Not really. The Nexus 7 was about as iterative as you can get, and still received glowing reviews. Same with the Kindle HDX. By-the-way, I'm not saying they're not great devices, but neither featured anything unique in terms of technology.
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First iPad Air Reviews: 'Ridiculously Small and Light', Apple's Most 'Tempting Tablet Yet'
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Not really. The Nexus 7 was about as iterative as you can get, and still received glowing reviews. Same with the Kindle HDX. By-the-way, I'm not saying they're not great devices, but neither featured anything unique in terms of technology.
Joshua Topolsky has been pretty negative on Apple/iOS for the last year or so. I assume that would be why.
With all those reviews + the most tablet-friendly apps of any platform Apple really do seem to make the best tablets, even without adding pens, widgets or full blown OS X, as so many think they should.
Its not the screen density but the resolution that has an impact on performance. But after reading Anands review there may be a performance hit due to thermal throttling. Because the iPad air has more surface area to disperse heat compared to the iPhone 5s that allowed the Air to stay at its 1.4ghz clock speed longer. I can only assume but I would expect the retina mini to follow in iPad Airs footsteps. But we still dont know if the processor will be clocked at 1.3ghz (same as 5s) or 1.4ghz (iPad Air). But in the real world youre not going to see a difference. Thats why the iPad mini is the better buy since its $100 cheaper.
And Anand review is a great highly detailed read. It even touches back on the iPhone 5s and just how powerful it is. But Im disappointed in the lack of added ram in the Air/Retina Mini because those apps are more demanding compared to the iPhone 5s. Its only a matter of time (be it a year or 2 from now) when you start running into an issue.
This tweet from Nilay Patel from the verge, in response to all of the reviews posted last night.
Arrogant hipster.
I mean a change that redefines what the device can do. Faster is a welcome improvement, but it hardly is a redefinition of what an iPad is and can do. Siri could have been that kind of change, if it was far better at understanding what you want and much more versatile and powerful. Maybe some day.
Just my point of view.
I know people like different things but I'm personally baffled why people like reviews from The Verge. They used to be great, but it's clear the site's focus has shifted beyond reviewing tech. Granted, most of the tech sites aren't as "casual", The Verge seems like it's building a rep for having barebones reviews with sensationalized titles. David Pierce, their reviews editor, is really bad at reviewing pretty much anything as well in my opinion. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter all that much. I just find it interesting being an armchair blog critic.
Now back to deciding on replacing my iPad 3 with a mini or an Air.
Thats a great point about Siri and what real improvements can or should be. I do like the direction that thr Air is going though. Its about time they've shrunk the dimensions and weight down from the relatively hefty iPad 3 & 4.
What I posted is true. Anand is highly respected in the industry for his unbiased reviews.
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I would be buying the iPad Air immediately if it had Touch ID. I guess I will just have to wait til next year.
So instead of wanting it for it's screen, light weight, and thin profile in order to view the web and consume content...you want it so you can keep scanning your finger? Why punish yourself for an entire year just to get Touch ID?
The Verge has become everything else but a technology site. Just look at their homepage and see how many articles they have about politics or movies. Their reviews have never been in-depth, as Ars technica's (for OSes) or Anandtech's (for hardware).
The Verge is also very google oriented. They live in the Google ecosystem, use their apps for productivity (thus, being in the minority - Microsoft Office is the standard), and use everything that Google offers.
They are not against Apple, they are just very geeky and Google oriented. They also have the tendency to consider themselves very important.
I don't know if they have always been like that, but the last 12 months I have been noticing all these things...
I am sure when their iPad Air review comes out that it will be positive (on the hardware side) and negative because iOS 7 doesn't have nice icons (according to them) and because the notifications don't work as Android.
Really torn (I know it's a first world problem) on getting the Air on Friday or waiting for the mini. Starting to lean towards the Air since it will be available and generally well stocked without needing to campout. Also, the smaller footprint from previous iPad will be a welcome change (one of the original reasons i looked at the mini).
In my opinion, his reviews are much better from the technical perspective but lately, I think, he started exhibiting some Apple bias. His data is still good, his interpretation is a little off sometimes.
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Smaller footprint help if you carry the tablet with you a lot. In usage, it may actually be a problem because smaller bezel might make it difficult to hold the tablet.
Excellent product. The jump in benchmarks (shown on the AnandTech site) is significant, stunning, really, especially coming from an iPad 1-2 (like me ).
From my point of view this is really the iPad "3" (as in version 3) given the form factor and internal architecture changes. The subsequent iPads after iPad 2 were refinements on the standard set by the 2.
As with every major revision and in customary Apple fashion, Apple is saving some things for the next incremental upgrades (Touch ID, more RAM, gold option). They never give you everything you want up front (just like drug dealers, they get you on the comeback).
But unlike the jump from iPad to iPad 2 where the 2 is really the iPad "past prototype" (iPad 1), this is the one to buy. The iPad 2 was, IMHO, the real game changing iPad and the one to get then. That's one of the reasons why they still sell it. This new iPad Air fits that category. I believe they'll be selling this one well past the release of the next generations and will have the longevity of the iPad 2.
I agree that power (?) users may want more power (RAM), but for the target Apple audience in the middle of the bell curve (like me), this is it. I'll even suck up my distaste (OK, abhorrence) of iOS 7's design language for this tablet; after all I'm in apps more often than not and I can implement a jailbreak (when it becomes available) if I can't take it anymore. Light, powerful (enough for me), beautiful (hardware), and a BANGING ecosystem.
I can finally upgrade my iPad1 and wife's iPad2. Mini for the kids (bad ass as well).
I thought I was ready to walk away to Android...Damn you, Apple. Take my money.
). From my point of view this is really the iPad "3" (as in version 3) given the form factor and internal architecture changes. The subsequent iPads after iPad 2 were refinements on the standard set by the 2.
As with every major revision and in customary Apple fashion, Apple is saving some things for the next incremental upgrades (Touch ID, more RAM, gold option). They never give you everything you want up front (just like drug dealers, they get you on the comeback).
But unlike the jump from iPad to iPad 2 where the 2 is really the iPad "past prototype" (iPad 1), this is the one to buy. The iPad 2 was, IMHO, the real game changing iPad and the one to get then. That's one of the reasons why they still sell it. This new iPad Air fits that category. I believe they'll be selling this one well past the release of the next generations and will have the longevity of the iPad 2.
I agree that power (?) users may want more power (RAM), but for the target Apple audience in the middle of the bell curve (like me), this is it. I'll even suck up my distaste (OK, abhorrence) of iOS 7's design language for this tablet; after all I'm in apps more often than not and I can implement a jailbreak (when it becomes available) if I can't take it anymore. Light, powerful (enough for me), beautiful (hardware), and a BANGING ecosystem.
I can finally upgrade my iPad1 and wife's iPad2. Mini for the kids (bad ass as well).
I thought I was ready to walk away to Android...Damn you, Apple. Take my money.
I think he does well in pointing out shortcomings, even in Apple products. He is a an Apple user himself, but I think he is very objective. I like the fact that he isn't an Apple cheerleader like some of the other sites. I think he calls it like he sees it. He gave the Surface Pro 2 a generally good review and what he pointed out for shortcomings was not being picky. Ars Technica does in depth reviews too, but they are quite pro Apple, IMO. Some of the other sites are ridiculous, praising the iPhone for having a non removable battery and then criticizing an Android phone because the battery wasn't removable.
I"m not surprised at the iPad Air review. It looks to be a great tablet. He also gave the Nexus 7 a good review.
For me Apple's accidental touch detection on the iPad mini works great, so I can't really see why it would be an issue with the iPad Air.
iPad Air is bigger and heavier. This may cause way more accidental touches. There is no way of knowing how it'll feel until we try it.
As much as I'd like to see one, I doubt it. Two models is the Apple trend.
Anything bigger and Apple has an 11" or 13" MBA to sell you.
But, time will tell.
However, the iPad Air is so nice (for me) I don't want to wait. And I'm a size freak (17" MBP superfan, want 5" iPhone); bigger is better in my book.
Did you read the review? The findings were EXACTLY as I predicted. The Air is clocked slighly higher and perfoms slightly better than 5S. So I'm not sure how I'm wrong.
PS. By "me and other experienced members" I meant me (who is not experienced) + other members who are experienced. Obviously if you look at my post history you can see I'm new here.
I agree. His non-Apple product reviews are much more balanced than on most other sites. What I notice (I think) is that he is very careful when criticizing Apple products (access to review samples?) and there is also a little bit of bias that comes from the fact that he is Apple product owner/user (well, we are all biased towards our possessions
)I once criticized Josh back in his Engadget days when he was defending Apple left and right. At the time I was bashing Apple (I still do when it makes sense, i.e. iPad 2 for $400) and he responded back to me and he took my comment personal. But lets be honest here. Apple has not released anything groundbreaking and people are starting to take note. There is nothing special about a slimmer faster iPad. Tim Cook has released nothing but reiterations of Steve J. dreams.
Can anyone here tell me from an innovation standpoint why they need to upgrade from an iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4 to an iPad Air? There are no 64bit only apps in the app store and not one requires the A7 processor speed.
If Samsung had a clear upgrade path for their devices or if Google released the Nexus 5 on Verizon I would not have purchased an iPhone 5s. This time around I wanted a simpler phone that would receive timely updates. The only thing saving Apple right now is its ecosystem and the ability to upgrade software across different devices. Even Windows Phone is building up to be a threat to Apple.
Well, a tablet is what it is supposed to be. The new iPad is an iteration, but you can't expect innovation every year. It's impossible.
I don't understand people who speak about the lack of innovation that Apple apparently has, since Steve died.
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Nilay Patel is nothing. Don't pay attention to what he says. He is an idiot.