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My guess is that this is the end of the line for the iPad Mini. With the overwhelming success of the 2 devices on either side of the Mini in the lineup (iPad Air/2 and the iPhone 6 Plus), it’s just a matter of time.
 
it's Tim's way of trying to stay true to Steve by sticking it to the small tablets after briefly allowing them!

..but botching the execution horribly

Rubs me the wrong way. Like iPad 4 trumping iPad 3 after 6 months. I loved my iPad 3 up until last year moving to rMini btw, 4 wasn't worth upgrading for me. But I tried it and boy was it faster!

Maybe 6 and 6+ people will get nerf'd with the introduction of a ~5.0" middle ground size in due time. Nothing would surprise me anymore at this point.


tim-cook-scumbag-hat.jpeg


sidenote- I was weirded out by Tim's closure to the keynote. Showing off his watch, and just talking about how everything is amazing and they control hardware and software. I feel like I'm in ground hog day.
 
Looking at spec comparison on the Apple website is almost embarrassing. Every single item identical except for touchid.

BUT they dropped the larger memory sizes on the mini2. No 64 or 128 mini2 and I coukd never go backwards in capacity like that. They'll be forcing people to the 3; well really the mini 2s.
 
Is it still smart to buy an iPad mini 2? Seems like the best value.

If you want the smaller form factor iPad and don't care about touch id or gold color, than yeah.

sidenote- I was weirded out by Tim's closure to the keynote. Showing off his watch, and just talking about how everything is amazing and they control hardware and software. I feel like I'm in ground hog day.

You forgot the Beats headphones around his neck on that Photoshop. :D
 
My guess is that this is the end of the line for the iPad Mini. With the overwhelming success of the 2 devices on either side of the Mini in the lineup (iPad Air/2 and the iPhone 6 Plus), it’s just a matter of time.
I highly doubt it. Not everyone prefers to carry an iPhone 6+ or an iPhone for that matter. However many people may prefer the smaller iPad for reading and such. Tim Cook even mentioned that it has 100% customer satisfaction rating during his Keynote today.

I think the iPad mini is here to stay. It just may not get updated every year...it may be more on a two year upgrade cycle.
 
It's like people completely forget that the first iPad mini came with outdated internals and a horrible display. Then, it got a huge upgrade beyond what anyone expected. And now it's slightly underwhelming again, though nowhere near so as the original was.

That's a good point, like a tick tock upgrade scheme.
 
I highly doubt it. Not everyone prefers to carry an iPhone 6+ or an iPhone for that matter. However many people may prefer the smaller iPad for reading and such. Tim Cook even mentioned that it has 100% customer satisfaction rating during his Keynote today.

I think the iPad mini is here to stay. It just may not get updated every year...it may be more on a two year upgrade cycle.

Sorry, but Schiller basically blew over the Mini 3. Hit it just hard enough to make the snub obvious. It’s dead, Jim.

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Is it still smart to buy an iPad mini 2? Seems like the best value.

If you want the smaller form factor iPad and don't care about touch id or gold color, than yeah.

Or anything larger than 32GB storage.
 
My guess is that this is the end of the line for the iPad Mini. With the overwhelming success of the 2 devices on either side of the Mini in the lineup (iPad Air/2 and the iPhone 6 Plus), it’s just a matter of time.

Ipad Air size : not for me
Iphone 6 6+ : costs twice a mini


either i get a miniR(1) either i will find another tablet
 
Apple has officially crowned the Retina Mini the Red Headed Step Child of the iPad line up. They are not even trying to pretend anymore. Why? No idea. Maybe the iWatch initiative has sucked up the best Apple resources?

I sold my Retina Mini 3 weeks ago in anticipation of this new refresh. Very disappointed however in the lack of updates to the Mini 3:

-Still 1GB Ram
-All but certain the gamut issue has not been addressed
-A7 chip, etc, etc, etc.....

I'm sitting this one out for at least a year....Passing on this years updated iPads.

I pre-ordered the Nexus 9 from Amazon last night instead. Believe me...with an iPhone 6 plus, 15 inch Retina MBP, 27 iMac, wife's iPad Air, iTunes Match, etc, etc.....it's tough to break away from the Ecosytem. Gonna give it a try though....no way in all consciousness I'll "pay up" for this new Mini 3.
 
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That's a good point, like a tick tock upgrade scheme.

The tick tock upgrade scheme didn't hold for the iPT. It got a lackluster upgrade then not even a mention.

The fact is that not everyone want's a handheld device with a phone and not everyone wants to carry a clipboard sized device.

IIRC, we waited for the mini, it was the right size but no retina and the quick upgrade cycle did NOT happen. The mini2 was higher priced and still behind the times and NEVER had a discount.

Target offered discounts + gift card on EVERYTHING but the mini2, now the mini3 get a joke of an upgrade.

Look at the price/performance/age vs cost of these. One gets all kinds of new stuff (camera, display, thiner, chip, barometer, wifi,...) the other gets TouchID... Both are the same price as the prior model.

We (or at least I) waited for the mini to catch up, it took a year and was still out of date compared to other offerings (nexus 7.2).

Look at the iPT for the future of the mini.

The actual need for a phone is shrinking, wifi will be all over and it's free.

Did we get multi-tasking? hmmm Microsoft has multi-tasking and have had it for a while.

Apple shook up the world in the 80's then floundered to the point they very nearly died... this is like Deja Vu all over again.

If someone could run iOS on a android tablet... Apple would be nearly done.

How much future is there in an overpriced under powered ultra short cycle product line?

Be glad that nobody has a patent on tablets.
 
It's a marketing strategy -- show people options that are less attractive than the one they really want you to take.

In this case, they barely touch the iPad Mini this revision, with the hope that many people will upgrade to the Air 2 for more features/functionality. They're also able to continue using older parts for the new Mini 3, increasing its revenue margins (which were somewhat low from what I had heard).

You can already tell it's working -- some folks will hold true to the mantra of "no upgrade, no purchase", but others are saying "well, crap, I guess I have to get the Air 2 now".

I think that may be partially it, but they probably also are slowly diminishing the profile of the iPad mini. The Air sells better and is higher margin and the 6 Plus also sells better and is higher margin. Between these two devices, you really need a good reason to buy the mini 3 instead. I think Apple realizes this.
 
I expected a bump to standard A8 and Touch ID. Just Touch ID? For $100 more? I can usually see the logic behind Apple's choices, but this one is just weird.

The real upgrade was the $100 discount for the old version.
 
It just feels like a chincy. They shouldve keep the mini around as the smaller iPad Air. Now its like someone else said cinderella and Apple is the evin step mom always trying to find ways to stop the mini. Sometimes you just have to go with the market...and that means no half hearted bs.

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I think that may be partially it, but they probably also are slowly diminishing the profile of the iPad mini. The Air sells better and is higher margin and the 6 Plus also sells better and is higher margin. Between these two devices, you really need a good reason to buy the mini 3 instead. I think Apple realizes this.

That could backfire and people just get last years model. Lets face it the air didnt even get a display upgrade.
 
I did expect at least the A8 in the new mini but I think the problem is we were spoiled by the Mini 2 last year having nigh on identical specs to the Air.
I think Apple are setting out clear delineation here between the mini and the Air so the latter remains the flagship product.
I think the Mini is here to stay but will adopt the A8 next year and perhaps the improved display, keeping it one generation behind the Air.
 
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Seriously, let's just say it. Look at the facts.

No Change
- A7 processor, no A8
- Presumably still 1GB of RAM.
- No mention of display improvements (especially color gamut).
- No form factor or weight improvements.

I was surprised by the lack of love apple sent its way. It doesn't make sense to not upgrade the processor. I think they could have improved the resolution and DPI so that it fits nicely inline with the iPhone 6 plus, or provide some other improvements.

Its just odd what they're doing with the iPad line. They're now selling too many models that have too much overlap.
 
I'm going to assume that the iPad Mini 3 will be the iPad 3 of this line (except no huge bump like the Retina display), meaning a more substantial upgrade is on the horizon. I'll also have to assume also that the iPad Mini 4 will have a similar shaved profile and lighter weight.

I don't like the Plus, and I don't like the Air. I don't see why they couldn't have upgraded the chip in the 3 to go alongside the Air because the tablet is truly a great size.

Maybe they'll have something at the next keynote, but, I can't imagine this is going to be the future of the Mini line. It can't be, it's too successful to just be dropped for the Air.
 
Elephant in the room - iPad Mini 3 is a huge disappointment

I think most people don't know the difference between A5 A6 A7 etc etc. It's just a shiny new iPad Mini with the touch id and a new color!


Very true. People on forums like this are in the minority. Most people just see a new iPad Mini, and probably never had the mini 2. Most people don't upgrade just because there is a new model out there. They upgrade when what they have is broken.
 
Very true. People on forums like this are in the minority. Most people just see a new iPad Mini, and probably never had the mini 2. Most people don't upgrade just because there is a new model out there. They upgrade when what they have is broken.

Alot of people also assume that 3 is better than 2 so they buy that.
 
This is hilarious. I went to the comparisons page and literally the only differences I could find was touch id, the storage options, and prices. I expect sales to be incredibly weak.
 
Choose your poison... laggy, bendy 6+ or last year's Mini at this year's pricing. :p
 
Sorry, but Schiller basically blew over the Mini 3. Hit it just hard enough to make the snub obvious. It’s dead, Jim.

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Or anything larger than 32GB storage.

I think it was basically to point out that it existed, and not much more. They evidently feel that dropping the price of the iPad mini 2 by $100 and adding Touch ID while dropping the price of the 64GB and 128GB iPad mini 3 will be "enough" until whenever they decide to update the iPad mini.

It's also conceivable that they are testing iPad mini demand to see whether it makes sense to continue offering it. They may well introduce an iPhone 7 Plus in 2 years with an even larger screen, and add more iPad-like features to it, while phasing out the iPad mini. I doubt it, given that they crowed about the satisfaction rate, but it's possible.

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Point out 3 features that are better.

http://www.apple.com/ipad/compare/

All it needs is one feature that the older model lacks in order to be "better." Whether it is $100 "better" is debatable, but if someone offered you an iPad mini 3 or an iPad mini 2 of the same capacity for the same price, which would you take?

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I was surprised by the lack of love apple sent its way. It doesn't make sense to not upgrade the processor. I think they could have improved the resolution and DPI so that it fits nicely inline with the iPhone 6 plus, or provide some other improvements.

Its just odd what they're doing with the iPad line. They're now selling too many models that have too much overlap.

I wonder if TSMC is struggling to keep up with A8 demand, and they need every chip they can get for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Obviously, this wouldn't have prevented them from updating the screen or making it thinner, so it seems that they never intended to make as radical an update of the iPad mini this year, but maybe they considered at one point to put the A8 chip inside.

I'm guessing the original iPad mini is gone after the holidays. It's a $249 stocking stuffer or upsell bait, like selling the iPad 2 last year. Apple quietly nixed it in February, but still had 4 iPad models on sale (iPad 4, iPad Air, iPad mini, and iPad mini 2).
 
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