Well we don't live in a fictional world where you could pick between 2 iPads for the same price... No one is going to pay $100 for Touch ID. Even the 32gb iPad mini 2 is less expensive than the 16 go iPad mini 3. No brainier.
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iPad mini Elephant in the room - iPad Mini 3 is a huge disappointment
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Well we don't live in a fictional world where you could pick between 2 iPads for the same price... No one is going to pay $100 for Touch ID. Even the 32gb iPad mini 2 is less expensive than the 16 go iPad mini 3. No brainier.
missing the point
Maybe that's missing the point. There's two types of buyers.
People who shop for price, or for performance/latest-greatest.
An iPad mini 2 at $299 is a great deal. A7, retina display, small light.
If the latest greatest touch ID or color matters to you and price is not an object, what's $399 for the mini 3.
Maybe that's missing the point. There's two types of buyers.
People who shop for price, or for performance/latest-greatest.
An iPad mini 2 at $299 is a great deal. A7, retina display, small light.
If the latest greatest touch ID or color matters to you and price is not an object, what's $399 for the mini 3.
Some people will. Maybe not many, and maybe Apple isn't expecting many. And there's nothing preventing Apple from lowering the price in the middle of the product cycle.
The question was whether the iPad mini 3 is "better" than the iPad mini 2. It has every feature the mini 2 has plus Touch ID. So in terms of specifications and functionality, it is "better." Probably not $100 better to most people, but we'll see.
There are two markets for the iPad Mini with different criteria. First there are those who want a smaller iPad - they dont have an iPad Mini 2, so there is value for them. The second part of the market is current iPad Mini (2) owners who are looking to upgrade. Thats the segment that Apple just crapped on.
The iPad Mini 3 is a good choice for someone looking for a small iPad with all the features. It is not a worthy upgrade for current iPad Mini owners.
Missed opportunity for Apple.
I have the iPad mini 2. I wouldn't buy the mini 3 for myself, but might have if it had the A8, or even just the screen improvements, thinner profile, and 802.11ac. I can't say I notice much difference in speed between my iPhone 6 and iPad mini 2. That said, I do like the Touch ID and the screen improvements, so I'll try the iPad Air 2. Maybe the thinner design will work for me. I tried both the original Air and rMini last year and stuck with the mini because all else equal I preferred the size, but this year all isn't equal.
But that said, the iPad is turning out to be a device that people don't upgrade each year or even every 2 years like the iPhone. It's more like the Mac, which people tend to keep for 3-4 years before replacing. So maybe Apple figured it wasn't so much of a missed opportunity. That said, the pricing is a bit perplexing, since it makes the relative lack of upgrades so obvious. At a $50 differential (i.e. a $349 iPad mini 3), people might not have complained as much.
That would mean that Apple would have 3 different iPad Mini models priced at $50 increments:
$249 iPad Mini (original)
$299 iPad Mini Retina (Mini 2)
$349 iPad Mini Retina (Mini 3)
That might have worked against Apple by setting customers' expectations for future upgrades and products.
I just see the whole thing as Apple screwing the pooch on this one. And when you throw in other faux pas like the new Mac Mini with no user-upgradeable memory, it all becomes a big head scratcher.
What if you want a new 64GB rMini ? You have no choice but to pay the higher cost and get an iPad Mini 3.
I have an iPad Air and rMini. I wasn't sure which one I would upgrade this year if either, but Apple made it easy. I ordered the Air 2 today. I'm keeping my rMini. I don't care for the gold and while touch id is great I wouldn't upgrade for that alone. I feel sorry for all of those who love the mini and looked forward to more of an upgrade this year. It seems like Apple wants people to buy the flagship model instead. Maybe the rMini was cutting into iPad Air sales too much.
I'm in the first market, but I feel like Apple just took a crap on me. If I wanted the iPad Mini 2 I would have bought it last year. I want a device that is easy to hold for long periods of time with one hand. The Mini 2 is too heavy for that. The additional weight was expected for the Retina display. I expected after a year for the Mini 3 to be lighter, and to have the current processor.
I'm really not sure what to do. Buy an iPad Mini 2 which is heavier than I would like, and a year behind in technology or wait and hope the Mini line is continued and a lighter iPad Mini 4 is released.
I felt let down last year as well. I wanted to buy in January but waited the year out for a lighter iPad, only to feel the Air was crippled and would have to wait another year to get a version that had more horesepower.
Elephant in the room - iPad Mini 3 is a huge disappointment
That's true, but 32 GB is more than enough for most people. Also, current ipad mini 2 owners have no incentive to upgrade besides touch id, which is $100 more. The real reason apple did this was probably to get people to buy the more expensive ipad Air 2.
That's true, but 32 GB is more than enough for most people. Also, current ipad mini 2 owners have no incentive to upgrade besides touch id, which is $100 more. The real reason apple did this was probably to get people to buy the more expensive ipad Air 2.
This is Tim Cook's Apple. He needed to have some "distance" between the Mini and the Air, as the Air's profit margins are greater. The Mini update is laughable. Every Mini generation has been obsolete before it was even released. Take a bow, Tim.
The laughable Mini update will flop, and I'll enjoy every minute of it.
The laughable Mini update will flop, and I'll enjoy every minute of it.
Last year's mini was basically the same as the Air. How was it obsolete?
For all you know Tim Cook expects and even wants slower sales of the mini 3 since he'd rather sell another iPad Air 2 or iPhone 6 Plus.
I still can't believe they kept the original Mini in the product lineup. I bought it and it was just about obsolete on launch day. The screen is a joke. There are too many iPad options now and it will just cause confusion for first time buyers and make it more difficult for retail staff.
Agreed. I think some of the old Steve Jobs magic is needed. The guts to cut a product that is still selling like the original iPad mini, and also to trash an unnecessary SKU of older generation iPad's.
Here is some humor for you guys (the part about "innovation"):
Also notice how vibrant the PR images of the Mini 3's display are...not sure I'd call that false advertising but if you look at some of the hands on photos, the screen looks so much worse (same as the rMini).
Also notice how vibrant the PR images of the Mini 3's display are...not sure I'd call that false advertising but if you look at some of the hands on photos, the screen looks so much worse (same as the rMini).
Agree with everything you said. Even if it means losing some of the cheap segment of tablet sales to Android its still better then selling obsolete technology with the original Mini which will ultimately disappoint customers. Its still way overpriced for what you are getting.
Apple now carry so many SKU’s. The phones now come in four varieties, of which there are either three or five colours and one to three capacities; 9 SKUs of 6+, 9 of 6, 6 of 5S and five of 5C - for a grand total of 29 SKUs.
The iPads now come in a bewilderingly similar looking array of two sizes, with the wifi or wifi + cellular option, two or three colours and one to three capacities; 18 SKUs of Air 2, 8 of Air, 18 of Mini 3, 8 of Mini 2 and 4 of Mini - a grand total of 56 SKUs.
With the iPad especially it is confusing for the consumer to understand what could seem to be relatively minor differences between these devices, solely focused on a single feature like touch ID, or a retina display (something a great deal of potential buyers don’t really understand). This is precisely the reason that Apple found itself floundering before.
Consumers will happily buy three year old technology, unaware of the huge differences this makes (the only non-retina iOS device still being sold, at least it doesn’t use 30 pin), because it is the cheapest option. Then, when the time comes to upgrade the operating system, and they discover that their machine is suddenly “too slow”, blaming Apple. The average customer will look elsewhere for an alternative which isn’t crippled by software updates released from a sense of duty. Whilst the mini was introduced in 2012, its still going to be available to buy 2015, probably even after the release of iOS9.
I have no doubt that this wide variety of choice will be just the thing to reinvigorate the stagnating market for iPads…
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I bought them both. They're not the same. The iPad mini display is a joke. For 2013, it was obsolete. It's the same in 2014. In other words, laughable.
A person would have to be REALLY dumb to buy the 2014 version.
Many people didn't notice or care about the color gamut issue. If it were "laughable" it wouldn't have gotten such a high customer satisfaction rate. We don't yet know if the color gamut has been improved in the 2014 version since no one has tested one yet, though Ryan Smith of AnandTech said that at first glance it appeared a bit nicer than how he remembered the mini 2.