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

[mdellepi]

No. The 10.5 Pro went away with the new 11" Pro.

Nope. It went away today replaced by the Air.

If there ever was a confusing lineup, that would have been before today, with 3 iPad Pro models, 2 new and 1 old. Now you have the cheap iPad, the intermediate Air and the high end Pro. Plus the Mini in its own category.

 

[thadoggfather]

No, even that is too much, I think $99 is more appropriate.

People, please get real.

I mean its a 10.5" screen instead of 9.7" on the $329 model last year, laminated display is nice, but still no proMotion or quad speakers. Most people seeking a cheap iPad wont care about A10 to A12 or realize the performance gains, either.

so its a $170 price bump (just over 50%) for a bigger and laminated display, from most people's perspectives. That aint too cool. All so Apple can offload a bunch of nerfed extra panels they have laying around.

 

[Paulg2uk]

Still no Face ID then?

 

[Steve121178]

Not sure who the iPad Air is for. Basic tablet goes to the 9.7 and enthusiast tablet goes to the 11.

People who want a balance of pro & basic iPad tech, basically the mainstream.

 

[derekamoss]

No, there’s now the 7.9-inch mini, the 9.7-inch iPad, the 10.5-inch iPad Air, the 11-inch iPad Pro, and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

That's way to many product categories.

 

[StellarVixen]

It was a question, not a conclusion.

Nevertheless, on which logic is it based?

 

[Brenster]

The iPad Product Lineup is getting more confusing by the minute...

Like the laptop lineup, MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, now iPad, iPad Pro, iPad Air. Oh, and iPad mini. What happened to the simple product matrix?

iPad Mini (A12), iPad 9.7” (A10), iPad Air 10.5” (A12), iPad Pro 11” & 12.9” (A12x)

Imagine you’re a regular, non-tech savvy consumer. You think you want an iPad - which one is the obvious pick?

The regular iPad that is two CPU generations behind the others? Want a keyboard cover - what is the difference between the Air & the Pro? Is the newer chip in the Air worth a couple of hundred more than the A10 in the 9.7”?

And as others have mentioned, if you want to use an Apple Pencil or a Smart Keyboard cover, which iPad should you buy and which pencil/keyboard cover?

A radically simpler product matrix with obvious benefits as price increases would go along way to help, as would simplifying the accessories to 1 pencil & 1 cover.

Overlapping product segments is going to cause confusion, especially those that buy from Currys & Argos here in the UK. The average employee in those stores knows way less than your average MR reader.

 

[chucker23n1]

That's way to many product categories.

Agreed. I guess they don’t want to provide these specs in the regular iPad, but also don’t want to give up that price point.

 

[oldmacs]

This should have replaced the 'iPad' and been cheaper. iPad mini, iPad, iPad Pro. Much more sensible lineup.

 

[MVMNT]

1080p video only?

 

[Tiger8]

Why? This is just a refresh, nothing new or added to the line up, or am I missing something.

It technically is a change in the lineup, Air is back, as a mid-tier player, replacing the older iPad Pro with better specs and lower price.

That said, there will be confusion with the old air and new air for a couple of years

 

[Marzel]

The iPad lineup finally feels complete and covers a wide range of needs and prices. It’s a real shame though, that AirPower is nowhere to be seen.

 

[Brammy]

Nope. It went away today replaced by the Air.

They were still selling the 10.5 Pro until today? Wow.

 

[tann]

Lack of USB C is the most annoying thing, fragmentation within their own iPad lineups.

Otherwise I think the 10.5 is a reasonable half-way step between the two. Lack of quad speakers is unfortunate however.

 

[Dave245]

Let's be honest, the only reason Apple updated the 10.5 inch was in reaction to the Surface GO. Otherwise it would have fallen into obscurity. To me it seems like everything Apple is doing now with updates and new products is only in reaction to something instead of being the company others are reacting too.

The iPad outsells the Surface, so Apple wouldn't need to realise a competitor for the GO. Besides the iPad and Surface are two different things, one is a device that claims it can replace a laptop and a tablet (in my experience it can't) the other is simply a tablet.

 

[BigJohno]

We found a 2017 ipad pro 10.5 for 499 at best buy a few weeks ago. So happy to get that especially after this update.

 

[jimmy_uk]

So there's now two 10.5" iPads?

Based on what logic have you came to that conclusion?

Because its Apple and they like to make mm adjustments so you are forced to upgrade your cases - example the X and XS differences.

 

[Tygernoot]

Ah, so the new Pro is 11" now, whereas the previous (smaller) Pros were 10.5" and 9,7".

This is also great to support as developer. I only have one small app, but all the iPhone and iPad sizes, resolutions and notches are doing my head in lol.

 

[boss1]

Seriously Apple???
Mini screen size is only 1” bigger than my iPhone.
Get rid of the bezels and you would’ve made the sale.

 

[thadoggfather]

We found a 2017 ipad pro 10.5 for 499 at best buy a few weeks ago. So happy to get that especially after this update.

Yeah I'm actually walking back my comments I just made about people getting hosed getting the 2017 10.5"

2017 on sale is now even better value with 120HZ and quad speakers.

 

[jimmy_uk]

So this is the old 10.5" iPad Pro, but with an A12 and $150 cheaper?

No, they've dropped features.

 

[mygoldens]

Very Nice, more variety, instead of just a couple of high priced iPads!

 

[ggibson913]

Is there really a reason to purchase the iPad Pro at this point?

 

[oldmacs]

iPad Mini (A12), iPad 9.7” (A10), iPad Air 10.5” (A12), iPad Pro 11” & 12.9” (A12x)

Imagine you’re a regular, non-tech savvy consumer. You think you want an iPad - which one is the obvious pick?

The regular iPad that is two CPU generations behind the others? Want a keyboard cover - what is the difference between the Air & the Pro? Is the newer chip in the Air worth a couple of hundred more than the A10 in the 9.7”?

And as others have mentioned, if you want to use an Apple Pencil or a Smart Keyboard cover, which iPad should you buy and which pencil/keyboard cover?

A radically simpler product matrix with obvious benefits as price increases would go along way to help, as would simplifying the accessories to 1 pencil & 1 cover.

Overlapping product segments is going to cause confusion, especially those that buy from Currys & Argos here in the UK. The average employee in those stores knows way less than your average MR reader.

Very true.

The normal iPad should go and this new 'iPad Air' should be dropped down to the price of the iPad or maybe a little more. They should all be using the same pencil and same keyboard connector.

 

[JohnApples]

I get that *we* aren’t confused by the naming schemes but regular customers certainly will.

I had a hard enough time explaining to my coworkers what the differences between an XR, XS, and X were. I have no doubt that non-tech-savvy people will be scratching their heads over the differences between the iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro (which itself has 2 sizes).