Apple launches new high-capacity 128GB Retina display iPad - Page 3

Agreed. If I remember correctly, my original iPhone was 4GB only to be dropped shortly after for the 8GB and now the 16GB is the starting point for the latest iPhones. Like I said, I think I have right. :)

 

Good for Apple! :)

 

Your Filemaker argument is a bit weak.  Almost no one uses Filemaker, and as a former Filemaker developer I can state with assurance that people who use it on the level that they actually know how to import and export are 1 in a million.  

 

Obviously everyone has different uses and many of them are going to be so specific (like Filemaker) that they will need to use one or the other device.  The only rational way to compare the two devices is to use a general use case based on apps and activities that the majority of customers use.  

 

Looked at that way, like it or not, we are talking about web use, email, messaging, Facebook, pictures, music, etc. and on that level the iPad is far ahead in utility and popularity.  I appreciate your lack of enthusiasm for the amount of "real work" iPads can do, as I try to use mine for that purpose and it is frustrating.  The quality of the apps on iOS that you can actually use for "real work" is definitely sub-par.  

 

However, most folks don't run up against these barriers.  Your use case (and mine too probably) is too specific and unique to really mean anything at all.  

That is what I was thinking as well. Seems like a missed opportunity to really put the squeeze on the competition. Not to mention less confusion by keeping 3 choices instead of 4, well 8 if you include cellular iPads. Maybe they did it to keep the people that bought the 64GB from getting too angry since it is $100 more. 

They've done it before with the iPhone and touch. I doubt it's due to stock drop. It's probably due to trying to procure all the memory to mass produce.


You don't cancel the base model mid stream. You just change it to the 32GB model at the next refresh.

 

Like most people, I don't really care about "the Classic."  I see it as the device choice of insufferable snobs for the most part.  

 

I think the last part of your statement about how long it would take for 128GB to move to the iPhone and iPod is likely incorrect however.  The fact that they can do this storage upgrade "mid-stream" as it were, without a redesign of the device, indicates to me that its a simple chip swap and that the two parts are of identical size.  

 

If they can simply swap out the chips for a larger capacity chip of the exact same size, then it could literally happen overnight.  The fact that this move would do a great deal to improve their gross margins, (exactly the problem in their last financial report), means also that they might be very motivated to do so. 

 

Ha!  I was developing on FileMaker when it was called NutShell!  I remember showing some IT executives at John Deere how you could create relationships in a database just by drawing lines between the do fields.

That was my point. There are a ton of people like me and you who have unique situations.  I was just commenting to Pedro who basically poo-pood any functional need for the 11" MacBook Air. That simply wasn't true.

 

The same reason you paid for it a year before the next model. Enjoy not buying anything ever again.

 

Need now, buy now. Not, wait.

 

Or, you know, because Apple finally offered them something they wanted and because they need it… 

 

Apple wouldn't offer it if they didn't know the consumer would buy it.

 

I find it a little disingenuous that Apple wouldn't have put information about it on their store page, but they have to "prevent "lost" sales" any way they can, I guess.

 

That we take something we don't know for granted, yeah.

 

No more teachers, no more books, leads to trolling's dirty hooks… 

 

Dang, that we now have to pretend to make that distinction bothers me.

 

Why is this relevant in any way? How is an SDXC card comparable to built-in NAND?

Couldn't agree more. Especially, about the blue jeans. Men and women over the age of 40 wearing blue jeans just look a little ridiculous! And have done for awhile now. I'm thinking of the fancy embroidery on droopy rear pockets. Ugh!

 

The 60's aren't coming back, either! :)

More importantly, the iPad (with 128 GB) is a very different device from an iPod. They still don't offer 128 GB in an iPod - 64 is the maximum. So it's 160 GB vs 64 GB if you're comparing iPods.

Eventually, I don't doubt that they'll offer 128 GB (and more) in the iPod Touch. At that point, it wouldn't surprise me to see the Classic go away - 128 isn't that far from 160. It all comes down to how the sales volumes look at that point.

Speaking of weak arguments... yours is even weaker.

His point is that some people need a full laptop and the ability to run desktop apps. Filemaker was just one example. Not to mention that I disagree with your assessment. I used to use Filemaker extensively (still do sometimes) and virtually everyone I worked with could export files.


That depends. One would need to answer the following questions:
1. What impact would using 32 GB instead of 16 have on profits - since you'd effectively be cutting the price of the 32 GB model by $100.
2. Do you leave the 64 at $699 or lower its price, too? If the latter, there's even more impact on profits.
3. Would 32 vs 16 have any significant impact on sales vs Android or Surface? That is, do people buying the entry level model care and, if they do, would their buying habits change?

I don't think the answer to the final question is clear enough to make it an easy decision.

 

Abject nonsense.

Still enjoying the "obsolete" 64GB iPad 3rd gen I bought last year. It's so obsolete, it runs all current games, software and media I've installed from iTunes.

This marks the 2nd time I can recall Apple doing this. They had a mid cycle release for the first 16GB iPhone on the market. I think that was January 2008.


That's a sill reason to suggest that's why they offered this today because it assumes that Apple is so stupid that they didn't think of when the iPad first launched or when they are planning the iPad mini release. Do you think that's possible? I don't.

The reason for this product is due to other forces.

That's the marketing built into the pricing structure. I have a 64GB iPad and I use like 4GB. I've done this every time because "it's just $100 and what if i need that space" I tell myself. They've got me where they want me.

I do wonder the cost and hope iFixit does a teardown, although I doubt they will. If we do get to see inside I'd like to know if the are using 20/25nm chips now which could mean that we'll see a boost across the line for the same price points this year.

Also, if we're getting this now and not later this year does that mean there won't be a new, lighter and thinner iPad coming out until after the 2nd half of the year? Does the Surface Pro play any role in this 128GB release?

Sooooo... are they still going to release an iPad "5" in April or so, or does this news eliminate that possibility and the iPad "5" will in October-ish? Now, I'm confused if I should wait for April or just buy now cuz the "5" isn't for 8-9 months! Any thoughts or insight from anyone? Thanks.

 

Secondly, I hope the iPad "5" they do some innovation on the OS this year, spruce up multi-tasking, add some new features -- not just make it thinner with changed corners and new back.

Edited by mesomorphicman - 1/29/13 at 9:27am

I have the rMBP, an iPad 3 and an iPad mini and I couldn't disagree more with your opinion. (bolded part, my emphasis)

 

The comparison between a computer and an iPad has nothing to do with speed, simply capabilities. I don't believe the iPad is really a computer at all. If the iPad is a computer then so is an iPhone, which seems absurd to me.

 

If the iPad is to be considered a computer, it is probably the worst computer on the market. It certainly cannot replace a real computer for my needs.

 

They added a 16GB iPhone in January 2008 and still released the iPhone 3G in June.

I don't necessarily buy the "6-month cycle" idea myself, but there you have it.

 

Need now, buy now. Don't, wait.

It is a terrible deal, flash gets cheaper every month.   

It does depend on use-case, but a 128GB SD card is about $100 +/-30 at Fry's, and Apple is charging $300 for 112 GB. I understand they can demand the "extra" $100 for double the storage, but for people that actually want access to lots of storage on a tablet other options might start to look attractive. Personally though, I would much rather have my VPN and web server to access full range of files.

I just noticed it's not available until next week. Usually these would be silent and they'd be available immediately. So why this official notification and lead time. Well the Surface Pro goes on sale February 9th and has prices that are $70 higher than the same capacity iPad with Cellular. I wouldn't call it a smoking gun but it's definitely my prime suspect for this update.

• Surface Pro with Windows 8 Pro, 64 GB (no keyboard cover): $899
• Surface Pro with Windows 8 Pro, 128 GB (no keyboard cover): $999

I think only going past that day with no release eliminates it I would say that the probability is much diminished when there is an update to the line that arrives just a few months before. I never think April made sense, though.

What Absolute Ridiculousness Are You On About?

The iPad Does Not Have 'Cell Phone' (as in the ability to make place regualr phone calls) Capabilities - Never Has.

They do occasional mid-cycle updates with computers, the first 8 core Mac Pro was one. They did it at least once with iPods. Maybe a recent introduction of the chips needed to make this size available? Or a new production line of said chips to supply Apple's demand?


Something as simple as loading a web page isn't as good or as fast as a 2007 MBP non-SSD. Also, so many web sites either don't know how to handle tablets, or they take away simple buttons such as "edit", "report spam", etc. It's not the fault of tablets directly, but it's part of why I don't just go 100% iPad, or even take it everywhere.

iPad doesn't remember passwords for as wide as a variety of web sites as a laptop's web browser. Opening up pages new tabs so they're loaded and ready is a little slower.

Does it? Seems to me it fluctuates up and down due to the high demand. Plus, we are now finally seeing a node change that will make it denser and reduce the cost, which we haven't had for some time now.


They have to step the product in some way. If they made it a $10 difference from the lowest starting price then a lot more people would buy the high-end model and they'd not only reduce their profit they wouldn't be able to keep up with that demand. If they price it $10 different from the high-end model to maintain their margins then people would buy the high-end model but they'd lose a lot of sales as the starting price is way too high. If you anticipate the need for higher capacity and can afford the expense you go for the more expensive model.

Likely in an effort to differentiate the iPad from the (currently more popular) iPad Mini by more than just screen size/spec bump...

This is what most people don't grasp, Apple is charging you $400 for what amounts to a poor performing 128GB SSD.   Sadly I see Apple falling back on their old ways of fleecing people and not keeping the value equation in sync with the rest of the market.   It would be one thing if the price of flash was going up but it isn't.   Rather flash is getting cheaper.   

are you serious?

 

so release the same old product, with absolutely no additions or new "innovation" except increase the GB that hardly anyone really needs... and this is considered impactful, how?

As previously noted the 20/25nm NAND are now available this quarter in volume. I speculated yesterday that it feels like it could very well happen this year. However, even though new to market they are likely very close (and possibly less expensive) than 64GB NAND built on the larger process.

I just checked the iPad (4) teardown to see if had 2 spaces for NAND. I seem to recall that being the case at once point. I see only space for this logic board design.

That's a good point. But apparently like with Surface RT devices, storage capacity with Surface Pros may not be what it seems;

 

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=29778

 

"We are now hearing reports that the upcoming Surface Pro takes an even bigger hit due to Windows 8 Pro and pre-installed apps from Microsoft. According to Hexus andSoftpedia, the 128GB Surface Pro will only have 83GB of space available to the user. So the user is losing 45GB of storage space due to formatting/OS/pre-installed apps."

 

If true, that sux! And that's taking into consideration the Surface Pro doesn't come pre-installed with Office like the RT version.

no need to be snippy.  Yes, everyone has different needs.  My point was, if you're on the fence between the MBA or an iPad (depending on your needs of course)  The price difference does blur the lines.  It's your opinion of course and all i'm saying is there is no ALMOST, which is my opinion.  No BS about it.

You can't take the starting price as some perfect value and then step a single component to then argue they are ripping you off. The product has a range with a calculated ARP and profit margin designed into it. Your argument is just as fallacious as saying the 128GB is priced well and the other ones are drastically under priced as you get to the lower-capacity models.

Wow, out of nowhere. Really glad to know its there for those who were asking for it, but personally not something Id ever be interested in. 

 

"In sync with the rest of the market"? Please point me to the other 128GB tablets so we can see if its in "sync". They don't exist. Nice troll though. 

I was expecting this to appear on the iPad 5 not the current one. I'm also rather disappointed that this is in addition to the 16-32-64 GB versions for more money, rather than say 32-64-128 GB's for the same cost as current 16-32-64 GB equivalent versions (Flash prices are so low now!). This seems a ploy to increase sales of the full-size iPad to counter cannibalization by the Mini. I like the idea of a 128 GB iPad - but not for even more dosh! I imagine iPad 5 will drop the 16 GB version when it comes out. I'm going to wait...

It's true and false. What's true is that Windows RT and Windows 8 both use a lot more data for the OS than iOS. What's false is that total NAND capacity is measured the same way HDD vendors have been measuring capacity. BASE-10. That means you 128GB drive is actually saying it has at least 128,000,000,000 bytes which is only 119.2GiB when using a BASE-2 system like Windows would calculate. That means it's under 30GiB for the Win8 install, not 45GiB.



Note: Im very much against the lawsuit against MS for advertising the capacity of the storage and not the remaining capacity after the OS is installed. No one has ever had to do that before.

 

iCloud.  private users  will gladly use iCloud for most of their storage.   they may 'appreciate' the extra space, but they don't 'require' it.

 

You've never seen corporate PDF files.  Chock full of bitmap graphics (because they scanned their old PowerPoints ;-( ).   I'm often seeing a GB per presentation in the financial sales space.  that means you get to carry < 50 presentations.  Sales men are pack rats (look at their old briefcases.

 

you bring your iPad with Cellular out to lower frostbite falls MN and get 2G network performance in downloading your financial sales presentation... you'll want that quicktime vid and keynote presentation and PDF set on your desktop.

 

Spending another $100 to ensure you have the presentation to  make a $1000 commission. No brainer.

 

Last sales organization I worked for... 9000 employees, 25,000 Field sales force.  Even if 1/5th are the road warrior salesmen (3 office support staff, 1 in house sales person), that means 5000 fully independent laptops (yes, I said that... because we argued that they couldn't access corporate data unless they VPNed into the home office... they said, no thank you and I'll leave your company and take my 300 clients and 3Million in Assets under management to your competition.... so we deployed out the app client server, that synced 64GB of presentations and their entire customer data set every night (security/network pain in the *ss))

 

Now  we had 1 Million clients  - 5000 iPads with AirWatch would have made our security and sync a lot easier).

 

If 100 Million households are served by a Life, Health, Financial, Auto & Home Ins agent..  the BOTE calc is a 1 million sales force market.... that's a lot of iPads;-)

 

Again, the key is 'zero down time'  Apple could do this with a simple USB port (flash drive), but this is their answer for 'always available' data.

What did you expect after 3 months? A whole new iPad redesign?

 

Jesus Christ. This is simply an additional capacity option for their current models. Apple isn't marketing this as the 5th gen iPad, nor did they make a keynote for it, it isn't even advertised on their fucking homepage. What exactly is it about the existence of this product that offends you? Were you expecting the iPad line to be completely overhauled silently in January, when it was last updated in October? The level of baseless, self-righteous faux outrage with you is nauseating. Next time Apple issues a a software bug fix for something, be sure to come here shrieking about the lack of innovation in the maintenance update. 

People are storing more on their iPads and need the space. Plus it earns a few more bucks for Apple.

 

Yes, other forces!

 

 

I believe you'll get the lighter, thinner iPad when the technology is available:  IGZU Display, less power requirement and smaller battery.

 

I suspect that the Surface Pro is one of the drivers of 128 GB... but there are other forces as well.  An iPad Retina can play 2K and 4K videos -- and may have a use in video creation. *  

 

* From the people who provided the technology for "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" Shot 4K from 5K and delivered end-to-end in 4K.

 

http://www.lightiron.com/products/todailies    

http://www.lightiron.com/products/live-play

 

Medical images is another need for large storage.  A couple of the most interesting uses suggested by Apple were 3D CAD and Drafting/Blueprints...

 

...Interesting because there are currently no mainline apps to create or manipulate these files on an iPad... However, I do believe that iOS 6 and the A6X chip are up to that job as well as higher end video editing.

Sorry, I don't buy it. 45 GB for apps and OS? So the 64 GB Surface has only 19 GB free? I'm sure that even the densest tech reporters would have noticed that.