Four years and five months between the iPad 4 and iPad 5. They released the Air in that time but that’s the time between the same models being replaced. 7 months from iPad 3 to 4, four years and five months from iPad 4 to iPad 5.
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Apple Just Broke a Tradition It Held for 12 Years
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Four years and five months between the iPad 4 and iPad 5. They released the Air in that time but that’s the time between the same models being replaced. 7 months from iPad 3 to 4, four years and five months from iPad 4 to iPad 5.
iPads have matured enough that I don’t think it matters. Same for the iPhone. I don’t see the point of needing one each year. Maybe even get rid of the number on the iPhone and designate it by year.
That is literally the strategy.
It’s a mix between trying to create a ladder that incentivizes you to pay as much money as possible, while also having a product available at every price point for those who come into the store, with a very fixed amount of money to spend.
It has been their strategy since they started restricting colors to more higher end iPods and iMacs back in the day.
They are not “upgrades”. Nothing really deserving new money. Even the displays in all non-pro ipads is ancient tech and feels super old. Not promotion, no OLED, etc. is plain greed. New CPU 10% faster but same meager RAM size?. Is that an “upgrade”?.
Even faceid in IPad Pro is quite unreliable.
Even faceid in IPad Pro is quite unreliable.
The worst designed and engineered iPad was the first iPad Air. A measly 1GB ram. Safari tabs constantly refreshing. The device would vibrate in your hand when you held it while playing audio/video. Just terrible. I’m using an 2020 iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard and I have no hardware issues with it. They don’t need new hardware to make the software better.
Phil Schiller was/is the king of the upsell. Like iPhone storage going from 16 > 64 and 64 > 256 so he could say for just $100 more you get 4x the storage. Apple is never going to sell a product that’s ’just right’ because then they can’t upsell you.
Lol at how that tree of releases slowly morphs into a tidal wave. Look at 2010 and 2011 when Jobs was commandeering the ship. iPad for 2010, iPad 2 for 2011. Simple. Easy to understand. Then... it begins. haha. Now, the average person couldn't tell which version iPad they got for Christmas, even if you explained it to them. It's a complete mess lol
I know it probably sounds ludicrous to actually believe this would ever occur, but in my opinion, the iPhone (cell phones in general these days) are so good right now that switching to every other year releases really wouldn't be a bad thing. Just continue iOS updates and beta testing of course, but at this point, the main upgrades yearly are camera upgrades, and I just wonder if it is feasible to keep up yearly hardware updates when they are mostly incremental.
Did we need a new iPad? It’s not like people upgrade on a yearly basis and current iPads are capable enough.
This should be a practice for every product at this point. We DON'T need new phone, table or headphones every year. It's just waste of resources. The innovation is on a crawl.
Not really a big deal. It's not like most of us update our iPads every year. I don't even update my phone or apple watch yearly. My iPad I update once in a while.
Apple has broken a tradition it maintained for 12 years, releasing no new iPads in 2023 – the first time that the company has chosen to not launch a new tablet in an entire calendar year since the introduction of the product line.
From its debut in 2010, the iPad has been an important product for Apple and the clear tablet market leader, releasing at least one new model every year. In recent times, the company has released as many as four new iPad models per year. Before 2023, 2009 was the last year with no new iPads, simply because the product line had not yet launched.
The most recent iPad launches took place in October 2022. The only iPad-adjacent hardware released in 2023 was the Apple Pencil with USB-C.
- 2010: iPad (1st generation)
- 2011: iPad 2
- 2012: iPad (3rd generation), iPad (4th generation), and iPad mini (1st generation)
- 2013: iPad Air (1st generation) and iPad mini 2
- 2014: iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3
- 2015: iPad mini 4 and iPad Pro 12.9-inch (1st generation)
- 2016: iPad Pro 9.7-inch
- 2017: iPad (5th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation), and iPad Pro 10.5-inch
- 2018: iPad (6th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation), and iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation)
- 2019: iPad (7th generation), iPad Air (3rd generation), and iPad mini (5th generation)
- 2020: iPad (8th generation), iPad Air (4th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation), and iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation)
- 2021: iPad (9th generation), iPad mini (6th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation), and iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation)
- 2022: iPad (10th generation), iPad Air (5th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation), and iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation)
- 2023: None
This hiatus in new iPad releases is noteworthy considering the history of the product line and could signal a moment of reflection about the direction of the device. As the iPad has become more advanced and widely adopted, the urgency for frequent upgrades has diminished for many potential customers. This shift in consumer behavior could have prompted Apple to reevaluate its tablet strategy, focusing on more impactful and less frequent hardware updates.
Another aspect to consider is the criticism Apple has faced regarding the increasing complexity of the iPad lineup and questions around the direction of iPadOS. By taking a year off from new releases, Apple may be planning to reshape the lineup with a clearer sense of purpose going forward.
Rumors and analyst forecasts suggest that 2024 will be a much more significant year for the iPad lineup, with every model, encompassing the entry-level iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro, expected to receive a hardware refresh. With the rumored introduction of a 12.9-inch iPad Air model, 2024 could see Apple launch an unprecedented six iPad models in a single calendar year. The flagship iPad Pro is expected to introduce at least a dozen new features, including OLED display technology, the M3 chip, and a new, "laptop-like" keyboard accessory.
Article Link: Apple Just Broke a Tradition It Held for 12 Years
Truth be told, why do we need iPad series? It's still limited to use and replace laptop and yet Apple is keep forcing themselves to make iPad series. Maybe it's time to ditch many of them except iPad and iPad Pro while deciding either unlock many limitations or merge to macOS.
You may noy see a need for them but there are millions who do. That's like saying why do we need new iPhones.
Each iPhone (and iPad) generation is not meant for you. People on MR were complaining about the 14 not being a huge upgrade from the 13 and i pointed out that 13 users were not the intended target for the 14s.
I personally find it a bit ehh of a reason but for many people the 15 is what made them upgrade since it now has USB C. Like i said, a charging port is not a good enough reason for me to want to upgrade (I got it simply because i wanted a new iPhone) but a lot of the older generations (and Android defectors) switched to it.
Each new generation of iPads and iPhones are usually geared for those 2-3 generations behind hence why there is a need for new ones simply because nobody wants to upgrade their current old models for a "new" model that's been on the market for awhile now.
Thanks for reminding me of that fiasco. I wouldn't have cared as much if the iPad 3 didn't age so poorly versus iPad 2 and iPad 4. The iPad 3 was definitely one of my least-liked Apple purchases of all time. It started noticeably slowing down by the very next major iOS release, IIRC.
And yet, both apps and iPadOS are still limiting iPad series while iPad itself is just a bigger version of iPhone. It sells because they are the only one dominating tablet markets.