All iPads Was the event a disappointment?

[CKA]

Honestly, after watching the keynote I feel nothing came out of it expect of some performance bumps and raised prices. $400 for an iPad mini? Honestly, the worst part in my opinion is no Touch ID as I have a 5s. Now I have to adapt to both sliding and unlocking and my fingerprint? I thought the idea of the 5s was to open doors for the future. We're going backwards! Overall, just really disappointed. Expect for the free Mavericks

Edit: Maybe not so much a failure but a disappointment as I got Mavericks for free!

The free Maverick is really a big surprise anyway...

For the iPad Mini (Retina), I think increasing price is reasonable. as now it share the same CPU with the full size tablet. The old price will create too much edge for that over the full size iPad.

Having the Touch ID would defintely make the new iPads more brilliant. But to me, the biggest disappointment is they don't build a better CPU/GPU for iPad.
iPad CPU/GPU so far are all better than the same generation of iPhone..

 

[DisplacedMic]

I should of stated it differently. We really didn't get anything but disappointments. (Mine being the lack of Touch ID and price hike of iPad Mini)

i try not to post in threads like this with these trollish titles but it's a better device with more features. Why wouldn't it cost more?

mavericks is a big update
we were expecting an announcement of the release date - not immediate availability and for free no less. (why the hell did i hold onto my $100 giftcard)

they announced the release date of the Pro

they totally changed the iPad.

they FINALLY started showing signs of putting some work into the iWork suite which just isn't ready for primetime (in my opinion) when it comes to replacing MS Office entirely.

it's an incremental update - how is any of that a "failure?"

if you think they've "overpriced" the iPad then don't get one. The market will decide.

I think the price is a bit too high myself, so i won't buy one. hopefully the market pressure will push it down in time for the holiday season.

I am a little bummed that there's no mention of an updated TBD on the horizon...not that i was expecting it this time around but I was hoping for an upgrade to go along with the pro.

i don't know, i guess i wasn't expecting much from this incremental release. Unlike the keynote in June which i was really excited about, this to me was just about finding out when Mav and the new iPads come out and whether the mini would have retina.

 

[jimbo1mcm]

If you wanted some ink with your thread title, you got it.

 

[CKA]

I did this with Ipad 3, I bought a Kindle Fire then a HTC tablet, but they both sucked when compared to the functionality, smoothness, responsiveness etc. of an iPad and I soon returned to buy an iPad.

I think if she is a die hard Apple user she will also find it frustrating to use one of these other devices as I did.

Some years back. I had purchased the Motorola Xoom to replace my old iPad (1st gen), hardware-spec-wise, yes. Android tablets are normally better. But when you use that for 'real-life', you will find the problem. Finally I turned back to my 1st gen iPad and then upgrade to 3rd gen iPad till now.

My wife was using IP5 before and then she switched to Galaxy S4 as she want to try something different... (The iPhone 5 is now being used by me)... Just in few days, she already want to dump that device.... Luckily that I can get the 5S for her last week and everything claim down now..

I agreed that sometime Apple's product are expensive (Though Samsung are not cheap as well), but what you paid is not only for a designed 'hardware', most importantly you pay for the user experience (integration of software/hardware/technology)

 

[Velin]

I think today was excellent. Great products with nice specs.

Just did clean installs of Mavericks to my Macs from 2007 and 2008, working flawlessly, extending the life of the machines. I've never, ever, had a Windows box last that long.

I think Apple prices are fair. Because they continue to increase the support time for products, and now the update is free too. I'll gladly pay more for superior hardware, esp when getting superior software that works with new peripherals, routers, monitors, etc.

Contrast this with my experience on Android. Samsung/LG/whoever releases a smartphone. Six months later they abandon the thing as they race to release the next phablet. Meanwhile Google is racing ahead with Android updates, but the manufacturers don't have the time or resources to do updates. Look at statistics of Android user base, a whole bunch of them are still stuck on Android 2.2. It sucks. And if you want an update, you are forced to jailbreak and go with some unknown ROM, because there is zero support. Google knows this, it's a huge problem.

And this post sucks too. The only failure is garbage Win 8.1, the worst OS I've ever used, along with crap Samsung products. Put the Surface in that dung heap too, another piece of crap.

Apple products are superior. Period.

 

[Rafterman]

The iPhone 5S was disappointing. These new iPads are not.

 

[silverblack]

Honestly, after watching the keynote I feel nothing came out of it expect of some performance bumps and raised prices. $400 for an iPad mini? Honestly, the worst part in my opinion is no Touch ID as I have a 5s. Now I have to adapt to both sliding and unlocking and my fingerprint? I thought the idea of the 5s was to open doors for the future. We're going backwards! Overall, just really disappointed.

Do the math:
iPhone 5S (16GB) - 4" screen with Touch ID - $649
iPad mini Retina (16GB LTE) - 7.9" screen without Touch ID - $529
If Apple put together an iPad mini with all same specs as iPhone 5S, AND a bigger screen, the price will be a lot higher than what it is now.

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!

 

[mrxak]

The only disappointment I'm feeling is that I have no clue which iPad I'm going to buy, now. They're both too good! I was hoping one would be clearly better than the other and I would have an easy choice. Like, maybe the mini wouldn't be retina, or the larger one wouldn't suddenly be crazy light and thin. Instead, Apple improved both models considerably.

I think my decision, now, will have to be based on which one I think will be most improved next year. I'm thinking probably the mini will get thinner, and so I should get the Air this year. But who really knows.

 

[s2mikey]

It was a success overall. As has been discussed in a few other threads its not all great news. I like the specs of the iPad Air and appreciate the price drops on the macbook line.

What isnt cool is that base models iPads and Minis only get 16GB of storage which is BS, IMO. They may advertise "starting at" $399 for the mini and $499 for the iPad Air but what they REALLY mean is $499 for the mini and $599 for the ipad Air since 32GB is really "entry-level". Cheesey.

I also cant believe that they are still trying to get $399 for the 16GB iPad 2. I love my 2 and it still works great but thats just a terrible purchase for someone.

Still - mostly good news & a successful keynote.

 

[Scrub175]

Good outside of the iPair.

Nice merge there with ipair... Does this mean iCarly can sue Apple since all their gadgets had a pear emblem?

 

[mrxak]

She wouldn't buy a refurb, nor would she buy the low resolution original Mini. She just views this as sign that it's time for her to change. She was just saying a few minutes ago that at the price of the Kindle Fire's should could buy a new one every 18-24 months and it would still be cheaper in the long run than a Mini, plus she would have all the benefits of being an Amazon Prime Member and owning a Kindle tablet (free movie rentals, free book rentals, etc). I myself have used many Android devices so I know exactly what I will be getting with the Nexus 7.

Who knows, two years from now Apple may get more competitive with pricing and Android devices may go up, thus we might switch again.

I think the main problem with that line of thinking is that she'll want to buy a new Fire every 18 months, if not earlier, whereas an iPad will last 3 years with the latest iOS upgrades, easy, before it shows its age.

 

[Tom2893]

Honestly, after watching the keynote I feel nothing came out of it expect of some performance bumps and raised prices. $400 for an iPad mini? Honestly, the worst part in my opinion is no Touch ID as I have a 5s. Now I have to adapt to both sliding and unlocking and my fingerprint? I thought the idea of the 5s was to open doors for the future. We're going backwards! Overall, just really disappointed. Expect for the free Mavericks

Edit: Maybe not so much a failure but a disappointment. BUT I got Mavericks for free!

i thought the new iPad would be Touch ID, gold colour option and A7X chip

 

[mrxak]

i thought the new iPad would be Touch ID, gold colour option and A7X chip

We won't know for a while, but from Apple's own speed comparisons, the A7 on the iPad is clearly a different A7 than the iPhone's A7, or something weird is going on. It may very well be an "X" without calling it an X. Apple has obscured tech specs before, they may be doing it again, by unifying their SOC names despite being different SOCs. My guess is the A7 on the iPad mini is similar or the same as the A7 in the iPhone 5s, and the A7 on the Air is actually a beefier version of the A7 on the iPhone/mini, or a different chip altogether. Perhaps Apple thought the X convention was confusing to customers, or perhaps they didn't want customers to think the SOC in the mini was worse than the SOC in the Air (even though it likely is). Or perhaps the SOC in both iPads is better than the SOC in the iPhone 5s, and they didn't want iPhone customers to feel like their tech was obsolete.

 

[cambookpro]

The only disappointment I'm feeling is that I have no clue which iPad I'm going to buy, now. They're both too good! I was hoping one would be clearly better than the other and I would have an easy choice. Like, maybe the mini wouldn't be retina, or the larger one wouldn't suddenly be crazy light and thin. Instead, Apple improved both models considerably.

I think my decision, now, will have to be based on which one I think will be most improved next year. I'm thinking probably the mini will get thinner, and so I should get the Air this year. But who really knows.

I'm in the same boat. Was hoping one would clearly be better to make my choice easier!

Leaning towards the iPad Air, but then the PPI is lower and it's more expensive... Argh!

 

[ab2c4]

I did this with Ipad 3, I bought a Kindle Fire then a HTC tablet, but they both sucked when compared to the functionality, smoothness, responsiveness etc. of an iPad and I soon returned to buy an iPad.

I think if she is a die hard Apple user she will also find it frustrating to use one of these other devices as I did.

After our initial responses to the price of the mini have died down, I am thinking the same thing. I have used a lot of Android devices but she clearly hasn't. The more I thought about the Mini 2 today the more I am thinking the price isn't that bad. The fact that it has all the specs the Air will have (except for screen size of course) makes me believe it will perform very, very well.

She still wants to look at the Kindle Fire HDX because she is an Amazon Prime member but I am definitely going to have her check out the Mini 2 when it shows up in stores. I like Android a lot, but I am not so sure she will be as happy with a Kindle Fire as she would a Mini 2. After getting my hands on a Nexus 7 today to play around with I think the 7" screen size is too small for what I want. For me it now is between the Mini 2 and the new LG G Tab 8.3".

 

[antwon412]

Even if the kindle has nice hardware, the amazon ecosystem/interface is wretched and so handicapped.

I had a couple original kindles for my kids. They never used them. I tried and it just......didn't work. My wife's Galaxy Tab was much better but still the ipad os and experience is do much nicer.

She lovers her mini and won't ever go back.

 

[mashinhead]

Honestly, after watching the keynote I feel nothing came out of it expect of some performance bumps and raised prices. $400 for an iPad mini? Honestly, the worst part in my opinion is no Touch ID as I have a 5s. Now I have to adapt to both sliding and unlocking and my fingerprint? I thought the idea of the 5s was to open doors for the future. We're going backwards! Overall, just really disappointed. Expect for the free Mavericks

Edit: Maybe not so much a failure but a disappointment. BUT I got Mavericks for free!

I couldn't agree more, the lack of touch ID creates an experience that is completely un-uniform...

 

[zbarvian]

One things I've learned over the years - don't set your expectations so high! That way, you can accept what is introduced with a little more thankfulness, and a little less whininess.

In all, I'm pleased. You don't realize this, but reducing the iPad's size by ~30% while doubling both CPU and GPU performance, is quite a feat! If these numbers equate to benchmarks, it would mean that the iPad Air will equal the computing power of my 2007 MacBook Pro!! That's ****in INSANE!

The iPad mini with Retina display is a contender too! I'll have to see how much smaller & lighter the iPad Air is compared to the Retina mini.

Also, the Retina mini may not be as capable as the iPad Air. Though both have the same A7 processor, the iPad Air has a 32.4 watt-hour battery, while the Retina mini has a 23.8 watt-hour battery, but both models reportedly have the same 10hr battery life. The iPad Air has a ~40% larger battery than the Retina mini, suggesting that the A7 will be clocked at a lower speed to maintain the 10hr battery life.

Not necessarily. Much smaller screen, much smaller backlight, less power needed. The iPad Air's battery capacity is down from the iPad 4's significantly, are we to assume it will get worse battery? There's many factors at play, and by Apple's calculations the SoC is identical in both the Air and Mini.

 

[bevsb2]

No disappointments for me. I want the lighter, smaller, faster iPad Air and have downloaded Mavericks on my rMBP. I'd love to have the mini with retina also but iPad Air is my choice for the larger screen. There have been countless threads here over the past year about the need for a mini with retina screen and a smaller, lighter iPad 5. Apple has given us this with the new iPads. Touch ID was introduced recently with the iPhone 5s and now the lack of this feature on the new iPads has made them worthless in the opinion of many. I wish I had Touch ID on my iPhone 5 which I open with a work required 6 digit passcode countless times a day, but don't really have the need for it on my iPad. I'm excited about the new products.

 

[OSMac]

If you need a new ipad better choices than ever (except ios7)

If you have a 3 or 4, not much reason to upgrade ?

 

[Mrrikki]

After our initial responses to the price of the mini have died down, I am thinking the same thing. I have used a lot of Android devices but she clearly hasn't. The more I thought about the Mini 2 today the more I am thinking the price isn't that bad. The fact that it has all the specs the Air will have (except for screen size of course) makes me believe it will perform very, very well.

She still wants to look at the Kindle Fire HDX because she is an Amazon Prime member but I am definitely going to have her check out the Mini 2 when it shows up in stores. I like Android a lot, but I am not so sure she will be as happy with a Kindle Fire as she would a Mini 2. After getting my hands on a Nexus 7 today to play around with I think the 7" screen size is too small for what I want. For me it now is between the Mini 2 and the new LG G Tab 8.3".

The major let down for me when I have the Kindle Fire HD v iPad was the browsing experience I found myself miss clicking at times and pressing links multiple times it was just not as slick and responsive as the iPad. Good luck!

 

[dantracht]

A blog in the NY Times yesterday nailed it. These events have become so predictable. Time for a change-up. To what, that's not for me to decide, but it's time for something new. The "wow" is gone.