New iPad Lacks Several Display Features of iPad Air

[jchap]

This iPad is not appealing at all. Makes no sense why Apple is going backward with the iPad line up.

Agreed—there's a lot of confusion with the iPad lineup now. As an owner of three iPads (a mini 6, an iPad Air 4th get and an iPad Pro 12.9-inch 4th gen), I look at Apple's lineup now and wonder what they're trying to achieve with all of this addition and subtraction of features across the varied lineup.

I wonder how much of this product juggling is driven by user demands, or rather by their marketing plans.

 

[nikaru]

Another iPad made for the sole purpose of filling a price gap between other iPads already available. Apple is starting to look a lot like most electronics manufacturers just throwing products at different price points for the sake of pure market share. iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad current gen, iPad last gen, iPad mini (which is surprisingly more expensive that the new one), some work with old accessories, other does not, colors, memory options, sizes, wifi/cellular variants...you need to carry out a market research to determine what damn iPad you need. "Focusing of few things...but important ones" used to be Apple slogan...which is apparently no longer the case. Saturated portfolio of products is Apple new philosophy!

I now understand why Apple is struggling for years to develop an electric car or even something significantly smaller as VR/AR headset...they are just too busy working on new iPads and iPhones which are only marginally different from the existing ones.

With so much resources available, Apple should be at the frontier of developing breakthrough technologies and products that advance human race like Tesla and SpaceX of Elon Musk. Instead we have Tim Cock and his team worried about profits and repurchasing shares while sitting on a pile of cash taller that Empire State Building. Apple is starting to lose its magic...

 

[assb10yr]

This is an excellent value iPad. Good thing I still have my v1 pencil.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

Apple is going completely against what Steve Jobs stood for. Steve Jobs always wanted simple product and didn’t want people to earn Doctorate degree in researching various nuances between 2 products and compare them to previous year’s products mumbo jumbo blah blah!

It’s genuinely terrible of Apple to list various specs like the Liquid Retina display as the same between iPad 10 and Air 4/5 when there are many important differences between the two.

How is the average consumer supposed to know the actual differences in value? It must be that they are not supposed to know.

It’s the exact issue I had with the entry level M2 MBA configuration -

Apple can downgrade their new products to save costs and increase profits as much as they like.

But when specs and features are listed using the exact same words and terms there’s no way for the average person to understand what they’re buying.

Such a dick move.

 

[Joosst]

This product should not exist.
iPad mini / iPad Air / iPad Pro should be the line up.

And, my take on it lacking 2nd generation pencil support:

That is obviously a mistake. That dongle is a last minute fix.

Of course Apple would’ve wanted the 2nd generation pencil to work, but they couldn’t figure it out with the new landscape camera.

Tim just didn’t have the courage to postpone the release date until the designers figured it out. So they came up with this stupid excuse of a dongle.

But, mark my words: this solution was not intended from the beginning.

Let’s wait to see what strange holes iFixit will find. I’m sure we’ll see evidence of Apple Pencil 2 charging / magnets. Cancelled at the last moment because it messed with the camera.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

And they created yet another terrible Apple Pencil adapter just to avoid 2nd Gen Pencil support.

More proprietary plastic dongles that nobody wants for a product that was outdated in 2018

Thanks, Apple, for thinking so much about waste and the environment! 👍😩

 

[HMFIC03]

I think we are now seeing the product of what work from home has done to apple hardware, software, and marketing m/sales.. some head scratching on some of the execution as of late

 

[Populus]

So, it’s confirmed now that the screen is not fully laminated. What a disaster of a product, and pretty expensive on Europe.

I hope people to get informed about the device specs, and choose not to buy it if they see it’s not worth it.

We have to send a message to Apple, and we can only do this with our wallets. Or maybe… wait, maybe Apple is just interested in selling you the Air or the Pro.

 

[bobjonesco]

“Let’s grab our 2 year old midrange iPad, gimp it a bit, splash some color on it, and sell them as the new cheap one - but at the same price as the old midrange. Oh! And sell them a keyboard that costs half of the device too!”

No thanks Tim.

 

[ralph_sws]

it's not a budget ipad anymore 🙃

 

[CyberBob859]

Agreed—there's a lot of confusion with the iPad lineup now. As an owner of three iPads (a mini 6, an iPad Air 4th get and an iPad Pro 12.9-inch 4th gen), I look at Apple's lineup now and wonder what they're trying to achieve with all of this addition and subtraction of features across the varied lineup.

I wonder how much of this product juggling is driven by user demands, or rather by their marketing plans.

The current iPad lineup reminds me a lot of the Mac lineup of the 90s - a disjointed mess of products designed to hit marketing targets versus meeting customer needs. When Steve Jobs came back, he famously clarified the strategy and product lineup and put things on a more focused path.

IMO, the iPad is the one product line that was the most affected by the loss of Steve Jobs. It was launched just before he passed. After some initial sales growth, it has struggled to find an identity, something that even he said was needed because it had to fill the gap between a phone and a computer.

They need to go back and do what they did with the Mac a few years ago. After a few missteps, they started to ask users how they use their products, what can be done to make them better, and start designing around user needs.

The iPad needs focus and clarity more than anything else.

 

[hippopotamusglorypig]

I have to say, the reception to this has been quite negative, even among the Apple faithful, in a way I find vaguely hopeful. There's a bit of a whiff of the iPhone 14 Plus about this, and we can all see how that's going.

It would be very funny if they bring out a second generation of the 9th generation iPad at the original price as a mea culpa - iPad (9th gen) (gen 2). It's no more nonsensical than the current lineup.

 

[ikir]

cmon it is an entry level product, it is already impressive. Air and mini are there for a reason.

 

[dampfnudel]

This product should not exist.
iPad mini / iPad Air / iPad Pro should be the line up.

And, my take on it lacking 2nd generation pencil support:

That is obviously a mistake. That dongle is a last minute fix.

Of course Apple would’ve wanted the 2nd generation pencil to work, but they couldn’t figure it out with the new landscape camera.

Tim just didn’t have the courage to postpone the release date until the designers figured it out. So they came up with this stupid excuse of a dongle.

But, mark my words: this solution was not intended from the beginning.

Let’s wait to see what strange holes iFixit will find. I’m sure we’ll see evidence of Apple Pencil 2 charging / magnets. Cancelled at the last moment because it messed with the camera.

This could be a repeat of the iPad 3 and we get an 11th Gen iPad sooner than expected. For me, no laminated display is a dealbreaker.

 

[dampfnudel]

Maybe MR’s recommendation should be changed from Buy now to Buy something better.

 

[playtech1]

I think I would have preferred the 9th gen design simply getting a refreshed CPU over this rather sad effort.

 

[MauiPa]

Oh, it also lacks the higher price. Just sayin can’t whine about not having same features as a more expensive product.

 

[MauiPa]

Maybe MR’s recommendation should be changed from Buy now to Buy something better.

Price compare? Is new iPad more expensive or the same price thus you would expect the same or better features? It also lacks the m1, who knew?

 

[neuropsychguy]

So, it’s confirmed now that the screen is not fully laminated. What a disaster of a product, and pretty expensive on Europe.

I hope people to get informed about the device specs, and choose not to buy it if they see it’s not worth it.

We have to send a message to Apple, and we can only do this with our wallets. Or maybe… wait, maybe Apple is just interested in selling you the Air or the Pro.

It’s a disastrous product because the display is not fully laminated? Do you know how many people care about that outside a few tech forums?

 

[kiranmk2]

Either this device or the iPad Air shouldn't exist.

 

[borntrouble]

That Apple Pencil dongle is lunacy, simple as that.

 

[MauiPa]

It’s a disastrous product because the display is not fully laminated? Do you know how many people care about that outside a few tech forums?

Faux outrage is funny to listen to though. Like stuff is just made up. I for one am outraged that it lacks the features of a more expensive product. What about the m1? It lacks the m1. Shouldn’t the cheaper product be the better product?
And what about the surging dollar making products more expensive in Europe? Clearly an evil plot by big tech

 

[return2sendai]

It's like the iPad 10th gen team is that small, strange group in the classroom who never socialized with the rest of the class and thus had no clue of everything that was going on around them.

Wasn’t that group ALL the future engineers and coders…who went on to make millions and laugh at all the cool sociable kids.

 

[Populus]

It’s a disastrous product because the display is not fully laminated? Do you know how many people care about that outside a few tech forums?

Not just for that. The first gen Apple Pencil situation and the lack of an easy way to pair and charge it is another factor. The lack of anti reflective coating is another one. On top of that, being an entry level iPad and starting at almost 600€ (when the ninth gen used to be 360€), is another reason why I consider this product to be a disaster. But hey, it’s just my opinion.

Of course there’s a lot of people that don’t care about those features… and they will probably buy the still on sale 9th gen iPad, because it’s still the best bang for buck.

 

[MichaelAdam]

I understand the positioning of the new iPad which is more to be viewed as a casual computer / tablet in direct competition with Microsoft surface … the pencil is only an add on but not a must.
I could get this one to my old parents …