Apple Debuts New 9.7-Inch iPad With A9 Chip to Replace iPad Air 2, Starting at $329

[RambleOnZep]

i think this is good updates for ipad in general.
all the "Air", "Pro" and "Mini" were so confusing. i dont mind even if the new ipad is 30g heavier and 1mm thicker at this price point. hopefully they have a bigger battery too.

but does this mean Apple will not have spring event anymore?? great desktop is still in the works?

 

[smorrissey]

Sorry if this has already been discussed;

No laminated display? I'm thinking this means it gets the horrid, clattery, flimsy, plastic-feeling display glass from the original Air? (I owned one, it sucked, that's my opinion, don't care if you agree or disagree). It would certainly neatly explain the return to the same thickness as that model?

mmmmm plastic feeling.......mmmm...plastic soul man plastic soul...

 

[Zarniwoop]

It is an Air 1. It does not have anti-reflective coating, lamination, and is 7.5 mm thick and weighs a full pound. Air 1 specs, not Air 2.

So, iPad 2017 is a combination of iPad 4 screen, iPad Air 1 casing and iPhone 6 processor. Plus last gen pricing (cheaper).

 

[0lf]

Apple Debuts New 9.7-Inch iPad With A9 Chip to Replace iPad Air 2, Starting at $329

Except Apple don't said it replace the air 2. It is obviously for school and aging iPad 2 user.

 

[StarryNights]

I can't believe they went back to the air gapped display, which had that horrible double image when looking at it at an angle, just wow.

 

[smorrissey]

So, iPad 2017 is a combination of iPad 4 screen, iPad Air 1 casing and iPhone 6 processor. Plus last gen pricing (cheaper).

Indeed it is just another Frankie Frankestein like the iphone SE.

 

[designer1221]

This is weird. It's back to 7.5mm like original iPad Air.

That means it'll fit all the existing cases on the market. Thats a win, really.

 

[Hym tix]

I can't believe they went back to the air gapped display, which had that horrible double image when looking at it at an angle, just wow.

Also tapping Feels cheap. is cheap.

Not complaining though, i think it will be a big success

 

[rudychidiac]

A lot of people on the comments are complaining about the thickness, the weight, and the processor... Guys this is a low cost iPad...

 

[Zarniwoop]

If you need a stylus, get an iPad Pro.

If not, get an iPad.

That was the case with iPad Air 2 vs iPad Pro. Not anymore with iPad 2017. Without anti-reflective coating... oh man!

 

[Charliebird]

When they say brighter Retina display what do they mean. Brighter then what?

 

[kodos]

This is a smart move - it gives people a cheap entry into the iOS Tablet ecosystem. Given how terrible Android tablets are, this makes them even _less_ attractive given that you get a nice tablet for a decent cost.

 

[TMRJIJ]

So, iPad 2017 is a combination of iPad 4 screen, iPad Air 1 casing and iPhone 6 processor. Plus last gen pricing (cheaper).

Actually is more iPad Air 1 screen, iPad Air 2 casing (just a little thicker) and iPhone 6s processor.

 

[Born Again]

This looks an incredible deal for those looking to buy into iPad. Investors will be delighted.

is that sarcasm?

why does someone with an old ipad need to upgrade?

 

[str0ppy]

Sorry if this has already been discussed;

No laminated display? I'm thinking this means it gets the horrid, clattery, flimsy, plastic-feeling display glass from the original Air? (I owned one, it sucked, that's my opinion, don't care if you agree or disagree). It would certainly neatly explain the return to the same thickness as that model?

Exactly this. Could manage with the thickness, weight etc. But if the screen's rubbish...

 

[gadget123]

Actually is more iPad Air 1 screen, iPad Air 2 casing (just a little thicker) and iPhone 6s processor.

Is the screen not the same as iPad Air 2?

 

[awrc]

Disappointed. I honestly did think that at least new iMacs could be announced without anything more than a price release - Kaby Lake iMacs with a new generation Radeon would essentially just be a speed bump, and those sort of things did used to get announced without a major multimedia extravaganza.

I guess I'm rather hoping we might yet see an announcement for those in April, along with iPad Pro bumps.

I'm rather stuck between a rock and a hard place - my iMac is at death's door (drive died a couple of years back, cost of a new drive and the repair is prohibitive if I have plans to buy a new iMac anytime soon) my iPad has just been declared obsolete by today's announcement. I'm unable to work for health reasons, but for the past *year* I've been hoping to get started on iOS app development (which I'd made a start on when my iMac essentially became unusable for anything except mail and web browsing) since that's my sole best hope for making a living. The problem is that in all the time since it became even remotely feasible for me to buy a new iMac to do dev work, nothing's been released. I don't want to pay the extra cost for the portability of a MacBook Pro if I'm never going to take it anywhere, the iMac was ideal for me. So now I'm raring to go at iOS development, and unable to get off the ground because the only way to do so is to buy a machine that's approaching a couple of years old.

Given the lack of love Apple shows the Mac in general, I really wish they'd consider porting XCode (even a "stripped down" iOS only XCode) for another platform. Way I see it, if you're going to tie developers to a platform, you should at least make an effort to keep that platform up-to-date. It's no wonder Mac games lag behind when you can't buy a high-end machine to develop them on. I'm probably just being over-paranoid, but I do tend to wonder if the recent trend in iOS software away from the "bigger" games (like RPGs, or ports of titles that are available on PCs) towards dinky little casual games - OK, trend *more* towards those, the casual game has always been the main thing in the iOS market - is influenced by the lack of attention paid to the platform the development tools run on.

 

[Appleaker]

No mini in the future... Just a smaller size iPad. They dropped smaller storage and did not give it the A9. Seems like they want it to drop off the family tree.

Very likely, especially considering naming, although I think it could still stick around as there is demand for it. If they're going to phase it out, it could happen next year.

 

[Glideslope]

And why would someone buy the 9.7 iPad Pro at $599?

Especially when they are readily available for $509 on the refurb store. (better than new)

 

[Appleaker]

Actually is more iPad Air 1 screen, iPad Air 2 casing (just a little thicker) and iPhone 6s processor.

It's the iPad Air screen and casing, although the casing has elements of the iPad Air 2. With the processor of the 6S as you said.

 

[sdugoten]

iPad
iPad 2
The new iPad
iPad with Retina display (note that the previous "The new iPad" already have Retina display.....)
iPad Air
iPad Air 2
iPad

How creative on using names..................

 

[Salty_Boi]

Still waiting for an OS X iPad... at this point, it's a pipe dream, but hey... a guy can hope, can't he?

 

[Appleaker]

Disappointed. I honestly did think that at least new iMacs could be announced without anything more than a price release - Kaby Lake iMacs with a new generation Radeon would essentially just be a speed bump, and those sort of things did used to get announced without a major multimedia extravaganza.

I guess I'm rather hoping we might yet see an announcement for those in April, along with iPad Pro bumps.

I'm rather stuck between a rock and a hard place - my iMac is at death's door (drive died a couple of years back, cost of a new drive and the repair is prohibitive if I have plans to buy a new iMac anytime soon) my iPad has just been declared obsolete by today's announcement. I'm unable to work for health reasons, but for the past *year* I've been hoping to get started on iOS app development (which I'd made a start on when my iMac essentially became unusable for anything except mail and web browsing) since that's my sole best hope for making a living. The problem is that in all the time since it became even remotely feasible for me to buy a new iMac to do dev work, nothing's been released. I don't want to pay the extra cost for the portability of a MacBook Pro if I'm never going to take it anywhere, the iMac was ideal for me. So now I'm raring to go at iOS development, and unable to get off the ground because the only way to do so is to buy a machine that's approaching a couple of years old.

Given the lack of love Apple shows the Mac in general, I really wish they'd consider porting XCode (even a "stripped down" iOS only XCode) for another platform. Way I see it, if you're going to tie developers to a platform, you should at least make an effort to keep that platform up-to-date. It's no wonder Mac games lag behind when you can't buy a high-end machine to develop them on. I'm probably just being over-paranoid, but I do tend to wonder if the recent trend in iOS software away from the "bigger" games (like RPGs, or ports of titles that are available on PCs) towards dinky little casual games - OK, trend *more* towards those, the casual game has always been the main thing in the iOS market - is influenced by the lack of attention paid to the platform the development tools run on.

I think if they were going to have an event in Q1 then this would have been kept for that event. It seems worthy of a small scale event like some we've seen in the past.
Hopefully not though, although it's always possible that we may see WWDC hardware (my guess would be for the Mac but it could also be iPad Pro). I don't see them waiting for the end of the year for that.
It's likely that the next iMac could see a redesign in some way. If it's not this year then it'll be next year, but my point is that it's due for a redesign and this generation makes perfect sense for that. A benefit with waiting is that we could see Vega graphics in the new iMacs.

 

[iMacmatician]

So I'm not gonna complain. I am however waiting for new iPad pros. Guess the rumors of Apple delaying them till late Spring/early Summer may be true. Cause it doesn't make sense that Apple would quietly drop a lower priced 9.7" iPad....and then have an event on April 4th to announce brand new iPad pros. Why not just wait to add the low priced iPad to an event a couple weeks later? Seems odd.

Apple has released minor updates shortly before a major event, the Mac Pro update one week before Macworld San Francisco 2008 comes to mind. That being said, I don't remember seeing this situation recently.

Hardware has been announced at almost every WWDC in the past 10 years. From iPhone to Mac Pro to standard MacBook upgrades. It's definitely possible. But I suppose would Apple want to release an iPad Pro with A10 just 3 months before A11 comes out?...

Crazy guess: the rumored iPhone "7s" and "7s Plus" sticks with the A10 while the A11 is reserved for the rumored iPhone "8"/"Edition"/"Pro." That would resemble the situation with the A9X and the first iPad Pro. (That doesn't solve the problem you brought up, but I think it reduces the issue.)

Question though: does the fact Apple did not remove the # of the iPad Mini as it did with the non-Pro iPad, could one reasonable infer that an iPad mini 5 is on the way?

My guess is that Apple didn't want to change the name of a product that wasn't being updated (in any significant way). I think that the next iPad 7.9" update, if there is one, will just have the name "iPad."

 

[Dave245]

I infer that Pro updates are imminent via an April Special Event. Certainly the 12.9 Pro requires either an update or a death squad. Also if there is a 10.5" then the 9.7" Pro is done. It will be iPad, iPad Mini 4, iPad Pro 10.5, and iPad 12.9 OR iPad Pro will be consolidated to one size: 10.5.

Question though: does the fact Apple did not remove the # of the iPad Mini as it did with the non-Pro iPad, could one reasonable infer that an iPad mini 5 is on the way?

Why would they hold an April event when they have announced iPad today if they were holding an April event wouldn't they have just updated them all then. Also the iPad mini 2 was removed today.