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

[sracer]

Come on folks - wake the F up and smell the rotten tomatoes.

Apple is just giving you exactly what you don't want. A cheap iPad that's just backwards. They are SO CHEAP just to increase profit margins it's so clear. Every iteration they release a better/more advanced iPad. Except now they clearly bring back this junk. Sure it has an updated processor which is probably gimped as well. You take out the display, take even the rear camera flash - and don't expect the camera to be the same as the 9.7" pro with flash model or else you'd have no reason to upgrade to that model. well that and the pencil support.

Sure it's better than the iPad 2 but that junk was outdated 3 years ago. Yet they still sell it at full price until the suckers stopped buying it.

This company is run by a bean counter and it shows. It's great for investors because I guess apple answers to stock market con artists. iPad hardware was never really the problem it's the damn software that sucks. Year after year you get mediocre software and it's time to leave this pathetic ecosystem. The surface pro 5 can't come soon enough even a full laptop surface book 2 that can't be detached but has touchscreen is welcome than these new mbp with touchbar.

There is absolutely nothing apple wants more than to increase profits. If this isn't clear enough for you then you are really the type of person to keep spending on apple products because you feel it's innovative. Gimp here and there reducing this and that and sell for just a tad cheaper but underneath they are making more money than before on the same product. It's like subway sandwiches using the same crap to make a "better" sandwich for cheaper.

If Apple had discontinued all other iPad models and held guns to our heads to force us to buy them then MAYBE I might agree with you.

I am pleasantly surprised to see Apple slightly update the Air 2 and keep it at an entry level price. If I didn't already have a 12.9 Pro, I would buy this new Air 2 over a 9.7 Pro.

You are extolling the virtues of the Surface Pro and Surface Book. Do you have any extended daily use with either of them or are your compliments based on the "idea" of the device?

Of all the things to slam Apple for I think this new Air 2+ is near the bottom of that list.

 

[manu chao]

You could expect from a company the size of Apple to renew their total category line at least ones a year. It's been 6 months now after the MacBook Pro ergonomic touch bar disaster they release a phone with some other colored lipstick, a bit more ram in a refurbished SE and another processor in refurbished dated model iPad. It an insult and a shame they still earn that obscene amount of money.

What if renewing every product every 12 months results in only very limited changes? Whereas releasing something every 18 to 24 months allows for bigger differences between products? Look at what they did with the iPad mini 3, they only added Touch ID. You could see this as wasting a model number and creating unnecessary clutter in the line-up.

 

[9081094]

Scary thing is Apple really do think the iPad is the future of computing and the iPad Pro is the way forward.
IOS is the main limiting factor imo. As it stands iPad is great for consumption not creating.

That's Apple marketing too... they want you to believe that. If they were really serious they wouldn't wait that long to evolve. Heck, everybody is stepping ahead of Apple these days with better products even less expensive.

Remember the OS from Apple only runs on very specific hardware. It's even more embarrassing to see how far Windows and Android have become to be compatible with so much hardware and being better than apple's offerings now. Shame on Cook & Co who's slowly ruining the brand.

 

[Pentium]

there is nothing big here, same old stuff with storage changes and a new color...

go back to your work

 

[6836838]

Seems far better value than the equivalent sized Pro model!

 

[gigaguy]

Clarifying - The Air 2 and Pro laminated screen process is shared, same case and screen. The new iPad and Air 1 case and screen process are more similar and cheaper to produce. Thinness is Apple forte, so this had to change.

 

[Johnny907]

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

How is this a "deal?" It's fatter, uglier with a massively stepped down screen compared to the Air 2. It's a mess.

 

[gigaguy]

Many shoppers will like the price, not everyone reads Macrumors,

 

[Che Castro]

Ram still the same ?

 

[tentales]

Many comments seem clueless. The minute the iPad Pro line was released you knew they were gonna differentiate it from the iPad line. The new iPad is a great value! The Air 1 was $500 about 2 years ago. Sure the iPAd Air 2 was better but too close to the Pro models in design.
Remember paying $750 for a 32gb iPad 1 3g... This new iPad is many times better and half the price!
I think all the Pros will move to borderless screens over time.

It's amazing how easily people are conned.

Go back far enough in tech and anything today will look like a bargain.
Fact remains, the "iPad Pro" was just an excuse to raise prices and the Air 2 was too close in features the average user cared about, so it was axed and they upgraded the iPad Air 1 with a new CPU & camera. that's it!

For those of us in Canada it looks even worse. $449 for base iPad, and $799 for base Pro.
Also, the iPhone SE 128GB remains at the same US$499 but our price got jacked by 80 bucks to $709.
Last I checked US$499 was CA$650.

 

[9081094]

What if renewing every product every 12 months results in only very limited changes? Whereas releasing something every 18 to 24 months allows for bigger differences between products? Look at what they did with the iPad mini 3, they only added Touch ID. You could see this as wasting a model number and creating unnecessary clutter in the line-up.

You'll have to lower the price of your products if you don't do a yearly bump. If you keep those ancient products still in production and it gives clutter in the lines, it's a bad business decision made out of greed. There is room for incremental updates every year. It took them three year to release the MacBook Pro ergonomic touch bar disaster which was an incremental update as well. Or would you say otherwise? Won't be long for more customers to wake up because there has never been such a nice landscape outside Apple's ancient walled garden as of now.

 

[gkarris]

Glad Apple kept a "lower-end" model - $329 for the latest CPU and a good deal.

I still couldn't afford a new Apple iPad Air so I got a Samsung Tab E 9.7 for $150 over last holiday season...

Works okay - still have an my old iPad 2 for the Apple stuff...

 

[manhattanmania]

I'm confused whether this means an event is coming in April or no chance bc they would have just saved these updates for then.

In favor of event: 12.9" iPad Pro still low in stock, not shipping until April. To me that says a refresh is coming.

Yet if 10.5" was coming why is the 9.7" stock not dwindling?

 

[9081094]

I'm confused whether this means an event is coming in April or no chance bc they would have just saved these updates for then.

In favor of event: 12.9" iPad Pro still low in stock, not shipping until April. To me that says a refresh is coming.

Yet if 10.5" was coming why is the 9.7" stock not dwindling?

Yes there will be an event in April. The GRAND OPENING of Apple park. It will overshadow all products that made it possible to build. And everyone forgets what's Apple's core business because all the talk will be about how AMAZING this new palace of greed will be.
[doublepost=1490128012][/doublepost]

Many shoppers will like the price, not everyone reads Macrumors,

The new target group of Apple are the ones who don't have to look at price anyway. It's a sad change from the past.

 

[gigaguy]

I guess I am conned, but I mostly buy used- just got a gold iPad Air 2 for $225 and a 9.7" iPad Pro for $350 last month. The best iPad designs to date imo. Apple's greed doesn't seem to hurt them much but you can blame buyers too, A new iPhone 8 at $1000, sell out probably.

 

[merkinmuffley]

Nice price adjustments.

 

[9081094]

I guess I am conned, but I mostly buy used- just got a gold iPad Air 2 for $225 and a 9.7" iPad Pro for $350 last month. The best iPad designs to date imo. Apple's greed doesn't seem to hurt them much but you can blame buyers too, A new iPhone 8 at $1000, sell out probably.

You're right about that. Apple has changed into a fashion brand these last 5 years. The new target audience are novice users who don't have to care about money. Not my Apple

 

[gigaguy]

Got the Air 2 for my Mom. She's giving her iPad 2 to my aunt, her twin sister for their 93rd birthdays... She loves her Apple stock too..

 

[TopToffee]

Starting at $329 in the U.S and £339 in the U.K. The U.K price trajectory isn't looking good.

Reason #973 to despise Brexit.

 

[gadget123]

Slightly thicker and a headphone jack? Isn't that a step backwards for apple? LOL

They might not ditch the headphone jack from the iPad lines.

Was a mistake to ditch it from the iPhone I never carry the adaptor on me so it's a pain.

 

[agsystems]

looking at this table - where is Apple starting pricing of the supposedly 10.5 model -I am thinking $ 699? Not giving at least an A9 to the mini its a shame

 

[manu chao]

You'll have to lower the price of your products if you don't do a yearly bump.

Or else? Why are you wedded to 12 months? What is wrong with 18 months?

I'll tell you why you are wedded to 12 months. It is because the most competitive and most important product, the iPhone (and other smartphones) get an update every 12 months, which for Apple also means a new A-series processor. For computers, Intel's not quite anymore 12 months cycle is the other driver. But note that Macs have always lasted for three to four years without a case redesign, only bumping the processor every year, changing the storage options somewhat and maybe upgrade a port now and then.

This shows you that while 12 months might be necessary on phones, computers and tablets can get by with longer cycles just fine.

If you keep those ancient products still in production and it gives clutter in the lines, it's a bad business decision made out of greed.

So, selling the 12.9" iPad Pro for 18 months is keeping ancient products in production and clutters up the lines? I'd say yearly updates that only change a few things is what clutters up the model line-up.

It took them three year to release the MacBook Pro ergonomic touch bar disaster which was an incremental update as well.

Macs, laptops as well as desktops never had yearly updates past the 1990s besides upgraded internals. And if you look at the history Mac laptops, the changes between 'case' generations were similar to what the 2016 MBP got. It got thinner and lighter (as did almost every laptop generation) and it lost ports:

• 2016: 15.5 mm, 2012: 18 mm, 2012: 19 mm, 2009: 24.1 mm, 2006: 25.9 mm, 2001: 28 mm, 2000: 26 mm, 1999: 41 mm, 1998: 51mm, 1997: 61 mm
• 2016: USB-A, TB2/mDP, HDMI, SD card, MagSafe; 2012: Ethernet, FW800, Kensington lock; 2009 ExpressCard, DVI, FW400; 2006: modem, CardBus, S-video, round power plug; 2002: VGI, infrared; 2000: SCSI; 1998: Serial, ADB, HDI-15

Progress was faster in the 1990s but making the laptop noticeably thinner is getting harder.

 

[mudflap]

They might not ditch the headphone jack from the iPad lines.

Was a mistake to ditch it from the iPhone I never carry the adaptor on me so it's a pain.

So it's Apples fault because you don't want to carry a .5oz adapter with you.

Why don't you just keep the adapter connected to your headphones? Superglue it.

 

[manu chao]

Is it possible that Apple will announce an early April event to show off the new 10.5" "bevel free" iPad, the next-generation 12.9" iPad Pro and the 128 GB iPhone SE with an upgraded SoC and Touch ID sensor?

They wouldn't update the storage on the SE now and release an SE with updated processor one month later.

 

[markintosh]

Just a thought....this could be a nice simplification of the product lines. IMHO, there have been too many iPad models at once.
Now we have 7.9" and 9.7" iPad, soon to be 10.5" and 12.9" Pro.
With any luck, removing the Air is going to spread to laptops as well.
12" MacBook, 13" and 15" Pro.
Take away some of the choices and the choices get easier.