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The 3rd Gen iPad is not obsolete!

People seem to forget or not notice that two products with the A5 were introduced this year meaning the iPad 3 should be supported as long as the just announced mini and recently released iPod Touch.

iPad 2 users got a killer life cycle.
 
iPad 3 is not obsolete. It's just be discontinued, and dumped to the refurbished store at a 'fire-sale' price.
 
G37dude80 said:
I mean like. they removed the choice to get a "lower tier" Retina Display iPad (iPad 3) which would have been cheaper than the current one (iPad 4).
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They didn't *remove* the choice as there wasn't that choice previously.
 
Exactly but instead of moving forward (making iPad 2 obsolete), there is still just one choice for Retina Display instead of 2 like it is with the iPhone 5 and the 4S.
 
i bought the iPad 3 on October 3 bc i thought all they would release yesterday would be the iPad Mini. i was wrong and i would have waited to purchase another iPad (upgrading from iPad 2).

i fall within tha unofficial 30 day return period that Apple is giving its customers, so i will gladly be upgrading to the iPad 4. the A5X is horrendous at keeping the retina powered and dealing with processor/graphics intensive applications such as Metal Storm. the iPad 2 w/ A5 was much more fluid. my iPad 3 hiccups all of the time.

the A6X will be a godsend. i don't really care about the Facetime HD and the Lightening connector i see as insignificant. the iPad battery lasts all day anyways, so i would only charge it at night when i am at home asleep
 
agreed :) Everytime we purchase a new Apple model we know that at the very most (in normal cases, sometimes they go longer- i.e. iMac), that within the year they will be releasing a new model. It is just how Apple works. They do not require you to buy each model they release, as the older ones work perfectly fine.

I think the reason they decided to release the iPad 4 was so that it would have a lightening connector like the iPhone, new iPods, and the new iPad Mini. It makes sense instead of having just one product have the old connector. Also, this sets the iPad up on the October releases like the iPhone and maybe that is easier for them.

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barkomatic said:
It's interesting that the iPad 3 is being retired entirely, but Apple is keeping the iPad 2 around as the discount option. Generally, its always the previous model that earns the discount option.
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Probably so they have a retina option and a non retina option just like the Powerbooks.
 
tonyy said:
This is an updated iPad in the same calendar year.

It wouldn't be so bad if this new new iPad came out in March/April like usual but this has to feel like a little punch to the balls for the 3rd gen iPad owners.
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I'm an iPad 3 owner from around launch month. I don't feel like I was punched in the balls at all. I'm still going to get awesome use out of my iPad 3. Will I have to use two different charging cables for my iPad and iPhone? Yes. Do I care? No.
 
G37dude80 said:
By killing the iPad 3 all the focus goes towards the iPad 4 as being "Retina display". Well played apple... Well played.
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and this is exactly my problem... I wouldn't have bought ipad 3 if I knew they were gonna totally get rid of it from their lineup... if you look at it, ipad 3 was just a buffer product until they prepared Ipad4... also when I need support, how the heck am I suppose to choose Ipad 3 option when it's not even there...

This is where I feel I got screwed big time... grrrrr:mad:
 
eaglefox12 said:
and this is exactly my problem... I wouldn't have bought ipad 3 if I knew they were gonna totally get rid of it from their lineup... if you look at it, ipad 3 was just a buffer product until they prepared Ipad4... also when I need support, how the heck am I suppose to choose Ipad 3 option when it's not even there...

This is where I feel I got screwed big time... grrrrr:mad:
Click to expand...

I'd say it depends when you bought it. Recently, yeah, and you'd be justified in being pissed since Apple so far has released early in the year. Early in the year, well, it's to be expected a new one will come out, if not now, then a few months from now, so...

Not even sure yet if the 4 has a better GPU setup than the 3. Apparently has more CPU though-probably Apple's custom A9 competitor and maybe at higher clocks.
 
You purchased an obsolete product that has already been discontinued. On top of that, they're being sold for $379 so you lost out on a bargain. On top of that, its re-sale has also gone down. On top of that, a new, better one just came out that is faster than yours, for the same price you paid just a few months ago!!

I'm being sarcastic but in all honesty, I would be a bit agitated too if they pulled off something like this if I bought my iPad 2-3 months ago.

I've heard some people on SlickDeals call Apple support and get a complimentary $45 off code and a free Smart Cover to make up for the "loss." Might wanna give it a try to make some of you feel better.

http://slickdeals.net/f/5375932-16GB-Apple-iPad-3rd-Generation-with-WiFi-in-White-or-Black-Refurbished-w-1-Year-Warranty-379-Free-Shipping
 
monaarts said:
I bought a 2012 Honda Accord in June... Did I get screwed when the newly designed 2013 Honda Accord was released last month?
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Unless u got a really good deal for the 2012 Honda Accord compared to the redesigned 2013 model. Yes. U got screwed.

U need to get at least 2-3K below invoice for the 2012 model if the 2013 redesign was just months ahead.

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I don't feel screwed. I got iPad 3 at launch.

The people who got screw are the ones who purchased 14-45 days ago out of the return policy for most stores.
 
While the iPad 3 is certainly not obsolete....

A user of one most certainly is. Pariah. Get thee hence.
 
I wasn't thrilled about the update being as soon as it was, but after mulling it over for a few days, I've decided to keep my 3 at least until late next year's model is released.

Biggest reason? I don't think I'll recognize the difference between the A5x and A6x chips -- I'm not into FPS's or car racing games, and the only thing that seems laggy to me these days with iPad 3/ iOS 6 is the app store on the iPad. I already have 64gb LTE. Don't know that I'll see a difference in the wifi being "2x faster" either.

I'm interested in the upcoming less power-hungry IGZO displays, and if they're able to fuse the screen the way they did for iPhone 5. I'll take thinner and lighter too. :) Hopefully that'll get released next year, otherwise, I'm plenty happy with my iPad 3. It didn't get slower just because a new model came out.

My husband usually gets my "hand me down" gadget, but in this case, I told him if he wants to upgrade his iPad 2 to iPad 4, go for it, I wasn't going to swap out my iPad 3 and get a 4 this year. He's decided to keep his 2 as well and upgrade later next year.
 
as much as I like iPad 4, Im not upgrading my iPad 3- why?

YouTube!! my 3 is still running iOS 5 sumthing.. I didnt upgrade to iOS6 cause my little 2 yr old will loose her YouTube where she is so good at saving her faves Sesame Street, Super Why, Pooh Bear videos.

Cheers!
 
Why it is obsolete.

It is a punch in the sack for ipad 3 adopters because

1) Its no longer the lead platform, apps will now be designed for the ipad 4. This isn't actually that bad, as that means more apps will be released for the retina display. While updates are happening, many good apps have yet to support retina. Just as long as apps don't start to become fragmented in what they support depending on what ipad this isn't that bad.

2) Future ios feature drop...

The whole Siri not on iPad 2 decision (yet the mini gets it)... Sure the iPad 3 might get ios 7, maybe even 8 but any new features will arbitrarily (if not because of hardware, then for planned obsolescence reasons) be dropped from the 3 that much sooner. Otherwise it will work exactly the same as it did. And yes the above is inevitable, but it would have been nice to be at the top of the heap for at least a year. Now the iPad 4 when 6.1 let alone 7 comes out will get that differentiating feature and it will likely be withheld from the iPad 3 "just because".

Aside from build quality and availability of apps, fairly frequent and universal ios updates is why I personally stuck with ios vs. google. If only the other camps built a decent tablet Apple might have to be worried. ;-)

This above is of course speculation, but Apple has done this on both the iPhone and iPad sides in the past. (3GS not supporting wifi tethering yet jailbroken can - Ipad 2 not getting Siri)
 
silverblack said:
iPad 3 is not obsolete. It's just be discontinued, and dumped to the refurbished store at a 'fire-sale' price.
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Well said.

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nsense said:
as much as I like iPad 4, Im not upgrading my iPad 3- why?

YouTube!! my 3 is still running iOS 5 sumthing.. I didnt upgrade to iOS6 cause my little 2 yr old will loose her YouTube where she is so good at saving her faves Sesame Street, Super Why, Pooh Bear videos.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

You may check out the Jasmine app.
Much better than the stock Apple Youtube app or the Google (iPhone upscaled) YouTube app.
 
Apple2000 said:
How has apple cheated any of you?

The iPad 3rd gen you bought is still the exact same as when you bought it and were satisfied with it.

Regardless of future product upgrades, it is still WHAT APPLE ADVERTISED TO YOU WHEN YOU BOUGHT IT! NOTHING CAN CHANGE THAT!
Click to expand...

Actually since Apple discontinued the iPad 3rd gen, it is in fact obsolete. The big question is, will it get the same amount of updates the the new 4th gen iPad will get? If yes then it doesn't matter at all. If no then it does shorten the lifespan and owners of the 3rd gen have a right to be upset about it.
 
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