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Apple Announced the iPad 15 Years Ago Today

Still have my first gen 64GB in pretty much perfect condition. Some apps still work, but many are broken. Safari and other browsers are unreliable, and it won’t connect to my home WiFi anymore, though it will work with some public networks. YouTube is a slideshow on a good day.

I’m definitely going to keep it though, especially as I have the original box too.

I now use the tenth gen. It’s a perfect device for browsing and content consumption. It’s also great for my work, which is based mostly around email, standard office apps, Zoom, etc. Being so small and light, It has made business travel much easier for me. It isn’t a laptop replacement, but then I never expected it to be.
 
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jouster said:
Still have my first gen 64GB in pretty much perfect condition. Some apps still work, but many are broken. Safari and other browsers are unreliable, and it won’t connect to my home WiFi anymore, though it will work with some public networks. YouTube is a slideshow on a good day.

I’m definitely going to keep it though, especially as I have the original box too.

I now use the tenth gen. It’s a perfect device for browsing and content consumption. It’s also great for my work, which is based mostly around email, standard office apps, Zoom, etc. Being so small and light, It has made business travel much easier for me. It isn’t a laptop replacement, but then I never expected it to be.
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I just wish the iPad Pros had the option to boot macOS in a boot camp like "fork in the road" on power up, akin to 12" PowerBooks and 11" MacBook Airs of their time period. An 11" iPad Pro running iPad OS 19, or an iPad Pro running macOS 16 (with finger/pencil support of course).

It would further differentiate use cases between iPad Air and Pro very nicely.
 
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I wanted it so badly back then. But I waited and bought the much improved iPad 2 in 2011. I now own an iPad Pro 2021. It has been my home computer for pretty much all those years since 2011. It sure fell short of the productivity use cases Steve Jobs imagined even back at the introduction (I mean, they had a pretty decent version of Numbers and Pages working on the OG iPad!). But for my off-time, it is close to the perfect device.
 
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I was disappointed that it didn’t run macOS, nevertheless, it is a pretty great product.
 
Blackstick said:
Amazing people assumed the FaceTime camera quality of 2010 could even render detail so small/fine on cellular networks of the era... when even today's video call cameras would struggle with that level of macro detail.
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People "had" to push the iPad for sale at the time... and then they "had" to flip flop to push the iPad that came right after.

We'll just make up shortcomings- if necessary- to rationalize something like a front-facing camera being left out and then flip flop to push the greatness of a front facing camera upgrade when it is included. ;)
 
I’m young enough to love the iPad, I’m old enough to have been able to love it more if there was some kind of Mac OS X for it when it came out…

And fast forward to today. Typing this on an iPad Pro M4 11” with Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro, thinking “this is the epitome of hardware—a slab of glass like Bill Atkinson predicted in 1985—with a detachable keyboard with trackpad but also able to use the pencil with all of its features”… so great. Actually insanely great

And then to my untrained uneducated simpleminded brain that surely yall will disagree with… it is still running a basically the same OS as my phone :(

If there were some kind of way that the battery would handle it or whatever had to happen, if this M4 iPad Pro could run macOS hooked up to my Studio Display, I could see myself never using again my MBP and MBA.
 
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Frankied22 said:
I still think what I thought then - it's a large iPhone. Nothing has changed that. Apple has tried multiple times over the years to change the narrative on the iPad and try to shoehorn it into a certain category, but at the end of the day it is just an oversized iPhone. Apart from very niche areas, like pilots, it is a big media consumption device. It is not a full computer replacement. Does it have the power to be? Yes. But Apple continues to gimp it with iPad OS. People still firmly use laptops and desktops to get most work done efficiently, and iPads are relegated to watching media or reading or drawing, or just shoving in front of young kids faces to shut them up for awhile. Also, the iPad lineup has become a massive confusing mess.
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You talk about a large iPhone as if that’s a negative thing. But smartphones are today by far the main device for most people, more than traditional PCs. People out there are not only consuming, but creating with phones. Computers of course have their place, but they’re becoming the niche. They’re not the device to replace.

And the iPad has very powerful applications (in architecture, 3D modelling, AR…). I find it funny that usually people who complain about the iPad having a “limited OS” are not aware of real power users pushing it to its limits.
 
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Dr McKay said:
Which is funny because I considered the first retina iPad to be a mistake, it wasn’t anywhere near powerful enough to drive that many pixels.
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well they quickly replaced it with the 4 and I bought the first Air as soon as it came out to replace mine cus I prob still played games back then. it was still great for reading though compared to the prior ones
 
The iPad is a great device but for some reason I've never really got into it. I had a mini for a while but that was about it. The iPhone gives me mobility and the MBP gives me the screen size and ease of use.
 
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The iPad is still popular well into the 24th century.
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I still have mine and still works. I have one big bitch and moan about all the other later cases, the green case was made to last on the 1st one and all the others since then are garbage.
 
I remember this. I had the iPhone from day one. I was skeptical of a “giant iPhone”. What was the point?? I bought it anyway…… had one ever since.
 
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neuropsychguy said:
I remember how much shock there was at the $500 price. Almost no one was expecting it to be that low of a price. Here we are 15 years later, still able to buy a great iPad for about that price.
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Yeah, I remember people discussing that the rumored 999$ price was too low, and Apple knocked it out the park. It was an amazing product. Quite slow, but amazing.

neuropsychguy said:
It's great for media consumption but also for drawing, note taking (easily 1/3 of my university students have one for notes), and a lot of other work. It's not for everyone, but I find it's a nice complement to my laptop and phone.
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My wife loves hers for correcting work papers as a teacher, I love mine for couch surfing, the kids love theirs for relaxing with Youtube after school and a couple of snacks. Wonderful, versatile product.
 
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I'll admit I was a hater at the beginning. The first gen iPad form factor was just gross. Too big and heavy for what it offered. Bezels were crazy. I stand by that. Even for the time, it was a clunky product. This was obvious when that first design didn't last even one more generation. But that's ok. Apple learned fast and refined to a more usable form factor quickly.

I started to come around with the 1st iPad Air. I think the 2nd gen iPad Air was where apple really hit their stride. And the iPad became something that could truly do things a phone and laptop couldn't with the introduction of the Apple Pencil.

I've got an iPad mini 7 now that I really like. But I think in general the iPad as a "success" hasn't really been proven yet. I still run into people IRL all the time who are uncertain of the use for an iPad. No one wonders if a macbook, or an iPhone or even the old iPods were useful, only if they were worth the price. But many people still genuinely don't understand if the iPad can be of any use to them personally.
 
DogGone said:
The iPad is a great device but for some reason I've never really got into it. I had a mini for a while but that was about it. The iPhone gives me mobility and the MBP gives me the screen size and ease of use.
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This is pretty much sums up my thoughts too. I think if I did digital paintings / drawings I might find iPad irreplaceable. Having said that it surely got great hardware.
 
Mighuel said:
This is pretty much sums up my thoughts too. I think if I did digital paintings / drawings I might find iPad irreplaceable. Having said that it surely got great hardware.
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My wife the artist uses a 2025 iPad Mini when out and about, and 2024 M4 iPad Pro when at home, with an Apple Pencil Pro everyday painting/sketching in Procreate.

Procreate is an outstanding app and very deep in capability. It's a steal at $12.99, and no subscription. There are a couple of great books out there to help get you going.
 
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Happy Birthday to my favourite, daily driver computing device. Used mine in content consumption mode until the 10.5" iPad Pro with keyboard cover. Since then it has been my go to compute device, my constant companion at work, in the kitchen, everywhere. Web browser, photo browser, e-reader, video playback, note taking, music player, DnD Beyond companion. Loved the iPad when it was released. Love my M1 Pro & Smart Keyboard Folio even more now. Toying with upgrading to the M4 Pro with Magic Keyboard cover as my M1 Pro battery is shot at. And it's been 4 years.
 
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They really need look back at the first iPad, the line up now is such a mess and confusing for standard users.
 
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