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Apple Launches New 10.5-Inch iPad Air With A12 Bionic Chip and Apple Pencil Support, Starts at $499

tintifax3k said:
The iPad Product Lineup is getting more confusing by the minute...
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No. It's the absolute right thing to do right now. Apple owns the tablet market. No competitor has a chance to get a piece of the action right now, and with Apple serving very different customers with very different iPads, they are simply strengthening their position in the market. This is why I believe that a refresh of the iPhone SE has become a lot more likely since the new iPad mini release yesterday.
 
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Mitochris said:
What was she doing with it? We have an iPad mini 2 and the only major problem we have is that the lightning connector doesn’t easily accept cables anymore so it is difficult to charge.
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If it’s like most of the other users who have a charging problem, there’s probably some foreign matter blocking the port. A lot of times it’s just years of lint accumulation.

You can use a non-metal item such as a toothpick to clean it out yourself. Or if you have an Apple store close by, they’ll do it for you. You’ll likely be surprised at the amount of stuff that was in there.
 
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Wow! There are certainly some AMAZING things in that pipeline! When are they coming out?
 
lec0rsaire said:
Excellent product. The hell with 120Hz and bezel less design for almost twice the price. Will definitely buy one the second someone drops it to $400.
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And excellent points you made. Consumers don’t know what 120 HZ is, nor do they care about a bezel-less design. They see the [price point] with updated specifications. Those are the key selling points here. The problem with the iPad Pros, as they are great devices, but they are priced exorbitantly and a lot of the features/capabilities may not be appealing to the consumer that doesn’t want to spend that amount of money.
 
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PickUrPoison said:
If it’s like most of the other users who have a charging problem, there’s probably some foreign matter blocking the port. A lot of times it’s just years of lint accumulation.

You can use a non-metal item such as a toothpick to clean it out yourself. Or if you have an Apple store close by, they’ll do it for you. You’ll likely be surprised at the amount of stuff that was in there.
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YEs, I know. I have been cleaning it out with a toothpick, but not much help. I also did USB accessory thing someone else suggested. but I think it is the connection. I will have to go to an apple store with it, but I don't get out much. ;-)
 
thadoggfather said:
Yikes!

Didnt realize this, man I don't like this overtly bean counting Apple its become a joke. With that in mind, this thing should be $399 imo
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Why?

If Apple is selling a lot of these at $499 - they'd be stupid not to keep selling them at $499.

If you had a tomato stand with 1,000 tomatoes which cost you 10 cents each in labor/materials to create....

You sold them at 25 cents a piece - and they were all gone in 5 minutes.
Now you jack up the price to $1.00 each and sell them all in 4 hours. Is this wrong for some reason?
 
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Relentless Power said:
Consumers don’t know what 120 HZ is, nor do they care about a bezel-less design. They see the [price point] with updated specifications.
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Yup. 120 hz iPad for the average consumer is similar to the infotainment tech overload in today’s cars that (in my experience, particularly with older relatives) isn’t even used.

Bezeless design at this point seems more for a feather in the designers’ caps than for a well-balanced benefit for the average consumer. What defines “success?” When is enough enough (when do you stop)?

What is truly gained and what is possibly worsened by a 100% truly bezeless design that can only be gripped gently at the edges or else parts of the screen are either blocked or accidentally pinch-zoomed?

A buddy has one of the android phones (a Samsung maybe?) with the screen that curves/wraps around/into the side - the case for that bezeless design is completely ridiculous. Way too bulky to allow access to the edge just for the sake of a unique feature for Marketing high-fives. I don’t even have an iPhone with the notch and find the notch laughably ridiculous just for the sake of pushing the bezeless envelope. Lots of lily-gilding.
 
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bbeagle said:
Why?

If Apple is selling a lot of these at $499 - they'd be stupid not to keep selling them at $499.

If you had a tomato stand with 1,000 tomatoes which cost you 10 cents each in labor/materials to create....

You sold them at 25 cents a piece - and they were all gone in 5 minutes.
Now you jack up the price to $1.00 each and sell them all in 4 hours. Is this wrong for some reason?
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Because hopefully customers are smart enough to know a tablet of approaching two years of age, the 2017 10.5", has a superior screen and sound (120hz and quad speakers) at the expense of 18% performance dip that will be negligible, can be had regularly on sale for the same asking price as this stripped down thing that just hit the market. Maybe they'll then be so turned off by the fact that the better option is one from the past, they'll hold onto their money a little while longer, etc.

Who knows? Flagrant nickel and diming customers with every single modern release, on top of anticipated Apple tax, will erode any sense of loyalty customers once had (imo)
 
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Chundles said:
New iPad Air vs 10.5” Pro

Air:
  • Faster A12 Processor
  • 13g lighter
  • Cheaper than the now-discontinued Pro
  • Possibly only 1st Gen Touch ID, products with 2nd Gen Touch ID were specifically noted in their tech specs page
  • Old, 1st Gen iPad Pro camera
  • No camera bump
Pro:
  • ProMotion Display
  • Brighter display (600nits v 500nits)
  • Quad Speakers
  • 4K optically-stabilised video, 12MP photos from f1.8 aperture camera
So yeah, the Air is cheaper than the 10.5” Pro and it gives up quite a few features but it’s cheaper. I think keeping the quad speakers would’ve made a massive difference to perceived value but oh well.

The mini is a tough pill to swallow. Sure it’s faster but would a mini user notice the A12 over the A10? It’s more expensive for half the storage and Pencil support.
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I have the 9.7" original iPad Pro, so I'm leaning towards finding a like-new 10.5" model for a slight upgrade. The 9.7" is still plenty fast, but the minor increase to keyboard size will probably be very welcomed considered how often I use it. And slightly larger screen, why not?

And compared to the new one, losing the quad speakers is the only real reason not to go for it. Those are great.
 
And we think the names are confusing now ... /s

Untitled-1-01.png
 
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I think the mini update is nice for people who want that size. But no, we don't need 5 sizes of iPad, with 3 of them being very similar in size. That is ridiculous. And the Air name hasn't been relevant in a number of years, time to get rid of that.
 
PickUrPoison said:
If it’s like most of the other users who have a charging problem, there’s probably some foreign matter blocking the port. A lot of times it’s just years of lint accumulation.

You can use a non-metal item such as a toothpick to clean it out yourself. Or if you have an Apple store close by, they’ll do it for you. You’ll likely be surprised at the amount of stuff that was in there.
Click to expand...
Either that or, like I said before, the default setting to not allow the use of USB accessories while the device is locked may be what's causing the problem. I believe that setting does block some chargers by mistake.
 
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PickUrPoison said:
There are tens of millions of iPads in the installed based that use Pencil 1, so they’re going to be available for at least 5-7 years. For iPad Pro, Apple made a wireless charging Pencil 2 that attaches magnetically. It requires new charging components in the iPad and furthermore it is not backwards compatible with the older first/second gen Pros or the 2018 iPad, which all use Pencil 1.

I guess you’re saying Pencil 2 isn’t necessary but it is a better version, according to artists and others who’ve used it. The 2018 iPad Pros don’t have Lightning so something had to be done, since Pencil 1 charges using the Lightning port
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I get that, thanks.
 
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imola.zhp said:
Wow, I was so busy yesterday I missed this...

But WTF apple? It looks the same as the original, its brand new but it already looks dated.

#NoThanks

Excited for a bezel-less iPad lineup; 2020?
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At least three years for the iPad mini, because Apple isn’t planning on a refresh any time soon... it’s got an A12.

But smaller bezels are already available in the other sizes. If you want that in the under-$500 models, it’s going to be a lot longer than next year.

Like the iMac and iPhone (among many examples), once Apple already has an excellent design, they don’t just change it for the sake of change. The design only gets replaced when there’s a reason to change it. But hey, I can get on board with a new iMac design. I think we’re currently in the eighth year.
 
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PickUrPoison said:
So maybe only the 11” iPad Pro would be sold at the “old Apple”. No $299 model for education, parents with kids and the budget-conscious? No $499 Air or $649 iPad Pro? No 12.9” Pro? No iPad mini? Just “one size fits all”, like AirPods? (I’m sure some customers wish AirPods were available in multiple sizes.)

Why are some posters so concerned that other customers are too stupid to manage choosing a few different options (but not them, they’re tech savvy and smart enough to understand lol). Personally, I like it the way it is. I think choice is good. There’s not always the ideal combination of features to suit everyone, but the odds are that more customers can be satisfied by three options rather than one.

I know it triggers the OCD in some to have a MacBook that’s lighter than the MacBook Air, or a iPad Air that’s 6.1mm instead of 5.8mm so it can also be thinnest iPad and not just the lightest. But actual customers are OK with the MacBook being 2 lbs while the MacBook Air weighs in at 2.75. And real customers are also OK with that iPad Air that’s 0.3mm “too thick”. All the branding folks don’t need to get fired :)
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The concern is that I work in IT consulting and am an apple buyer for 10 years now and I absolutely cannot figure out their product lines, which is absolutely stupid
 
clauzzz203 said:
The concern is that I work in IT consulting and am an apple buyer for 10 years now and I absolutely cannot figure out their product lines, which is absolutely stupid
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You can deploy the $329 iPad throughout the organization and people won't know the difference between that and the $499 new one, which is excellent!!!!
 
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PickUrPoison said:
Like the iMac and iPhone (among many examples), once Apple already has an excellent design, they don’t just change it for the sake of change. The design only gets replaced when there’s a reason to change it. But hey, I can get on board with a new iMac design. I think we’re currently in the eighth year.
Click to expand...

And when they do change the design, the new design is reserved only for their latest and most expensive flagship products. Other products retain the old design for another few years, like the 5th and 6th gen iPads, which retained the iPad Air 1 design, the iPhone SE which retained the iPhone 5s design or the new iPad Air, retaining the old iPad Pro 10.5" design.
 
clauzzz203 said:
The concern is that I work in IT consulting and am an apple buyer for 10 years now and I absolutely cannot figure out their product lines, which is absolutely stupid
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Not sure which product line you’re referring to. iPhone, Mac and iPad don’t seem to offer anything that can’t be figured out; maybe you’re just being hyperbolic?
 
I think iOS peaked in 2016/early 2017.

iPhone 7 Plus and iPad Pro 2G were probably the best, most solid, most uncompromised iOS devices ever made.

Everything else to come out since then has launched with a long list of ifs and buts.
 
clauzzz203 said:
Just try to explain the current ipad line in one sentence
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So that would be a yes to whether you were just being hyperbolic when you said that as an IT consultant of 10+ years you “absolutely cannot figure out their product lines”. OK, fine; I had obviously already guessed that was the case. Now for your challenge :)

If I had a client asking about which iPad to buy, I’d first ask what they thought they might use it for, in order to determine whether the smaller mini or the jumbo-sized iPad Pro might be the best recommendation. Assuming a 10-ish inch iPad would be the best size, you could say something like this:

“The older $329 iPad is a pretty basic model, the $499 iPad is faster and has a much better display, but the $799 iPad Pro is probably the one for you because I think the extra $300 is worth it.”

Some of my clients would probe re: the differences in features at those three price points, but many would just say, “sounds good, let’s do it.” I’d follow up after the first week or so of usage, and possibly re-visit the idea of the 7.9” and 12.9” options.
 
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