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iPad mini iPad Retina (3) -> iPad 4, Mini Retina...Potential Repeat of History?

D

darabo

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 25, 2013
81
13
As someone who bought an iPad 3 at launch day I was happy to buy one, however when the iPad 4 was announced and launched around half a year later it was almost a slap in the face. Now the value of the iPad 3 has plummeted and I'm sure many people who also bought iPad 3s have similar views in regards to how Apple handled the situation.

Now the Mini Retina has been announced and is to be released in the near future, however now I'm concerned that history will repeat itself with the Mini and a new version will be released early next year.

The iPad 3 was "around the same weight and size" as the iPad 2 and the same is being said with the Mini.

Do you all potentially fear that the Mini Retina will suffer the same fate as the iPad 3?
 
Fight-Club-The-Things-You-Own.jpg
 
In January 2012 Digitimes actually reported that 2 iPads would be released in 2012, one in March with an "Interim Upgrade" and another in October as a full upgrade internally

Apple will ship the so-called "iPad 3" with a full HD display in March and then "iPad 4" - named so by its component suppliers - with killer applications in October, according to industry sources in Taiwan. [...]

But a true battle for market share will arrive in the second half of the year when Apple ships its iPad 4 in October, about the time when Microsoft releases its Window 8 and Intel unveils its Clover Trail-W platform, the sources commented.

The 9.7-inch iPad 4 is expected to come with much upgraded hardware specifications and integrated applications so as to compete with an array of Android-, Wintel- or WoA (Windows on ARM)-based tablet PCs to be released in the fourth quarter, said the sources.
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https://www.macrumors.com/2012/01/0...ctober-launch-with-ipad-3-as-interim-upgrade/

No such rumors have have arisen to support any claims that a new iPad mini will be released in 6 months, and what if their is? current iPads will not magically stop working. Thats more of personal issue of wanting the latest and greatest.
 
saving107 said:
No such rumors have have arisen to support any claims that a new iPad mini will be released in 6 months, and what if their is? current iPads will not magically stop working. Thats more of personal issue of wanting the latest and greatest.
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I agree, actually I would like them to freshen up the line more often than 12 months, I don't have to upgrade, but I have that option. So say they upgrade in March with touchID, maybe they couldn't add it due to supply issues now, that would not bother me at all, I would welcome it.

New things come out all the time, you just have to jump in and decide when to upgrade next, you could look at this way, why buy this now when in 12 months a new one will be better....

Bring out new iPads every 6 months would be just fine with me, nobody is forcing me to upgrade every time, I just like to:D
 
The retina mini is safe for a year, it will be in low supply with a higher profit margin and volume as time passes.

It's the iPad Air that needs a 6 month update or sooner. Just too many people look at it and say, might as well save $100 and get the mini retina. Air offers nothing over the smaller mini retina except slightly bigger screen but the pixel density is lower. Heck the iPhone 5s has more features of appeal with its touch ID and gold color option.

The naming has left an opening for the iPad Pro model, or just a spec and feature update to the Air itself in a few months.
 
OSMac said:
The retina mini is safe for a year, it will be in low supply with a higher profit margin and volume as time passes.

It's the iPad Air that needs a 6 month update or sooner. Just too many people look at it and say, might as well save $100 and get the mini retina. Air offers nothing over the smaller mini retina except slightly bigger screen but the pixel density is lower. Heck the iPhone 5s has more features of appeal with its touch ID and gold color option.

The naming has left an opening for the iPad Pro model, or just a spec and feature update to the Air itself in a few months.
Click to expand...

Problem is that the ipad air is redesigned, making it nearly improbable for Apple to launch an updates 6 months from now...
 
irDigital0l said:
Apple had to do it for the lightning connector.

I don't see why Apple would need to do it again.
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If that was really true, why are they still selling products with the 30-pin connecter, such as iPad 2? If Apple truely wanted to "evolve" to the lightning connecter, they would have discontinued the iPad 2 a year ago or revised the iPad 2 hardware to include a lightning connector.

I still feel burned by the 6 month window between iPad 3 -> iPad 4, but the fact is my iPad is old as hell and I need a new one. I've learned my lesson however...as soon as I start seeing leaked parts showing up for a new iPad, I'm on my way to eBay.
 
Also, remember they don't have the finger print scanner like the iPhone 5S. It's very possible to see those as an upgrade in the next six to nine months. I always look across other devices to see what may be in the next coming for my devices.
 
Look at it this way:

iPad 1 = Waaaay underpowered.
iPad 2 = Same display but new internals. Blazing fast.
iPad 3 = 4x pixels but internals don't follow fast enough. On the edge with iOS 6, but now with iOS 7 it's extremely sluggish.
iPad 4 = Many pixels and lots of horse power. This is the bottom line for running Retina display. Don't know if slight sluggishness is caused by unoptimized iOS 7 or if the specs are falling behind again.

iPad mini has same internals as the iPad Air (5). Enough to push Retina. Enough to push iOS 7, so they should both be pretty safe for now.

Now that they've thrown both iOS 7 and Retina display out there, there's currently no "big thing" waiting to make new iPads obsolete.
 
irDigital0l said:
Apple had to do it for the lightning connector.

I don't see why Apple would need to do it again.
Click to expand...

No, the main reason they "had to do it" was because the GPU in the iPad3 was underpowered for the retina display. It was a premature release to get a retina iPad on the market when the hardware wasn't quite ready, resulting in the iPad3 being slower than the iPad2 in many cases and then replaced seven months later with the iPad4, which is what the iPad3 should have been in the first place.

Somewhat surprisingly, the new retina Mini is getting the full A7 processor so I don't see it being underpowered or needing replacement any time soon.
 
I think Apple did it because they wanted to "reset" the iPad's traditional launch period from spring to fall. It's choices were either launch the 4 in fall '12 or fall '13. Fall '13 would have been too long and killed iPad sales because the 3 is underpowered (own one, like it, didn't upgrade to 4, but facts are facts).

The Air & mini 2 should have plenty of staying power. I can't see apple dumping them prematurely.
 
lewisd25 said:
If that was really true, why are they still selling products with the 30-pin connecter, such as iPad 2?.
Click to expand...

However, the iPad 2 wasn't the flagship iPad, so it was less of an issue. However, having your flagship in a particular category using the connector that you're totally moving away from (iPad Mini, iPod Touch, and iPhone 5) just wouldn't cut it.

Nobody since the iPad 3 has accused the iPad 2 of being cutting edge and an Apple focus!
 
FoundAHalo said:
However, the iPad 2 wasn't the flagship iPad, so it was less of an issue. However, having your flagship in a particular category using the connector that you're totally moving away from (iPad Mini, iPod Touch, and iPhone 5) just wouldn't cut it.

Nobody since the iPad 3 has accused the iPad 2 of being cutting edge and an Apple focus!
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From my understanding the cutting-edge of each product line is the flagship in that category. Revenue wise, it's the iPhone.
 
ekiro said:
From my understanding the cutting-edge of each product line is the flagship in that category. Revenue wise, it's the iPhone.
Click to expand...

Granted, if you consider iOS to be the broad category, but I was referring to the product categories (where iPad is its own and iPhone is its own)
 
Considering selling my iPad 3 myself I've been looking at the prices on Craigslist and eBay and have been only seeing about a $50 difference between the iPad 3 & 4 on the second hand market, which is not bad considering the speed difference between the two.

I also don't see why people dog the iPad 3 so much, I use it at home all the time & use iPad 4s at work and really do not see much difference between the two performance wise.
 
Fzang said:
Look at it this way:

iPad 1 = Waaaay underpowered.
iPad 2 = Same display but new internals. Blazing fast.
iPad 3 = 4x pixels but internals don't follow fast enough. On the edge with iOS 6, but now with iOS 7 it's extremely sluggish.
iPad 4 = Many pixels and lots of horse power. This is the bottom line for running Retina display. Don't know if slight sluggishness is caused by unoptimized iOS 7 or if the specs are falling behind again.

iPad mini has same internals as the iPad Air (5). Enough to push Retina. Enough to push iOS 7, so they should both be pretty safe for now.

Now that they've thrown both iOS 7 and Retina display out there, there's currently no "big thing" waiting to make new iPads obsolete.
Click to expand...

Does RAM count as a big thing that could make the mini 2 and iPad Air obsolete?

IMO it does.
 
I think Apple released 2 iPads in 2012 to change the release cycle to fall without having to go a year and a half with no new iPad releases. It's not like Apple was trying to completely get rid of the 30 pin connector since they're still selling devices with it.
 
SamuraiMinis said:
Does RAM count as a big thing that could make the mini 2 and iPad Air obsolete?

IMO it does.
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I agree. The iPod Touch (4th gen) and iPhone 4 have the same processor but the iPod Touch is quite laggy by comparison likely owing to its 256MB RAM.

However, I think both the Air and retina mini would have the same amount of RAM. They need to support the same resolution (2048*1536) and the iPad mini, and it's not like the mini is a "budget" line like the iPod Touch.
 
herdnerfer said:
.......

I also don't see why people dog the iPad 3 so much, I use it at home all the time & use iPad 4s at work and really do not see much difference between the two performance wise.
Click to expand...

It depends on what you do with the device. I have an iPad 3 too; runnin iOS 5.1. It does everything I ask for perfectly, no perfor,and issues. However I check email, read forums, news and some YouTube video - mo games. I can see someone who likes to play graphics intensive games have issues with the performance.
 
rui no onna said:
I agree. The iPod Touch (4th gen) and iPhone 4 have the same processor but the iPod Touch is quite laggy by comparison likely owing to its 256MB RAM.

However, I think both the Air and retina mini would have the same amount of RAM. They need to support the same resolution (2048*1536) and the iPad mini, and it's not like the mini is a "budget" line like the iPod Touch.
Click to expand...

They obviously have at least 1gb of RAM. But with 64bit applications, apps will start wanting even more ram, as if they weren't already using more & more :) . If the iPad Air is to last for 2-3 years as a productive/capable device it will need more then 1gb IMO.
What do you think? Just curious i suppose. It's nice to share from different angles.
 
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