New 9.7" iPad Pro to Start at $599, 32GB and 128GB Models Available

[ghost187]

So in a time of dwindling iPad sales, Apple decides to price what would otherwise have been a $499 iPad Air 3 at $599? What's next, an iPad Pro 7.9" at $499?

I'm ready to buy a 7.9" iPad Mini with top of the line specs any day of the year. I'd rather pay $100 more for the best of the best, than get a second class product from Apple. iPads are already squeezed for margin compare to the iPhone so the price hike makes sense. iPads sell for less, sell a lesser amount, yet they cost more to make. Plus the YOY increase in parts, labor, and inflation all add up.

 

[Max(IT)]

It is funny you put down Samsung for having better specs but defend this rumored iPad's price increase by listing spec after spec of the new iPad. A rumor of 4GB of ram in the iPad and you think it is a pro device lol. My 3 year old Note 3 has 3GB of ram.

Your 3 years old Note could even have 32 gb of ram but running android in useless for me...

I'm not defending anything, quite on the contrary I'm criticizing Apple for the price.
But the iPad Pro , if the rumors are confirmed, will be a powerful tablet nonetheless

 

[jonnyb098]

I think they will drop the original iPad Air and sell the iPad Air 2 as the budget model.

They can only drop the price of the Air2 if they also drop the price of the mini 4. They aren't going to have two tablets at $399. So they'd have to drop the mini 4 to $299. Now if they did that and the new smaller pro is $499 then that makes total sense. But since the rumor is $599 then paying $200 more is an even bigger joke.

 

[KPOM]

When the rumors began to point to the new 9.7" model being identical in specs to the iPad Pro apart from size, I anticipated a $100 price increase given that a $300 difference between the 9.7" and 12.9" models would seem extreme.

I think this would not be an issue for people except that the iPad Air 2 hasn't been updated in 519 days; Apple's got a lot of nerve continuing to charge $499 for a 519 day old tablet and asking for even more money if you want anything newer.

Even $499 in 2014 was outrageous for a 9.7" tablet; competitors are selling them for literally half that price. What Apple should have done is lower the price of the 12.9" iPad Pro by $100. So the lineup would be:

iPaid Air 2: $399 | 9.7" iPad Pro: $499 | 12.9" iPad Pro: $699

That would be far more reasonable and fair.

Apple is likely adapting to a lower sales volume. They didn't start selling Macs at significantly lower prices once sales leveled off. If people keep their iPads for several years, Apple isn't going to price them for annual or biennial updates.

 

[ValO]

Your 3 years old Note could even have 32 gb of ram but running android in useless for me...

I'm not defending anything, quite on the contrary I'm criticizing Apple for the price.
But the iPad Pro , if the rumors are confirmed, will be a powerful tablet nonetheless

Is he seriously trying to compare an android device with 3 gb with an iOS device with 3 or 4 gb? It is a world of difference , iOS is a lot more optimized and needs less resources than android and even worse, touchwizz.
I bet a 2gb iPhone 6s has more free memory than a 3gb s6 with touchwizz.
It is the same as comparing octacore socs with the 2 core a9.
A9 still beats these octacores in benchmarks and thermal throttling.
[doublepost=1458396020][/doublepost]

They can only drop the price of the Air2 if they also drop the price of the mini 4. They aren't going to have two tablets at $399. So they'd have to drop the mini 4 to $299. Now if they did that and the new smaller pro is $499 then that makes total sense. But since the rumor is $599 then paying $200 more is an even bigger joke.

A 32gb pro is just as expensive as an iPad Air 2 64gb at launch. For me 64gb is too much, but 16gb is too little. So I bought a 64 gb. 32gb is perfect so now I' ll get the superior iPad Pro for the same price.
So for me, this isn' t a big deal.
I can understand other people have other priorities and need more gb.

 

[oldmacs]

They should drop the iPad Air 2 by $50 and sell this one for $549. 32GB starting at $100 more than what the baseline 9.7 inch iPad (with top of the line specs) was is too much, and in all honesty the iPad should have started at 32GB with either the Air or Air 2 anyway...


Either that or offer an Air 3 alongside a 9.7 inch pro, with the same processor and RAM, but without the pro features such as the pen, smart connector and speakers.

For someone like me who wants to future proof their next iPad purchase, but 32GB is not enough, its gonna be really really really expensive to purchase an 128GB 4G iPad Pro 9.7.

 

[Max(IT)]

Is he seriously trying to compare an android device with 3 gb with an iOS device with 3 or 4 gb? It is a world of difference , iOS is a lot more optimized and needs less resources than android and even worse, touchwizz.
I bet a 2gb iPhone 6s has more free memory than a 3gb s6 with touchwizz.
It is the same as comparing octacore socs with the 2 core a9.
A9 still beats these octacores in benchmarks and thermal throttling.

Don't you know ? In the android world it's all about specs ...
Since the beginning it's "I'm bigger than you", partially for marketing reasons (they have to differentiate between hundreds of smartphones), partially to compensate for a less efficient operative system.
So they are so proud of their 3 Gb of ram , and it doesn't even matter if an iDevice with 1 Gb runs better because optimized.

 

[ValO]

They should drop the iPad Air 2 by $50 and sell this one for $549. 32GB starting at $100 more than what the baseline 9.7 inch iPad (with top of the line specs) was is too much, and in all honesty the iPad should have started at 32GB with either the Air or Air 2 anyway...


Either that or offer an Air 3 alongside a 9.7 inch pro, with the same processor and RAM, but without the pro features such as the pen, smart connector and speakers.

For someone like me who wants to future proof their next iPad purchase, but 32GB is not enough, its gonna be really really really expensive to purchase an 128GB 4G iPad Pro 9.7.

Yes, it is, shame there is no 64gb option and a 64gb+ LTE option.
But about Apple releasing an iPad air3, with the same soc and no other changes at 16gb for 499. You would buy that and not criticize that?
So an iPad Air 3 with just a soc upgrade and 4gb at 128gb storage with LTE would cost 829.
And a full iPad Pro 9.7 128gb 4lte with new speakers, camera, smart connector , pencil support would cost 879?

And you would skimp on the 50 bucks and would buy a iPad Air 3 instead? And feel good about it ?
[doublepost=1458397903][/doublepost]

When the rumors began to point to the new 9.7" model being identical in specs to the iPad Pro apart from size, I anticipated a $100 price increase given that a $300 difference between the 9.7" and 12.9" models would seem extreme.

I think this would not be an issue for people except that the iPad Air 2 hasn't been updated in 519 days; Apple's got a lot of nerve continuing to charge $499 for a 519 day old tablet and asking for even more money if you want anything newer.

Even $499 in 2014 was outrageous for a 9.7" tablet; competitors are selling them for literally half that price. What Apple should have done is lower the price of the 12.9" iPad Pro by $100. So the lineup would be:

iPaid Air 2: $399 | 9.7" iPad Pro: $499 | 12.9" iPad Pro: $699

That would be far more reasonable and fair.

Competitors don' t have a tablet that can even come near the tablet experience and ecosystem of the iPad. Not in software, software updates and not in hw.
And not counting the surface line, it is a touchscreen laptop with a detachable keyboard without the ecosystem and a real tablet easy of use /touch optimized OS.

 

[617aircav]

Ipad air 3 would be $500 16gb

Ipad pro 9.7 is $600 32gb



where is the price hike?

 

[oldmacs]

Yes, it is, shame there is no 64gb option and a 64gb+ LTE option.
But about Apple releasing an iPad air3, with the same soc and no other changes at 16gb for 499. You would buy that and not criticize that?
So an iPad Air 3 with just a soc upgrade and 4gb at 128gb storage with LTE would cost 829.
And a full iPad Pro 9.7 128gb 4lte with new speakers, camera, smart connector , pencil support would cost 879?

And you would skimp on the 50 bucks and would buy a iPad Air 3 instead? And feel good about it ?

But the 64GB Air 3 would be cheaper than the $829 - and I would also hope that it would start at 32GB storage not 16GB. I never use my iPad's speakers, have no need for the pencil, don't wan a keyboard and for my purposes the iPad 2 camera is good enough (I so rarely use the iPads' camera).

In Australia, I would suggest that a 128GB 4G iPad 9.7 Pro would be over $1200 AUD which is ridiculous. The Air 2 in the specs I need (64 + 4G) is $989.

 

[Tycho24]

I'm ready to buy a 7.9" iPad Mini with top of the line specs any day of the year. I'd rather pay $100 more for the best of the best, than get a second class product from Apple. iPads are already squeezed for margin compare to the iPhone so the price hike makes sense. iPads sell for less, sell a lesser amount, yet they cost more to make. Plus the YOY increase in parts, labor, and inflation all add up.

$599 I don't have issue with... I have always bought the 2nd tier storage option; my issue is the new "2 choices with $150 jump", instead of "3 choices with a $100 jump".

 

[macfacts]

Don't you know ? In the android world it's all about specs ...
Since the beginning it's "I'm bigger than you", partially for marketing reasons (they have to differentiate between hundreds of smartphones), partially to compensate for a less efficient operative system.
So they are so proud of their 3 Gb of ram , and it doesn't even matter if an iDevice with 1 Gb runs better because optimized.

More software optimizations lead to more bugs and more time needed for software maintenance. You think the iPhone has some secret algorithm for displaying pixels on the screen? Lol.

When you make wild inaccurate claims about Android, it makes it seem all your opinions about tech are uninformed.

 

[Max(IT)]

More software optimizations lead to more bugs and more time needed for software maintenance. You think the iPhone has some secret algorithm for displaying pixels on the screen? Lol.

When you make wild inaccurate claims about Android, it makes it seem all your opinions about tech are uninformed.

Software optimization lead to more bugs ? Lol you don't know much about software, do you ?
Software maintenance..... Omg.

And my opinions about android are confirmed by the S5 and the S6 I have in my house....

 

[nick42983]

I'm not surprised but still disappointed.

No doubt Apple will be increasing its average profit per unit with this move.

Let's look at the main changes:

• The A9X is nice, but that's what a non-Pro iPad would have had either way if they had kept their previous pattern. (e.g. if Apple had gone with a $499 iPad Air 3, it still would have had an A9X). In fact, their flagship 9.7" iPad's chip is kind of weaker than before (relative to time), considering the Air 1 and Air 2 were released with a brand new architecture, whereas this iPad Pro will use a 6-month old architecture that will probably be surpassed by the iPhone 7's A10 in another 6 months.
• Having 4 speakers is nice, but that doesn't justify a price increase. Small speakers like those are dirt cheap.
• An increase to 32GB for the base model is nice, but again, doesn't justify a price increase. 16GB has been the norm ever since the first iPad was released in 2010. 32GB of NAND storage in 2016 probably isn't more expensive than 16GB in 2010. iPhones have seen their base capacity increase over the years (4 to 8 to 16) without a price increase. Same for iPods and Macs.

All those don't justify the Pro branding and the $100 extra. It's stuff you should expect from an Air 2 -> Air 3 update (which is an expectional 2-year cycle, so it's normal to have slightly higher expectations too).

So really, what justifies the Pro branding and associated $100 increase? 2 other main changes:

• Smart Connector
• Apple Pencil support

The thing is, to actually use those capabilities, you need to buy high-margin accessories sold separately. So Apple was going to increase their average profit per iPad sold either way, regardless of a price increase for the iPad itself.

The iPad also had various reductions in component costs over time (e.g. newer iPads having smaller batteries and enclosures than older ones) that never resulted in any price decrease.

Apple is getting really agressive about increasing its profits. Between this, the price of the 12.6" iPad Pro and its accessories, and the price of the new Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad, I'm getting worried a little.

disappointment and worry over the pricing of products from some corporation? seems silly to let Apple influence your life this way

 

[ValO]

More software optimizations lead to more bugs and more time needed for software maintenance. You think the iPhone has some secret algorithm for displaying pixels on the screen? Lol.

When you make wild inaccurate claims about Android, it makes it seem all your opinions about tech are uninformed.

No, Apple tailors its own hw, and develops its own OS, so it can make specific optimization in their own software for their own hw.
Android needs to run on all kinds of hw, Qualcomm , Broadcom , etc with all kind of resolutions, other cameras, all kind of hw. So android can' t get optimized on hw, it needs to run on all kinds of different hw from different manufacturers.
Lol . about software maintenance and updates, you really want to play that card?
Android updates vs iOS updates and maintenance?

 

[kodos]

Interesting decision on Apple's part. I am sure that they will keep the iPad Air 2 in circulation for those who cannot justify spending $600+ on the smaller iPad Pro. The price point is eking up to the price point of a 2-in-1 device like the Surface. It's a dangerous game to play - moving iOS so far up to that kind of price-point. It makes you wonder how many people really need a tablet in that price point without the kind of functionality a real computer gives you. I'm sure there are plenty, but ... interesting move on Apple's part when their tablet sales have slowed down.

 

[ValO]

Interesting decision on Apple's part. I am sure that they will keep the iPad Air 2 in circulation for those who cannot justify spending $600+ on the smaller iPad Pro. The price point is eking up to the price point of a 2-in-1 device like the Surface. It's a dangerous game to play - moving iOS so far up to that kind of price-point. It makes you wonder how many people really need a tablet in that price point without the kind of functionality a real computer gives you. I'm sure there are plenty, but ... interesting move on Apple's part when their tablet sales have slowed down.

It could also be a sign that Apple is coming with iOS pro or PadOS, that give the iPad MacOS-like capabilities.
I have a feeling there is and will be more in store for the iPad Pro lineup.

 

[StoneJack]

You're right--Apple did release a slew of new products last year. Aside from the new Apple Watch, most of these products are just incremental or evolutionary upgrades to products already on shelves. As Apple's products (and most other companies' products) have matured, there is less and less reason to have the latest and greatest every release. I believe that people are holding onto their Apple products longer now than they used to.

How Apple Pencil is evolutional? Or first USB-C Macs? AppleTV with Siri? 5k iMacs? Whats is your definition of evolutional?

 

[brunopinho]

the iPad air 2 was launched almost 2 years ago and still cost the same price! unbelievable!

 

[MacAddict1978]

I'm not surprised but still disappointed.

No doubt Apple will be increasing its average profit per unit with this move.

Let's look at the main changes:

• The A9X is nice, but that's what a non-Pro iPad would have had either way if they had kept their previous pattern. (e.g. if Apple had gone with a $499 iPad Air 3, it still would have had an A9X). In fact, their flagship 9.7" iPad's chip is kind of weaker than before (relative to time), considering the Air 1 and Air 2 were released with a brand new architecture, whereas this iPad Pro will use a 6-month old architecture that will probably be surpassed by the iPhone 7's A10 in another 6 months.
• Having 4 speakers is nice, but that doesn't justify a price increase. Small speakers like those are dirt cheap.
• An increase to 32GB for the base model is nice, but again, doesn't justify a price increase. 16GB has been the norm ever since the first iPad was released in 2010. 32GB of NAND storage in 2016 probably isn't more expensive than 16GB in 2010. iPhones have seen their base capacity increase over the years (4 to 8 to 16) without a price increase. Same for iPods and Macs.

All those don't justify the Pro branding and the $100 extra. It's stuff you should expect from an Air 2 -> Air 3 update (which is an expectional 2-year cycle, so it's normal to have slightly higher expectations too).

So really, what justifies the Pro branding and associated $100 increase? 2 other main changes:

• Smart Connector
• Apple Pencil support

The thing is, to actually use those capabilities, you need to buy high-margin accessories sold separately. So Apple was going to increase their average profit per iPad sold either way, regardless of a price increase for the iPad itself.

The iPad also had various reductions in component costs over time (e.g. newer iPads having smaller batteries and enclosures than older ones) that never resulted in any price decrease.

Apple is getting really agressive about increasing its profits. Between this, the price of the 12.6" iPad Pro and its accessories, and the price of the new Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad, I'm getting worried a little.

Agree with all.... and you could put in 128GB for the price of 16 in 2010.

 

[ghost187]

$599 I don't have issue with... I have always bought the 2nd tier storage option; my issue is the new "2 choices with $150 jump", instead of "3 choices with a $100 jump".

I think they might fix that at this event or in September. Because, once they have a 256gb iPhone, I think they'll go 32, 128, 256 with $100 per tier upgrade fee. They may even discount the iPad Pro a bit.

 

[MacAddict1978]

the iPad air 2 was launched almost 2 years ago and still cost the same price! unbelievable!

Agreed. They wonder why iPad sales are plummeting? You would think that if you have lost your edge as leader in the tablet market.... if your sales have slumped big time because of competing tablets with more features at lower prices outselling iPads 3-1, your stock got spanked for tablet performance BIG time... you would come in swinging and ready for a fight.

Nope.

There would have to be a highly compelling new feature or use case to justify an increase when the market is moving to default storage of 32GB in high end tablets at LOWER price points.

If you sort out Apple as a company.... and you omit the iPhone and look at what is left.... it's almost like they decided to put an exorcist on Steve Job's and channel the John Scully days. Laptops has a small % of growth, and this was overblown as a "success" because most other vendors were flat or down for the last year. 5% is really nothing of a number in a year they rolled out a brand new model. The refreshes last year were laughable. (Same guts, new gimmicky track pad.... that I actually have to say works and I like now that I've played with the Macbook).

Unless force touch comes to the ipad, the price jump is a slap in the face.

 

[dumastudetto]

disappointment and worry over the pricing of products from some corporation? seems silly to let Apple influence your life this way

I don't think it's silly for someone to be disappointed or worry about the future trajectory of pricing. Buying the products also requires a certain level of commitment to buying apps, services, and gradually putting a substantial amount of data in there.

So if you are concerned pricing might be starting to get of reach for you, do you (for example) really want to keep putting more and photos into the Photos app with cloud storage? Sure there are ways to get your data out, but it's not going to be particularly clean or easy. The more Apple-only centric stuff you commit to, the harder it gets to transition away in future.

My initial thoughts were the rumored iPad Pro pricing is all fine and it's perfectly reasonable. But I have to admit there have been some really interesting points made in among all the whining from both sides.

My biggest concern as an iPad Pro owner is the state of the App Store. These new iPads have awesome power and capabilities. But devs aren't going to waste their time building amazing apps if they can only charge a few bucks for them and still only reach a limited iPad audience with them. And consumers aren't going to pay higher pro prices without proper trials or future upgrade pricing discounts.

Only this week there's been some fascinating conversations among indie devs that maybe it's time for them to back to the Mac for development. Jason Snell just added to the conversation with an article on Macworld. People on Mac are willing to pay much higher prices for quality software, they can do trials, upgrade pricing, and there is significantly less competion. Yes the market is much smaller overall when measured against iOS as a whole, but people are coming around to the idea the Mac might be the only way to make a good living moving forward with sustainable pricing.

 

[MacAddict1978]

It's $200 less than the 12.9" iPad Pro and is exactly where I was expecting it. It adds Pencil support and the smart connector. I also think we'll see more accessories and improvements to iOS in the future that are specific to the Pro devices. Essentially we'll have "regular" iPads at 7.9" and 9.7", and iPad Pros at 9.7" and 12.9".

So I should be happy to have "support" for an over priced and not very useful stylus that has been deemed only valuable for artists with none of the features of say, the Surface pen which at least sticks to the device? Or that I can buy a badly made keyboard accessory that is being widely panned for more money?

Maybe if they threw in some vaseline it would be easier to agree.

 

[dumastudetto]

So I should be happy to have "support" for an over priced and not very useful stylus that has been deemed only valuable for artists with none of the features of say, the Surface pen which at least sticks to the device? Or that I can buy a badly made keyboard accessory that is being widely panned for more money?

Maybe if they threw in some vaseline it would be easier to agree.

It would be nice if they spec bumped the Air 2 for people who don't need the pro features - especially if they are not going to do the usual price drops this year.

Continuing to sell Air 2 for the same price it launched 18 months ago with the same insides is a bit of a kick in the teeth for those who aren't "pros" but would like an upgrade. Yes the Air 2 is still a phenomenal device, but we all know how this business works. I bet Air 1 users who have been waiting out the Air 3 as their upgrade will be especially frustrated right now.