All iPads Why is Apple selling 5 different iPad models?

[Rogifan]

Yes it's a bit of a rhetorical question. 1st gen iPad exists to get people to buy the 2nd gen and the 3rd gen exists to get people to buy the 2nd gen Air instead. But it makes for a complicated product line that doesn't make a lot of sense. Last year the mini and the Air achieved near parity, this year the Air gets all the attention and the mini gets not much more than Touch ID. Is Touch ID really worth the $100 premium over the mini 2? Doubtful.

If Apple had no plans to update the mini specs (because of supply constraints, 6 Plus, gross margins or whatever) then they should have simply dropped the price on the 2nd gen and left it at that. Have the iPad Air 2 at $499, iPad Air at $399 and retina mini at $299. And if the mini continued to sell well and Apple wanted to keep it around they could have updated it with A8 and Touch ID next spring (when one would assume A8 isn't supply constrained).

Honestly with the mini update today it's almost as if Apple is purposely making decisions that will allow them to eventually kill off this product.

 

[mcdj]

With regards to the pale Mini 3 update, I think they either;

A. Ran out of time

B. Lost too much R&D manpower/resources (and thus time) to the Watch.

C. Plan to phase out the Mini line completely (and perhaps replace it with a 5.5" iPod Touch?).

 

[Rogifan]

With regards to the pale Mini 3 update, I think they either;

A. Ran out of time

B. Lost too much R&D manpower/resources (and thus time) to the Watch.

C. Plan to phase out the Mini line completely (and perhaps replace it with a 5.5" iPod Touch?).

How much time do you need to add A8? I do agree with #2 though. Watch got all the attention and probably had the top engineers working on it.

 

[T5BRICK]

Honestly with the mini update today it's almost as if Apple is purposely making decisions that will allow them to eventually kill off this product.

Not sure why having choices is a bad thing. If you don't want to pay $100 for touch ID, then don't. If I were in the market for a new iPad right now, I'd be seriously considering the mini 3, while also looking at the air 2.

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How much time do you need to add A8?

If the A7 and A8X are pin compatible, then maybe there were potential heat issues. Maybe there wasn't enough supply of the A8X to include in 2 different products right now. I really doubt that the A7 and A8X are pin compatible though.

 

[mcdj]

How much time do you need to add A8? I do agree with #2 though. Watch got all the attention and probably had the top engineers working on it.

In order to keep up with the Air 2, it would have received A8, better camera, fused screen, and a thinner chassis. If they didn't have the time or resources to commit to that, and perhaps if the Mini isn't selling as well as expected, they may have just decided to take a pass.

Also, Mr. Cook has always been the supply chain wiz. Maybe he brokered a deal to manufacture 2 year's worth of Minis, with a clause for adding Touch ID after 1 year, at a much lower price than 1 year's worth followed by a complete retooling.

I can't help but think that given the short list of manufacturing partners for the iPhone/iPad, some of these factories have hit their capacity ceilings this year, especially with the massive success of the iPhone, and they may have bargained with Apple to tap the brakes on iPad refreshes for a while.

 

[titans1127]

At least they finally killed off the iPad 2

 

[ToroidalZeus]

Because at this point they need cheaper lower-end models to improve their sales figures.

 

[Rogifan]

Not sure why having choices is a bad thing. If you don't want to pay $100 for touch ID, then don't. If I were in the market for a new iPad right now, I'd be seriously considering the mini 3, while also looking at the air 2.

For me Touch ID isn't worth $100. Add in an A8 chip and laminated display and that's a whole other story.

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Because at this point they need cheaper lower-end models to improve their sales figures.

But who's going to buy a $249 mini when they can get a much better product for $299? Apple should not be selling any devices with an A5 chip in 2015. I don't know what they're going to do with iPod touch but in my opinion they should either update it or kill it off.

 

[New Apple]

too many unsold tablets

 

[lewisd25]

At least they finally killed off the iPad 2

And the 4th Gen iPad.

 

[T5BRICK]

For me Touch ID isn't worth $100. Add in an A8 chip and laminated display and that's a whole other story.

Still not sure why you're complaining. Buy the iPad mini 2 if you don't want to spend $100 on touch ID. You have a choice, that isn't a bad thing. As for the $250 iPad mini, I have a feeling that is geared more towards the education market.

 

[617aircav]

What's wrong with choice? Stop confusing buying habits of others with your own.

 

[titans1127]

And the 4th Gen iPad.

They killed that off last year with the launch of the Air, the iPad 2 managed to stick around for 3 and a half years.

 

[rkuo]

The mistake was giving the iPad mini 2 Touch ID and calling it an upgrade. They should have cut one of them, lowered the overall price of the lineup, and called it a day. At least that looks sane to customers and not like you are trying to pull a fast one. I still think the mini 2 is a great tablet, but by trying to pull this upgrade they've hurt the credibility of the product line.

 

[AdonisSMU]

The mistake was giving the iPad mini 2 Touch ID and calling it an upgrade. They should have cut one of them, lowered the overall price of the lineup, and called it a day. At least that looks sane to customers and not like you are trying to pull a fast one. I still think the mini 2 is a great tablet, but by trying to pull this upgrade they've hurt the credibility of the product line.

Relax there will be another iPad Mini 4 in a few months. Gotta keep the lines equal ya know...

 

[0000757]

At least they finally killed off the iPad 2

It still lives on in spirit with the iPad mini.

iPad 2/mini iOS 9 confirmed.

 

[AdonisSMU]

It still lives on in spirit with the iPad mini.

iPad 2/mini iOS 9 confirmed.

It makes no sense to deliver non retina displays.

 

[KPOM]

How much time do you need to add A8? I do agree with #2 though. Watch got all the attention and probably had the top engineers working on it.

My guess is that there are capacity constraints on the A8 and they want as many as they can for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Remember, TSMC is making most of them now. A7s are manufactured on a mature Samsung fab, so they can get as many as they want.

That doesn't explain why the mini 3 didn't get any other updates, though, such as a nicer screen without an air gap, or 802.11ac. Maybe they did improve the color gamut (we'll need to wait for AnandTech and DisplayMate to tell us that). It's entirely possible that they had planned for an A8-equipped iPad mini 3 but made a last-minute decision to stick with the A7.
Or, it's possible that they are deprecating the line (the original mini's internals were a year behind the iPad 4's).

In any case, my guess is that the original iPad mini is gone after the holidays, and Apple either goes back to selling 4 models like they have since last October, or introduces an iPad Pro.

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They killed that off last year with the launch of the Air, the iPad 2 managed to stick around for 3 and a half years.

They brought it back in February when they finally discontinued the iPad 2.

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But who's going to buy a $249 mini when they can get a much better product for $299? Apple should not be selling any devices with an A5 chip in 2015. I don't know what they're going to do with iPod touch but in my opinion they should either update it or kill it off.

Education market, small children, enterprise, etc. who want an iOS device but don't care about the specs. Apple can quietly kill it off in a few months and drop the price of the mini 2 even further.

 

[Rodster]

I'd say it shows a glut in their inventory. iPad sales the last 2-3 qtr's have been either flat or in decline. When you have excess inventory you sell off inventory. There's too much in common between the Mini 2 and Mini 3. I also read an article some time ago that Mini sales were somewhat weak compared to the full size iPad's and iPad sales in general are down.

 

[HenryDJP]

I would say that it's very possible the mini is being killed off in the near future. Not that iPhone 6 Plus is a replacement for it but it's close enough to work as a tablet for many people.

 

[macduke]

I'm concerned about Apple running into the paradox of choice. That is, the more options consumers are presented with, the more likely they are to either not be satisfied with their purchase, or not make a purchase.

Consider the distribution between iPad Mini 3 and iPad Mini 2. Are most consumers really going to pay $100 more for Touch ID? Let's be generous and say it's a 50/50 split. Why doesn't Apple just simplify that. Make the iPad Mini 3 $349. Old iPad Mini is already priced at $249, which is a nice even $100 difference.

 

[BMcCoy]

With regards to the pale Mini 3 update, I think they either;

A. Ran out of time

B. Lost too much R&D manpower/resources (and thus time) to the Watch.

C. Plan to phase out the Mini line completely (and perhaps replace it with a 5.5" iPod Touch?).

4. They overdid the specs on the rMini2, making it equal to the Air, plus a higher ppi on the screen. This put it out of sync with their plans, and of course meant a lower profit margin.
This year resets the Mini's place in the hierarchy, and their profit.

 

[Eileen89]

I think it's great that there are multiple price options for people to choose from.

 

[aPple nErd]

Yes it's a bit of a rhetorical question. 1st gen iPad exists to get people to buy the 2nd gen and the 3rd gen exists to get people to buy the 2nd gen Air instead. But it makes for a complicated product line that doesn't make a lot of sense. Last year the mini and the Air achieved near parity, this year the Air gets all the attention and the mini gets not much more than Touch ID. Is Touch ID really worth the $100 premium over the mini 2? Doubtful.

If Apple had no plans to update the mini specs (because of supply constraints, 6 Plus, gross margins or whatever) then they should have simply dropped the price on the 2nd gen and left it at that. Have the iPad Air 2 at $499, iPad Air at $399 and retina mini at $299. And if the mini continued to sell well and Apple wanted to keep it around they could have updated it with A8 and Touch ID next spring (when one would assume A8 isn't supply constrained).

Honestly with the mini update today it's almost as if Apple is purposely making decisions that will allow them to eventually kill off this product.

My thoughts exactly! I remember when the 2 was all you could buy. Now it's like you have a million options... Kinda annoying actuwlly

 

[Michael CM1]

They killed that off last year with the launch of the Air, the iPad 2 managed to stick around for 3 and a half years.

I want to find the people who made the bulk purchases of those that kept them alive for so long and smack them in the face. I know when you buy a couple thousand units it's not chump change, but people bought buckets of those units when they were two and three years old instead of newer models that were about $100 more expensive and will therefore not become obsolete as quickly.

It wouldn't be so bad if not for the huge difference the retina display makes. It's the equivalent of buying a bunch of non-HD televisions for a school or whatnot just to save a buck.

Buy something good that lasts. I have dealt with enough electronics to know you get what you pay for. My mom kept a 3GS I handed down to her until it was 3.5 years old, and even then the only real issue was battery life -- a usual thing for phones. My dad has an iMac that is 5 years old and still running strong, mine is mere months newer and also still great.