I'm glad they brought Apple Pencil support to the cheaper models, but I really hate the idea of trading in the svelte, magazine-thin 6.1 mm chassis for something thicker. An Air 2 with pencil support would be ideal. The camera bump and overall cost sour the pro models for me.
I’m still enjoying my 2017 iPad very much — 2GB has never been an issue with anything I do with it, either with the iPad Air 2 I had before this and now this one (my accessories for the Air 2 weren’t skin-tight, so they all fit the current iPads, which are the same thickness as the first Air IIRC). If I drew more (or was better at it, I should say), I’d probably be longing for the 2018 iPad but I’m fine where I am.
The only other model tempting me at the moment is the 10.5-inch iPad Pro, but that can wait until I actually have a need to upgrade — which might not be for a while. As for the “upgrade cycle,” I suspect I upgrade them more often than most people, since I often write about technology. I had the first iPad, the third-gen, the Air 2 and now this one (the latter only because the Air 2 got stolen). I think most people who got the iPad 2 have only just in the last year or so upgraded to a new model (far too long IMO, but a testament to how well-supported these machines are).
It seems to me like the specs for the 2018 iPad are very similar to the 2017 iPad Pro specs. Basically a discounted 2017 iPad Pro.
For the most part yes. The only feature the 2018 iPad doesn't have is the smart connector.
I would hardly call the A10 a discount on an A9 processor. Quite a leap in performance, a better long term proposition.
Dropping the smart connector is a loss, only the smart connector doesn’t seemed to have been picked up by too many accessory makers. It’s like far too many things. Apple develops some interesting hardware tech that has some cool potential then does no follow through. So it whithers.
Super dull upgrade but exciting for who they are targeting.
The memory is a bit hobbled. Apple might have issues pushing out iOS updates for the next 4 years, without killing the performance.
It is a good market share move...
At $329, It'll make it more viable for people to upgrade after 2 years By that time there will be a better iPad.
People shouldn’t have to buy a new iPad every 2 years because the RAM isn’t sufficient. I would never buy another iPad that didn’t have at least 4GB RAM.
I'm running my iPad Air 2 and it still supper snappy, running iOS 11.2 currently and I use it quite a bit. Still very happy with it, even though I'd like to update to the latest/greatest.
I'm less happy with my iPhone SE's performance (over time) compared to current offerings, than I am my iPad Air 2 to current offerings. Maybe it (SE) needs a new battery; will see what 11.3 says on it.
I'm excited by this announcement. It's pretty clear it was driven by Chromebook competition, even though Apple would never publicly admit it, but either way, we get the benefits of competition with a great device at a great price. It's nice to see the pen support coming to a lower-priced device, too. As pen-compatible iPads become more common it's a safe bet that more pens will be introduced, too.
As far as the memory goes, how much of an issue it is really depends on how much upgrading Apple does to iOS. It really could go either way, but I'd be willing to bet that even at 4 years the device would be quite functional.
It seems to me like the specs for the 2018 iPad are very similar to the 2017 iPad Pro specs. Basically a discounted 2017 iPad Pro.
For the most part yes. The only feature the 2018 iPad doesn't have is the smart connector.
and laminated screen (no air gap), antiglare coating, 120hz refresh, TrueTone, quad speakers...
The person I was replying to was comparing the 2018 iPad to the previous 9.7" iPad Pro. The 9.7" iPad Pro did not have 120hz refresh ProMotion display. Good points on the other features. But the A10 Fusion SoC in the 2018 iPad is faster than the A9X.
Super dull upgrade but exciting for who they are targeting.
The memory is a bit hobbled. Apple might have issues pushing out iOS updates for the next 4 years, without killing the performance.
It is a good market share move...
At $329, It'll make it more viable for people to upgrade after 2 years By that time there will be a better iPad.
People shouldn’t have to buy a new iPad every 2 years because the RAM isn’t sufficient. I would never buy another iPad that didn’t have at least 4GB RAM.
Right now the 9.7" iPad has 2GB RAM. I'm willing to bet in a couple of years time it'll be double that. That's the point I was getting at.
Exactly, his hand-wringing and teeth gnashing doesn't make sense. It’s not like all people will need to upgrade all devices every two years, because Apple doesn’t up them every two years like clockwork. And whenever they do bump it, some may wish to upgrade and some won’t. It all depends on use case and value proposition, which is personal.
But boy, he sure likes to tilt at windmills everywhere...”Upsell conspiracy!”
I'm pretty sure Rogifan claimed to be a female a while back.
Super dull upgrade but exciting for who they are targeting.
The memory is a bit hobbled. Apple might have issues pushing out iOS updates for the next 4 years, without killing the performance.
It is a good market share move...
At $329, It'll make it more viable for people to upgrade after 2 years By that time there will be a better iPad.
People shouldn’t have to buy a new iPad every 2 years because the RAM isn’t sufficient. I would never buy another iPad that didn’t have at least 4GB RAM.
Right now the 9.7" iPad has 2GB RAM. I'm willing to bet in a couple of years time it'll be double that. That's the point I was getting at.
Exactly, his hand-wringing and teeth gnashing doesn't make sense. It’s not like all people will need to upgrade all devices every two years, because Apple doesn’t up them every two years like clockwork. And whenever they do bump it, some may wish to upgrade and some won’t. It all depends on use case and value proposition, which is personal.
But boy, he sure likes to tilt at windmills everywhere...”Upsell conspiracy!”
I'm pretty sure Rogifan claimed to be a female a while back.
Claimed? I am female. But I guess that’s the tech world...assuming everyone is male.
Super dull upgrade but exciting for who they are targeting.
The memory is a bit hobbled. Apple might have issues pushing out iOS updates for the next 4 years, without killing the performance.
It is a good market share move...
At $329, It'll make it more viable for people to upgrade after 2 years By that time there will be a better iPad.
People shouldn’t have to buy a new iPad every 2 years because the RAM isn’t sufficient. I would never buy another iPad that didn’t have at least 4GB RAM.
Nobody's doing, I'm still using an Ipad 2 (we got 6 Ipads of 4 different generations in the house). Stop building straw men. They still sell 4GB laptops and windows is less efficient than IOS on these.
Yeah and my mother is still using an iPad mini 2 running iOS 11 and the experience is awful. Anyway for me the experience on my 12.9” iPad with 4GB RAM is 180 different than the Air it replaced. I would never go back to anything else. Especially not when using split view.
Apple is going sell a ton of these, event it is exactly the same iPad as 2017 with the pencil functionality added to it.
Not exactly the same as 2017 iPad, but better and more. This new iPad has A10 Fusion chip which is 25%-30% faster than A9 in the last year model. Beside, it's a lot cheaper, even vs iPad Mini 4.
It's not cheaper if you compare like storage: The Mini only comes with 128Gb. The iPad starts at 32Gb but 128Gb is available for another $100
I'm glad to see the iPad go to Bluetooth connections for the external keyboard. That smart connector was a throwback to the 90's -- I never understood why they didn't just make it a PS2 connection.
I'm glad to see the iPad go to Bluetooth connections for the external keyboard. That smart connector was a throwback to the 90's -- I never understood why they didn't just make it a PS2 connection.
Super dull upgrade but exciting for who they are targeting.
The memory is a bit hobbled. Apple might have issues pushing out iOS updates for the next 4 years, without killing the performance.
It is a good market share move...
At $329, It'll make it more viable for people to upgrade after 2 years By that time there will be a better iPad.
People shouldn’t have to buy a new iPad every 2 years because the RAM isn’t sufficient. I would never buy another iPad that didn’t have at least 4GB RAM.
Nobody's doing, I'm still using an Ipad 2 (we got 6 Ipads of 4 different generations in the house). Stop building straw men. They still sell 4GB laptops and windows is less efficient than IOS on these.
Yeah and my mother is still using an iPad mini 2 running iOS 11 and the experience is awful. Anyway for me the experience on my 12.9” iPad with 4GB RAM is 180 different than the Air it replaced. I would never go back to anything else. Especially not when using split view.
My iPad mini 2 runs fine. However the Samsung Galaxy tablet that I bought is unusable.
I'm glad to see the iPad go to Bluetooth connections for the external keyboard. That smart connector was a throwback to the 90's -- I never understood why they didn't just make it a PS2 connection.
Go to it?
it’s not remotely new for the iPad to use Bluetooth keyboards. I didn’t try it with my first generation iPad, but my iPad Mini first gen and both my newer iPads have always worked fine with Bluetooth keyboards: at a minimum, the Bluetooth keyboard that came with my 2014 retina iMac (I had no need for a Bluetooth keyboard earlier, and frankly, it’s not worth the bother to have a wireless keyboard you need to worry about batteries in a desktop) works great and makes it easy to type as fast on even the first gen iPad Mini as the iMac.
Comments
The only other model tempting me at the moment is the 10.5-inch iPad Pro, but that can wait until I actually have a need to upgrade — which might not be for a while. As for the “upgrade cycle,” I suspect I upgrade them more often than most people, since I often write about technology. I had the first iPad, the third-gen, the Air 2 and now this one (the latter only because the Air 2 got stolen). I think most people who got the iPad 2 have only just in the last year or so upgraded to a new model (far too long IMO, but a testament to how well-supported these machines are).
Dropping the smart connector is a loss, only the smart connector doesn’t seemed to have been picked up by too many accessory makers. It’s like far too many things. Apple develops some interesting hardware tech that has some cool potential then does no follow through. So it whithers.
I'm less happy with my iPhone SE's performance (over time) compared to current offerings, than I am my iPad Air 2 to current offerings. Maybe it (SE) needs a new battery; will see what 11.3 says on it.
Only one persons opinion/use case though.
As far as the memory goes, how much of an issue it is really depends on how much upgrading Apple does to iOS. It really could go either way, but I'd be willing to bet that even at 4 years the device would be quite functional.
I'm pretty sure Rogifan claimed to be a female a while back.
Agreeeeed. I was frustrated with that too
it’s not remotely new for the iPad to use Bluetooth keyboards. I didn’t try it with my first generation iPad, but my iPad Mini first gen and both my newer iPads have always worked fine with Bluetooth keyboards: at a minimum, the Bluetooth keyboard that came with my 2014 retina iMac (I had no need for a Bluetooth keyboard earlier, and frankly, it’s not worth the bother to have a wireless keyboard you need to worry about batteries in a desktop) works great and makes it easy to type as fast on even the first gen iPad Mini as the iMac.