Apple's CFO Suggests iPad Pro Won't Be Refreshed in 2019

[Radon87000]

Ha I made the right choice buying the 2018 model a couple of days ago.

 

[FlyingDutch]

Are you suggesting iPads with home buttons won’t get iOS 14?

Zero chance of that being true.

Absolutely zero.

 

[maflynn]

I think its a foregone conclusion that we'll not see any new pieces of hardware. For all intents and purposes, there's only two months left in 2019

 

[kazmac]

Update the air then and we good

? The Air was updated in March.

I am waiting on the 4th gen Pro for better build quality and hopefully more usable RAM.

 

[magicschoolbus]

The 2018 is still crazy quick - even my 10.5 iPad Pro from 2017 is still a monster, rendering 4K videos without breaking a sweat in Lumafusion. They are both amazing devices.

 

[pika2000]

Kinda obvious, isn’t it.
It’s just that the tech bloggers and youtubers are making up their own rumors to then demand their rumors to be true.

 

[barkomatic]

I think Apple would be wise to get out of the habit of yearly mobile device refreshes and yearly OS refreshes.

You’ll never convince me that it doesn’t hurt their sales now that we’re officially in the era where we’ve hit peak iPhone and iPad. I used to refresh my iPhone every other year. The only exception was going from the 5 to the 5s when Touch ID was released. That was a killer feature that demanded an upgrade. I stayed with the 6s until the iPhone X was released and unless something drastic changes I’ll probably have the X for at least 4 years.

I’ve owned an iPad 2, iPad Air and the 9.7” iPad Pro. From right out of the gate the iPad had a refresh cycle closer to that of a PC or laptop and less similar to early smart phone years where you could justify a yearly or bi-yearly upgrade cycle.

I think it kills sales because if your 5 or 6 months past that last iPhone or iPad release why would you pay to upgrade your device when you know your just a handful of months away from having a device that won’t be the latest and greatest?

Now that upgrade cycles are more in line with PC’s and laptops I’d want to keep consumers guessing so they don’t have a built in reason to hold off on a purchase.

As for OS releases Apple simply supports too many hardware revs of their various devices. When you’re dealing with supporting millions or tens of millions of devices with components sourced from from a relatively small number of vendors it’s a lot easier to produce OS code without bugs than it is when your dealing with hundreds of millions of devices with components sourced from an ever growing number of vendors.

Instead of a yearly OS release packed with new features they should release a yearly OS roadmap with the features they intend to release through out the course of the year. If a feature isn’t ready for prime time it should be withheld for a later point release or the next major OS release if it’s warranted.

I think too many managers jump the gun trying to hit specific dates for specific features and as a result there is a culture at Apple that’s more about putting features out there than there is about making sure the features that are already there are as stable as they can be and that new features aren’t released until they are truly ready.

If they aren’t willing to go that far then every other yearly release should focus less on new features and more heavily on fixing bugs and improving performance as they did with iOS 12.

I disagree when it comes to the iPhone. Moving it to a 1.5 or 2 year refresh cycle would be disastrous while major Android makers are releasing high end models several times a year. Even if the only update is to the camera--that's what get most people's attention these days.

Releasing OS features throughout the year would kill any excitement people have over iOS. Also, to a certain extent Apple *does* release new features in point updates. While I agree that bug free releases are vital, you're not going to motivate people to buy devices by simply advertising they are bug free.

Apple is a very big, very resource rich company so that can support updates to multiple product lines.

 

[archer75]

I was hoping they'd release new ones now so I could get one for my wife and I could take her 12.9" pro. She uses it for photo work so it's more important she have the latest rather than I.
My air 2 is really showing it's age.

 

[JRobinsonJr]

...

As for OS releases Apple simply supports too many hardware revs of their various devices. When you’re dealing with supporting millions or tens of millions of devices with components sourced from from a relatively small number of vendors it’s a lot easier to produce OS code without bugs than it is when your dealing with hundreds of millions of devices with components sourced from an ever growing number of vendors.

Instead of a yearly OS release packed with new features they should release a yearly OS roadmap with the features they intend to release through out the course of the year. If a feature isn’t ready for prime time it should be withheld for a later point release or the next major OS release if it’s warranted.

I think too many managers jump the gun trying to hit specific dates for specific features and as a result there is a culture at Apple that’s more about putting features out there than there is about making sure the features that are already there are as stable as they can be and that new features aren’t released until they are truly ready.

If they aren’t willing to go that far then every other yearly release should focus less on new features and more heavily on fixing bugs and improving performance as they did with iOS 12.

I'll second that.. with some additional thoughts.

I would really like to see Apple separate iOS operating system functionality from iOS application functionality. IMO they rely too heavily on a small number of releases where everything gets updated at one time. We've seen the positive impact agile development has on software and IMO Apple would be well served to provide more frequent fixes and features for each independent component rather than bundling everything together.

It's fine if they want to update the core OS functionality on a yearly basis, but let the app teams update as often as possible.

 

[UK-MacAddict]

I suppose that might be because Apple’s ability to innovate has been missing for quite some time now.
They say that before his death, Steve Jobs supposedly had his hand involved in the next five major product upgrade cycles. Dare I say that this would’ve covered their ‘innovation’ up to the past few dead-cycles we’ve seen? Let’s be honest here: ever since we let Apple get away with that iPhone 6s (s is for speed) keynote, you know, the one where the whole theme was ‘Speed’ being their newest major upgrade, they’ve been milking this annual production process like nothing we’ve ever seen before.

Side note: whomever was the executive at Apple who started this keynote phrase “it’s the best iPhone / iPad we’ve made yet” should be shot. Of course it’s ‘the best one yet’; are we supposed to use that as validation that we shouldn’t worry that last year’s model might be the best? Who wouldn’t call their latest and greatest the best yet?!? So why do we have to be hearing that year after year?

Bottom line: I have completely lost all hope in Apple revolutionizing any new innovation of value. Anything substantial seems to be either too risky, or spread out to be milked over so many years. Tim Cook’s leadership has brought us products like the HomePod (a total catastrophe) and the Apple Watch (on my 4th generation and it’s only now starting to show any potential).

Perhaps this is why they pulled the plug on their autonomous skunkworks project.

Steve Jobs influence ended with the iPhone 6S. Anything after was Tim and Jony.

Funnily enough this coincided with price rises and eventually the notch. Steve Jobs would have hated it.

 

[EugW]

Unless the 2018 iPad Pro 11” gets deep discounts in Canada (and it so far hasn’t), I won’t be buying it. There is no way I’d buy a 256 GB 2018 model at close to full price with only 4 GB RAM at this point. The iPad Pro has already been at 4 GB for 4 years now and is overdue for a RAM upgrade. (The uber expensive 1 TB model doesn’t count.)

I am waiting for the updated 6 GB model, either 128 GB or 256 GB. I’m hoping for Jan/Feb. 2020.

 

[RickDEGH]

Updating the iPad Pro is kind of silly now (I may seem biased as I just got a 2018 pro) as they’re only competing with themselves in the tablet space when it comes to the high end.


the only reason they need to update it is to massage sales, as far as I can tell literally nothing you could do on an iPad really demands a beefier one? The closest competitors are miles behind. Software updates are what’s likely to change the iPad’s perceived usefulness.

they won’t change the design much. You’re presumably looking at maybe more ram across the board, a better camera and..? A slightly more reinforced frame maybe? More colours?

I agree with you. I just got mine (Pro 11) and I’m hoping there’s no update for a while 😆

 

[Unregistered 4U]

if your 5 or 6 months past that last iPhone or iPad release why would you pay to upgrade your device

Because they want to? The vast majority of folks walk into a store buy a thing then are happy with that thing until they’re no longer happy with it, then they get another... no matter if it’s cars or washing machines or phones. There ARE folks that want to have the newest, but most either don’t have the desire or the money to have the latest and greatest.

 

[joelhinch]

4 hours of screen time? You should take that back to Apple ASAP They'll run diagnostics on it and replace it. That's like 6 hours less than normal. If I had an iPad that bad I couldn't even post about because I'd already have it replaced at my closest Apple store.

Mmmm, just last night used it for 2hrs in bed and lost 50% charge. (from 88% to 40%). iOS 13.2

It wasn't an issue on iOS 12 so not sure its entirely a hardware issue... could be software related, but don't really want to reset. Waiting and hoping for an 13.2.x update to improve it otherwise I will be trying a reset, then asking Tim Apple about a replacement.

 

[FelixDerKater]

These are long cycle upgrade purchases anyway.

 

[mr_jomo]

Ha I made the right choice buying the 2018 model a couple of days ago.

It's super device. Enjoy!

 

[ksec]

I think it is more of Apple changing cycles, it had always make more sense to have another Cycle start in March, where iPhone is September. And they are 6 months in between, something I have been wondering why didn't happen sooner.

Hopefully there will be an iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, and iPhone SE2 in March.

 

[Nuno Lopes]

I was planning to move from a MacBook Pro 2015 to a combination of iPad Pro 12.9 and a beefed up Mac Mini this month. My plans just got delayed.

It does not make sense to me to buy year old devices ... unless absolutely critical ... which is not my case.

 

[EugW]

I’ve owned an iPad 2, iPad Air and the 9.7” iPad Pro. From right out of the gate the iPad had a refresh cycle closer to that of a PC or laptop and less similar to early smart phone years where you could justify a yearly or bi-yearly upgrade cycle.

I guess I should point out that the average upgrade cycle for iPhones is three to four years. Analysts were saying 3 years in 2018, but that increased to 4 years in 2019. I emphasize average, meaning that many people keep their iPhones much longer. In fact, a recent estimate this summer said that only about 16% of iPhone owners were planning on upgrading in 2019.

This isn’t shocking. I’ve been wondering why people thought they would refresh the iPad pros so soon? Aren’t the pros on a 2 year cycle generally?

About 17 months average. Shortest refresh was 14 months, and longest was 19 months IIRC.

 

[Falhófnir]

Unless the 2018 iPad Pro 11” gets deep discounts in Canada (and it so far hasn’t), I won’t be buying it. There is no way I’d buy a 256 GB 2018 model at close to full price with only 4 GB RAM at this point. The iPad Pro has already been at 4 GB for 4 years now and is overdue for a RAM upgrade. (The uber expensive 1 TB model doesn’t count.)

I am waiting for the updated 6 GB model, either 128 GB or 256 GB. I’m hoping for Jan/Feb. 2020.

I wouldn't expect any new hardware in Jan/Feb - updates tend to begin in March of any given year, either at an event or via press release as we had this year. Sounds like we might get the iPhone '9' (SE2) alongside new iPad Pros in any March event next year. I'd prefer to wait a bit longer and get a full refresh with A13X than just a new camera module and a bit of extra RAM sooner.

 

[deconstruct60]

I guess I should point out that the average upgrade cycle for iPhones is three to four years. Analysts were saying 3 years in 2018, but that increased to 4 years in 2019. I emphasize average, meaning that many people keep their iPhones much longer. In fact, a recent estimate this summer said that only about 16% of iPhone owners were planning on upgrading in 2019.

16% is plenty enough. 6 years of 45 million/year is a user base of 270M iPhone users. If 'only' 16% of 270M users want to upgrade of that base each year then that is 43M steady stream of buyers. Only would need to find 2M 'new' users each year into the system to continue building at 45M per year. In short, when the user base is well into several 100's of millions, 16% will be quite large. (especially at over $500 per device). ( a rolling 5 year window would be 225M base and 36M 'steady state' upgrade flow. Couldn't just sleepwalk there without new users inflow; need 9M 'new' per year ... which is still single digits. ).

If that 'planning' to drops down into the single digits then Apple would have substantive problems. That would be context to use 'only' in the connotation of being a problem.

The yearly rate of iPhones is higher than 45M/yr but it also doesn't just sell almost exclusively into its own user base. Some folks haven't had phones before so those are opportunities. Some folks destroy/break/etc phones so there are substantial number of people "off plan" buying phones too (whether directly or through insurance it is still a phone buy).

 

[whatta]

I have an ipad pro 2017 model and very much dislike the idea that ipads get the latest processor much later, then few month iphone comes with the faster one.. I am considering replacing my ipad, but no way I buy a one year old device..

 

[deconstruct60]

I have an ipad pro 2017 model and very much dislike the idea that ipads get the latest processor much later, then few month iphone comes with the faster one.. I am considering replacing my ipad, but no way I buy a one year old device..

It is not the same processor.

The iPad Pro get a bigger processors ( bigger GPU. ). The fact that there was no process shrink between A12 and A13 means it will be harder to make the bigger version (if Apple is adding 'more' to the X version also. )

The A10X to A12X gap did see a process shrink. It wouldn't be surprising if Apple waited to for another shrink to facilitate the next X model also.

 

[lartola]

I think Apple would be wise to get out of the habit of yearly mobile device refreshes and yearly OS refreshes.

You’ll never convince me that it doesn’t hurt their sales now that we’re officially in the era where we’ve hit peak iPhone and iPad. I used to refresh my iPhone every other year. The only exception was going from the 5 to the 5s when Touch ID was released. That was a killer feature that demanded an upgrade. I stayed with the 6s until the iPhone X was released and unless something drastic changes I’ll probably have the X for at least 4 years.

I’ve owned an iPad 2, iPad Air and the 9.7” iPad Pro. From right out of the gate the iPad had a refresh cycle closer to that of a PC or laptop and less similar to early smart phone years where you could justify a yearly or bi-yearly upgrade cycle.

I think it kills sales because if your 5 or 6 months past that last iPhone or iPad release why would you pay to upgrade your device when you know your just a handful of months away from having a device that won’t be the latest and greatest?

Now that upgrade cycles are more in line with PC’s and laptops I’d want to keep consumers guessing so they don’t have a built in reason to hold off on a purchase.

As for OS releases Apple simply supports too many hardware revs of their various devices. When you’re dealing with supporting millions or tens of millions of devices with components sourced from from a relatively small number of vendors it’s a lot easier to produce OS code without bugs than it is when your dealing with hundreds of millions of devices with components sourced from an ever growing number of vendors.

Instead of a yearly OS release packed with new features they should release a yearly OS roadmap with the features they intend to release through out the course of the year. If a feature isn’t ready for prime time it should be withheld for a later point release or the next major OS release if it’s warranted.

I think too many managers jump the gun trying to hit specific dates for specific features and as a result there is a culture at Apple that’s more about putting features out there than there is about making sure the features that are already there are as stable as they can be and that new features aren’t released until they are truly ready.

If they aren’t willing to go that far then every other yearly release should focus less on new features and more heavily on fixing bugs and improving performance as they did with iOS 12.

Exactly. I’ve been saying this for years. Apple needs to upgrade hardware and software less often. However, most people don’t seem to understand this and every time I say what you just said I get a response from someone saying that it’s impossible, that Apple can’t, that they have to keep the stockholders happy, etc.

 

[delta0]

Between now and March. That is close to a release