It takes more power to operate more RAM. And yes, they could have done that and increased the size of the battery more.
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iPad Air Component Costs Estimated to Begin at $274, Roughly 13% Cheaper Than iPad 3
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It takes more power to operate more RAM. And yes, they could have done that and increased the size of the battery more.
I'm not a moron. I have a degree and two minors (one of them marketing). My dad is also the pricing manager for an international corporation and all subsidiaries so I've been around the conversations that take place. I understand perfectly fine that 16GB makes them more money. The fact remains that the iPad will have the same base storage from 2010 going into 2014. That I find ridiculous as a consumer. For instance, the base MacBook Air in 2010 was 64GB. Now it's 128GB. The base iPhone in 2010 came in 8GB capacity and now it comes in at 16GB. The iPad has stagnated when it comes to storage capacity.
If you read the rest of my comment I was largely agreeing with these sentiments about cost. The iPad 3 was a huge effort to get Retina out the door before everyone else, therefore the components cost more as they were cutting-edge. The iPad Air shares some of these same components, therefore over time the prices have come down for things like big retina screens.
The margins on the Mini are certainly lower than the Air. If the Air is now making more money per unit shipped vs. the previous generations, it might allow them to price a similarly-spec'd machine (the Mini) at a $100 lower price-point. Things average out across the product mix. I doubt the new Mini is much cheaper (if at all) to produce. And I certainly doubt that R&D spending has increased anywhere close to $42 per unit shipped on the Air. If it has, then a bunch of people at Apple should be fired. That's ridiculous. But go ahead and keep telling me that makes perfect business sense.
I don't want Apple to be a loss leader (that's stupid and not in any way reflective of their success), but I want them to ship the best product. The 16GB base-model is not the best product with the ballooning size of retina-enabled applications and other features like Photostream that store photos and videos taken on your iPhone locally on your iPad. All that space adds up fast. Sure you could disable it but then you're not getting the best experience. Many consumers have no concept of how much storage they should get. 32GB at least means they're starting in a better place for typical use in the year 2014 and Apple takes a couple dollar hit to put out a better product. It won't break them. They did it for 6 months with the iPad 3 that had expensive parts. They did it when they bumped the iPhone's storage, and the MacBook Air, and other Macs I can't even remember to mention. Do you consider all of those poor business decisions?
You know how it does make good business sense (short term)? When people have to buy another iPad in 3-6 months when it runs out of space. If Apple becomes that company that purposely sells people devices that aren't fully capable then I don't think that's a good long-term strategy. It burns up goodwill that the consumer has towards the company, and that's some of Apple's most valuable currency to burn. I know my mom is pissed that she is always running out of space on her 16GB iPad 4. She didn't know how much she needed and didn't consult anyone before purchasing because she's all independent like that. She only has a few apps, books, games and photos. She is by no means a heavy user. Then you have my grandpa. I told him to get 32 or 64GB because he wanted to save pictures from his camera onto the iPad but doesn't have really any apps installed or anything else for that matter. He insisted that 16GB was fine because he has been retired for quite a while and is really thrifty with money. He bought it this summer and is already running low on space. The bottom line is that it's not a good user experience to have to manage your storage all of the time. 32GB goes a long way towards addressing that issue for typical consumers and makes Apple look better in the long-run.
autrefois
macrumors 65816
Coca-Cola is just sugar, flavoring and water.
It costs about 5 cents in materials to make a 2-liter. They sell it for between $1 and $2.
That's a 1,000-2,000% markup. Where are the articles on this?
You should see how much they complain about this over at CokeRumors!
Might want to put that 's/' at the end of your post or are you calling yourself a sheep because you also bought a iPad Air and many other Apple products.
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I think you are confused. Your other post said:
Now you are comparing iPad 4 vs. the iPad air.
You might want to take a minute to think about what it is you are trying to say before you start typing. Then, post again about what it is that you are trying to say.
Labor would add a good chunk to the baseline cost. Probably about $80-$100 or so, on a rough guesstimation. Though any cost Apple had sunk into R&D would be made up and then some by the time the day one sales rush has finished up.
Sounds like a site where people discuss the news and rumors about the drug trade.
"Brazil readies new Coca Plant hybrids for mass planting. Does this spell the end for Colombia's stranglehold on the market"?
Reading these posts... its gotta make me wonder if anyone at all understands how retail works.
Well he was talking to me like I'm some kind of a moron. Like I don't understand that Apple has costs beyond components. I mean really? Who doesn't understand that? What was most ridiculous is that I didn't even say that in my OP. There is no way that Apple's operating expenses, R&D, the whole shebang went up $42/unit. But the fact remains that every other product Apple makes that I can think of has increased in base storage capacity since the original iPad unveiled in 2010 except the iPad which has always been at 16GB. Even though apps have more than doubled in size since then and other features like Photostream have been added that take up more space. Something has got to give.
I agree with you to an extent. I have several Apple products which I'm quite happy with and was willing to pay the price for a better experience. I'd like some justification from Apple why they need to mark up flash memory that much. 45% profit margin is not enough??? And based on reports, it certainly doesn't have much to do with R&D costs, since Apple is far behind their competitors in that department.
autrefois
macrumors 65816
Sounds like a site where people discuss the news and rumors about the drug trade.
True. A bet a lot of people were really disappointed when Cherry Coke was announced.
I think people are completely missing the point. The extra 13% Apple is getting thanks to the cheaper components is not going to waste. It's there to help subsidize the new spaceship campus they're planning.
It's not like they have billions of dollars just lying around that they could use to build the thing. Oh wait...
I'm not disagreeing with you. Just that no one seems to highlighting that walmart and best buy and any other retailer does not sell apple products without getting some kind of compensation.
They do, though it's likely not as much as you'd think. Maybe to the tune of $5-$10 per unit sold. With everything tallied together (admittedly, I'm doing head-math off big rounded numbers here), I'd say Apple is making roughly a 20% profit off every iPad sold by day three.
I can't imagine that Apple does not have a wholesale price that they give to the retailers selling Apple products. What incentive does Target have to sell a WiFi iPad with they don't make any profit from that sell.
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You think calling someone a name, who does not have any control over how Apple prices their products, is the way to voice that you are "not ok with apple not passing on the savings to the consumer"? Kind of a childish way to do it.
Vote with your wallet, that is the way to tell Apple that you are not happy.
Hmm yes, that does make sense. Though I wish the cell model was only $50-$100 more. Perhaps the models will get more popular (and thus cheaper) with T-Mobile's free data plan...
The cell models also don't add any to the resale/trade-in value. I guess because the people buying used iPads don't care/don't use it.