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I am generally of the opinion that what comes out next should have no bearing on how you feel about your current device (a.k.a. something new doesn't make your current device suddenly less functional).

HOWEVER...

If Apple releases a new iPad Air and iPad mini with the only differentiators being 2gb of ram and touch ID I may have to hit someone...

Does anybody here really think that Apple is going to forge a new A7 chip packing a magical 2 GB of RAM for six months? And then the new iPads come out with iOS 8 and an A8 with 2 GB RAM in October?

So would the other current A7 devices get the same mid-cycle upgrade? I just don't think doubling the RAM of a computing device could be considered a "silent update". It doesn't make any sense to do so from a business standpoint, and it's not even an advertised spec. :)
 
Google Chrome usage on Note 3 (Snapdragon 800) vs iPad mini retina (Apple A7)
YouTube: video

Did you read the benchmarks on ars technica? I think a random YouTube video that doesn't show the other apps running, cached pages and apparent misses taps totally outclasses the multi page comprehensive review... Try Googling Anandtech for their multi page compressive review and compare it to your blurry YouTube testing one app...

ROFL

Google wouldn't be doing away with Dalvik if it were working so well ;)
 
What can't you do on an iPad that you think requires more RAM?

Have Safari open multiple tabs without refreshing them, or crashing?

Even though 7.1 has alleviated this a bit, it's still not an ideal amount. How much would an extra GB of RAM have cost? Yes, I know the scale of 30+ million iPads per quarter, but of the user experience?
 
Have Safari open multiple tabs without refreshing them, or crashing?

Even though 7.1 has alleviated this a bit, it's still not an ideal amount. How much would an extra GB of RAM have cost? Yes, I know the scale of 30+ million iPads per quarter, but of the user experience?

Just for iPad? Do iPad users do something that iPhone users do not? How many more millions would that add?

And why, pray tell, does Safari run fine on my 512K iPhone 4 (fine on 7.0.x, even better on 7.1), with lots of browser tabs open? I can't remember the last time Safari crashed, and it's been a while since anything crashed (I guess I'm just not enough of a power user).

"User experience?" Based on the discussions here, and the number of different individuals raising the issue, it seems to be a "handful of users' experience," which means, no, the cost of putting an extra GB into every new iPhone and iPad is not a justifiable expense.

"Quality of user experience" is a factor at any successful business, and it's always going to be a matter of weighing costs and benefits, the price the customer is willing to pay, etc. There will always be compromises, there will always be something that can be done better. Even in the premium product market, the "price is no object" customers are a small piece of the market.
 
Didn't buy the Air because I found Touch ID to be VERY convenient on my 5s. Would love a Touch ID on an iPad.

Also, for those who are doubting us in tomorrow's Champions League game against Manchester City, you will see how badly they will lose.
 
Didn't buy the Air because I found Touch ID to be VERY convenient on my 5s. Would love a Touch ID on an iPad.

Also, for those who are doubting us in tomorrow's Champions League game against Manchester City, you will see how badly they will lose.

How many times a day are you unlocking your iPad vs. your iPhone?
 
How many times a day are you unlocking your iPad vs. your iPhone?

I actually don't own an iPad yet unfortunately. I unlock my iPhone more than 30 times a day +/- 10. Planning on buying the next-gen iPad along with the 2014 rMBP, an upgrade from a 2010 MBP (bought in June) that sustained one fault - trackpad malfunction after placing my MBP near a Starbucks coffee machine as I was about to take my order. Also I may unlock the iPad at least 10 times a day.
 
another iPad "3" fiasco?

hey, I am still using that "fiasco", and have no complaints. Overheating? nope.

No way one additional serial number for mini and Air will be a new model. Not unless they stop offering separate LTE and Wifi versions. Look at history:

Ipad 3,1 was iPad 3 wifi only
Ipad 3,2 was Ipad 3 VZW cell and wifi
Ipad 3,3 was iPad 3 ATT cell and wifi

Ipad 3,4 was iPad 4 wifi only
Ipad 3,5 was Ipad 4 VZW cell and wifi
Ipad 3,6 was iPad 4 VZW & Sprint cell and wifi

Ipad 4,1 was iPad Air wifi only
Ipad 4,2 was iPad Air cell and wifi

So it follows that iPad 4,3 is a different cell variant (maybe international) than the existing cell version. Maybe just switching LTE chip manufacturers?

Guessing those are just iPads with modified LTE bands.

++1
 
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