Just because 16 doesn't work for you doesn't mean it doesn't work for anyone else. That seems to be a recurring thing on this board. What's good for you isn't always good for everyone else.
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All iPads iPad Air is such a joke at $499
- Thread starter futbalguy
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Just because 16 doesn't work for you doesn't mean it doesn't work for anyone else. That seems to be a recurring thing on this board. What's good for you isn't always good for everyone else.
Seems to me Apple wouldn't be selling 16GB models if they weren't selling. I know plenty of people who have 16GB devices and don't come close to filling them up. As far as charging $100 for 32GB, easiest way to solve that problem is stop buying iDevices. If people stop buying iDevices because they think Apple is ripping them off over storage the price will come down. 
I agree with you, BUT what people are saying that the entry level should start at 32GB for $499 and they should drop the 16GB period.
But then, there'd be no relatively quick upsell to a 32GB model. When my aunt got her iPad and iPhone, the Apple Genius was somewhat strongly suggesting she buy the 32GB model. Since I was there and I know her usage (email, online shopping, Kindle), I told her the 16GB models will be enough for her. After more than 2 years of usage she's barely using 1GB on each iDevice. If she had been by herself, she would've spent the extra $200 on a feature she doesn't need.
I think this is true. The bigger screen should cost a bit more, but bigger size also means more space so you don't have to cram in components so tightly, making it easier to manufacture. I think the cost of bigger screen vs the increased cost of manufacturing smaller device should be about a wash, but I might be totally wrong.
In any case, if anything, it's the iPad mini that is probably underpriced. In order for Apple to get the same profit margin from the mini as for the Air, they probably need to price it a bit higher.
Apple will move to 32gb as base storage once they run out of "features" to add to the iPad to convince you to upgrade.
The base 16gb models still have the best resale value on the second hand market.
The base 16gb models still have the best resale value on the second hand market.
As much as people on here complain about 16GB, and as much as I would love a base 32GB model (as it brings down the 128GB I want to get to more reasonable levels), the fact remains that most people outside of these forums just don't use that much space on their iPads or even iPhones. I don't even think my wife uses half of her iPhone 5 16GB. Most regular people only have 10-15 apps and browse the web or check email and calendars. Personally we have Rdio and Netflix/Hulu so we don't store a lot on our devices. Even so most normal people only have a few GBs of music on their devices and maybe a few movies or TV shows. Not everyone is as crazy as we are. I think the time of 32GB is quickly approaching, but there just isn't enough pressure on Apple when it comes to the tablet market and I hope that changes.
Nah. Apple will move to a 32GB base model when NAND manufacturers stop making 16GB NAND flash packages or when 32GB NAND packages become cheaper than 16GB.
I think a lot of people will agree with me here, it's not a matter of not starting at 32GB, but rather it's an issue of being a $100 increase everytime the memory doubles. That's the main complaint in my opinion, reading between the lines. I think I remember reading the difference for them between 16/32/64 chips are only a few dollars, so why jack up the prices $100 each time?
People have been buying overpriced apple products for years. what makes u think this is any different. Next year they will come out with a screen that's 11 inches and the herd will buy it not matter what.
Think about it. Apple is the only company that can get away with this. Ip5c.... an ip5 in plastic that is being resold as a new 2013 phone. funny how people eat it up. Idiots
Think about it. Apple is the only company that can get away with this. Ip5c.... an ip5 in plastic that is being resold as a new 2013 phone. funny how people eat it up. Idiots
actually i think for 100 more to get a bigger iPad is a far better deal. i buy 64gb anyway but it's still 100 dollar difference.
This. Sometimes I don't get Apple. They made the mini just as powerful yet $100 cheaper than the iPad Air. Why not swallow the extra $10 that it will cost you to add 16 more gig so that you can sale more iPad airs for a larger profit. I think that we can pretty much assume that it will cost more to make a retina iPad mini with
I would have bought a iPad Air if it had 32gig for $500. The only reason why a iPad Air might outsell the mini this holiday is due to supply constraints.
I agree with the OP. The price and product differentiation between the mini and Air is odd.
When you buy a TV, you consider where you will sit, the size of your room, etc. Nearly all HDTVs have 1080p resolution, but with bigger ones you are usually sitting further away, while a 32" TV might be for a smaller room or bedroom, for example.
So in this sense the perceived image of all the HDTV sizes is comparable because we really do sit at different distances from the TV based on its size. But to say that we similarly hold tablets at different distances away from our faces is a bit of a stretch. I would bet that both the Mini and Air are held at about the same useable distance : 18-24 inches.
So the Mini truly would look better in this case, at 326ppi. This is not a misunderstanding of ppi, it is an exact understanding. We are not talking about TVs, we are talking about tablets that have a fixed useable range - our arm's length. At the same distance the Mini will look crisper than the Air. Some won't notice, some will, but this is an objective fact.
I agree with those saying that the Mini is now the better deal. Even though some people might prefer the extra screen real estate of the Air, the fact is that no additional information is being presented on the larger screen. It's screen size vs screen quality - call it a wash. Since there is no better technology driving the Air, and since the Mini carries a weight and portability premium and is yet $100 cheaper that the Air, it is the better deal.
In my view Apple should have made the Air 32/64/128 with 2GB ram while the Mini would get 16/32/64 with 1GB ram. Then the 399/499 base model pricing would have made more sense and would actually push people more towards the Air, which may actually have higher margins than the very compact and technologically impressive Mini. We'll know that for sure when we see a teardown of both devices.
I think the $100/£80 difference is about right for the differences in manufacturing costs. Obviously much of it is the same and the tooling and production costs are equal but the Air just requires a bigger screen, more raw materials for the enclosure and more batteries so the price difference sounds about right for this.
As for whether the new Mini is overpriced compared to the likes of a Kindle Fire HD or Nexus 7, that's actually irrelevant. Apple aren't trying to lure prospective buyers of those tables but rather those who would have considered a full size iPad but want a smaller one either for portability, weight or cost reasons.
The memory issue is a contentious one. Yes 16GB should be phased out. With the jump in app size due to retina support and another imminent as 64-bit support is added, 16GB is becoming rather tight. As for charging £80 for each memory increment, yes it's daylight robbery considering the actual cost to Apple but then this is the way many other industries have always worked. It doesn't cost Audi five times as much to make an A8 as it does to make an A1 for example - it's all market positioning.
There's also the "upsell" factor. Many people will look at spending £399 for a base iPad Air but then figure that they can double the memory for only an additional 20% outlay and so one, so they do.
As for whether the new Mini is overpriced compared to the likes of a Kindle Fire HD or Nexus 7, that's actually irrelevant. Apple aren't trying to lure prospective buyers of those tables but rather those who would have considered a full size iPad but want a smaller one either for portability, weight or cost reasons.
The memory issue is a contentious one. Yes 16GB should be phased out. With the jump in app size due to retina support and another imminent as 64-bit support is added, 16GB is becoming rather tight. As for charging £80 for each memory increment, yes it's daylight robbery considering the actual cost to Apple but then this is the way many other industries have always worked. It doesn't cost Audi five times as much to make an A8 as it does to make an A1 for example - it's all market positioning.
There's also the "upsell" factor. Many people will look at spending £399 for a base iPad Air but then figure that they can double the memory for only an additional 20% outlay and so one, so they do.
I wish people would make more threads like this one too...
Remember when they came out with this thing called iPhone? I stood in line for an 8GB one. I was not alone! I upgraded from a 4S to a 5C, and I was not alone! I have a mini and a big iPad, and they are different storage capacities for different purposes, and I am not alone!
Listen: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What you upgrade to with joy depends AT LEAST in part on what you are upgrading from. If you have nothing, and can afford a used 16GB something or other, you will love it.
If you have been buying 32GB or 64GB iphones or iPads for a few generations now, then of course you may well sneer at 16GB. I don't sneer at them but I noticed the other day that in app data storage on my big iPad I have 8GB storage tied up just in New Yorker issues, which I happen to like to keep stored locally. That doesn't prevent me from understanding why plenty of people need no more than 16GB on a tablet device these days. My preference now on iPhones is still 32GB but I could see dropping to a 16GB considering that I take a 32GB mini iPad with me fairly often when I'm out and about. If I got a larger iPad mini sometime I might well look at 16GB on a phone.
To each his own. Celebrate the choices, I say. And I'd say that we're lucky Apple sees it that way too.
Then they can do the same with the 64GB, and sales will always up-sell the next one. You missed the point also, people are saying that the 16GB at $499 should be dropped and the 32GB should be $499.
32GB $499
64GB $599
and so on.
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I agree; this caught me by surprise as well. I can understand why the mini got the A7 chip, but I thought Apple would have at least given the iPad air a faster processor to maintain its "pro" status relative to the iPad mini, but it seems that they both have the same specs now.
It is possible that the air's processor is overclocked (giving it a faster speed) compared to the mini, but I think we probably won't notice any speed difference.
I will end up buying both air and mini 2 at launch.
I will wait for the tear down. If air has higher clock speed and more ram I will keep Air.
If not I will keep the mini 2.
Cause mini 2 will be the better buy for me if specs are the exact same (considering I have iPad 3 and 4 at home already) so don't need a full size air.
We all know iPad "pro" is coming soon as well. Considering they named it the iPad air.
I will wait for the tear down. If air has higher clock speed and more ram I will keep Air.
If not I will keep the mini 2.
Cause mini 2 will be the better buy for me if specs are the exact same (considering I have iPad 3 and 4 at home already) so don't need a full size air.
We all know iPad "pro" is coming soon as well. Considering they named it the iPad air.
Because retina apps take up more space.
I have an 8GB ipod touch with NO MUSIC on it and it's full with just apps. I would assume an ipad with double this much storage space would put me in the same boat--running out of storage space. I can deal with some Apple surcharge, but $130 for GPS/cell *AND* $100 for an extra 16GB?? I'll overpay for one but not both.
Think of it this way: If the memory costs Apple an extra $5, they could very well make that $5 up in app sales, which they will never get if the device is full! It's more a user experience thing-people buy the base model and then when it's full, its just full. It's not like they can add memory at that point.
I didn't miss the point. The thing is 16GB is limited enough to make the upsell to 32GB easy. However, I reckon not many would go from 32GB to 64GB (although that's actually a much better deal: 16GB->32GB $6.25/GB, 32GB->64GB $3.125/GB).
I'm of the opinion that the iPad Air is overpriced.
The retina mini is a steal compared to the new iPad Air.
What more are you getting for your $100.00 besides a slightly heavier and larger device? Other than this, there is no difference (at least no other differences that we know of yet).
The retina mini is a steal compared to the new iPad Air.
What more are you getting for your $100.00 besides a slightly heavier and larger device? Other than this, there is no difference (at least no other differences that we know of yet).
Someone stated earlier in this thread that Apple makes the greatest margin on the 16GB version. However, I would argue that, that Apple makes the least margin on the 16GB and larger margins on the 32GB and 64GB etc. The logic is that Apple charges a flat $100 for doubling storage. Apple's cost of doubling storage would be far below the $100 cost they charge. I would expect Apple makes the largest margins on 32GB and 64GB models.
I may be wrong, but I believe whether you have a retina device or not, it still downloads the 'retina version' of that app.
So even then the iPad 2 is not retina, it downloads the same file that the iPad 3/4 and Air do.
So for millions of people out there, 16GB is still plenty. I agree, if prefer 32GB as standard, but when the majority of sales are 16GB, why would they stop producing it?