All iPads The hardware's amazing, it's the OS that needs help

[Blackstick]

Incredibly impressed using the Air 2 today. It's a complete beast of a tablet. Still, like so many here, I feel the major opportunity is iOS in this iPad form factor.

In my opinion, iOS currently excels at iPhone screen sizes, but for these iPads it's in need of something else. Not even as simple and clear as split screen multitasking (although perhaps)... And ideally not the crazy hybrid OS that Microsoft brought the world with W8...

My hope is that early next year we do see a 12" iPad and a fresh take on iOS optimizations for the iPad at WWDC... The iPad finally has the hardware that goes pound for pound with the lower-end MacBooks of 2011/2012 (my org still has dozens of these in daily use).. I think it'd be great to get some renovations that turn this beautiful piece of hardware into even more of a productivity machine.

I'm also seeing it loud and clear the move Apple took at their event... They demo'd Pixelmator, which is pretty darn close to Photoshop in power-- previous years were a lot of games and graphical whiz bangs, now they're showing me stuff I never figured the iPad had the grunt to handle, it's plainly clear it does.

 

[Rodster]

The biggest problems with iOS is that with each version it's becoming more buggy and embarrasing on Apple. We all thought it could get no worse with Apple Maps and boy were we wrong. Along comes iOS 7 and makes Maps look like a fine tuned piece of software. To this day there are performance issues with iOS 7 that were not addressed and more performance issues were introduced with iOS 8.

The other problem going forward is that iOS is basically the same OS. You use one app at a time. Meanwhile Android supports multi-users, mult-apps and mult-windows. The Surface Pro is bascially a PC in a tablet form.

So that's Apple's problem right now and the tech community are beginning to ask the same questions. The hardware is great but the software is in a rut.

 

[AppleHater]

I don't think iPad is never meant to be a tablet in PC form factor. If that's what you're looking for there are many other choices out there.

Yes, it's true iPad need innovation beyond incremental spec upgrades, however, going down the route of becoming a PC isn't one of them. It should re-emphasize its own unique identity as the first iPad promised.

 

[donnaw]

I don't think iPad is never meant to be a tablet in PC form factor. If that's what you're looking for there are many other choices out there.

Yes, it's true iPad need innovation beyond incremental spec upgrades, however, going down the route of becoming a PC isn't one of them. It should re-emphasize its own unique identity as the first iPad promised.

That depends. If Apple wants to enter the enterprise arena with iPads (and many things point to that direction) then the OS must evolve from just a bigger phone OS.

the consumer tablet market is pretty much saturated, re: the flat sales across the spectrum. The only growth area is enterprise. MS realized this early, probably because enterprise is their main market. You can believe Apple realizes this too, re: their new collaboration with IBM.

Apple might leave the current iPad as just a consumer product and create the 'Pro' version. But if they do the consumers will clamor for at least some of the 'pro' goodies. And if Apple doesn't supply those goodies they can kiss goodbye any new growth in their basic ipad market. Plus I'm betting many enterprise settings will prefer the current size rather than a 12".

Let me add, in order to really add anything more than just the basic iPhone functionality Apple needed to do one basic thing, beef up the iPad hardware to handle more computer-like functionality. Hmmmm.....

 

[Closingracer]

That depends. If Apple wants to enter the enterprise arena with iPads (and many things point to that direction) then the OS must evolve from just a bigger phone OS.

the consumer tablet market is pretty much saturated, re: the flat sales across the spectrum. The only growth area is enterprise. MS realized this early, probably because enterprise is their main market. You can believe Apple realizes this too, re: their new collaboration with IBM.

Apple might leave the current iPad as just a consumer product and create the 'Pro' version. But if they do the consumers will clamor for at least some of the 'pro' goodies. And if Apple doesn't supply those goodies they can kiss goodbye any new growth in their basic ipad market. Plus I'm betting many enterprise settings will prefer the current size rather than a 12".

Let me add, in order to really add anything more than just the basic iPhone functionality Apple needed to do one basic thing, beef up the iPad hardware to handle more computer-like functionality. Hmmmm.....

Idk the note 12.2 and surface pro 3 looks like amazing choices if I was in the market for a tablet for business imo

 

[addictzz]

Agree with you. But seeing how iPhone has the most demanding market as well as wide range of enthusiastic customer, I doubt Apple would want to focus on iPad as much as they do on iPhone.

 

[Jawnathin]

I agree. The OS is holding back iPads. The continuity and handoff features are great step in the right direction, but there isn't anything new or exciting. There is truly nothing an Air 2 can do that an Air or 4 cannot.

I cancelled my pre-order to give myself more time to think about it and I lean further away from buying one the more I think about it. I would love one, it is the best iPad made yet, I just don't think the $1,000 I was about to plop on one would have been a wise choice.

If there was something new and radical I could only do with the 2, I would snap one up immediately.

 

[ipadlvr]

The biggest problems with iOS is that with each version it's becoming more buggy and embarrasing on Apple. We all thought it could get no worse with Apple Maps and boy were we wrong. Along comes iOS 7 and makes Maps look like a fine tuned piece of software. To this day there are performance issues with iOS 7 that were not addressed and more performance issues were introduced with iOS 8.

The other problem going forward is that iOS is basically the same OS. You use one app at a time. Meanwhile Android supports multi-users, mult-apps and mult-windows. The Surface Pro is bascially a PC in a tablet form.

So that's Apple's problem right now and the tech community are beginning to ask the same questions. The hardware is great but the software is in a rut.

Android has multi users. Surface Pro is a PC with full windows.

But if those are features people want, how come the Surface is a total fail? And no Android tablet sells more than the iPad? And what good are multi users if the apps are just blown up phone apps?

----------

I agree. The OS is holding back iPads. The continuity and handoff features are great step in the right direction, but there isn't anything new or exciting. There is truly nothing an Air 2 can do that an Air or 4 cannot.

I cancelled my pre-order to give myself more time to think about it and I lean further away from buying one the more I think about it. I would love one, it is the best iPad made yet, I just don't think the $1,000 I was about to plop on one would have been a wise choice.

If there was something new and radical I could only do with the 2, I would snap one up immediately.

You'll be happier when you stop trying to make an iPad a laptop.

 

[donnaw]

Idk the note 12.2 and surface pro 3 looks like amazing choices if I was in the market for a tablet for business imo

If I weren't retired I would have a Surface Pro. In fact, if MS had put a SIM card in it I probably would get one anyway. But I like the hardware on the iPad so that's what I buy. If the next SP is thinner and lighter I might buy one.

 

[Jawnathin]

You'll be happier when you stop trying to make an iPad a laptop.

Your reply doesn't make sense. I never said anything about a laptop.

For the record, I'm happy with what I have and thats why I'm not buying. I'm not missing out on anything by not getting an Air 2. I want Apple to give me a good reason to spend the money and they are hard to come by.

 

[cababah]

The iPad doesn't need to be a laptop but it needs a software revamp to increase its capability. The hardware is there...it's crippled by iOS sadly.

 

[baypharm]

I agree. The OS is holding back iPads. The continuity and handoff features are great step in the right direction, but there isn't anything new or exciting. There is truly nothing an Air 2 can do that an Air or 4 cannot.

I cancelled my pre-order to give myself more time to think about it and I lean further away from buying one the more I think about it. I would love one, it is the best iPad made yet, I just don't think the $1,000 I was about to plop on one would have been a wise choice.

If there was something new and radical I could only do with the 2, I would snap one up immediately.

Very well said!

 

[12vElectronics]

I agree OP. A larger iPad would be ideal

 

[RockSpider]

I agree. The OS is holding back iPads. The continuity and handoff features are great step in the right direction, but there isn't anything new or exciting. There is truly nothing an Air 2 can do that an Air or 4 cannot.

I cancelled my pre-order to give myself more time to think about it and I lean further away from buying one the more I think about it. I would love one, it is the best iPad made yet, I just don't think the $1,000 I was about to plop on one would have been a wise choice.

If there was something new and radical I could only do with the 2, I would snap one up immediately.

When I bought the iPad Air 1, it was love at first sight, I had the 3 before that, also the 2. Yesterday I went to the Apple Store to buy the Air 2, almost immediately there were a few things I didn't like.
The weight wasn't that much less, the screen didn't look any better like they keep saying, as a matter of fact I thought it was worse, but that could just be me, the brightness though was a lot less.
The sound was tinny and the back vibrated quite heavily when playing music, and it just felt cheap.
I had the money right there but I just couldn't do it. Now I hear people are having trouble with WiFi, I'm glad I hesitated.

 

[Zwhaler]

Along comes iOS 7 and makes Maps look like a fine tuned piece of software.

I lol'd

 

[haruhiko]

My thoughts exactly, OP.



What I don't get is people who come into those kinds of thread and say:

'You don't need this feature for reasons' or 'iPads aren't laptops' or 'If you don't like it, buy a Surface'.



People who want more features are usually just asking that the amazingly powerful iPad should be able to do things every bottom of the line Android POS phone can do. There are just too many arbitrary restrictions that make the iPad frustrating to use in too many cases.



Yes, I'm getting an experience that is better than Android's as long as I do exactly what Apple wants and exactly how Apple wants me to do it, but why does it have to be thus restricted.



It makes no sense to have installed three different browsers to get around Safari restrictions, it makes no sense that I have to take a five minute detour for every magnet link I'm trying to open, it makes no sense that I can't respond to a message without switching out of a video, it makes no sense that I can't have my student listen to a song on youtube while showing him the guitar score, it makes no sense that I can't run an emulator my Samsung Galaxy S (1!!!) was able to run, it makes no sense that I CAN'T EVEN USE whatsapp...



I could go on. Why doesn't Safari have real downloads and a real downloads folder, like OSX? Why can't I even save a PDF file in Safari without an external application? What's going on there!?

- You can quick respond to text messages in iOS 8.

- iOS supports playing YouTube music in the background, but Google disabled that function.

- Whatsapp deliberate disabled iPad support. Apple always encourages universal apps. Every other competing messaging app like Line, WeChat, Facebook messenger has iPad support.

 

[Ev0d3vil]

Apple should go bite the bullet and collaborate with Google for maps seriously. I loved Google maps on iOS.

 

[smallcoffee]

I recently purchased an iPad Air 2 after only having a Macbook Air and iPhone.

I think one of the major issues with iOS is that people are continuing to expect to, and try to use their tablet PCs and iOS like a desktop computer. Over the years I've become more and more dissatisfied with using a regular computer. Frankly, even with the Macbook Air I feel like I'm tied to a desk, and overloaded with features, and programs.

One of the things I like about iOS in comparison to OSX is that often times iOS apps, especially the Apple versions, present you with a minimum amount of necessary options, and they force you to be much more deliberate and simple in how you interact. For me, it cuts out a lot of the clutter and allows me to really focus on what's important; I like that.

Frankly, software issues aside, I don't really feel like integrating OSX and iOS on the same device is the answer here. I think that you really need to evaluate what you use these devices for, and then go with the one that meets your needs. If you need a desktop OS and desktop features, buy a computer. Don't buy a tablet and then expect to do the same things.

 

[ZBoater]

Apple already figured out what most people want. And they are giving it to them. It's not what we want, but it's what most other people want.

They are not looking to bring complexity into the tablet space. Quite the contrary. They've already figured out most people want to do basic things. iPad is not the tablet for techies. Sorry. Surface Pro is. Hate to say it.

I'm very happy with my iPad. But if I wanted a PC on a tablet, I'd get a Surface Pro.

 

[Closingracer]

Apple already figured out what most people want. And they are giving it to them. It's not what we want, but it's what most other people want.



They are not looking to bring complexity into the tablet space. Quite the contrary. They've already figured out most people want to do basic things. iPad is not the tablet for techies. Sorry. Surface Pro is. Hate to say it.



I'm very happy with my iPad. But if I wanted a PC on a tablet, I'd get a Surface Pro.

+1


I had a Samsung galaxy tab s 10.5 and while spec wise it is way better then the iPad Air 2 even it was sluggish and couldn't play apps with the exynos cpu as the issue . The iPad is fluid and plays any app I want it to. If I really wanted more option device I would of chosen an nexus 9 but I do like the simplicity of the iPad. If I need more options I'll use my note 4

 

[matrix07]

Frankly, software issues aside, I don't really feel like integrating OSX and iOS on the same device is the answer here. I think that you really need to evaluate what you use these devices for, and then go with the one that meets your needs. If you need a desktop OS and desktop features, buy a computer. Don't buy a tablet and then expect to do the same things.

Exactly! People who want PC experience just go buy 11" Macbook Air.

I agree with the thread topic on one aspect though. The iOS 7/8 doesn't treat big screen well. It's design mainly for phone and on iPad it just doesn't look good like previous iOS versions.

 

[drew0020]

I agree as well. So much wasted screen space. I'd love to be able to have more App icons on the screen (and in the dock) on the iPad as well. The iPad O/S definitely needs more functionality.

The Air 2 is so fast, but I feel like its just so boring to use and I can only scratch the surface of its power due to the O/S limitations.

 

[Wild-Bill]

Apple already figured out what most people want. And they are giving it to them. .

Thats Apple's problem right there. Steve didn't care what people wanted. He told you what you wanted.

Their obsession with thinness is becoming a liability as well. WHY did the Air 2 have to be thinner? Now that it is, the entire casing vibrates/resonates when music is played. BADLY. Their quality control has taken a serious nosedive. The core rot at Apple is getting worse.

 

[chabig]

Apple should go bite the bullet and collaborate with Google for maps seriously. I loved Google maps on iOS.

They already tried that and Google screwed them.

 

[Wiesenlooser]

I just want a digitizer and splitscreen multitasking.