Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New 2017 iPad : thoughts on it ?

I

iOSUser7

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 23, 2014
662
616
So Apple will release this new "iPad", which doesn't have a proper name by the way, and is much more thicker and heavier than the iPad Air 2 (6.1mm/437g), the iPad Pro 9.7 (also 6.1mm/437g) and only thicker (not heavier) than the gigantic iPad Pro 12.9 (6.9mm).

It's actually 7.5mm thick and weight 469g which are the same specifications than the 2013 iPad Air 1.

And it have mostly the same specifications as the iPad Air 2 from 2014 except that the display is not laminated and it doesn't have the anti-reflective coating anymore. However, it does have the A9 chip instead of the A8 which means :

-No A9X.
-No four stereo speakers.
-No True-Tone display.
-No 12mpx and 5mpx cameras on the front and back.
-No Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard support.
-No Rose Gold color option.
-Maybe others things that I forgot to mention...

The only real advantage I see is in term of battery life because it goes back to the 32.4Wh of the iPad Air 1 from the 27.5Wh of the iPad Air 2/iPad Pro 9.7.

Anyway, there might be surprises when the product get released but this is what we have at the moment from the product page on the Apple website.

So I would like to hear your thoughts on it. Would you buy it ? I know the price is quite good at 329$ for the 32GB but the specifications are for the most part coming straight from 2014.
Also would you go back to that 7.5mm/469g after we got used to much thinner and lighter iPads in favor of a better battery life ?

Waiting to hear your opinions on this product and have a nice day.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: duderman67
iOSUser7 said:
So Apple will release this new "iPad", which doesn't have a proper name by the way, and is much more thicker and heavier than the iPad Air 2 (6.1mm/437g), the iPad Pro 9.7 (also 6.1mm/437g) and only thicker (not heavier) than the gigantic iPad Pro 12.9 (6.9mm).

It's actually 7.5mm thick and weight 469g which are the same specifications than the 2013 iPad Air 1.

And it have the exact same specifications as the iPad Air 2 from 2014 except that it have the A9 chip instead of the A8 which means :
-No A9X.
-No four stereo speakers.
-No True-Tone display.
-No 12mpx and 5mpx cameras on the front and back.
-No Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard support.
-Maybe others things that I forgot to mention...

The only real advantage I see is in term of battery life because it goes back to the 32.4Wh of the iPad Air 1 from the 27.5Wh of the iPad Air 2/iPad Pro 9.7.

Anyway, there might be surprises when the product get released but this is what we have at the moment from the product page on the Apple website.

So I would like to hear your thoughts on it. Would you buy it ? I know the price is quite good at 329$ for the 32GB but the specifications are for the most part coming straight from 2014.
Also would you go back to that 7.5mm/469g after we got used to much thinner and lighter iPads in favor of a better battery life ?

Waiting to hear your opinions on this product and have a nice day.
Click to expand...


I would. At lest the new iPad will fix issues that the Air 2 had with the sound variation it had so a thinker iPad is much better then . A thinner iPad is
 
  • Like
Reactions: Coolpher, sracer and AttilaTheHun
I don't see the problem. It's an entry-level product for people who don't need iPad Pro features. My in-laws would probably love it to bits if they didn't already have their Air 2 iPads.
Also: In pretty much every other thread, people are begging Apple to make thicker products so they don't have to make compromises in the battery life or performance of the product. With this iPad, and with the Gen 2 watch, Apple actually did listen.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Beeplance, George Dawes, Saturn1217 and 11 others
I have mixed feelings about it. Outdated processor, USB wire (can't plug new iPad to new Macbook without dongle, LoL). But it's actually looks good for me, I have iPad 3 now, which is horribly slow at this point. I used iPad 3 as a laptop replacement for many tasks, but I can only read books with it now, it's not suitable for other tasks with modern iOS, so I'm using my laptop for everything again. May be I'll buy this iPad as a laptop replacement again. Probably it'll depend on price, Apple devices usually quite overpriced in my region. Though I'm worried about it becoming obsolete in few years again, I don't like to buy new devices every year and I had very bad experience with both iPad 3 and iPhone 4S, they became unusable after just 3 years.
 
  • Like
Reactions: George Dawes and 0989383
It's an upgrade to the the Air2. Longer battery life (I've been wanting that) and an slightly better CPU...about expected. I don't like the removal of the display extras though.

A little disappointing that nothing else came out of it, but now anyone who had no interest in the pencil, but wanted something updated...essentially got that.

Could they have announced more?...absolutely!

All eyes are now to the 10.5" and whether an Pro Mini will debut. Looking like Sept/Oct now.

I really want to see if iOS 11 (when it hits in Sept) will do anything iPad-wise. But a boring time of it...which I predicted in past threads in past weeks/months.
 
Last edited:
v04bvs said:
I have mixed feelings about it. Outdated processor, USB wire (can't plug new iPad to new Macbook without dongle, LoL). But it's actually looks good for me, I have iPad 3 now, which is horribly slow at this point. I used iPad 3 as a laptop replacement for many tasks, but I can only read books with it now, it's not suitable for other tasks with modern iOS, so I'm using my laptop for everything again. May be I'll buy this iPad as a laptop replacement again. Probably it'll depend on price, Apple devices usually quite overpriced in my region. Though I'm worried about it becoming obsolete in few years again, I don't like to buy new devices every year and I had very bad experience with both iPad 3 and iPhone 4S, they became unusable after just 3 years.
Click to expand...
Unusable for what? My old iPad 2 was quite usable up to and including iOS 7. With 8 it became slightly annoying unless I turned off some of the new features, and with 9 I threw in the towel and gave it to my kid. That's still way under $100/year of comfortable ownership with current operating systems every year. Try getting that out of a similarly priced laptop.
 
Mikael H said:
I don't see the problem. It's an entry-level product for people who don't need iPad Pro features. My in-laws would probably love it to bits if they didn't already have their Air 2 iPads.
Also: In pretty much every other thread, people are begging Apple to make thicker products so they don't have to make compromises in the battery life or performance of the product. With this iPad, and with the Gen 2 watch, Apple actually did listen.
Click to expand...


I don't need a iPad Pro so this would be a grate upgrade over the Air 2 I may still get the iPad Pro this summer
 
I think it's great. I prefer the old iPad 2 thickness over the thin air 2.

If i would buy an iPad, thos one would be my choice.
 
This think. When the 1st iPad came out it was called the iPad has well so think of this has the iPad 1 remake since the new iPad is now call iPad
 
This is finally a chance to upgrade my iPad Air without spending a lot of money. Also I can probably use my Air's leather case with it, saving even more money.

I'm not a heavy iPad user, but the Air has gotten slow and clunky, mostly due to it having only 1GB of RAM. This iPad will solve that problem, and also gives me TouchID which makes it slightly more convenient to use. I have no need for all the Pro stuff; if I'm doing anything serious I pull out my Macbook Pro, and I'm not an artist so the pencil is useless to me.

I'll be buying this next week for sure.
 
  • Like
Reactions: braddick, Hankster, Cameroncafe10a and 2 others
FoxD said:
Good news is it's a great price and specs are ok. Bad news is the Air 2 is a much better device...faster, thinner, and better screen.
Click to expand...

I don't want a thinner iPad I Want thinker devices
 
FoxD said:
Good news is it's a great price and specs are ok. Bad news is the Air 2 is a much better device...faster, thinner, and better screen.
Click to expand...
I strongly question that it wouldn't be faster, but I guess we'll see real-world results soon.
Thinner and better screen? Of course! The Air 2 was the flagship 9" iPad when it was released. The new iPad, on the other hand, is the current-gen entry-level product. This isn't at all a tablet for people who want to replace their previous-gen flagship product.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Freakonomics101, Hankster, c14nhl and 1 other person
Mikael H said:
I strongly question that it wouldn't be faster, but I guess we'll see real-world results soon.
Thinner and better screen? Of course! The Air 2 was the flagship 9" iPad when it was released. The new iPad, on the other hand, is the current-gen entry-level product. This isn't at all a tablet for people who want to replace their previous-gen flagship product.
Click to expand...

Air 2 has faster multi-core, while slower single-core. Remember Air 2 has a tri-core processor.

http://wccftech.com/apple-a9xipad-pro-benchmarks/ (scroll down to the second set of comparisons)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jetcat3 and Mikael H
I think this is a decent product at a decent price. I understand the complaints with the screen, but I think A majority of the people interested in this product won't care.

What I can't understand is why the Mini 4 is still $400. It should be $329 also.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 0989383 and Appleaker
snow755 said:
That test dos not count has they where using geek bench 3 at the time. Why the newer one is now called geek bench 4 so I would get the new iPad and do a side by side geek bench using geek bench 4
Click to expand...

Uhh what do you mean it does not count. It is still comparing an A9 vs A8x side by side running the same exact test. As long as all devices are running the same test it is an accurate comparison. It could be Geek Bench 1 for all I care, as long as its the same test its fair game.
 
Doesn't seem like much of an upgrade over an Air 2 or even Mini 4, but I would probably be tempted if I had an Air/Mini 2 or older.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Appleaker
Mikael H said:
Unusable for what? My old iPad 2 was quite usable up to and including iOS 7. With 8 it became slightly annoying unless I turned off some of the new features, and with 9 I threw in the towel and gave it to my kid. That's still way under $100/year of comfortable ownership with current operating systems every year. Try getting that out of a similarly priced laptop.
Click to expand...
Animations are slow, apps took a long time to open, Safari reloads tabs so often, hell, I even can't type something without significant delays. Technically I can use it, but I don't enjoy it. It was lightning fast with iOS 6, that's the way it should be. If only I could revert iOS.
 
  • Like
Reactions: newtonuk, PhiLLoW, Cameroncafe10a and 1 other person
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back