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Apple Discontinues 10.5-Inch iPad Pro Following Launch of Lower-Priced 10.5-Inch iPad Air

vnrwka said:
sad to see promotion & quad speakers go away, but who cares about cameras on ipads? I'd be happy to pay less and give up a camera.
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e.g. ”scanning” documents, bar codes etc... then possible virtuality, if ever used irl for something beneficial.

i must say, that i was already confused but now im totally lost. if somebody askes me ”which ipad?” im only thinking about ”im not sure what they sell and what accessories”.
 
Jakewilk said:
This is actually a surprisingly generous upgrade, considering the fact that it used to cost $649
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Yeah they degraded the rear camera and I don't know about RAM on this model. 2 GB RAM would be disappointing.
 
Does the new Air retain the Smart Connector to use a keyboard?

EDIT: I guess it does since the product page shows it docked to a keyboard cover.
 
Not seeing the "messy" line-up here.. iPad mini, iPad Air, iPad Pro - mini and Air have identical features, Pro is a step up?
 
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Ferc Kast said:
Potentially downgraded the RAM too, but we'll have to wait for a teardown or a Geekbench test to be sure.
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I'm wondering about this as well, but I think at the least it would have the 3GB that the iPhone XR has, right? So more than the standard iPad. But being an iPad of 10.5" and the new tagline on their website "Power isn't just for the pros", hopefully it will have more than the base iPhone. Maybe they'll put the 3GB into the Mini and put the 4GB package from the XS into the Air. But with the rumored overhaul coming to the iPad version of iOS this June to make it better for productivity, maybe they'll just go with 4GB across the line so those features will be better supported? Would be nice. I think the iPad Pro will be moving to more RAM across the entire line when the next version comes out, so it will still be differentiated there.
 
TMRJIJ said:
Coming from an iPad Air 2 as my main tablet, I honesty don’t know if I want to upgrade to this new Air or get a 10.5 iPad Pro.
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As far as I can see, the older Pro is still better overall than the Air (speakers, cameras, promotion, screen brightness, probably more RAM). The single exception is the processor, which is two generations newer on the Air BUT not an “x” version like the Pro, which means the performance gap there may well be less than it first appears. Depending on price, I’d probably still go with the Pro personally.
 
I think it is a nice combination of features and price, for those who are not in need of the latest and greatest features. It is a winner for me. YMMV
 
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Oh wow. Apple used to have just one iPad. Now it has the iPad, the iPad mini, the iPad Air, and the iPad Pro, which comes in two sizes. So, there are five different sizes of the iPad now.

It seems to me that, in an attempt to squeeze every dollar out of the wallets of its customers, Apple is doing exactly what Steve Jobs came back to avoid: the confusion of a complex product line (https://www.computerworld.com/article/2510820/how-steve-jobs-changed-apple---.html).

Why do we need five different sizes of the iPad? Do we really need a 9.7”, a 10.5”, and an 11”? It’s Apple trying to please Apple, not its customers.
 
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oldmacs said:
But did they update the 9.7 inch iPad? People will choose the Air over it for better specs.
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No, they did not. And that is the point. Apple is trying to attract customers to the new Air, which costs more, while artificially makes the 9.7” model less attractive with a lack of upgrades.
 
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skaertus said:
No, they did not. And that is the point. Apple is trying to attract customers to the new Air, which costs more, while artificially makes the 9.7” model less attractive with a lack of upgrades.
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yeah that's my point - moving the selling price up for both the Pro and the normal iPad. They've now moved more features into the top tier Pro pricing only and also moved basic 2019 specs up.

Basically it just means that people who want what Apple defines as 'Pro features', will have to pay more, and people who want specs that should be standard in 2019 have to pay more. Then there is the normal iPad which will have a shorter technological lifespan and thus require replacing sooner.

Really they should have combined the new Air and the iPad 9.7 into one.
 
oldmacs said:
Really they should have combined the new Air and the iPad 9.7 into one.
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That would not optimize the supply chain, which is now one of Apple’s priorities. And would not give Apple the opportunity to test the waters as well.
 
skaertus said:
Oh wow. Apple used to have just one iPad. Now it has the iPad, the iPad mini, the iPad Air, and the iPad Pro, which comes in two sizes. So, there are five different sizes of the iPad now.

It seems to me that, in an attempt to squeeze every dollar out of the wallets of its customers, Apple is doing exactly what Steve Jobs came back to avoid: the confusion of a complex product line (https://www.computerworld.com/article/2510820/how-steve-jobs-changed-apple---.html).

Why do we need five different sizes of the iPad? Do we really need a 9.7”, a 10.5”, and an 11”? It’s Apple trying to please Apple, not its customers.
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Not really confusing, just follow the pricing tiers, the more you pay, the more you get. If there's one change I'd possibly make it would be to roll the mini into the 'Air' branding as it's effectively a smaller version of the exact same machine - could be the Air 7.9" and 10.5" in the same way you have an 11" and 12.9" Pro.

Budget:
iPad 9.7 £319
A10
basic retina

Midrange:
iPad mini £399
iPad Air 10.5 £479
A12
Laminated

High end:
iPad pros £769 & £969.
A12X
Promotion

As for pleasing it's customers... I'm pretty sure this is why they have done this - the 10.5" pro likely wasn't selling against the 11" pro for just a little bit more, so they've nixed it and made a model that's a little bit more feature rich for a little bit more money than the basic iPad. You're right it's still an 'upsell' move (to force people onto the 11" pro rather than the 10.5, and entice people up from the 9.7" iPad) but one that makes sense in the lineup more than the 10.5" pro really did anyway.
 
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So they done away with the Air 2 to bring out the new 9.7” but used the iPad Air 1 screen. Kept that one around while releasing the various iPad Pro’s. Now they’ve revived the iPad Air, but not put “3” after the name and have made it 10.5” instead of 9.7” and dropped the 10.5 Pro.

Cook, your product line is scandalous.
[doublepost=1552928426][/doublepost]
Jakewilk said:
And it costs $150 less, which is a good deal imo
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Once you use ProMotion on an iPad you can’t go back.
 
B4U said:
They lost the hideous camera bump?!
How did this happen??
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By downgrading the camera. Not that I ever used it on my pro tbh

BritishApple said:
So they done away with the Air 2 to bring out the new 9.7” but used the iPad Air 1 screen. Kept that one around while releasing the various iPad Pro’s. Now they’ve revived the iPad Air, but not put “3” after the name and have made it 10.5” instead of 9.7” and dropped the 10.5 Pro.

Cook, your product line is scandalous.
[doublepost=1552928426][/doublepost]

Once you use ProMotion on an iPad you can’t go back.
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I have an air 2 and a pro. Don’t notice it at all
 
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I really see the iPad 9.7’ being positioned for students and children, iPad Air for general consumer base, and IPad Pro for professionals and tech enthusiasts.

While the new iPads have good features for its price, they also seem compromised. I never cared about some features on iPad (like cameras), but they are now gone.

From a business perspective, it makes sense to utilize existing resources and hardware components. I just don’t understand why Apple thought it could sell the old iPad Pro models without dropping price during its product life.

At this point, iPad pros should not be the only innovative releases because the majority of iPad users will be stuck buying iPads that keep having similar features for years until it’s tegular product line receives something from the Pro series. At least iPhone XR received most features from iPhone XS.

iPad series will still be successful, but as an iPad owner, I’m finding less reasons to keep buying those products. I’ll wait until pricing and innovation become less messy.
 
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