Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Scrapped Plans to Launch Low-Cost iPad With Plastic Design and Keyboard
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Apple doesn’t want to hook “everybody” though… just those with enough money to buy their devices at their prices AND that may spend additional money on services. There’s a very large portion of the worldwide market where the margins are very thin. Apple’s has no desire to complete there.
I always thought these “too silly to actually be computers” were fun.
And someone’s brought that forward, unfortunately, not in a mass market way 
iBook G3 mod makes the coolest iPad case you'll ever see
Apple users do the darnedest things with old gear. Recently a guy stuck a USB-C port in an iPhone X and got $86,000 for it on eBay. We profiled a Romanian
www.cultofmac.com
There is no critical mass to K-12 that doesn’t include Chromebooks. The hardware is cheap and, if so desired and for a fee, the district doesn’t even have to hire someone to administer them! Apple’s never going to compete with that.
I think we can be fairly sure that every iPad user on reddit is STILL just a small number of ALL the 64 GB iPads out there.
Did a few hundred folks make the wrong decision and are looking for help on reddit? Sure, but forums, like these, are always going to be a self selecting group of folks having problems. It’s not like the majority of 64 GB users that are not having a problem is going to find a forum, and create an account just to say, “64 GB is plenty for me”.
True, all Apple fans know that their prices are "not for everyone".
But to attract more people, you need to hook them. To do that, you have to have hook products, like the Apple Watch SE for those reluctant to smartwatches or the iPad 9, which so far I think is the first entry into the "Apple" world for many, many users, because of its attractive price.
The new iPad 10, however, doesn't have that hook factor. It is expensive and has strange solutions to problems that would be solved with a magnet, as in the rest of the iPads. If it is not attractive in its price (as seen in the forum, it is not being very well received), many people will turn to other tablets of similar price to the iPad 9, which have better specs and better looks. And if that person buys a Galaxy Tab, they will likely end up buying a Galaxy A or S and won't buy an iPhone 11 or 12.
When someone asked me about a 300/400 euro tablet, the obvious answer was the iPad, because it's the best tablet. Now, between the iPad 9 going up in price without giving anything new in return and an iPad 10 at almost 600 euros with an unlaminated screen, and seeing the evolution of Samsung and its DEX, I have a hard time recommending an entry-level iPad (or an iPad, overall) these days.
Apple doesn't just live off the iPhone 14 Pro/Pro Max. It may do well this year, but it needs the "normal" range and it needs "attractive" products that can convince people with less purchasing power to buy its products and, in turn, its services.
To earn more, you need more people to buy from you. And selling the SE range, is precisely selling obsolete models with newer hardware, production processes more than amortized, with a couple of changes. Low investment, high profit.
Is it more profitable to sell a Ferrari than a Corolla? Evidently, but Apple is not a Ferrari, at most, a Mercedes-Benz, and this brand has from "accessible" cars like the A-Class to Maybach at almost Rolls Royce prices.
But to attract more people, you need to hook them. To do that, you have to have hook products, like the Apple Watch SE for those reluctant to smartwatches or the iPad 9, which so far I think is the first entry into the "Apple" world for many, many users, because of its attractive price.
The new iPad 10, however, doesn't have that hook factor. It is expensive and has strange solutions to problems that would be solved with a magnet, as in the rest of the iPads. If it is not attractive in its price (as seen in the forum, it is not being very well received), many people will turn to other tablets of similar price to the iPad 9, which have better specs and better looks. And if that person buys a Galaxy Tab, they will likely end up buying a Galaxy A or S and won't buy an iPhone 11 or 12.
When someone asked me about a 300/400 euro tablet, the obvious answer was the iPad, because it's the best tablet. Now, between the iPad 9 going up in price without giving anything new in return and an iPad 10 at almost 600 euros with an unlaminated screen, and seeing the evolution of Samsung and its DEX, I have a hard time recommending an entry-level iPad (or an iPad, overall) these days.
Apple doesn't just live off the iPhone 14 Pro/Pro Max. It may do well this year, but it needs the "normal" range and it needs "attractive" products that can convince people with less purchasing power to buy its products and, in turn, its services.
To earn more, you need more people to buy from you. And selling the SE range, is precisely selling obsolete models with newer hardware, production processes more than amortized, with a couple of changes. Low investment, high profit.
Is it more profitable to sell a Ferrari than a Corolla? Evidently, but Apple is not a Ferrari, at most, a Mercedes-Benz, and this brand has from "accessible" cars like the A-Class to Maybach at almost Rolls Royce prices.
As someone who is actually purchases iPads en masse for K-12 Education, they didn't have to do much to combat Chromebooks. If anything their 10th Gen undermines much of the progress Apple made in this arena.
Before the 10th gen, Apple was already winning vs Chromebooks (when considering total cost of ownership), and winning against Windows hard. I was already expecting a increase due to inflation but not by 40%.
Having a plastic exterior doesn't matter too much as EDU typically slaps a case on every device anyway to take advantage of AppleCare+ for Schools, such as Brenthaven Edge 360's or the Logitech Rugged Combo.
Before the 10th gen, Apple was already winning vs Chromebooks (when considering total cost of ownership), and winning against Windows hard. I was already expecting a increase due to inflation but not by 40%.
Having a plastic exterior doesn't matter too much as EDU typically slaps a case on every device anyway to take advantage of AppleCare+ for Schools, such as Brenthaven Edge 360's or the Logitech Rugged Combo.
And sampling bias. Only those who bought the wrong storage would be making such posts.
They could if they wanted to. But even if they did, Chromebooks are probably a better solution for K-12 anyway.
Plastic gives you PTSD huh?
Then we can assume you (plus the up thumbers) don't have anything Apple makes out of plastic. So no Apple TV, HomePod or HomePod Mini, ABSOLUTELY no AirPods. Accessories are off limits 'cause their mostly plastic. Apple has a long history & many iconic products made of plastic. The 1984 Macintosh, iMacs gen 1-3 & even 4 was more plastic than aluminium. Numerous notebooks, the iPod & the original iPhone.
I notice you say "the" 5c & white MacBook not "my" 'cause those that did have those things had no hang up with them being plastic.
Fortunately for Apple, a lot of folk’s first entry into the “Apple” world, from very young, is a relative or friend’s underused, years old, iPhone or iPad. There are so many of those out there that a parent’s way of “saving money” by just upgrading an old iPad as far as it can go then installing a few free games on it likely aligns with what Apple would like for folks to do with those old machines if they’re not going to recycle them responsibly.
So, I do agree that the services part is important (services usually pulls in more money than Mac and iPad combined), but folks with less purchasing power are precisely those LESS likely to buy the services. It makes even more sense that Apple targets folks with more purchasing power. It’s true that prices have risen related to last year, but that’s not under Apple’s control. Those country’s dollars have fallen in value, decreasing their ability to purchase lots of things, not just Apple products.
As someone who’s actually purchasing iPads for K-12 (in the US?), how does your organization handle the cost of Chromebook administration VS administration for Apple products? I’d looked into it awhile ago, a school with no IT organization could get a bunch of Chromebooks and pay some trivially small amount (compared to hiring an IT staff) to have them administered by Google. If your district is one of the more affluent ones that already has an IT staff in place, then the cost differential, I think would become more of a ROI thing. But, for those that don’t have IT staff, it seems to me that they really wouldn’t have a choice. Is that still a thing? (It was a few years ago when I looked into it.)
I actually think a hard plastic backed iPad would survive a kids backpack better than a thin metal ipad.
I had the white 2006 Macbook, after the years the plastic had cracks everywhere and the color was more like beige than white. Then my sister had a green iPhone 5c that had micro cracks everywhere of the daily use, not because of hard falls.
Don’t compare a HomePod with a MacBook, come on.