slowly killing PCs, is innovative I would like to know what you think actually IS innovative.
MacRumors still quoting Digitimes..? Why???
More stories means more ad revune. MR's quality is dwindling.
Probably Retina. Something which was definitely new and never before seen on anything really.
I like to think the original was more innovative than the retina display. Innovation is about creating something new, and the iPad was new. Not just the device, but the way it implemented into the lives of people and the way they started using it. Best example: compare lecture rooms in 2009 with lecture rooms in 2011. 2009 was full of laptops, 2011 was full of iPads.
A retina display does have some features that can be qualified as innovation, since for the first ever it makes text look better on an electronic device than on old school paper, but in the end, it's simply a better screen which they bought somewhere else. The real innovation might be how they handled it using dual CCFL-strips and a very large battery, but that came at the cost of more weight and heat. Still, I do think it is innovative.
People need to think about what innovation means. To me, and I think it should to everyone else, it means creating new values and creating new kinds of interaction. Newer and better hardware should be the means of achieving innovation, not the goal. In the end, hardware is just an instrument, the real innovation lies in how to use that instrument.
Those small incremental upgrades are what the iPad should have had in the first place.
I upgraded 2 iPad1's to iPad4's in hopes the crashes would stop but nope, it still crashes and all those "upgrades" don't mean anything to me.
The iPad reminds me a lot of the reliability issues of Win 3.1 and Packard-Bell PC's.
Stablize iOS and the HW!!!
Why the (alleged) delay? iOS 7
A big "back to school" fall event makes sense based on earlier reports that iOS 7 is taking a bit longer than expected. Hardware changes are now more evolutionary as there is only so much you can do with a piece of glass and aluminum. The size will change, the processor will speed up and the cameras will get better, but outside of the geek world, none of that will move the millions of units that Apple needs to sell in a sea of similar tablets and phones at lower prices.
Everything points to incrimental hardware updates this year, so I'm expecting iOS 7 to be the real star of the show in 2013. We should get an iOS preview in a couple of months, but I'll bet they don't release anything until iOS 7 is done, amazing and bulletproof (especially after the Maps issues and Passbook "meh" last year). Apple is smart enough to know that a revolution in the software is what will keep them on top in 2013/2014, and I don't expect any big hardware to be released until it is running iOS 7.
A big "back to school" fall event makes sense based on earlier reports that iOS 7 is taking a bit longer than expected. Hardware changes are now more evolutionary as there is only so much you can do with a piece of glass and aluminum. The size will change, the processor will speed up and the cameras will get better, but outside of the geek world, none of that will move the millions of units that Apple needs to sell in a sea of similar tablets and phones at lower prices.
Everything points to incrimental hardware updates this year, so I'm expecting iOS 7 to be the real star of the show in 2013. We should get an iOS preview in a couple of months, but I'll bet they don't release anything until iOS 7 is done, amazing and bulletproof (especially after the Maps issues and Passbook "meh" last year). Apple is smart enough to know that a revolution in the software is what will keep them on top in 2013/2014, and I don't expect any big hardware to be released until it is running iOS 7.
iOS 7 will disappoint you if you are expecting a revolution. It will be incremental.
Seems like I finally get my first iPad
I hope that all the waiting has been worthwhile.