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Why did Apple not give 4GB RAM on the 9.7" iPad Pro ?
- Thread starter augustya
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The iPad Pro isn't on the same level of the air 2. It has a better SoC, a better display, better sound system and a better camera. Actually there isn't a single point where they are on par.
The label "Pro" is just a marketing name.
It is unnecessary to wait. The issue isn't if 2GB is sufficient for today but about the longevity of the device. The lifespan for 2GB iOS devices started with the Air 2 18 months ago. 4GB devices started 4 months ago. This isn't complicated.
You're not including the CPU and GPU in your argument. The A9X is a fantastic SoC design. RAM isn't everything.
And who says 2GB won't be enough down the road? 1GB and even lesser memory devices were supported for a long time by Apple. I had an iPad 2 when they were first released and sold it a year ago. It ran fine with the newer iOS updates.
This logic makes no sense at all. While Apple wants us to upgrade with every new release, they've also been good about supporting older devices. It's not like 2GB devices will be obsolete in 2 years.
"Supported for a long time" is relative and says nothing about the quality of that support. We saw how performance degraded for those 1GB devices with page reloads in safari that were resolved when the 2GB Air 2 was released. That is evidence that RAM does indeed have an importance and that no processor upgrade will compensate for that.
I never said or implied obsolescence in 2 years so I'm puzzled why you would bring that up.
So getting back to your "let's wait for reviews"... It is unnecessary. The 9.7 Pro is going to run fine. If you want to go out and buy one, go ahead... I'm not interested in talking you or anyone else out of buying one. But claiming that having 4GB vs 2GB is irrelevant is simply silly.
You mentioned "lifespan" in your reply. Which implies obsolescence at some point. I didn't imply that you meant 2 years the device would be dead. It was just a number I said to make a point.
Yes, page refreshes are more of a memory issue. While annoying doesn't mean the device isn't capable of running other apps well. I know you're not implying that as well. It doesn't bother me to refresh pages. I understand my tablet will never run like my computer with multiple tabs in chrome. Again, I'm not saying Apple was right in only giving the 9.7 pro 2GB of RAM, but for most people I think it's enough.
But this is a moot argument. Let's just agree to disagree.
The only issue is they've increased the price by $100. If you're going to increase the price then at least put some more stuff in the product. This way Apple simply made an Air 3, changed the name and increased the price.
RAM doesn't really affect battery life that much. It was probably more of a space issue, but I think we all know Apple was just trying to save some money as well.
Well, 9.7" got better camera and 4K video, new kind of display, and Apple Pencil support, didn't it?
So for them, I guess it's fair to charge $100 more plus Air.
Sums it up basically.
I know some are going future proof. Its not imo needed for iOS. I just don't see the killer app needing 4 gb of RAM.
Or 2 apps needing 2gb for split screen.
Hitting ye old iOS limitation debate here. Its not bringing in or going to bring in the apps that do this. Many I know can't or won't crossover. Can't because of technical reasons. iOS limits quite a few things these rely on. See this in open source not coming over in droves. eliminates the "greedy" developer arguments. they already work for free to get me stuff that runs in Linux, windows, mac os and oracle/sun OS (if I had a system to run that lol). they don't do iOS though....
Or won't because the app stores pricing structure is not really viable. Lots of work and to sell it you have to sell it for $ 0.99 or $5.00 or $24.99. I for photography work have paid $100 easy for just plugins. This not even base app....just the plugin. Base app was another purchase for well over a $100. And have ye old new version update for say $49.99 every year or 2. Devs like to get paid to upkeep and enhance their product. I can dig that. App store for iOS a market this won't be happening as too many liking their $5 wonders they use for years.
TBH the largest apps I run at this time are games. Most everything else is 500ish mb if that. And aren't sweating even 1 gb of ram.
Now before someone gives me a heartbreak story of what about my 3gb excel document....I will end route that by saying at that point one should really be looking at making that go into SQL. Your life or death excel file is at a size excel cannot handle well, makes hardcore data analysis a pita and very inefficient, and its has no controls and lacks the bells and whistles SQL provides . In short...its a ticking time bomb really. With no sql transact logs even to mitigate damage when it goes off.
All of those are typical and expected yearly updates (iPad pro 9.7" came out after 1.5 years).
Other than what the pencil brings to the table (and I'm not downplaying it by any means), what -more- can the pro 9.7" do, that the air2 cannot?
I find it a little ludicrous and even disingenuous for Apple to say the pro 9.7 can replace a PC and not say the same for the Air2 when it was then introduced.
Was it because Apple then did not want to spin it that way?
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Source?
http://www.techinsights.com/teardown.com/apple-iphone-6/ 1gb of RAM was $5.00-5.42 in the 5S/6
http://appleinsider.com/articles/15...ld-cost-pegged-at-21150-iphone-6s-plus-at-236 2gb module in the 6S is $17.
$12 per unit (assuming its near the same difference from 2 to 4gb, which it's probably higher going up 2gb instead of 1, so likely near $20 more) times a few dozen million is a LOT of money.
You're talking spending an extra $100 million or more for something not necessary.
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Also note that the Pro uses LPDDR4 which is more expensive than LPDDR3. The $17 is for 2GB of LPDDR4 so that's the likely cost per iPad (minus some bulk/contract discount) to increase RAM to 4GB.
I agree Im sure it's somewhere around that $17 to make 2gb into 4gb. It may be 4gb on one chip which may be a bit more expensive that 2 side by side.
But times 20-30-50 million devices, thats a few hundred million dollars of extra cost.
Yup, I know.
If by a buck or two, you mean $17 x 10 million iPads, sure (Apple sells 50 million iPads a year, let's go on the conservative side and assume only 20% of that is the latest model).
I'm sorry, but where did I give the impression that the cost from going from 2gb to 4gb to be insignificant?
In fact, I'm not all that certain that the pro 9.7 v2 will have 4gb either unlike what some posters opine...
Simple - it has a smaller screen, so you're less likely to multitask.
You didn't, just clarifying to all that its a LOT more than $1-2. And when you multiply that by 20-30 million iPads it a significant cost.
If the 9.7" iPad Pro cost $611 and had 4GB of ram, no one would be complaining about the $112 increase and Timothy could keep his extra $100 million.
to save pennies
then you know nothing about Apple
the iPhone SE is literally using iPhone 5 spare parts they can't sell, that's why they didn't update the design
then you know nothing about Apple
the iPhone SE is literally using iPhone 5 spare parts they can't sell, that's why they didn't update the design
basically. Probably also done as line divider. Want feature X....buy the thing with feature X. its how they guide sales.
Why do I have a MBP? because the vanilla's lack what I need.
Apple usually reliable for doing this. Watch was the one time I saw them divert from this where you could "cheap" out and get the sport watch. Which on a tangent has me wonder will they do the same with watch 2. If a betting man I'd put money on OS/tech differences between the 2 lines the next time to make sure the normal watch have that thing the sport watch does not. Will have popcorn on standy for those threads if so lol.
They've got $15K+ Apple Watch Edition models. That's their differentiating factor there. Not much need to segregate by the tech inside.
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One thing I have to say for Apple, on the few times I've had to call customer service, I have yet to encounter anyone with a foreign accent that's difficult to understand. Warranty replacement via Apple retail stores is also a breeze compared to what I've had to deal with from other tech companies. Those things won't be possible if Apple had razor-thin margins.
One article I read a year or so ago showed only Apple and Samsung were making a profit off smartphone sales. The rest of the manufacturers were just breaking even or posting a loss. Imho, that's no way to run a business long term.