Apple Unveils New 8th-Gen 10.2-inch iPad With A12 Chip, Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard Support

[meboy]

Even this is an A12?

Seems the iPad Pro with A12Z desperately needs an update to keep the Pro name.

Needed OLED to justify the too high price last update.
In 2018 they upped the price by $150 just for face id and slightly reduced bezels.
At that time face id was expensive, still nobody asked for it and to be forced to pay more for it.
Similar situation for the stupid touch bar..
Now they do it again with this redesigned air. $100 more for reduced bezels (zero cost..) and slightly better camera that no one uses.

 

[bluecoast]

For your parents, grandparents, kids, teens and for schools, in the 32GB model & it’ll be a fantastic machine for each of these.

 

[nicho]

Edit: Tim said $299 out loud, too. But it's coming up $309 in the EDU online store.

Bulk discounts are available to education customers. It’ll be $299 when 10 or more are ordered etc.

 

[Mainsail]

Bulk discounts are available to education customers. It’ll be $299 when 10 or more are ordered etc.

During the holidays, you will find these frequently on sale for $250.

 

[JonKelley]

I bought the equivalent of this iPad (5th gen) in 2017, which also included a meager (even then) 32GB of base storage. Under light use, it regularly needs to re-download 3rd party apps from the cloud on launch due to the limited capacity. 64GB would have been ideal, but not offered in the new model. $100 more will buy 128GB of storage, which is ample, but brings the price closer to the outgoing iPad Air. The improvements look promising, just keep in mind the base storage is very easy to outgrow.

 

[noanker]

Keep in mind that earlier this year, a vulnerability was discovered in devices with A11 or below, so don’t be surprised if by the end of this year, every single Apple device has at least an A12 or better.
On top of this, that would mean that all of the devices would be on the 7 nm process, except for the new iPad Air and iPhones which will be already on the 5 nm process.
Wouldn’t be surprised to see an Apple TV with an A12X or A12Z. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Apple decided to update the Homepod with a very dumbed down A12, just to make sure that everything is on the 7 nm process or newer, and to make sure that vulnerability is in none of their current products

Good point and for readers of this thread, it has to do with a vulnerability with the Secure Enclave security coprocessor. This affects chips from A4 to A11, according this this article.

 

[noanker]

This past Saturday I was debating waiting until today's iPad reveal to see if they spec bumped the 7th gen iPad and if so, how much. Laminated screen and more RAM would have been welcome. But the 5th gen iPad Mini was very enticing with its specs and most importantly, the storage options.

My 2016 128gb iPad Pro 9.7 was feeling long in the tooth, namely with locking up and freezing on several occasions. Battery life was not pleasant. While I love the Pro's quad speakers, I'm basically using earpods for everything these days, so that wasn't a factor in choosing a replacement. Storage, processor and update longevity were primary concerns.

Having previously owned a Gen 2 iPad Mini, I loved the form factor and portability. What I hated on that Gen 2 was the underclocked A7 processor, it made future upgrades very painful and got progressively slower.

Ultimately, I decided in favor of the 5th Gen iPad Mini with 256gb. I just love this hardware, really snappy performance when compared with my 2016 iPad Pro.

It reminds me of the days when Chrysler dropped a 340 ci V-8 into their Dart/Duster line. With the right axle ratio, it turned what was a grocery-getter into a much coveted junior muscle car.

 

[paulsonj72]

Looks like this will be my daughter's (9 years old) Christmas present. All she does is play Roblox and watch Youtube. LOL

I am pretty sure I will use it as a semi replacement for my laptop. My laptop was bought refurbished and can’t update to Big Sur. Same as my iMac but if we get another stimulus payment I can afford a new iMac with AppleCare+

 

[Basic75]

The plain iPad still has Lightning:

Unfortunately. Any word on RAM?

 

[manu chao]

Unfortunately. Any word on RAM?

Apple never officially mentions RAM with iOS devices, we‘ll have to wait until these iPads ship (unless somebody leaks that info). In regard to Lightning, they’ve kept the shell the same with no place (flat edges) to magnetically connect and charge the Pencil 2. And to pair the Pencil 1, it needs to be plugged into an iPad’s Lightning port.

Of course, maybe they could make that work via a USB-C to Lightning adapter. But then the Pencil 1 would also work on the flat-edged iPads but without the ’magnetic charging’. They rather keep things simple: flat-edged iPad = fancy new Pencil, curved-edge iPad = Lightning Pencil.

 

[Basic75]

Apple never officially mentions RAM with iOS devices, we‘ll have to wait until these iPads ship (unless somebody leaks that info). In regard to Lightning, they’ve kept the shell the same with no place (flat edges) to magnetically connect and charge the Pencil 2. And to pair the Pencil 1, it needs to be plugged into an iPad’s Lightning port.

Of course, maybe they could make that work via a USB-C to Lightning adapter. But then the Pencil 1 would also work on the flat-edged iPads but without the ’magnetic charging’. They rather keep things simple: flat-edged iPad = fancy new Pencil, curved-edge iPad = Lightning Pencil.

The Pencil 1 compatibility mandates Lightning, I don't like it but at least it's some explanation. Market segmentation FTW.

 

[nicho]

During the holidays, you will find these frequently on sale for $250.

School districts don't go to Best Buy.

The point of my post was to highlight where the $299 figure came from and why consumers might not see it.

 

[plandersen]

Is this basically the 7th gen model but with an A12 instead of an A10 ?, is that the only difference ?.

I'm also curious about this.

Is the only change just A10 -> A12?

 

[nicho]

I'm also curious about this.

Is the only change just A10 -> A12?

The inclusion of a 20W charger and USBC-lightning cable suggests it is now capable of fast charging like the mini/air/pros.

 

[plandersen]

The inclusion of a 20W charger and USBC-lightning cable suggests it is now capable of fast charging like the mini/air/pros.

I suppose a 20W adapter charges the iPad faster than a 12W charger nevertheless.

I never use the included charger anyway as I find the Anker chargers with multiple ports much better (and faster).

 

[Steve jobs iphone]

I’d rather keep my iPad 2 32gb