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Will a new iPad Air 3 replace 'budget' iPad Air to iPad Air 2?

A

ashjamben

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 28, 2007
608
1
Shanghai, China
I know it's never a good time to buy any Apple product. I remember all those years ago I waited for a new MacBook to come out. Leopard had just been released, new MacBook was released, so I bought one. Then 5 months later (an usually short update window) a new MacBook came out!

But anyway, I'm after a 'budget' iPad. I decided to go with the iPad Air because an iPad Mini isn't too much of an upgrade, screen-size wise, from my old Kindle Fire. I'm looking for something that will semi-replace my MacBook (yes, the same MacBook I was talking about, bought 8 years ago and still going strong!).

So my conundrum is, the iPad Air 2 never replaced the iPad Air, which just changed to a 'budget' version. But, the iPad Air 2 is looking likely to be updated in the near future. Will an iPad Air 3 get rid of the iPad Air and bump the iPad Air 2 into the 'budget' category (and hopefully a price decrease)? Or do you think they'll keep the iPad Air as the 'budget' version?

I know they kept the iPad Mini 2 as the 'budget' version of the Mini line. And the iPad Air shares similar specs in terms of processor, etc. So it leads me to think they'll maybe keep the iPad Air as the budget version. But I don't know!

Any thoughts would be appreciated!
 
ashjamben said:
I know it's never a good time to buy any Apple product. I remember all those years ago I waited for a new MacBook to come out. Leopard had just been released, new MacBook was released, so I bought one. Then 5 months later (an usually short update window) a new MacBook came out!

But anyway, I'm after a 'budget' iPad. I decided to go with the iPad Air because an iPad Mini isn't too much of an upgrade, screen-size wise, from my old Kindle Fire. I'm looking for something that will semi-replace my MacBook (yes, the same MacBook I was talking about, bought 8 years ago and still going strong!).

So my conundrum is, the iPad Air 2 never replaced the iPad Air, which just changed to a 'budget' version. But, the iPad Air 2 is looking likely to be updated in the near future. Will an iPad Air 3 get rid of the iPad Air and bump the iPad Air 2 into the 'budget' category (and hopefully a price decrease)? Or do you think they'll keep the iPad Air as the 'budget' version?

I know they kept the iPad Mini 2 as the 'budget' version of the Mini line. And the iPad Air shares similar specs in terms of processor, etc. So it leads me to think they'll maybe keep the iPad Air as the budget version. But I don't know!

Any thoughts would be appreciated!
Click to expand...
Apple needs something... anything to pull the iPad lineup out of the doldrums.

iPP has it's target market, but at premium, nearly obscene pricing, it's not going to stimulate the recovery of iPad sales.
 
iPad Air 2 is going to be what iPad 2 is now. The 2 GB RAM and powerful 8 core GPU in Air 2 will make it harder for Apple to render it obsolete.

With iOS 9.2 Beta 4, iPad Air 2 is the only smoothest old iDevice out there. The performance levels are nearing iOS 8.4.1

So you can buy it and it won't be obsolete at least for 2-3 years. The 2 GB RAM is the deciding factor.
 
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sanke1 said:
iPad Air 2 is going to be what iPad 2 is now. The 2 GB RAM and powerful 8 core GPU in Air 2 will make it harder for Apple to render it obsolete.

With iOS 9.2 Beta 4, iPad Air 2 is the only smoothest old iDevice out there. The performance levels are nearing iOS 8.4.1

So you can buy it and it won't be obsolete at least for 2-3 years. The 2 GB RAM is the deciding factor.
Click to expand...
Great point; I agree with this assessment.
 
ZombiePete said:
Great point; I agree with this assessment.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with this too. Its like Apple hit the reset button for the iPad lineup with iPad Air but only got it right with iPad Air 2. We'll see that the Air 2 will be able to weather the iOS upgrade Apple throws at it for about 4 more years (at most), just like the iPad 2.

Two possibilities though:

1. They may keep the iPad Air when the 3 is announced and then re-introduce the Air 2 when the Air 4 is announced (like what they did with replacing iPad 2 with iPad 4 when the iPad Air was announced).
2. They'll just bump everything down and remove iPad Air from the lineup ala iPhone.
 
Thanks for the replies!

Although, this is turning into me wanting to buy an iPad Air 2/wait for the iPad Air 3.

This whole situation came about with me being fed up with the apps on my Kindle Fire and wanting an iPad. Originally I wanted the cheapest one (iPad Mini 2), but figured a bigger screen will be better. Now I'm contemplating buying an even more expensive iPad!

Maybe I shouldn't read into this so much and just buy the iPad and enjoy it!
 
iPad Air should not be sold, to be blunt. With its 1GB of RAM and the 64-bit chip (with a larger memory footprint) driving 2048x1536 display, the experience is miserable. Air 2 should be a huge upgrade.
 
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My guess would be the keep the iPad Air 2 in the "budget" spot once it's replacement is announced. The original air lacks a lot of power and things like Touch ID, so it would make the offerings a little more streamlined I would think.
 
bt311 said:
iPad Air should not be sold, to be blunt. With its 1GB of RAM and the 64-bit chip (with a larger memory footprint) driving 2048x1536 display, the experience is miserable. Air 2 should be a huge upgrade.
Click to expand...

I'm currently using an iPad Air to type this and so I wouldn't say it's a "miserable" experience but it's definitely not as smooth as I'd like and while it's fine for most things (except fast paced games where it lags badly) it certainly does lack RAM as apps often reload.

I'm waiting for the Air 3 but the Air 2 is sure tempting!
 
maxsix said:
Apple needs something... anything to pull the iPad lineup out of the doldrums.

iPP has it's target market, but at premium, nearly obscene pricing, it's not going to stimulate the recovery of iPad sales.
Click to expand...
If they are smart they will add 3D Touch and pencil to get the iPad sales back on track
 
Go for air 2. You barely get time after you have punched in you details and settings preferences to when these things become considered "Old" tech :confused:
And its so darn expensive for old tech from :apple:

Air 2 is great and certainly wont feel 'old' in use. It was their flagship ipad 2 months ago..
 
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