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Apple Just Broke a Tradition It Held for 12 Years
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The worst thing to happen to iPad was the M1. It immediately gave Mac all the benefits of iPad minus the stylus and touchscreen. And Apple got so greedy with iPad and accessory pricing that it’s literally cheaper to get a Mac than an iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard.
Still using my M1 iPad Pro 11" from 2021. I think they should focus more on improving the iPad software experience for Pro users. Stage Manager ain't it.
With both sealed phones and tablets sooner or later it's a battery repair or upgrade choice.
I still hate how iPadOS has one and only one audio source. I’m sick of running into ads on sites (even if they are muted) and my music or picture-in-picture stops.
Or how, if you’re in any program - like Maps while driving - your iPhone will kick you out if you get a call.
Yearly product updates allow for brands to stay top-of-mind for their fanbase. Minor YoY hardware updates on most of their consumer lines may be becoming an issue and IMHO wasteful. The vast majority of my friends wielding Apple products 'update' every 2+ years for Apple’s consumer lineup (Watch, iPhone, AirPods, etc) and even longer for their Macs.
iPads outsell Mac by a large margin in number of units sold. The reason: it meets a demand. It is furthermore an exquisite consumption device tied to the cloud which means large service revenue.
As customers, we are in the nice situation that the SoC generation does not matter anymore for most people. That hold true for iPhone, Macs, and iPads. Given Apple dominance in the tablet field, I would also have prioritised the iPhone, the Mac and the Vision Pro in 2023.
My 2017 iPad Pro runs well until I load some heavy games - so an M3 iPad Pro, preferably with 16 Gb RAM, seems like a much needed upgrade.
As customers, we are in the nice situation that the SoC generation does not matter anymore for most people. That hold true for iPhone, Macs, and iPads. Given Apple dominance in the tablet field, I would also have prioritised the iPhone, the Mac and the Vision Pro in 2023.
My 2017 iPad Pro runs well until I load some heavy games - so an M3 iPad Pro, preferably with 16 Gb RAM, seems like a much needed upgrade.
Apple needs to do something big with iPadOS, fast.
EXCLUSIVE: Microsoft readies 'next-gen' AI-focused Surface Pro and Surface Laptop with Arm chips and design upgrades for 2024
Microsoft is making major updates to its Surface Pro and Surface Laptop lines with improved designs, new features, and next-gen silicon.
www.windowscentral.com
This is going to be the new go-to excuse now that "supply chain issues" is getting stale.
"Why is iOS 18 so buggy?"
"They were focusing on the Vision Pro".
I think that was a good thing. Give them time to add meaningful updates, rather than a spec bump that doesn’t amount to much. The OS needs the most work, the hardware is just sitting there not being used to its potential.
We will see the OLED screens, horizontal orientation cameras, new accessories, and all that this year. If only they would take the time to do the same with the iPhone, but I know Wall Street would never let that happen.
We will see the OLED screens, horizontal orientation cameras, new accessories, and all that this year. If only they would take the time to do the same with the iPhone, but I know Wall Street would never let that happen.
With phones, I buy the extended battery cases. With iPads, the battery life is so long and usually never needed, I don’t even notice the degradation.With both sealed phones and tablets sooner or later it's a battery repair or upgrade choice.
1. remove the 64gb base model.
It’s 2024, the base models should be starting at 256gb at least. Customers shouldn’t be expected to pay ridiculous upgrade prices because they give you an e-waste 64gb base model. Did I say it’s 2024? Not 2004.
2. iPadOS multi user support
That’s all I need to pull the trigger on a new iPad.
It’s 2024, the base models should be starting at 256gb at least. Customers shouldn’t be expected to pay ridiculous upgrade prices because they give you an e-waste 64gb base model. Did I say it’s 2024? Not 2004.
2. iPadOS multi user support
That’s all I need to pull the trigger on a new iPad.
I think the fact that many of us don't really care if there was an update this year is the reason why there was not. If the market is a bit cool why release a new product that will not sell very well?
The iPad is great but tablets in general have a limited use and I think for many the limit of usefulness has been reached with current tablets. I have a 13" M1 iPad Pro with zero desire to upgrade it any time soon. It has way more power than I could ever want on a tablet.
It's the apps and OS really holding back the hardware. We now at least have apps like Resolve and Final Cut Pro to finally make use of that hardware but editing video on a tablet is also kind of a odd niche. It's just not the kind of device one buys to use specifically for that purpose. Getting a M2 MBA is 1000x more useful as a video editing system and it will cost much less.
Tablets are neat but a really odd device for many users. Phones are a must as a computer and communication device in our pockets. Tablets not so much. Its a device in-between a phone and a computer but thats not really something a lot of people want to have.
I think it's perfectly fine for Apple to wait until they have a more significant upgrade for the iPad to give users more of an incentive to upgrade. Something like OLED or a new size and form factor. On the performance side maybe even the lowest end models should get some love. On the computer side the M2 is the lowest one can get. Maybe the iPad needs to shift away from a pro model and actually treat all iPads like a MacBook alternative.
We should more tablets support hardware ray tracing however to move gaming up to a new level. It's always been odd to me the iPhone has better gaming hardware than iPads and yet the iPads have larger screens and need more hardware. Apple needs to rethink its approach to gaming in general. There is a lot of potential there on the Apple TV and iPad but they really back both devices in terms of performance. Buying an expensive iPad Pro just for gaming also seems a very odd move. Apple should push for more cost effective better gaming performance and stop holding it back. They need much better app support on both the iPad and Apple TV for serious gaming. Apple Arcade has been mostly a huge disappointment in general. Every now and then they get a nice game but they really need to push more serious gaming on both devices.
The iPad is great but tablets in general have a limited use and I think for many the limit of usefulness has been reached with current tablets. I have a 13" M1 iPad Pro with zero desire to upgrade it any time soon. It has way more power than I could ever want on a tablet.
It's the apps and OS really holding back the hardware. We now at least have apps like Resolve and Final Cut Pro to finally make use of that hardware but editing video on a tablet is also kind of a odd niche. It's just not the kind of device one buys to use specifically for that purpose. Getting a M2 MBA is 1000x more useful as a video editing system and it will cost much less.
Tablets are neat but a really odd device for many users. Phones are a must as a computer and communication device in our pockets. Tablets not so much. Its a device in-between a phone and a computer but thats not really something a lot of people want to have.
I think it's perfectly fine for Apple to wait until they have a more significant upgrade for the iPad to give users more of an incentive to upgrade. Something like OLED or a new size and form factor. On the performance side maybe even the lowest end models should get some love. On the computer side the M2 is the lowest one can get. Maybe the iPad needs to shift away from a pro model and actually treat all iPads like a MacBook alternative.
We should more tablets support hardware ray tracing however to move gaming up to a new level. It's always been odd to me the iPhone has better gaming hardware than iPads and yet the iPads have larger screens and need more hardware. Apple needs to rethink its approach to gaming in general. There is a lot of potential there on the Apple TV and iPad but they really back both devices in terms of performance. Buying an expensive iPad Pro just for gaming also seems a very odd move. Apple should push for more cost effective better gaming performance and stop holding it back. They need much better app support on both the iPad and Apple TV for serious gaming. Apple Arcade has been mostly a huge disappointment in general. Every now and then they get a nice game but they really need to push more serious gaming on both devices.
No amount of major hardware changes will make much difference if the OS and state of 1st party / 3rd party apps are holding the device category back. The latter needs to be fixed first.
Still just a media consumption device in the population that might buy one, especially with the kneecapped OS.
I'll keep my SurfacePro for real work and use the refurbished iPad Pro until it doesn't get updates anymore.
After that, who knows what will be available for my actual needs.
I'll keep my SurfacePro for real work and use the refurbished iPad Pro until it doesn't get updates anymore.
After that, who knows what will be available for my actual needs.
They need a regular model and a Pro model, that's it. I wouldn't mind a slight aspect ratio change to be wider (maybe 16:9, maybe not) since most content you'll watch these days is going to be wasting a significant amount of the screen.
On the software side, multiple user logins are a must and long overdue.
On the software side, multiple user logins are a must and long overdue.
Thing is the iPad Pro has a better screen, can be used to draw on with the pencil, etc. The keyboard, whilst expensive is replaceable at least if damaged and third party options exist. Or if you don't want the keyboard you can omit it. Can't option "no keyboard" with a Mac.
Convertible 2 in 1 PCs are normallymore expensive than laptops, and they don't have superior screens normally.
The problem with the iPad Pro (especially the 12.9) isn't the price. The problem is the limitations of iPadOS at that price point. If I could actually run all the things I can on a MacBook Air on an iPad Pro I'd buy the iPad Pro at a $300-500 premium in a heartbeat.
But you can't. Hopefully Apple continue to get closer to that, because in terms of form factor and capabilities the iPad has a lot to offer, if only we didn't have to give up so much.
Apple are in the situation that Steve Jobs had no issue with, but seems they are hesitating on:
The MacBook Air and iPad are in a very similar space and it feels that they're being artificially limited in order to keep both devices. Steve had no issue with cannibalisation, but seems like the current team do.
Give iPadOS some more flexibility, kill the MacBook Air and replace with the iPad lineup. The lines are getting increasingly blurry, but it seems Apple are intentionally not doing this in order to try and sell two products to everyone instead of one to a lot of users.
At the moment it's working because the PC tablet market is so lacklustre (mostly intel and Microsoft's fault), but eventually they'll have to do this - or somebody else will do a good job of it instead.
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Mine just laid around. Decided to trade it in and get a Best Buy card for it during holidays while it’s still worth something. Can’t see any more iPads in this house. Not even the kids want these.