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Also, fun fact, they're limiting you to 2 iPads per customer, for those of you interested in more than 2. A spouse or someone else would have to place an order for more. Prob not a new thing, but I'm new to Apple, soooo.
 
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I'm kinda surprised they didn't since it was followed by the Mini which now has USB-C

at this point isn't practically everything Apple makes is USB-C except the entry level iPad & the iPhone (and the accessories for them like the AirPods)?
These base model iPads are deployed at the scale of hundreds of thousands across K-12, and have been for years. Replacing 12w USB-A charging bricks w/Lightning to USB-C would be a real headache, with zero benefits. The "entry" level market (including K-12) doesn't need the faster transfer speeds of USB-C.
 
The lack of laminated display is also a nod to the education/appliance use case. Replacing the front glass on a damaged non-laminated display is relatively cheap and easy, at least compared to switching out the entire display on a laminated part.

I think the design is fine for kids, education, cash register uses - not alienating those customers means there's a large supply of cases, stands, keyboards, cash register add-ons, etc.

Also just glad to see that my 2017 iPad Pro's form factor is sticking around for another generation:
- 2017 iPad Pro, morphed into
- 2018 iPad Air (plus A12, minus ProMotion and quad speakers), priced down to
- 2019, 2020, 2021 base iPad (minus laminated display, slightly bigger bezels)
 
I was hoping for a laminated display and the iPad Air 3 enclosure to upgrade from my iPad Air 2.
I think it would be a dissapointment to upgrade my iPad Air 2 to the new 9th gen regular iPad because of the thicker design and the non-laminated display.

On the other hand, the speed bump will be welcome. What do you think? Laminated display vs non-laminated display is really this imporant for movie and youtube viewing?
 
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yes.

Yeah the price point is cheaper than other iPads, but its not overall cheap. The A13 is almost certainly going to limit the number of updates it gets to less than if it had been an A14.

again no

if you look at previous budget iPads (besides the 7th generation) it is obvious they would plan to give the budget iPad one CPU upgrade per generation

yes there was A10-A12 with 7th to 8th generation but that is obvious as 1. Apple neglects the A11 Bionic, 2. Although they could give 7th generation A11 Bionic there was more problems with it than either A10-A12 and 3. A10 is like the A8/A5 and to a certain extent the A9….. they produced many of these compared to the A11

they weren’t going to skip to the A14 when A13 Bionic is still super solid and 2, A13 is much less flawed than the A11 Bionic.
 
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I’ll be able to upgrade my iPad plan next year and I must admit I’m now thinking which one to go for; iPad Mini 6 or iPad 2021…

Lack of laminated display isn’t a surprise, nor the Wide Colour gamut but at least True Tone is now on there.
 
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they weren’t going to skip to the A14 when A13 Bionic is still super solid and 2, A13 is much less flawed than the A11 Bionic.
Regardless, it will limit the lifespan of this iPad and in today's world where we should be making the best use of resources possible, I think that is a bad thing.
 
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No…Pencil 1 works just fine. What’s the big deal?
I got your point. It works fine for me too. But every iPad since 2018 works with the 2nd generation. Why this one's working with the older version which is a bit less precise...a bit odd to charge with a cable and an adapter?
And I know that the 1st gen works fine and is less expensive....but why...
 
I got your point. It works fine for me too. But every iPad since 2018 works with the 2nd generation. Why this one's working with the older version which is a bit less precise...a bit odd to charge with a cable and an adapter?
And I know that the 1st gen works fine and is less expensive....but why...
Pencil 2 is wireless charge only. Requires a new chassis, which Apple will do eventually, maybe next year. For now, economics/price point dictates the older tapered chassis and Pencil 1.
 
The lack of laminated display is also a nod to the education/appliance use case. Replacing the front glass on a damaged non-laminated display is relatively cheap and easy, at least compared to switching out the entire display on a laminated part.

I think the design is fine for kids, education, cash register uses - not alienating those customers means there's a large supply of cases, stands, keyboards, cash register add-ons, etc.

Also just glad to see that my 2017 iPad Pro's form factor is sticking around for another generation:
- 2017 iPad Pro, morphed into
- 2018 iPad Air (plus A12, minus ProMotion and quad speakers), priced down to
- 2019, 2020, 2021 base iPad (minus laminated display, slightly bigger bezels)
the 2019 iPad air does not share the form factor. There was no 2018 iPad air
 
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I'm more surprised by the fact that only very recently have they started bumping the Mac cameras up even just to 1080p. Kind of an FU to Mac users as far as I'm concerned.
Form factor limitations apply here. The relative thinness of the MacBook lid vs. an iPad / iPhone means a much smaller camera, which in turn means lower quality, unfortunately.
 
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Super happy with this update. I was about to buy my son a new iPad to replace my ageing iPad Air (1st gen), and I'm glad I waited. He doesn't need 64GB and it's beyond me why they only offered 32 and 128GB before.

With the trade-in on the iPad Air, it was just 314eur which I think is a great price.

The best thing....my son will be happy his learning games no longer crash!
 
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Pretty unremarkable. At least Apple updated the storage.
It's not meant to be remarkable. It's meant to be affordable and designed for educational purposes or budget-conscious buyers who want in on the Apple ecosystem.

It represents excellent value for parents like me that want to offer our kids educational games, a way to watch a movie without placing a horrific TV in their room (I'm completely against this), yet do not want to spend $700 on a high-end device, only for them to drop it down the stairs and destroy it. (Believe me, it happens). Moreover, do you want your school budgets wasted on 1000's of iPad Airs, or at less than half the cost, these devices which will work just as well?

On top of that, they deliberately kept the design so it would be able to continue using all the old and existing accessories on the market, again adding massive value to the product.

In a nutshell, it's an excellent product designed and aimed at a specific audience and persona.
 
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