Tim Cook Says 'Exciting Things' Coming to iPad as Tablet Sales Continue to Drop

[niun]

Since it needs a mouse or trackpad pretty much all the time, Win10's UI is not tablet-friendly at all. IMNSHO. If Apple were to try plopping a standard desktop UI onto the iPad, and apps weren't rewritten to be touch-friendly either, the result would stink just as bad as Win10's does.

Funny cause using all the tablet apps - mail, web surfing, Kindle, Netflix, Sketchable etc.. Most of the consumer stuff people use their iPads for is EXACTLY the same experience on my Surface.

I don't get it. Do people go out of their way to complicate their user experience?

 

[BarracksSi]

I don't get it. Do people go out of their way to complicate their user experience?

Yes, they do. It's the idea that a more complicated interface must indicate that an app is more "powerful".

Go way back to the original iMac. You got everything you'd need in one box (gumdrop-shaped "box", yeah...), but some people still felt that if they got a regular tower-plus-display-plus-keyboard-plus-external CD-ROM, they were getting "more computer", even if the system's specs were less powerful than the iMac's.

 

[Uofmtiger]

(at the risk of invoking Jobs's line about, "If Henry Ford had asked people what they wanted, they would've said, 'A faster horse.'"...)

What should be added? Which hardware feature? What kind of upgrade? Should it be an OS-only upgrade? Should it break compatibility with older apps? Should it be a dual-lens camera? What if it changed from Lightning to USB-C?

You say you want a reason to upgrade. What would push you over the edge and convince you to buy a new iPad?

What is interesting about the iPad is that part of its beauty is the simplicity and the way it works with the same OS as one of the most successful consumer products in history. I know enthusiasts won't be happy until it runs a touchscreen version of OSX, however, it will not longer be the iPad at that point.

The real problem is that the old versions already do what most people want them to do. It is just a matter of knowing what the upgrade path is now that there is saturation in the market versus when it was introduced 7 years ago and no one had one. Obviously, it doesn't have the benefit of being in the pocket all the time, so camera upgrades, which help drive new iPhone sells, is a much less powerful incentive to upgrade.

I think people are misinterpreting market saturation, and new competition, as the product "dying". No, the product, at least in units, is not dying: iPad sold 13.1 million units, Mac sold 5.3 million. Yes, the margin is lower, so they don't always make as much money on the iPad, but that has nothing to do with popularity.

Unlike last year, they did not introduce a new iPad with a different form in the fourth quarter, so I would expect their numbers to be down year over year.

Anyway, we all have ideas how they could make the iPad better for people that want to replace their PCs with it. However, that may not be the route to get the mainstream audience to upgrade. The fact is that the iPad people currently own may already do everything they want from an iPad. Some people prefer a butcher knife and a chef knife over a swiss army knife when the task calls for it.

I am definitely interested in what they will come up with to help drive sells, but unless it is a new product category, they will continue to compete with the iPad people are already using at home.

 

[BarracksSi]

I think people are misinterpreting market saturation, and new competition, as the product "dying". No, the product, at least in units, is not dying: iPad sold 13.1 million units, Mac sold 5.3 million. Yes, the margin is lower, so they don't always make as much money on the iPad, but that has nothing to do with popularity.

Right --

I wonder, then, about the size of the iPad's installed base. Simple quarterly sales numbers don't give us this data.

I've mentioned before that my old iPad 2 does fine at what I ask it to do -- play a few games, manage and sign PDFs, watch streaming video, etc. But I also recognize that the new ones will do everything A LOT FASTER, and I might end up using a new iPad more often. I think it'd be cool to see if I could use it as my main computer.

 

[Uofmtiger]

Right --

I wonder, then, about the size of the iPad's installed base. Simple quarterly sales numbers don't give us this data.

I've mentioned before that my old iPad 2 does fine at what I ask it to do -- play a few games, manage and sign PDFs, watch streaming video, etc. But I also recognize that the new ones will do everything A LOT FASTER, and I might end up using a new iPad more often. I think it'd be cool to see if I could use it as my main computer.

I can't use it as my main computer, but I don't need it to be my main computer, either. I am happy having an iPad and Mac and having the very best of both worlds rather than a compromise. I would like the iPad to be able to edit Photoshop with the Pencil, but Astropad and hopefully Affinity will fill in that gap for my use.

 

[Dave Presley]

Timmy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[niun]

Go way back to the original iMac. You got everything you'd need in one box (gumdrop-shaped "box", yeah...)

Funny. I feel that way about my Surface

 

[AlexJaye]

come on...the latest imac it still is an awesome mac....if you upgrade yours will take adv of the new dgpu and that screen. I am on the 2014 model so im still waiting for the new one, but you,you have an old one with weak display not the imac is the problem,the mac mini/mac pro are

Well, I'm tired of the iMac and want to move to a Macbook pro or, at this point any Macbook, but none of them are worth it. And the latest iMacs are pure BS and way overpriced. A pretty screen, though.

 

[TheFluffyDuck]

Apple in my view just don't inspire cutting edge technology anymore. They are overpriced relics.

Wireless charging, Virtual reality, Augmented reality, Vulkan API, Tablets for professionals (other than artists), everybody else is experimenting with that stuff and coming out with amazing products.

Meanwhile Apple has squandered any lead it has had across all markets. They still wants to ship a decked out on 3.1 year old desktop computer for the price of a small car. Give me a break.

Ill be honest, its been weeks since I visited this website as Apple stuff just doesn't interest me any more. I wouldn't be surprised if they just licence out OSX. It would do more for the Mac community ironically if they stopped making hardware and left that decision up to us. 3.1 years!!!!!!! its a joke. Apple is now a joke.

Airpods are cool though.

 

[I7guy]

Apple in my view just don't inspire cutting edge technology anymore. They are overpriced relics.

Wireless charging, Virtual reality, Augmented reality, Vulkan API, Tablets for professionals (other than artists), everybody else is experimenting with that stuff and coming out with amazing products.

Meanwhile Apple has squandered any lead it has had across all markets. They still wants to ship a decked out on 3.1 year old desktop computer for the price of a small car. Give me a break.

Ill be honest, its been weeks since I visited this website as Apple stuff just doesn't interest me any more. I wouldn't be surprised if they just licence out OSX. It would do more for the Mac community ironically if they stopped making hardware and left that decision up to us. 3.1 years!!!!!!! its a joke. Apple is now a joke.

Airpods are cool though.

What amazing products from everybody else? I wish I saw one, I would buy it.

 

[Golden Ears]

Cook is the new Scully. A departure away from desktops and laptops and a focus on touch screen handhelds.

If a CEO promoted from within can not even find a replacement to do his former job well, what chance does he have to oversee who runs the rest of the company? IIRC iMac deliveries were late after he left that - essentially box moving logistics job. The only thing he channels from Jobs is a slightly pissed feeling. Creativity, delivery of magic, reality distortion field...all missing .

Since Cook came on board all we have are larger and heavier devices with no added functionality ? Huh? Oh and a stock split that arguably could make the stock more volitile, plus dividends.

Bigger phones and iPads. and arguably less functionality with the deletion of headphone jacks , and ports of laptops, what the heck is going on? Tim Cook says he uses his iPad as his primary device. Well people who do that should probably not be CEO of Apple.

Ok the touch bar.

It's so thin it's hard to use. Isn't USABILITY a core competence of Apple? Isn't that the defacto concept of Apple ease of use of technology?

The touch bar should have been 3 times fatter , the mouse pad should have been a contextual display like an iPad mini. Or possibly most of the lower section should have had the option to be toggled on and off as contextual ..great for Photoshop, movie editing, DJ use etc.

It would have expended the whole horizon for computing... It's something Jobs would have done.

Sometimes I think Apple should hire me - with my title being " The only guy who can argue sense into Cook and not get fired. "

And the Macbook line, they are almost stripped down iPads with keyboards... That's another story

 

[Abazigal]

Apple in my view just don't inspire cutting edge technology anymore. They are overpriced relics.

Wireless charging, Virtual reality, Augmented reality, Vulkan API, Tablets for professionals (other than artists), everybody else is experimenting with that stuff and coming out with amazing products.

Meanwhile Apple has squandered any lead it has had across all markets. They still wants to ship a decked out on 3.1 year old desktop computer for the price of a small car. Give me a break.

Ill be honest, its been weeks since I visited this website as Apple stuff just doesn't interest me any more. I wouldn't be surprised if they just licence out OSX. It would do more for the Mac community ironically if they stopped making hardware and left that decision up to us. 3.1 years!!!!!!! its a joke. Apple is now a joke.

Airpods are cool though.

I am always extremely leery of any suggestion which basically entails following the wishes of power users and enthusiasts instead of making a product that is appealing and which can be sold to as many people as possible.

That essentially what this community is clamouring for, and honestly, I am not convinced you people will do a better job.

 

[Uofmtiger]

I am always extremely leery of any suggestion which basically entails following the wishes of power users and enthusiasts instead of making a product that is appealing and which can be sold to as many people as possible.

That essentially what this community is clamouring for, and honestly, I am not convinced you people will do a better job.

And you should be when an 'enthusiast" thinks Apple made a mistake by focusing on touch screen devices. Under the best case scenario, ignoring touchscreens would have meant a huge decline in revenues and profits. Not to mention the fact that some enthusiasts can't figure out what is more functional about larger screen devices and the newer tech in those devices. I picked up my 4s the other day and wondered how I ever used the thing.

My main gripe is that they should be able to release updated computers like the Mini and the Pro more often without needing to redesign them from scratch. You know, just give people some basic spec updates if they can't do anything better. However, I don't think they should sacrifice or have to sacrifice the bread winning iPhone to do it. They should be able to do both. I am still not sure why they can't, to be honest.

 

[Steve Expat]

I don't think most people here really have a clue what "pro" types of workflows are possible with an iPad Pro. It's not just a big device to draw on for artists, or a big screen for people to watch Netflix on.

I own a studio with several 12-core MacPros in a distributed computing environment for realtime composing and mixing very large, extremely complex and cutting edge orchestral film scores. If you hear my music in a film you'll have no doubt it's a real orchestral.

But after many years spent sitting in a studio, and many more yet still to come I started getting burned out.

iPad Pro and Notion iOS changed everything. I now can sketch or completely compose an entire large orchestral work plus hear playback from any location I want. And I do. I carry my 12.9" iPad Pro with me everywhere I go. Yesterday I sketched out and completed an entire orchestral movement while relaxing at a local park. Plus, unlike a MacBook Pro with its tiny inflexible screen, which can't be carried around and worked on at the same time I can carry the iPad Pro like a clipboard. With the iPad Pro it doesn't matter it I'm standing, walking, sitting or lying down, I can get work done. The gestural interface with the pinch zoom blows away any laptop for doing this kind of work. Plus I can still attach MIDI controllers via the USB to Lightening adapter (including wireless MIDI controllers via a USB dongle), when needed.

About 60% of any project (the complete composing and notation process), is now done on my iPad Pro before I send it to the DAW or notation software on my desktop MacPros for syncing to film, replacing with higher quality samples and final mixing of mockups. Having the freedom to compose anywhere has completely reinvigorated my workflow. (I can also print individual parts while on site at recording sessions if needed, which has also led to having the flexibility to make edits or sketch ideas on site).

That's the true "pro" behind the iPad Pro. Being the first generation it gets a pass on some things that need to be improved. However, the A9x, the letter paper sized screen, and the Apple Pencil are a good beginning. It would be nice if Apple made a metal uni-body keyboard and battery attachment accessory that made it look and feel just like a MacBook Pro for the few times I need it.

And for users that want to see how macOS feels on a tablet, download one of the VNC apps and connect to your Mac. macOS is not an effcient design for a touch screen tablet device. It works. And I do use VNC so I can move about the studio and still have my Macs available to me, but moving around the Finder with my finger on a screen is a clumsy experience.

Also, even with pro-type apps (like Notion iOS, Cubasis, AudioBus and the many amazing synths available, the app approach is still, IMO the best way to go.

With these well built apps, there is nothing about iOS that limits my workflow. I don't need access to a file system to work anymore effectively. Apps have taken care of that.

Now, I just want Apple to continue to update the iPad Pro lineup every two years and not drop the ball like they have with the Mac Pros, Mac Mini Servers and other things pros use.

I may not be the typical Apple user anymore, (I only buy MacPros and iPad Pros, and iPhones - never owned an iMac and don't care for laptops). But I've been using Apple products since the '80s, and these products work for me. I'm heavily invested in these machines and the workflows that come from them, and would be put in a crisis if Apple quit making them.

The iPad will never sell like the iPhone. But Apple should still upgrade them and continue to improve them just like the iPhone. In a couple of generations, with an excellent keyboard/battery/ports unibody attachment and with some smart decisions regarding iOS, I believe the iPad Pro could certainly be a laptop replacement for most consumers. There's not even that much difference in price between the 12" iPad Pro and the MacBook right now anyway. Actually the performance of the A series CPUs is better than the Intel CPU in the non pro MacBooks and it's just getting faster.

Bottom line: The iPad Pro is no joke, unless Apple turns it into a joke.