Apple's New Low-Cost 10.2-Inch iPad Starts Shipping to Customers Tomorrow, In-Store Availability Coming Later This Week

[SR 7]

so nevermind, my iPad Air isn't Air 2, its Air 1.

Checked on pricing, the NEW Air for $499 is 64gb, the new iPad for 128gb is $429 (because they don't offer 64gb to compare).

For $70 more, I get less space, but better camera, .3" bigger screen, and A12. Hmm...not sure.

How often do these two go on sale? I remember seeing the iPad prior to this release down to $2xx dollars at one point.

 

[mistasopz]

A10 near the end of 2019? Ewwww.

 

[Zdigital2015]

While I understand what you are saying, the iPad Pro has a Geekbench 5 score of 4600 compared to an air with 2861 (baseline i3-8100 = 1000 single core/3300 multi core), and the compute score is 9000, which is double the air. Thats a lot for $300 and not even including the better screen, camera, speakers, pencil support etc.

But if you used the same internals as the Air wouldn't it be a 12.9 inch iPad Air, not an iPad Pro?

Yes, I guess I should have clarified that what I am proposing would be a 12.9” iPad Air with the exact same guts as the 2019 10.5” iPad Air. I still think there is room for this device in the lineup, but that is strictly my opinion and I have not applied any real objective business criteria to suss out whether it would be a good idea. I don’t claim to be able to channel Apple, but I do think I have a fairly decent grasp of how they decide what makes it and what doesn’t.

I think that Apple may have discussed it, but simply doesn’t want to cut into 12.9” iPad Pro sales because it is their single highest margin iPad model.

 

[44267547]

A10 near the end of 2019? Ewwww.

Yup, it’s obvious you don’t have much knowledge of the A10 fusion capability.😁

I mean, look at the iPad Air two for perspective, it’s using the A8X, look how well that still performs given its age. And you’re trying to portray that the A10 fusion processor isn’t relevant because were at the ‘end of 2019’? I’d say you probably aren’t factoring that this specific iPad is more than sufficient with the A10.

 

[Zdigital2015]

so nevermind, my iPad Air isn't Air 2, its Air 1.

Checked on pricing, the NEW Air for $499 is 64gb, the new iPad for 128gb is $429 (because they don't offer 64gb to compare).

For $70 more, I get less space, but better camera, .3" bigger screen, and A12. Hmm...not sure.

How often do these two go on sale? I remember seeing the iPad prior to this release down to $2xx dollars at one point.

The iPad Air has seen very few and very small discounts since it was released ($469 is the norm), same for the iPad mini.

On the other hand, the iPad 6th Gen was generally on sale for $249-$279 throughout the majority of its lifetime for the 32GB version. The 128GB version has seen less frequent discounting since its introduction.

I would seriously recommend that you get the base Air. It doesn’t seem like you use the iPad that much, it at least will have a longer lifespan given that you’re only
updating once every five years at this point. If I may be so bold, don’t get too hung up over storage unless you absolutely know you are going to fill it up. I have always gotten the 128GB model of almost every iPad I have ever owned and I have never filled one up. 16GB easy peasy, 32 GB yes, but 128GB takes intention. 64GB only requires casual attention to keep in line. Again, just my 2¢.

 

[_Refurbished_]

Wrong. Apple has been and will be cutting off support based on amount of RAM.

This iPad has 3.

Yours has 2.

Probably iOS15 will turn off support for all 2Gig devices:

iPhone 6s
iPhone 6s+
iPad 6
etc

Wrong.

Wasn’t implying support, but rather usability. Apple drops support based on the year a product comes out, not RAM.

The A10 will help keep my iPad fresh. RAM would mostly impact reloads, which don’t bother me nearly as much as choppy UI.

 

[EugW]

Apple drops support based on the year a product comes out, not RAM.

The A10 will help keep my iPad fresh. RAM would mostly impact reloads, which don’t bother me nearly as much as choppy UI.

Apple dropped support based on RAM this year. A8 and A8X with 2 GB RAM got an OS update to 13 this year. A8 with 1 GB RAM did not, and those devices will stay on 12.4.1. The A8X/2GB and A8/1GB devices came out the same year, only one month apart in fact.

 

[Caliber26]

I’m happy they didn’t for selfish reasons. This means my 6th gen should chug through new updates as well as the 7th. Puts more pressure on Apple to spend time optimizing the A10.

You make a great point. I just bought my grandma an iPhone 7+ a couple months ago so I’m glad it’ll continue to get supported for at least another 3 years.

 

[_Refurbished_]

Apple dropped support based on RAM this year. A8 and A8X with 2 GB RAM got an OS update to 13 this year. A8 with 1 GB RAM did not, and those devices will stay on 12.4.1. The A8X/2GB and A8/1GB devices came out the same year, only one month apart in fact.

How can you make that determination?

The iPad mini 4 uses 2GB of RAM, but it was released exactly a year after the 1GB A8 models.

 

[EugW]

How can you make that determination?

The iPad mini 4 uses 2GB of RAM, but it was released exactly a year after the 1GB A8 models.

A8X/2GB is iPad Air 2 and came out in 2014, one month after the A8/1GB iPhone 6/6+.

My two iPad Air 2s are now both on iPadOS 13.1. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are stuck on iOS 12.4.1.

 

[SR 7]

The iPad Air has seen very few and very small discounts since it was released ($469 is the norm), same for the iPad mini.

On the other hand, the iPad 6th Gen was generally on sale for $249-$279 throughout the majority of its lifetime for the 32GB version. The 128GB version has seen less frequent discounting since its introduction.

I would seriously recommend that you get the base Air. It doesn’t seem like you use the iPad that much, it at least will have a longer lifespan given that you’re only
updating once every five years at this point. If I may be so bold, don’t get too hung up over storage unless you absolutely know you are going to fill it up. I have always gotten the 128GB model of almost every iPad I have ever owned and I have never filled one up. 16GB easy peasy, 32 GB yes, but 128GB takes intention. 64GB only requires casual attention to keep in line. Again, just my 2¢.

yeah I don’t use the iPad as much. I definitely need 64gb at minimum. If the Air (is it gen 3 now? When did it release?) goes on sale I’ll pick it up. The iPad at $249-279 is a great price though. We’ll see.

 

[EugW]

Don't forget:

If it matters, the new 10.2" iPad doesn't get MS Office for free. Too big. It's free on the 9.7" models.

 

[mistasopz]

Yup, it’s obvious you don’t have much knowledge of the A10 fusion capability.😁

I mean, look at the iPad Air two for perspective, it’s using the A8X, look how well that still performs given its age. And you’re trying to portray that the A10 fusion processor isn’t relevant because were at the ‘end of 2019’? I’d say you probably aren’t factoring that this specific iPad is more than sufficient with the A10.

It's quite clear that you can't put two and two together. Apple's thinking is often 'it's good enough' because they know a lot of users (like yourself) are happy to pay for old tech. Poor suckers . Most people don't know anything about chipsets or efficiency. The A11 delivered up to 70% faster performance than the A10, A12 made huge gains in GPU and power efficiency over the A11, and now we're on A13. This is just Apple using old chipsets and suckers will fork over money for it because they have no idea. My iPhone 7 lags like a mother (same chipset) in certain apps, and the battery life could be improved. The newer chipsets would help in both areas.

 

[Zdigital2015]

yeah I don’t use the iPad as much. I definitely need 64gb at minimum. If the Air (is it gen 3 now? When did it release?) goes on sale I’ll pick it up. The iPad at $249-279 is a great price though. We’ll see.

It’s convoluted...iPad 4 becomes Air 1, then Air 2 then iPad Pro 9.7”, prices goes sky high, Apple releases 5th Gen iPad and Gen 6 which use the old iPad Air 1 chassis and then Apple finally releases iPad mini 5 and iPad Air 3 which uses the old 2017 iPad Pro 10.5” chassis and Bob’s Your Uncle. Clear as mud, right?

The current iPad Air (3rd Generation) was released in March of this year (2019). The 6th Gen iPad is nice, but you would be better off with the 64GB iPad Air or a 128GB 10.2” iPad releasing this Friday. Good luck!

 

[Zdigital2015]

It's quite clear that you can't put two and two together. Apple's thinking is often 'it's good enough' because they know a lot of users (like yourself) are happy to pay for old tech. Poor suckers . Most people don't know anything about chipsets or efficiency. The A11 delivered up to 70% faster performance than the A10, A12 made huge gains in GPU and power efficiency over the A11, and now we're on A13. This is just Apple using old chipsets and suckers will fork over money for it because they have no idea. My iPhone 7 lags like a mother (same chipset) in certain apps, and the battery life could be improved. The newer chipsets would help in both areas.

Right, and every Dell is using a 9th Gen CPU, right? Oh wait, they aren’t? What? Why is that? Oh, because different price points don’t all get the same level of CPU power and Z390 PCH? The Hell you say! Life is so unfair! Waaahh!

Jog on and come back after you have taken a Basic Economics course. You’re wasting our time with your drivel.

 

[44267547]

Apple's thinking is often 'it's good enough' because they know a lot of users (like yourself) are happy to pay for old tech

Oh no, what will I do with my 10.2 iPad now that it has the A-10 fusion processor? I should probably just return it. 😁

Point is this, Since you decided to ignore my iPad Air 2 argument, which was completely logical being that the A8X still performs strongly, [given it was released in 2014] and you’re being overly dramatic acting like the A10 fusion is archaic and it’s not suitable for an iPad. I’ll say it Again, you obviously don’t have much knowledge of the A10 efficiency.

 

[digthewell]

At this price point, it's a clear winner compared to the competition which is nowhere even in sight.

 

[MikeSmoke]

For The base entry model it is hard to argue that iPad 7 is not a good solid value piece of gear. It gives more if not just a little more than iPad 6 for the same price. The sweet spot was iPad 6 with the same processor with 128 gig storage for $329. I am glad I grabbed one from Amazon when they were available.

 

[1BadManVan]

It's quite clear that you can't put two and two together. Apple's thinking is often 'it's good enough' because they know a lot of users (like yourself) are happy to pay for old tech. Poor suckers . Most people don't know anything about chipsets or efficiency. The A11 delivered up to 70% faster performance than the A10, A12 made huge gains in GPU and power efficiency over the A11, and now we're on A13. This is just Apple using old chipsets and suckers will fork over money for it because they have no idea. My iPhone 7 lags like a mother (same chipset) in certain apps, and the battery life could be improved. The newer chipsets would help in both areas.

I think the only one that’s having issues putting two and two together is you. Apple has made a variety of price point options for everyone to choose, they aren’t shoving old tech down your throat. You have the choice to pay more for a faster experience if you feel you need to. The A10 fusion is one of apples bigger upgrades in cpu performance year over year. And they have proven this by the fact that it’s still running strong.

I can play pubg on extreme frame rate settings on my 6th gen on balanced. My 6s plus with the A9 maxes out on high even on smooth setting (High being two tiers lower on frame rates) it’s a night and day difference in performance. There’s barely a noticeable performance difference between my A10 ipad, my A11 iPhone 8 Plus or my A12 xs max.

All three chips perform fantastic in daily tasks and run heavier apps very well. My xs max is obviously the snappiest and smoothest of the bunch, but definitely not a night and day difference compared to the A9-A10 jump

luckily for me, I literally have A9-A12 chips in my house to test side by side. A10 is definitely the sweet spot

 

[smulji]

The fact that this includes touch ID is a selling point for me, still very reliable for security and ease-of-use, and as Dan Riccio said, touch ID has a future in Apple products.

That wasn't Dan Riccio who said it. It was Greg Joswiak

 

[44267547]

That wasn't Dan Riccio who said it. It was Greg Joswiak

Actually, they both commented on touch ID for future devices. Greg Joswiak was the most recent, but Riccio made several marks about touch ID when they were scrutinized when Apple introduce Face ID in favor of Touch ID.

 

[smulji]

To be fair, it’s three categories, not five, as you depict here.

Category 1 (entry level model):
iPad (7th gen)

Category 2 (mid level models):
iPad Mini (5th gen) and Air (3rd gen)

Category 3 (high end models):
iPad Pro (3rd gen) 11” and 12.9”

It’s not as convoluted as you make it out to be IMO.

One line too many. Should just be:

iPad (7.9" / 10.2")
iPad Pro (11" / 12.9")

No need for an Air.

 

[MacBH928]

waiting for the Bionic updates!!

 

[enc0re]

One line too many. Should just be:

iPad (7.9" / 10.2")
iPad Pro (11" / 12.9")

No need for an Air.

I get the impression that Apple is now using the "Air" brand for an occasional product. A good in-the-middle model in between generations that is the right device for most people. Sort of like they have used SE for an updated, old-design model that is a great value. So yeah, I can see the iPad Air going bye bye for a while; until it is time to recycle the current iPad Pro design one level down.

 

[PlayUltimate]

One line too many. Should just be:

iPad (7.9" / 10.2")
iPad Pro (11" / 12.9")

No need for an Air.

Shoppers generally like three choices over just two. And the iPad Air fills the huge price gap between the entry level iPad and the iPPs.