Apple's New iPad Lineup Causes Potential Confusion With Inconsistent Features

[Rogifan]

When Jobs returned to Apple in the late 90's and was running the company, it was the design department, led by Jony Ive, that set the product categories. That team was in charge. Obviously, not anymore.

I don’t think that’s true at all. Product marketing (under Phil Schiller) was always heavily involved decisions around what products would look like, what features they would have, storage options, memory options, pricing etc. In fact I’ve read it’s product marketing leaders who oversee and project manage things. Phil Schiller’s role was always about way more than what we traditionally think of as marketing. I guarantee you Jony Ive wasn’t making decision around what the storage options would be and how the products would be priced.

 

[Rogifan]

I have an idea. I sent a few people to get the cheapest iPad, they went for the Air because they preferred the laminated screen but in no way wanted to spend more on the pro

So have an iPad, iPad Plus and iPad Pro.

It seems like Apple has decided the cheapest iPad can’t be more than $329 and the iPad Pro can’t start for less than $799. So everything in between is built around filling price gaps so they design to meet a price point.

 

[klasma]

Really? Because the six models on offer overwhelm your cognitive abilities, and capacity to choose between them?

If there is a model that does what you need for a price you can swing, then buy it. If there isn’t, then don’t. Simple.

You will never find one that has everything you want for the same price of one that doesn’t have everything.

Believe it or not, yes, many consumers refrain from a purchase when there is no obvious “best” choice for them. And the current line-up is by far the worst in iPad history in that respect.

I’m not talking about myself, I’m a tech aficionado and understand all the trade-offs, after spending some time reading through all the material. But the average iPad buyer isn’t. Pricing is also not an issue for me — just feature-wise Apple doesn’t make what I want anymore.

 

[JPack]

Believe it or not, yes, many consumers refrain from a purchase when there is no obvious “best” choice for them. And the current line-up is by dar the worst in iPad history in that respect.

I’m not talking about myself, I’m a tech aficionado and understand all the trade-offs, after spending some time reading through all the material. But the average iPad buyer isn’t. Pricing is also not an issue for me — just feature-wise Apple doesn’t make what I want anymore.

If people can choose between 8 concurrent iPhone models, I think they can choose one iPad from the current lineup.

 

[Rogifan]

Believe it or not, yes, many consumers refrain from a purchase when there is no obvious “best” choice for them. And the current line-up is by dar the worst in iPad history in that respect.

I’m not talking about myself, I’m a tech aficionado and understand all the trade-offs, after spending some time reading through all the material. But the average iPad buyer isn’t. Pricing is also not an issue for me — just feature-wise Apple doesn’t make what I want anymore.

In Phil Schiller’s world of the upsell (which isn’t unique to Apple) they never offer the sweet spot because then they can’t upsell you. That’s why storage options would go 16GB > 64GB or 64GB > 256GB so they could say for just $100 more you get 4x the storage (even if 32GB or 128GB was all you needed). So you’d spend the extra $100 even if it was more than you needed.

 

[klasma]

If people can choose between 8 concurrent iPhone models, I think they can choose one iPad from the current lineup.

I’m not sure that really supports your point.

 

[wbeasley]

The 9th Gen is there to keep something low end affordable. Keeps the few remaining Android tablets away.

Really, the 10th Gen should have replaced it but hey, this has worked with phones.
Demote and keep last years available.

The 10th Gen and Air really need to be one product. So little real difference between them.
You can see why they bravely only wanted Stage Manager on M1 chipped iPads. It made another point of difference.

Apple will always fill in holes with products: every $100 to $150 spot gets you something more.
Up to you if you think it is worth paying for the jump up...

 

[klasma]

In Phil Schiller’s world of the upsell (which isn’t unique to Apple) they never offer the sweet spot because then they can’t upsell you. That’s why storage options would go 16GB > 64GB or 64GB > 256GB so they could say for just $100 more you get 4x the storage (even if 32GB or 128GB was all you needed). So you’d spend the extra $100 even if it was more than you needed.

Except that with the new iPad they created a situation where you actually lose features by going up to the next higher-priced model — the landscape camera and the new keyboard with the extra row. So you can’t even “win” by throwing money at the problem.

 

[Ludatyk]

I mean… it’s not THAT confusing. it’s annoying for sure and very inconsistent, but it’s not like there are a thousand options lol.

the main question people have are size and price which eliminates the Pros if they don’t want something large and eliminates the Mini if they don’t want too small.

then it’s just “do you want something more powerful and newer that will last you longer? or do you want to pay less and getting something that’s a bit lacking?”

that’s really it.

It’s as people cannot comprehend that the idea is having different price points for customers.

I get it that the now released iPad and the latest iPad Air seems a bit confusing when pitted against each other, but one has a A series chip and the other has a M series chip. And that’s a big difference in terms of performance.

 

[JPack]

I’m not sure that really supports your point.

You'll have to clue me in.

For the past 5 years, Apple has offered at least 6 devices concurrently in their iPhone lineup.

 

[Apleeseed84]

I’m so confused.

 

[unregbaron]

1 Gen pencil should have been scrapped on new iPads this week.

 

[transpo1]

Why not?

Different product category purely for business use, apart from consumer/pro

How? They had six portable Macs then, today they have five.

Perhaps it’s not that today’s lineup is more convoluted but more that it just doesn’t make any sense. The old 2010 lineup made sense— 2 screen sizes for the MacBook Air 11” and 13” due to cost necessities and portability.

Today they have no MacBook (weird) but we have—

1 old MacBook Air that retains the old design
1 new MacBook Air (the new model is actually only slightly thinner overall than the old model and barely lighter, so this should really be called the MacBook).
1 old MacBook Pro 13” that retains the old TouchBar design
1 MacBook Pro 14”
1 MacBook Pro 16”

It really should be—

MacBook (taking design of MacBook Air M2)
MacBook Air (IMHO they need a new and much thinner/lighter design for a truly modern and incredibly light/thin Air)
MacBook Pro 14”
MacBook Pro 16”

That would make a lot more sense.

 

[aloper]

And back in the day, during Apple's keynotes, they would mock Google with the amount of fragmentation in the adroid ecosystem...and yet here we are now with multiple iPads, Iphones and Macs...

 

[jchap]

To get rid of old hardware that they have

In the case of the Apple Pencil (1st gen), I felt the same way. The product itself was inconvenient to use and inferior to the next generation (which neatly addressed and fixed nearly all the issues of the 1st gen). It seems that they would have a plethora of stock remaining.

It would be sad if they were continuing to promote and manufacture more of these inferior products, which it appears that they are.

 

[ozaz]

I’d actually like a bit more choice - I wish there was a 128 GB option for the entry level iPads. Without expandable storage 64gb seems borderline too low, and 256gb seems unnecessarily high for an entry level device. 128 GB seems to me to be the sweet spot, so a shame it’s not an option.

 

[840quadra]

Still super happy with my Mini. Haven't needed more size / screen space / power than the current Mini at max storage. Do wish it had Mini LED, but perhaps they will come out with a Pro Mini in the future?

I can only hope.

 

[newyorksole]

It’s as people cannot comprehend that the idea is having different price points for customers.

I get it that the now released iPad and the latest iPad Air seems a bit confusing when pitted against each other, but one has a A series chip and the other has a M series chip. And that’s a big difference in terms of performance.

exactly. and wow, I totally forgot the Air had M1! that’s a no-brainer then lol.

 

[WannaGoMac]

But how many versions is too many? What about an iPad mini with a laminated screen? They should just make the laminated screen or other things available as options like a BTO iMac instead of another model.

So have an iPad, iPad Plus and iPad Pro.

It seems like Apple has decided the cheapest iPad can’t be more than $329 and the iPad Pro can’t start for less than $799. So everything in between is built around filling price gaps so they design to meet a price point.

I too think the iPad line up is silly as well and horribly confusing.

I answered the question as to why the Air exists. It originally was created to get people to spend a bit more for a better screen, which it appears/appeared to work very well to do.

Why Apple doesnt simplify the iPad line? Who knows really? Apple does have the sales and market data no one here has and they're still printing money easily. Maybe it's to burn through old stock chasis/cpus/display or to keep the iPad 9th gen around longer for the edu market?

Or, maybe Apple is just trolling macrumors to get everyone here upset

 

[vmac556]

lineup makes no sense, they need to get rid of the air and make the base model fully supportive of the pencil

 

[Rogifan]

Except that with the new iPad they created a situation where you actually lose features by going up to the next higher-priced model — the landscape camera and the new keyboard with the extra row. So you can’t even “win” by throwing money at the problem.

Part of the problem is all these different iPads are on different release schedules (in terms of major hardware updates). Still it’s incredibly odd that the base model iPad would get landscape camera and keyboard with function rows before the Pro model does. Who in the world is using a 12.9” iPad Pro in portrait orientation?

 

[eifelbube]

This I don’t understand. If you needed an iPad you would skip because the line up is confusing? If you need one you find the one you like and buy it. It will not matter that it’s confusing.

It does matter. Like another comment expressed earlier: I was going to upgrade from my almost 5 year old iPad but in this new lineup „none of them is right for me“.

 

[klasma]

Part of the problem is all these different iPads are on different release schedules (in terms of major hardware updates). Still it’s incredibly odd that the base model iPad would get landscape camera and keyboard with function rows before the Pro model does. Who in the world is using a 12.9” iPad Pro in portrait orientation?

My guess is that the landscape camera is incompatible with Pencil 2 charging. It’s stupid, but it would explain things.

 

[Rogifan]

I too think the iPad line up is silly as well and horribly confusing.

I answered the question as to why the Air exists. It originally was created to get people to spend a bit more for a better screen, which it appears/appeared to work very well to do.

Why Apple doesnt simplify the iPad line? Who knows really? Apple does have the sales and market data no one here has and they're still printing money easily. Maybe it's to burn through old stock chasis/cpus/display or to keep the iPad 9th gen around longer for the edu market?

Or, maybe Apple is just trolling macrumors to get everyone here upset

Apple made the decision to redesign the base iPad in a way that increased its price and thus it forced them to keep the previous gen in the lineup to hit a cheaper price point. If Apple believes the base iPad can’t be more than $329 and the iPad Pro can’t start at less than $799 then they need to figure out how to make one compelling product in between them. Maybe that’s the new iPad and the Air needs to go.

 

[Rogifan]

Still super happy with my Mini. Haven't needed more size / screen space / power than the current Mini at max storage. Do wish it had Mini LED, but perhaps they will come out with a Pro Mini in the future?

I can only hope.

One could argue the only people not confused are those who want a mini or a 12.9” Pro.