Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Chawbaw

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 16, 2012
10
0
I read so much about the 3rd gen. iPad being the "red-headed step child" and a lot of nonsense about it being inferior to the 4. Now I'm not knocking the 4th gen at all, obviously is has a boost in CPU speed yadda yadda...oh, forgot to mention the lightning connector, which means NOTHING, besides your older sync cables have been cannibalized. Is everyone of the belief that once something newer comes out, our current devices are rendered useless? It cracks me up how much this site has changed since I first began reading it regularly. Used to have some great informative posts, not a bunch of whining about what someone else thinks about your device while you're walking down the street. Anyway...enough of my rant. Kids are in bed napping and I'm drinking a nice cold brew waiting on my wife's and my new 5c's to be delivered here shortly.
 
First off pointless post, I think I've seen a few threads like this the past week, but its not so much that the iP3 is bad but why go for it when the 4th gen is typically a small bump up in costs but (as you acknowledge) better performance.
 
iPad 3? From almost 2 years ago? Oh, I remember that one.

BTW, you couldn't pay me to go back to a 30 pin connector. Or an iPad 3.
 
I read so much about the 3rd gen. iPad being the "red-headed step child" and a lot of nonsense about it being inferior to the 4. Now I'm not knocking the 4th gen at all, obviously is has a boost in CPU speed yadda yadda...oh, forgot to mention the lightning connector, which means NOTHING, besides your older sync cables have been cannibalized. Is everyone of the belief that once something newer comes out, our current devices are rendered useless? It cracks me up how much this site has changed since I first began reading it regularly. Used to have some great informative posts, not a bunch of whining about what someone else thinks about your device while you're walking down the street. Anyway...enough of my rant. Kids are in bed napping and I'm drinking a nice cold brew waiting on my wife's and my new 5c's to be delivered here shortly.

Very simply, the A5X chip is not powerful enough to drive the retina without stuttering. Plus it gets too warm, making the bottom left side of the iPad warm when playing games or anything intense. The weakest iPad of all....that's why. A trial for the iPad 4. That's why Apple quickly dumped it.
 
Very simply, the A5X chip is not powerful enough to drive the retina without stuttering. Plus it gets too warm, making the bottom left side of the iPad warm when playing games or anything intense. The weakest iPad of all....that's why. A trial for the iPad 4. That's why Apple quickly dumped it.

This is what Ive heard as well. It was basically an iPad 2 with a retina display. Apple wasnt completely sure of what to expect with that config. Heat was an issue and so was performance at times. It was also thicker and heavier than its predecessor which is kind of a no-no inthe tablet world.

Im sure its an OK tablet... but it has the rep for being the "red headed stepchild" of the group, thats for sure. IMO, a well cared for iPad 2 is worth the same or more used.
 
IMO, a well cared for iPad 2 is worth the same or more used.

So, a non-Retina iPad 2 is worth the same or more than a Retina iPad 3, all other factors being the same including the condition?? Not a ******** chance.
 
Its ridiculous how much hate the iPad 3 gets.

The iPad 3 is a fine device, and when it was released, it was reviewed as such. People soured on the device because the iPad 4 came out shortly afterwards and was basically a faster iPad 3. No one is refuting that the iPad 4 is the better device, but it doesn't make the iPad 3 unusable.
 
I enjoyed my iPad 3 from release day until a few days ago when it was shipped to its next owner.
 
I read so much about the 3rd gen. iPad being the "red-headed step child" and a lot of nonsense about it being inferior to the 4. Now I'm not knocking the 4th gen at all, obviously is has a boost in CPU speed yadda yadda...oh, forgot to mention the lightning connector, which means NOTHING, besides your older sync cables have been cannibalized. Is everyone of the belief that once something newer comes out, our current devices are rendered useless? It cracks me up how much this site has changed since I first began reading it regularly. Used to have some great informative posts, not a bunch of whining about what someone else thinks about your device while you're walking down the street. Anyway...enough of my rant. Kids are in bed napping and I'm drinking a nice cold brew waiting on my wife's and my new 5c's to be delivered here shortly.

The iPad 3 was relatively heavy and even worse, the weight it had was very unbalanced. It also tended to run warm/hot and with iOS 7 was slow.

Big difference in all those factors with iPad Air now. Sold my iPad 3 for $252.00 to Gamestop. Enjoying its Air replacement much better.
 
The iPad 3 is thicker, heavier and runs very hot.

Are you sure about the ipad3 size/weight difference vs the ipad4?

From Apple's refurb store:
ipad3 cellular: Height: 9.50 inches, Width: 7.31 inches, Depth: 0.37 inch, Weight: 1.46 pounds (link)
ipad4 cellular: Height: 9.50 inches, Width: 7.31 inches, Depth: 0.37 inch, Weight: 1.46 pounds (link)

How much heavier and thicker was the ipad4?
 
Loved my iPad 3 and enjoyed it until I got the Air, now the wife's enjoying it.

I don't have any issues with heat or performance... it's fine.
 
Are you sure about the ipad3 size/weight difference vs the ipad4?

From Apple's refurb store:
ipad3 cellular: Height: 9.50 inches, Width: 7.31 inches, Depth: 0.37 inch, Weight: 1.46 pounds (link)
ipad4 cellular: Height: 9.50 inches, Width: 7.31 inches, Depth: 0.37 inch, Weight: 1.46 pounds (link)

How much heavier and thicker was the ipad4?

It was thicker/heavier/hotter than the iPad 2.
 
As a IPad 3 owner, I feel the discourse is from Apple needing to get a Retina model to market however knowing the switch to lightning connector was merely months away.

I feel that the IPhone, the flagship product, limits the supply chain for the IPad. Part of me says wait on the Air because I fear that the Touch Id comes in 6 months once the demand lets up on the 5s
 
I feel that the IPhone, the flagship product, limits the supply chain for the IPad. Part of me says wait on the Air because I fear that the Touch Id comes in 6 months once the demand lets up on the 5s

I'd be very surprised if they had a less than 11-12 month cycle on the iPad Air. The risk is the release of another version positioned above the Air.

I'm still reasonably happy with my ipad3; never did see a point to moving the ipad4 as my usage model isn't cpu/gpu bound. I know I'd appreciate the size/weight advantages of the Air, but I'm not sure it's worth (to me) the roughly $500+ it'd cost me to do the upgrade. (and this will probably last right up until I make the mistake of playing around with an Air.... :) )
 
That the iPad4 exists - That is pretty much the basis for most complaints I see.
 
Last edited:
I had no problems with my 3 really. My only complaint was how heavy it was. My 3 got warm a few times but nothing that came close to being considered hot. I bought the Air for the updated wifi and the lighter weight. The iPad 3 will be sold to offset the cost of upgrading.
 
People buy into and parrot what they've been told (probably from another who is doing the same).

Real world issues are minimal compared to the diatribe expressed against it. Loving the Air but refuse to sell the 3 as it will make a terrific backup iPad on vacation.
 
I read so much about the 3rd gen. iPad being the "red-headed step child" and a lot of nonsense about it being inferior to the 4. Now I'm not knocking the 4th gen at all, obviously is has a boost in CPU speed yadda yadda...oh, forgot to mention the lightning connector, which means NOTHING, besides your older sync cables have been cannibalized. Is everyone of the belief that once something newer comes out, our current devices are rendered useless? It cracks me up how much this site has changed since I first began reading it regularly. Used to have some great informative posts, not a bunch of whining about what someone else thinks about your device while you're walking down the street. Anyway...enough of my rant. Kids are in bed napping and I'm drinking a nice cold brew waiting on my wife's and my new 5c's to be delivered here shortly.

The iPad 4 has one thing that the iPad 3 never will: longevity. You're not going to be running the top end apps at a level near their peak for much longer, if even at all right now since it was replaced.

The facts are that the A5X simply was not powerful enough to drive the Retina Display at that resolution. Don't get me wrong, for a basic iPad user (browsing the web, viewing photos in the Camera Roll, online shopping, social apps, viewing video, etc) the iPad 3 is absolutely fine, but start throwing intense games or more powerful apps (iPhoto, iMovie, etc) and it begins to show the strain. On games the 3 has lower frame rates and less visual effects compared to the 4.

iOS 7 on iPad 3 is stripped down, as seen by the lack of the fancier visual effects. You may not like nor wish to use the visual effects of iOS 7 but that doesn't detract from the factual reason why the device cannot display them. Performance is also somewhat "laggy" on iPad 3 with iOS 7, far beyond what can be attributed to iOS 7 bugs.

Bottom line the iPad 4 has legs to stretch for a good while yet, the 3 barely made it through a single lap. And, before being accused of iPad 4 "bias" I have owned both the 3 and the 4, and the second NOVA 3 made me choose resolution or effects I knew the game was up. And for the record, NOVA 3 at full Retina resolution with full effects at a blazing frame rate is a great sight.

Coincidently I have never had any of the aforementioned "heat issues" with either my 3 or my 4.
 
I loved my 3, big time. At the time the games that were out were awesome for it. The remake of GTA3, I have logged countless hours playing that game for one. Retina at that size was just an incredible experience.

I think it depends on how you use it. If you're a browser type of person and don't want to play the latest iOS games it will last you for a long while.

I went to the iPad Air strictly because of the value proposition. The weight/heat, etc. I never really noticed or I guessed cared about. I miss the premium feel of the 3.
 
I loved my 3, big time. At the time the games that were out were awesome for it. The remake of GTA3, I have logged countless hours playing that game for one. Retina at that size was just an incredible experience.

I think it depends on how you use it. If you're a browser type of person and don't want to play the latest iOS games it will last you for a long while.

I went to the iPad Air strictly because of the value proposition. The weight/heat, etc. I never really noticed or I guessed cared about. I miss the premium feel of the 3.

I loved my iPad 3 as well, and I had it from its launch day until I sold it last weekend. But honestly, it was slow. Powering the retina screen took such massive resources that it struggled to tread water.

As far as the Air not having a "premium feel" I couldn't disagree more, but your not the only person I've heard say it. I wonder if would make it feel more premium to you if it weighed more.
 
I loved my iPad 3 as well, and I had it from its launch day until I sold it last weekend. But honestly, it was slow. Powering the retina screen took such massive resources that it struggled to tread water.

As far as the Air not having a "premium feel" I couldn't disagree more, but your not the only person I've heard say it. I wonder if would make it feel more premium to you if it weighed more.

For me personally, I think it's that the back and glass don't feel as substantial to me as they used to on the 3.

Kind of like how Jobs once said the iPhone 4 feels like an old Leica camera, the iPad 3 felt like they were made in that same vein, the Air kind of doesn't fit that build. It is nice though, a million times better than whatever else is out there.

back on topic, there wasn't one single day that I had the 3 that I didn't use it at least once. From April 2012 until two weeks ago-ish. I babied it, I really loved it every time I picked it up, if I still had it I would feel the same way. I just kind of ran into the air and thought I'd re-up on iPad value so that's what I did.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.