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Leaker: Apple to Launch New Low-Cost iPad This Year With A12 Chip

I can see them moving to support the second gen pencil somehow on the new model with a tweaked body design and maybe a new keyboard accessory similar to the original smart keyboard to fit this. Traditional touch ID stays.

iPad Air then takes the the Pro form factor with 2 speakers, no Pro-res display and 1 camera and is compatible with the new Magic keyboard. They may also go for under screen Touch ID to further differentiate from the Pros. Some colours to the metal finish similar to the iPhone 11 would be also be great here.

The rumoured new 9" Mini also takes a shrunken down Pro form factor and is identical to the new Air just with a smaller screen. To simplify the lineup I'd brand this as the Air.

You are then left with 3 distinct product lines with clear differentiators.

iPad 10.8" (Affordable) ------- iPad Air 9" and 11" (Midrange) ------- iPad Pro 11" and 12.9" (Premium)
 
Nice to see a 10.8” iPad with A12.

The 11” iPad Air will be an even better mid-range device, especially if it supports Gen 2 Pencil.
 
I need to know what is happening with the 11” iPad Pro: my perfect Sidecar device with the 13” MBP.

I have no interest in the 12.9” whatsoever.
 
chucker23n1 said:
Yeah, I understand the $329 iPad. But the $499 Air just doesn't really add that much. It needlessly confuses the line-up, a lot like the 13-inch $1299 Pro when the $999 Air and $1799 Pro exist.
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The thing is, you have to view the product line-up from the perspective of many different types of consumer.

Part of the reason why the iPad continues to grow market share is precisely because they offer something for everyone, and by having even just a $170 gap between the regular iPad and the Air, that could be the difference between a sale and deal-breaker for some consumers.

Again, I can only speak for myself, but as a small business owner I have and would continue to purchase the regular iPad for trade show events. I know this device will get crud on it, get knocked around and will be handled by hundreds of people, so there is no value in spending $170 for a thinner, lighter device with better specs that have no impact on this scenario.

Even schools appreciate the cheaper model, that's their gateway to iOS.
 
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naturalstar said:
I need to know what is happening with the 11” iPad Pro: my perfect Sidecar device with the 13” MBP.

I have no interest in the 12.9” whatsoever.
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The 12.9 inch iPad for me is not manageable for portability just for its size when you consider the iPad as a whole, I’d rather see that as a ‘desktop application‘. I agree with a lot of the members, it’s just too unwieldy to hold, when I see myself using that more coupled with an attached keyboard.
 
If this new release is like the ipad 7th gen, I would buy in a heartbeat. My 7th gen is perfect for my requirements and could use another for the significant other.
 
I wonder if the new iPad 8 and new air will use the iPad Pro 11 design just with the 8 having slightly larger bezels and the same screen tech as the current 7.
 
Relentless Power said:
The 12.9 inch iPad for me is not manageable for portability just for its size when you consider the iPad as a whole, I’d rather see that as a ‘desktop application‘. I agree with a lot of the members, it’s just too unwieldy to hold, when I see myself using that more coupled with an attached keyboard.
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moved from an iPadAir2 to a 2020 iPP 12.9". It is a bit bigger. But it is so much easier to write with using the pencil and easier to read magazines etc. I do not, and will not, buy a keyboard case. I have an Apple BT keyboard in my bag if I need to type anything beyond a few sentences and will sit down at a table to do so. I do not have any issue with the size. (I just wish that my Zugu case would arrive. I feel nervous carrying it without a case.)
 
Zdigital2015 said:
Four (4) models is not “so many models”. Good grief!

iPad mini - smallest, most portable
iPad - cheapest
iPad Air - best for most
iPad Pro - highest end, fastest, pick a size

A very simple lineup, actually.
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But what are the great differences between iPad and iPad Air that justify both of their existence in the lineup? I mean their prices are similar and pretty much affordable for the most consumers. Why not just keep one?
 
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AlexGraphicD said:
But what are the great differences between iPad and iPad Air that justify both of their existence in the lineup? I mean their prices are similar and pretty much affordable for the most consumers. Why not just keep one?
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Different SoC

Laminated display

P3 wide color

Larger screen

Larger base storage

Priced between iPad and iPad Pro fills glaring gap and fills a traditional price point.
 
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Does this make any sense? If they go for the low end, how much of the capability would have to be excluded to meet that price point? It looks like, to me, that this is 'pre-collapse Apple' coming back.

Remember the multitude of models and colors and everything? And even after Jobs came back, it was a muddied mess for a while until he got a clue.

It just sounds like they are flooding the market with so much making it harder for people to decide, and if they are actually stocking any of these choices, they have a ton of potential junk sitting around taking up space, and money.
 
I see the 12.9” as the size to use if I was interested in the iPad as a laptop replacement. I’m not. Not with my current needs.

Even as I begin to enlist the 11” into my business workflow, it is still primarily my ultra-portable entertainment, reading, web browsing device. The added uses have only made it more valuable to me. Hopefully Apple doesn’t drop it and replace it with something smaller or worse, just leave the 12.9” as the only Pro option.
 
Relentless Power said:
This seems to get brought up a lot, and I always ask in return “Is that a problem?” Usually I never see a member reply back with a logical answer, but choices are a good thing. You have price point segments for every consumer and different spending limits in terms of what they ‘need versus what they want’. The iPad line up Diversifies so much in terms of offering something an entry-level with some older tech and obviously the iPad Pro including Apple Pencil support/Face ID, etc.

if Apple didn’t have enough models, then you would have others saying ‘why do they have so few‘, it seems like there is no perfect median why Apple has too many models, but again, that opens up an array of choices to a wider demographic, and it just adds to more net sales long-term.
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Apple is doing with the iPad what I WISHED they did years ago with the MBPs: 13", 15", 17". Ironically Dell is doing it, and doing it well (their latest 17" is basically what I would've wanted from Apple).

I've long been of the mind that Apple is not small anymore. The so-called focus by keeping choices to a few items is bad for me ;).

I love the great selection of iPads available (even if I think the Air is somewhat superfluous), and I even want a 15" at some point, to be positioned as a "laptop replacement" for those of us that don't really need or want a laptop but would love the screen real estate without leaving iOS. Maybe that'll be too big, but I'd still like to SEE it. :)
 
So basically the new rumored 8.5-9" iPad will have the same specs and shape as the correct iPad Mini with TouchID, but with bigger screen? or its gonna be same size with thinner bazel and FaceID like the Pro?
 
First of all, Apple needs to understand why people look for tablets. What is the basic use case of a tablet?

Tablet is not something where people would watch movies on a tiny screen when at home rather than watching it on a big screen TV.

For most people, tablet is something that people use to read books, watch movies, or do some work, etc. while on the go. And while on the go generally means generally while traveling. And that means offline.

The TV app is now useless offline. It used to work offline till iOS 12.2.x then the library view is gone forever and now it is a cluttered list of all items without any metadata. It is worse for iBooks (or as Apple calls it - Books). Since some version of 12.x, it started deleting books on the app locally, keeping them only on cloud at random intervals. These two "innovations" by Apple obviously defeats the basic use cases of a normal user using a low priced tablet on the go.

So I don't see any reason why Apple even thinks that a low priced iPad would sell very well in the first place.

They should focus on fixing iPad OS rather than selling new tablets.
 
The iPad lineup is confusing and about to get even more confusing, if Apple updated the iPad mini and the iPad Air to the same design as the iPad Pro as rumors suggest, it won’t make any sense to still call it iPad Air while having the same form factor as the Pro.

So I think the best lineup would be iPad mini, iPad, and iPad Pro. Starting at 399$, 499$, and 799$ respectively.
And for the entry level just offer the iPad Air 2019 with 32 GB for 329$.
 
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I agree with others. Apple is killing it with iPad lately. It sounds like we are going to have a 10.8 in base iPad with a better processor (A12) and more base storage (64GB perhaps). If Apple keeps the entry price at $329, they will have a winner. Also, as Apple Improves and refines iPadOS, the iPad will become even more capable.

I am thinking about all of the people that have an employer provided computer and just need something simple for their everyday lives:
  • Base iPad 8: $250 on sale during the holidays
  • Bluetooth Keyboard: $30
  • Bluetooth Mouse: $20.
Total: $300, add $100 for an Apple Pencil if you like to draw and take notes

I just bought an iPhone SE 2020 for $200 from Walmart. If these type of sales continue, you are looking at $500 - $600 for a pretty nice phone plus everyday computing device. Again, I am assuming a work computer provided by the employer. Anyway, I think Apple sees a market for a minimalist consumer of personal technology.
 
Minimal bezels, gesture based experience, TouchID in power button would be a nice compromise between a modern iPad OS experience, cost efficiency, and having biometrics.
 
I wonder if Apple is going to merge the Air/iPad models again. Or perhaps shake up the whole lineup and do away with the 11” ’Pro’? Trying to make sense of this rumor with the last rumor about mini-LED that said Apple was working on a ~11” iPad and 12.9” iPad Pro.

I’m not hoping they do this, mind you, I love the 11” Pro, but it is fun to speculate.
 
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How much lower should it get? Geez the 32GB wifi, which discounted regularly to 249 is the best value in tech as it is.
 
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