Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I think different iPad options are inevitable. Just like Apple expanded the iPod line years ago, they can (and will, I believe) segment the iPad line. I also tend to think they might remove a couple of the options now available, like making the 32 GB version the low end, etc. The only question is when.
 
I agree it kind of sucks if Apple thought there might be a problem but figured "Meh we'll launch this phone anyways.". However not everyone is having problems so I don't see it as that big of a deal.

Aye, and this is precisely the point. Instead of finding fixes to make a proper product, they are willing to risk a potential booboo as a design perk and hope we'll find it shiny enough to just shrug it off. On top of that, they were selling their fix as a separate product.

If I didn't know better, they took the software model and used it on this iPhone where they hope to apply patches (Bumper App) to fix current issues. Alas hardware is still different from software, because it makes the hardware they're initially selling look incomplete.
 
Seriously you have no clue. Apples price point for the current generation iPad is on point. They have sold well over 3.5 million of them and are literally selling every last one they make with a ship time of two weeks. Which means they cannot make them fast enough I know this because I recently picked one up, and all but one Apple store in Houston was sold out, and my order online had a 3 week ship time. Quit acting like you are the authority on Apple and general consumerism.

Boy, you're just swimming with rank generalizations, here. You need to take some of your own advice and just quit while you're behind.

First off, you need to realize that 3.5 million unit sales is absolutely ZIP on a world scale. There's 330 million people in the US, 501 million people in the EU, 127 million people in Japan, 33 million people in Canada, 25 million people in Australia, and 48 million people in South Korea. That covers the big markets for tech in the world and leaves an absolutely staggering number of people who still don't have iPads. Even if only 1 person in 10 in those countries is actually a potential iPad customer, that still leaves roughly, oh, 99% of the potential customers without an iPad in their hands.

Don't for a second think that you speak for all those people when you state that no one wants a 7" model. You don't know jack about potential iPad customers one state over, let alone across the world in a totally different culture and city. Ever been to the Akihabara technology district in Toyko? The 10" iPad is a total behemoth in that world of miniaturized cell phones, cameras and notebooks. Just in Japan alone Apple might easily get enough sales of a 7" model alone to justify production. Add South Korea to the mix and sales of a 7" model over there might easily pass the 10" model in the good old US of A. Texans aren't the only ones with dollars to spend and opinions on tablet PCs, bucko.
 
lol as if they would release a new iPhone in January already

... probably those who r still waiting for their pre-order shipment (there r still some who preordered on the 15th of june here and still havent got it) will eventually get it by january xD
 
Here in Canada we have had a full month to hear about the "big" issues with the iP4's antenna. People have had a chance to read the blogs and tech sites and even some mainstream news outlets. We were able to see the Apple press event before the iP4 was released here. If consumers were truly put off by the iP4's "big" antenna issue they are certainly not showing it here in Canada.

There was massive lines on launch day and all iPhones quickly sold out. Every day there are people getting to the mall early in the morning to stand in line for new stock. It has almost been a week and this is happening everyday. Lines of 50+ people waiting in front of an Apple store on a weekday to purchase a phone that supposedly has major issues. Just more proof that tech blogs are blowing the issue out of proportion and the average consumer could care less. I don't see any reason for Apple to get scared and hurry a new iPhone.
 
Your individual use case isn't valid for Apple to make a sweeping business decision.

Different people have different needs. I personally would rather have a 7" or 8" iPad rather than the currently-shipping model. There is a market for a smaller iPad, particularly if it comes in at a lower price point which would be expected since the touchscreen panel is the most expensive part in the bill of materials. Cost has been well documented barrier to iPad adoption.

The fact of the matter is Apple serves what the mass market consumer wants, not a individual commenter on a Mac rumors website. Apple isn't making devices for you. They are making devices for the Joe Consumers of this world, but most affluent ones with large amounts of disposable income, well educated, et cetera.

this is a news discussion forum and he was merely posting his opinion on this "rumor" so you look like quite the fool being an ass stating that Apple's decision will not be based on the comment of one individual.

so go ahead and make that 2 - I, as well, don't see a need or market for a smaller ipad at this time - esp from a developer's point of view...
 
Boy, you're just swimming with rank generalizations, here. You need to take some of your own advice and just quit while you're behind.

First off, you need to realize that 3.5 million unit sales is absolutely ZIP on a world scale. There's 330 million people in the US, 501 million people in the EU, 127 million people in Japan, 33 million people in Canada, 25 million people in Australia, and 48 million people in South Korea. That covers the big markets for tech in the world and leaves an absolutely staggering number of people who still don't have iPads. Even if only 1 person in 10 in those countries is actually a potential iPad customer, that still leaves roughly, oh, 99% of the potential customers without an iPad in their hands.

Don't for a second think that you speak for all those people when you state that no one wants a 7" model. You don't know jack about potential iPad customers one state over, let alone across the world in a totally different culture and city. Ever been to the Akihabara technology district in Toyko? The 10" iPad is a total behemoth in that world of miniaturized cell phones, cameras and notebooks. Just in Japan alone Apple might easily get enough sales of a 7" model alone to justify production. Add South Korea to the mix and sales of a 7" model over there might easily pass the 10" model in the good old US of A. Texans aren't the only ones with dollars to spend and opinions on tablet PCs, bucko.

+1
On Point!!

snip... I, as well, don't see a need or market for a smaller ipad at this time - esp from a developer's point of view...

And this is why you will never run a major innovative company... you don't see.
 
ha ha ha - that's great - yeah, innovation is just changing the screen size on a newly released and massively successful novel product. brilliant!

Itouch, Ipod, Nano. Different strokes etc... This may not be innovation, it's marketing. Another lesson you can take from Apple. There are doers and naysayers. The naysayers generally don't make any money.
You may not see the need, and thankfully we do not have to rely on your "insight". People who buy nano's might find the 5 inch just the right size. Others who can't swing the minimum ipad current price might jump on a 7 inch ipad if priced right. This is good for the public and the investor. The Apple train keeps rolling on.

One 5 and 7 inch for me please. One for every occasion and need.
 
Itouch, Ipod, Nano. Different strokes etc... This may not be innovation, it's marketing. Another lesson you can take from Apple. There are doers and naysayers. The naysayers generally don't make any money.
You may not see the need, and thankfully we do not have to rely on your "insight". People who buy nano's might find the 5 inch just the right size. Others who can't swing the minimum ipad current price might jump on a 7 inch ipad if priced right. This is good for the public and the investor. The Apple train keeps rolling on.

One 5 and 7 inch for me please. One for every occasion and need.

good point on the price difference - that would be the primary reason to "shrink" the current ipad. but then again, as mentioned before, there is the BIG problem of app development and scaling the apps for different screen sizes. even resolution changes won't be sufficient. smaller ipad won't be anytime soon for sure.
 
good point on the price difference - that would be the primary reason to "shrink" the current ipad. but then again, as mentioned before, there is the BIG problem of app development and scaling the apps for different screen sizes. even resolution changes won't be sufficient. smaller ipad won't be anytime soon for sure.
I mentioned the price part as well in my post. Guess you don't read that closely.

In any case, Apple will prioritize the needs and desires of their shareholders and customers above the developers' convenience. If they want to release another iDevice at a different resolution, they will do so without soliciting your opinion. They have already introduced the iPhone 4 and iPad at different resolutions than the original iPhone. Sorry if it's an inconvenience to you, but Joe Consumer doesn't really pay attention to such matters.

If anything, you should welcome the opportunity for more of these devices to be sold and politely ask Apple to provide more robust tools.
 
Xibalba said:
good point on the price difference - that would be the primary reason to "shrink" the current ipad. but then again, as mentioned before, there is the BIG problem of app development and scaling the apps for different screen sizes. even resolution changes won't be sufficient. smaller ipad won't be anytime soon for sure.

Good point. We are already seeing separation, and who knows what ios 4 will bring or not bring to the iPad.
 
You think Apple lies to its shareholders and the various financial regulators?

I do not think they lie. They exaggerate the numbers, that's all. If it is 3, they say 5. So, what? There are always ways to say things and still be legal. I am not saying only Apple does this, most companies do if not all.
 
I mentioned the price part as well in my post. Guess you don't read that closely.

In any case, Apple will prioritize the needs and desires of their shareholders and customers above the developers' convenience. If they want to release another iDevice at a different resolution, they will do so without soliciting your opinion. They have already introduced the iPhone 4 and iPad at different resolutions than the original iPhone. Sorry if it's an inconvenience to you, but Joe Consumer doesn't really pay attention to such matters.

If anything, you should welcome the opportunity for more of these devices to be sold and politely ask Apple to provide more robust tools.

yeah, guess i missed the price part in your flaming rant about someone else actually having an opinion that apparently differs from yours. i could not care less how Apple chooses to resize their products, just sharing my opinion that this "rumor" holds very little technical and practical reality at this time. and possibly very little market value as well.
 
cvaldes said:
snip...In any case, Apple will prioritize the needs and desires of their shareholders and customers above the developers' convenience.

Sounds logical, but it is sheer speculation. Stick to the facts you can prove.
 
Another lesson you can take from Apple. There are doers and naysayers. The naysayers generally don't make any money.

When I took my MBA, one of my profs told me about the "Harley Davidson" lesson and I took it to heart.

HD is one of the most recognizable brands in the world. They easily dominate the US market for bikes, corralling almost half of the total unit sales every year. Every other manufacturer that markets to North America has over half their lineup devoted to cruisers, many of which ape HD's styling, in order to potentially corral some of those free-spending HD customers.

But 72% of HD's 350 000 unit sales occur in the US. Outside of the US, they are absolutely non-starters, despite the worldwide strength of their brand image.

Compare that to Honda, who still sells a pretty respectable number of bikes in the US market and who offers a bevy of big cruisers to compete with the HD juggernaut there. Honda blows the doors off of HD in Europe with a bunch of spirited 600-800cc bikes North America would never buy (and will never see). They also market a bevy of sub 250cc bikes for the raging commuter markets in India, China, Japan and SE Asia. Honda sells more bikes in a couple of weeks than HD will sell all year ... simply because they realize that most consumers around the world can't afford 800 lb. bikes with zero handling, terrible mileage and $25 000 price tags and are looking to buy a bike for totally different reasons than the average HD buyer.

There's a market for smaller iPads ... it just may not be in the US.
 
Good point. We are already seeing separation, and who knows what ios 4 will bring or not bring to the iPad.

True, true - forgot that iOS 4 could become a different reality on the iPad once released than just a simple reflection from its current iPhone presence.

i should have said earlier i really don't have a problem with Apple making different size iPads (and that actually might make more sense to the consumer masses), but Apple seems to behave strangely with things that most consumers might seem obvious (like Blu-ray for example) and with their history i just don't feel an ipad screen-size revision is coming soon.

there are still some waiting for the iphone nano rumors to materialize...
 
If they release a 5-7" iPad with a camera I guess the waiting game paid off :D

I wouldn't be surprised if they delayed the white iPhone 4 and updated it with antenna problems or something. Regardless I wouldn't be pissed at all, my iPhone 4 is doing very well. Hopefully for those having problems they will replace for free but as it was pointed out several times, keyword is rumors
 
How about the Classic iPod? Haven't heard a peep about that.....

When they discontinued the 160 gig iPod classic I thought the days of the Classic where numbered. Except for the iPod Classic and that crappy iPod Shuffle all of the other Apple access devices can load App's. With flash drives as big as 516 gig's there is really no reason to still market the the Classic with it's Toshiba 1.8 inch hard drive. Except the 1.8 inch HD is cheaper. So I really don't think the Classic will be with us much longer.

What is interesting about the classic is you can update the HD in it. There are several outfits online that will replace the HD in your classic with a new Toshiba drive and they you can up grade to a 250 gig drive.
 
Deputy... I'm not picking on you... I agree with you... I'm just soooo tired of some posters insisting the antenna thing is some big conspiracy and some huge flaw... design flaw or not... the phone works. The "death grip" is not an issue for 99% of customers. There are issues with iPhone4... but I think most of the issue are with iOS4 and not the phone so they will get fixed sooner. At least Apple fixes their problems.

When I got a bad LG phone once, I was told "sorry charlie" buy a new phone and there was no hope of a fix.

I wish people would get beyond the BS... but my guess is most that complain or toss out a anti-comment don't even own the device and have never worked at a development company in their life. If they did, they'd know how these things happen and it's true with every product out there.

Sorry for jumping on you. I didn't mean to jump to the wrong assumption (my fault for assuming :)). So far, I couldn't be happier with the iPhone 4. I know nothing's perfect, but it is damn close (for ME, anyway).
 
I do not think they lie. They exaggerate the numbers, that's all. If it is 3, they say 5. So, what? There are always ways to say things and still be legal. I am not saying only Apple does this, most companies do if not all.

If it's 3 and they say 5, they would be lying.

Apple can't keep up with demand, and they're cranking these things out as fast as they can. They don't need to exaggerate anything to make themselves look good. They've sold millions of iPads, and will sell millions more. If they release a 7" iPad, they'll probably sell millions of those too.

I personally have no use for a 7" iPad, and I also have no use for a 9.5" iPad. That doesn't mean I'm going to assume they're not wildly popular.

jW
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.