The 13 has a much better value than the 12 tbh, especially if you need more than 64 GB of storage. $50 more buys you a lot of features, most importantly the battery life, especially for the mini model.
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New iPad Air Rumored to Launch This Spring With A15 Chip, 5G, Center Stage Camera, and More
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Yes, but the first iPad mini was on sale until 2015, 3 years after being released in 2012.
That was back when the iPad was $500 though.
The mini did begin life as the smaller iPad and then it became the cheap iPad (at one point, lineup had both a $200-300 mini and a $400 mini). Then it was just mid-range for a long time ($400 mini 4) while Apple started concentrating more on $329 “full-size” iPads. Thus far, the basic iPad is the only model that has gotten consistent annual updates since 2017.
The mini 6 was a major redesign of the 5 and got a $100 price increase.
The Air 5 will just be the Air 4 with a spec bump and no design changes. So probably no price bump.
I don’t think Apple would raise the price solely because of parts shortages from the supply chain crunch. Based on other products Apple released during the pandemic, it seems more likely that they’d just have limited quantities at launch, after which there would be 1+ month lead times on order fulfillment.
It makes sense that the Air and the Mini will essentially be the same device in different sizes. I’m sure that was the plan when Apple was designing the Mini 6.
The Air 5 will just be the Air 4 with a spec bump and no design changes. So probably no price bump.
I don’t think Apple would raise the price solely because of parts shortages from the supply chain crunch. Based on other products Apple released during the pandemic, it seems more likely that they’d just have limited quantities at launch, after which there would be 1+ month lead times on order fulfillment.
It makes sense that the Air and the Mini will essentially be the same device in different sizes. I’m sure that was the plan when Apple was designing the Mini 6.
Honestly I don’t care and I’m actually thinking about getting a mini.
? It's real, and it's visible. Most people don't care, but some people do.
I think it can be described as analogous to OLED PWM issues. PWM related issues are real and can be noticeable but it doesn't bother most people. However, it definitely bothers some, which makes sense since it's a real technical issue.
For the record, these things generally don't bother me, but they definitely are real.
True, its always been the case that waiting a year is the best move.
But its always a good idea to buy the best that you can afford at the time you need it. Waiting a year with a busted device isn’t really a good idea, nor is missing out on upgrading outdated tech for something you would be more happy with now.
Its also true that you say getting last year’s tech is a smart move, as we are definitely plateauing on tech and a year old is still freaking fantastic!
Unfortunately, the one case that comes to mind that has NEVER come to new tech from Pro to Non-Pro, is the telephoto lens on the iPhone. And we’ll see about promotion as well on the 14’s non-pro model.
Good point though! It is always good to wait a year (IF YOU CAN).
Iirc, 5G cellular adds $150 to the price of the mini 6 versus $130 for LTE cellular mini/Air.
Thanks. Seems like it, since the iPad Air cellular costs an extra $130. The 5G upgrade will probably cost $150 on the new Air then.
Even waiting a few months can yield significant discounts.
I saw the 2021 iPad Pro 12.9 2TB 5G for $2,049 ($350 discount) on Amazon before Christmas. That’s just $50 more than 1TB 5G MSRP.
With that said, I’m pretty happy to have gotten my 2021 12.9 1TB 5G upon release. I’ve been wanting 1TB, FaceID and Logitech Crayon support for a while. Alas, the 2020 iPP was fairly disappointing particularly at the 1TB level and the Apple refurb store was devoid of 2018 iPP refurbs throughout 2020.
I disagree with both these statements... at least to a certain extent.
The reason I say this is that with sufficient leaks and reasonable predictions, you can often make educated guesses whether to buy now or wait a while.
For example, my wife's phone was getting long in the tooth and during the era of the iPhone 6 she was thinking about a new iPhone. Based on the info out there, I waited until the 6s came out, because I thought it would be foolish to get the iPhone 6 at that time, since I predicted it would be the last iPhone with 1 GB RAM and people were already complaining about RAM-related lag.
Similarly, as much as the original iPad Air was enticing, I was convinced its successor would have twice the RAM, so I waited and got the iPad Air 2. However, on the flip side, waiting another year would have done nothing, since the iPad Air 2 was effectively not replaced until two years later, when the iPad Pro 9.7 came out. And the iPad Pro 9.7 didn't even get a RAM upgrade anyway.
The last iOS version for iPad Air and iPhone 6 was iOS 12.
The last iOS/iPadOS version for the iPad Air 2 and iPhone 6s is likely iOS/iPadOS 15.
So basically what I'm saying here is that there are definitely strategic times to buy and there are definitely strategic times to wait.
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I highly doubt there will be a price increase with the upcoming Air 5, as the updates are all incremental. Centre stage is genuinely a useful feature though. To be honest id rather they wait until Sept and release the Air 5 with the A16 chip like they did with the Air 4 (it felt special having the A14 chip before the Iphone 12 Hehe).
Heh. Seriously though, I doubt you'd notice much difference between A15 and A16 even after a couple of years, at least for most usage.
I’m still on my iPhone X; the year I might upgrade is 2023 although playing with my friends 12 kinda got me feeling the urge. But I was looking at pictures iOS suggested to me from memories and I was so impressed. Yes, I am sure I would be just as impressed with photos captured on a 13, too. But I think the X is still doing alright.
iPhone X is a fine machine. Performance is decent. In fact, its A11 SoC is actually faster than the 2014 Mac mini I just bought for my main work machine.
However if you're comparing cameras, the biggest change is with the quality of low light shots. It's significantly better in the more recent iPhones. That's one big reason I upgraded from my iPhone 7 Plus (A10) to the 12 Pro Max. The other camera-related reason is the wide angle.
Well I love news like this. I’ve got the Air 4 and nothing in that list seems compelling to upgrade, not that I would have anyway as I only got it last January.
They might just better off going for iPadOS complete redesign from the ground up to make iPad a laptop replacement. But again, apple doesn’t seem to be interested in that, maybe after that bs “what’s a computer” campaign.
I think this site needs a forum solely for people who want to complain about the price of Apple tech, real and imagined. Maybe they could call it - Why Isn’t Everything Free.
So you disagree with only one of my statements, then, haha. You seem to make a great case to wait at least a year if you can wait it out.
But, yes, you have a point that if you follow rumors, then you can be strategic about buying.
You didn’t make this point, but it works the other way following rumors to encourage buying NOW. Case in point: the 13 mini is rumored to be the last mini iPhone, so buy it NOW, and enjoy the flagship small phone.
