Respectfully, I'm very excited about this move. I might just buy my family an iPad 4 this Christmas!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Announces iPad 4 Relaunch, Confirms 8 GB iPhone 5c Limited to Select Countries
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Respectfully, I'm very excited about this move. I might just buy my family an iPad 4 this Christmas!
Hence, I never bought one
The pricing of the iPad 2 screamed "suckers!" to me. Apple doesn't always make the most customer-friendly pricing moves.
Different product, different market, not available to customers, only schools. Not the same. The iPad 2 should have been killed long ago. They should have continued selling the iPad 4 next to the Air. The selling of the iPad 2 was a huge mistake that apple is now attempting to correct because nobody was buying them. I seriously think Tim actually was under the impression people would buy outdated junk for $400. It didn't work.
All iPad's now have Lightning connector.
I thought the decision to still sell iPad 2's were for Education / Businesses that invested in those secure cabinets that had 30 pin doc connectors.
Now the push for Lightning means the only product with 30 pin being sold is the iPhone 4S.
Maybe it was supplies of Retina screens that were constrained, now the Air's died down a bit they have enough to put it on the iPad 4.
I thought the decision to still sell iPad 2's were for Education / Businesses that invested in those secure cabinets that had 30 pin doc connectors.
Now the push for Lightning means the only product with 30 pin being sold is the iPhone 4S.
Maybe it was supplies of Retina screens that were constrained, now the Air's died down a bit they have enough to put it on the iPad 4.
People in this thread need to calm down. Look... Apple was selling the iPad 2 for $399 which was a huge rip off for how old it was. Now, you can buy an iPad 4 for $399. The iPad 4 is still a great iPad and a huge upgrade from the iPad 2.
Anyone who bought an iPad 2 past December 2012 deserves to be pissed for making such a poor choice to begin with.
Apple is transitioning from product innovation to marketing innovation.
<Sound of me going CHOMP on the flame bait>
Your statement implies Apple is not innovating. Let's see, from Fall 2013 we saw Thumbprint ID and lighter/faster iPad. We're in the early year doldrums of the typical Apple product cycle. Time to keep the revenue coming by spec-bumping. This is Apple's pattern and has worked for it for about half a decade. Come June, we'll probably see something new announced at WWDC. Sept/Oct at the latest. Patience young one.
That's my guess as well. Last spring, Apple introduced a low-cost iPod touch based on the 5th generation so they could discontinue their production of the old 4th gen model. Then, sure enough, the 4th gen did not end up supporting iOS 7.
Of course, that iPod was much worse hardware-wise compared to other then-current hardware than I think the iPad 2 is now, but this wouldn't surprise me at all if the reason for doing this was so iPad 2 doesn't have to support iOS 8.
The iPad 3 is a little more of a toss-up I think, being somewhere in between the 2 and the 4 in terms of power. I assume it was supported by iOS 7 simply because they had to support the iPad 2 and decided to support everything in between, even if they weren't selling it anymore. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised to see them continue support for at least one more round of iOS upgrades. (I also wonder about the iPhone 4.)
They are moving forward. Education and government are HUGE markets for the iPad. Now those organizations will get a much better product than the iPad2 for the same money.
MS Office for iPad doesn't run on iPad 2, perhaps?
I bet they ran the iPad 2 as long as possible, getting a lot of money from ehat must be a cheap to produce line. Mine still works fine, and besides stuff that needs the new blue tooth, I have yet to find something it can't do.
Still, Apple must be seeing (or projecting) dwindling sales for the line, and if so, why not upgrade the entry level iPads with something they already have, saving development resources for the new iPads to be brought forth next fall? Makes sense to me.
I bet they ran the iPad 2 as long as possible, getting a lot of money from ehat must be a cheap to produce line. Mine still works fine, and besides stuff that needs the new blue tooth, I have yet to find something it can't do.
Still, Apple must be seeing (or projecting) dwindling sales for the line, and if so, why not upgrade the entry level iPads with something they already have, saving development resources for the new iPads to be brought forth next fall? Makes sense to me.
apple's lineup is starting to look like a mess. too much focus on catering to certain markets. more focus needed on innovation... if the products are good enough, they shouldn't be worried about filling all these different price points.
I think it's great!
My 2 cents:
I thought selling the iPad 2 was cheesy as it doesn't have the retina display, but the iPad 4 at 16GB is fantastic for that price point.
I read some of the messages and seen the comments about 'milking this line' or 'how innovative selling an older product'.
Look at it from this perspective - not everyone cares (or even knows) about the technical differences between the 4 and Air.
Do you think someone like my mother in law, who can barely type on a computer, gives a crap whether or not it's the A-535 or A7883939393 chip?
NO.
Does she care about having a ton of GB space to save movies or other stuff on?
NO. She may think GB means Green Bay for crying out loud. lol
Will she want a fantastic looking display to check her email and surf the web, receive texts from her grandkids when they're not able to visit.
Will she want a device that's incredibly easy to use?
YES.
Will the iPad 4 16 GB PERFECTLY suit that need.
YES! In a huge way. Especially at that price point.
My point is just because YOU may not agree with their decision and think it's stupid....don't think it won't sell.
I'm not saying this is perfect for seniors either. Think of parents looking for a Christmas gift for their kid who may not need more than 16GB. Lots of possibilities out there.
I don't think is Apple harming their own market share. In fact, I bet they sell more iPads now that they have a lower option Retina display. To me, this is just like a car manufacturer - you'll have people who will want to buy the high end vehicles and you'll have those buying the lower end.
Are their needs being met?
Absolutely.
Are yours? Maybe not. So go buy that higher end option.
But maybe you'll see there are other view points and factors to consider.
Cheers,
Keebler
My 2 cents:
I thought selling the iPad 2 was cheesy as it doesn't have the retina display, but the iPad 4 at 16GB is fantastic for that price point.
I read some of the messages and seen the comments about 'milking this line' or 'how innovative selling an older product'.
Look at it from this perspective - not everyone cares (or even knows) about the technical differences between the 4 and Air.
Do you think someone like my mother in law, who can barely type on a computer, gives a crap whether or not it's the A-535 or A7883939393 chip?
NO.
Does she care about having a ton of GB space to save movies or other stuff on?
NO. She may think GB means Green Bay for crying out loud. lol
Will she want a fantastic looking display to check her email and surf the web, receive texts from her grandkids when they're not able to visit.
Will she want a device that's incredibly easy to use?
YES.
Will the iPad 4 16 GB PERFECTLY suit that need.
YES! In a huge way. Especially at that price point.
My point is just because YOU may not agree with their decision and think it's stupid....don't think it won't sell.
I'm not saying this is perfect for seniors either. Think of parents looking for a Christmas gift for their kid who may not need more than 16GB. Lots of possibilities out there.
I don't think is Apple harming their own market share. In fact, I bet they sell more iPads now that they have a lower option Retina display. To me, this is just like a car manufacturer - you'll have people who will want to buy the high end vehicles and you'll have those buying the lower end.
Are their needs being met?
Absolutely.
Are yours? Maybe not. So go buy that higher end option.
But maybe you'll see there are other view points and factors to consider.
Cheers,
Keebler
The iPad 2 got iOS 4, iOS 5, iOS 6, and iOS 7 (just like the iPhone 4). I don't think anyone thought it would get iOS 8.
How are they not innovating?
Have you not seen the new Mac Pro?
Have you not seen the 'rumours' about the iWatch?
I don't understand how, just because they announce a lower end iPad option, they're not 'innovating'.
Looking forward to an explanation
Its obvious they want to have a lower cost alternative so they are not completely occupying the top end of the market. All they have done is effectively replaced the iPad 2 with the iPad 4 and now 3 out of the 4 products in their iPad line have a retina screen and none of them are running on 30 pin connectors.
They've upgraded their entry level offering. Why is this a bad thing? If there is any criticism to go around it should be that this should have happened when the iPad Air launched.
I think the mess actually started with the iPad Mini. Since it had iPad 2 specs in a smaller form, and still relatively new, they had to support it with iOS 7 and thus support the iPad 2.
When Apple drops support for the original iPad Mini, all us devs will be all retina.
When Apple drops support for the original iPad Mini, all us devs will be all retina.
Agreed! iPad 4 is only 1.5 years old, with Retina, and Thunderbolt!
Last edited:
They are focusing on new products. It's been less than 90 days since the last major product was released (Mac Pro). I'll even go on record that another new product will be announced within the next 90-120 days. And another within 30-60 days of that, if you are wiling to count OS's as products (personally, I hope a new Mac Mini is in there somewhere, but I digress). And within 60 days of that a new iPhone will be announced.
Relax, Apple is fine.
I assume it would, and so did others considering the Mini 1st gen, 4S, iPod touch 5 are all the same (some slower) than the iPad 2 and they are all assured iOS 8.
There is no reason for Apple to drop the iPad 2 with iOS 8. Yes the iPhone 4 but the iPad 2 is still powerful enough.
the iPad air is really similar to the iPad 4....What is new, an upgrade processor and thinner? Screen & RAM are identical they are really recycling components...with these refreshes.