Apple boasts of improved cameras, enhanced performance in re-released 'iPad 4'

Posted:
in iPad edited March 2014
In re-launching the fourth-generation iPad with Retina display starting at $399 on Tuesday, Apple delivered a dramatic upgrade at that price point over the legacy iPad 2, with the company highlighting the improved cameras and enhanced performance it now offers at that price point.

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Announcing the switch from iPad 2 to fourth-generation iPad with Retina display, the company put out a press release touting its most affordable 9.7-inch iPad. Priced at $399 for a 16-gigabyte, Wi-Fi-only model, the fourth-generation iPad features an A6X processor, 5-megapixel iSight camera, and FaceTime HD rear facing camera.

"Now for $399 customers can get iPad with a stunning 9.7-inch Retina display, fast A6X chip, and 5MP iSight camera, offering a dramatic upgrade in power, performance and value compared to the iPad 2 it replaces," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "The iPad line sets the gold-standard in mobile computing and all iPads have access to the largest and best ecosystem of more than 500,000 iPad optimized apps from the App Store."

Apple also noted that the fourth-generation iPad offers up to 10 hours of battery life, and comes with iOS 7. An LTE-capable version of the $399 iPad starts at $529.

The iPad with Retina display remains limited to just 16 gigabytes, with higher capacities unavailable for the fourth-generation model. Those looking to upgrade to 32- or 64-gigabytes will have to look to Apple's iPad Air, the company's latest-generation tablet.

AppleInsider was the first to report in February that Apple was planning to discontinue the legacy, non-Retina iPad 2. The company made the decision to ramp down iPad 2 production plans in response to the fact that customers were resoundingly shifting purchases toward the iPad Air.

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Apple still occupies the $399 price point with two tablets: In addition to the fourth-generation iPad, the iPad mini with Retina display is also sold for just shy of $400.

The "iPad 4" was temporarily discontinued last fall, when it was replaced at the top of Apple's product lineup by the new thinner and lighter iPad Air. It first went on sale in late 2012 and was the first iPad to feature Apple's redesigned Lightning connector.

Tuesday's product lineup revamp means that the first-generation iPad mini is the only non-Retina display device in Apple's tablet lineup. All iPads sold by the company also now feature the Lightning connector, pushing out the legacy 30-pin dock connector.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 44
    kpomkpom Posts: 660member
    This makes sense and is a good move. The iPad 4 was a good device and is a decent value at $400. Having the iPad Air as the only "high-end" full sized iPad during the holidays undoubtedly boosted sales of the Air. But now that the holidays are over it makes sense for Apple to have a more competitive offering at $400.
  • Reply 2 of 44

    I would be interested to know if there is any change to the A6X processor.  Manufactured by TSMC perhaps?

  • Reply 3 of 44
    Wow, this is amazing value.
  • Reply 4 of 44
    rasimorasimo Posts: 61member
    I wonder if they're going to start selling smart cases in a color other than gray again?
  • Reply 5 of 44
    Think, there are some errors... "5-megapixel iSight camera, and FaceTime HD rear facing camera"?
  • Reply 6 of 44

    This aligns with a tick/tock modality... less so for HW but for pricing (and maybe HW... who knows?).  

     

    If you dramatically drop your mid range devices mid sales years (assuming Apple's Sales year is October-Sep), this aligns with a lot of market factors.

    - March-May is your Big corporate sales months...

         - iPad 4's for the Department!!!!!

    - May-Aug is your big school age sales months

         - I see 5c's and iPad4's for sending your kid off to college, 

    - It's when the all the competitors typically roll-out products (post CES, Post mobile world)

    - Developers in June start to see what the new and improved iOS N+1.0 will do on current HW, may do on unnannounced HW (and won't do on deprecated HW)

         - 4/4s/iPad2  HW platforms need to be culled from the 2 year support herd.

     

    In the end, the 'c' series and I do think the Mini will evolve to have annual mid year pricing drops and functionality changes.   I was wrong in assuming that the 5c would get 'part' of the 5s HW architecture (my guess it's just too integrated to just pick out the CPU or the motion chip), but this makes more sense. 

  • Reply 7 of 44
    red oakred oak Posts: 1,087member
    An unexpected, masterful move. Apple just locked down the full size tablet market. Samsung is pretty fu**** here

    I eventually see them bringing the 5c color concept to the mini $299 price point and a larger iPad Pro over the next 2-3 years. Then it's game, set, match in tablet space
  • Reply 8 of 44
    pedromartinspedromartins Posts: 1,333member

    Now this is amazing value. It's amazing how lunatic Apple can be when we are talking about phones. The price of the 5c and the lack of a bigger screen seem like moves from stupid irrational companies, not like the Apple that makes moves like these.

  • Reply 9 of 44
    I'm getting the feeling that Apple is losing its understanding of the market. It certainly can be that the loss of Jobs is the reason. Perhaps Jobs was the key person at Apple that could see outside the Apple corporate culture to understand what customers would want and pay for without needing focus groups.

    The very limited 5c now being offered and the reissued but brain-dead iPad 4 says they are missing the mark.
  • Reply 10 of 44
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Now this is amazing value. It's amazing how lunatic Apple can be when we are talking about phones. The price of the 5c and the lack of a bigger screen seem like moves from stupid irrational companies, not like the Apple that makes moves like these.
    Still, the press release on this is a bit laughable. Did this really need a press release? And one could ask why Apple didn't replace iPad 2 with 4th gen last October. Keeping the iPad 2 around for 5 months and now this 8GB iPhone wreaks of an Apple obsessed with margins of everything else. If Apple really wanted to spur 5C sales in Europe and China they would have reduced the price on the 16GB model. Honestly 16GB should be the storage capacity for Apple's cheapest iPhone with 32GB the starting point for all other iPhones.
  • Reply 11 of 44
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    I'm getting the feeling that Apple is losing its understanding of the market. It certainly can be that the loss of Jobs is the reason. Perhaps Jobs was the key person at Apple that could see outside the Apple corporate culture to understand what customers would want and pay for without needing focus groups.

    The very limited 5c now being offered and the reissued but brain-dead iPad 4 says they are missing the mark.
    4th gen iPad is a great product. But IMO Apple should have replaced the iPad 2 with it last year when the Air was announced. What's the point of doing it now, but not last October?
  • Reply 12 of 44
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Originally Posted by pedromartins View Post

    The price of the 5c and the lack of a bigger screen seem like moves from stupid irrational companies

     

    Maybe you just don’t get it. Ever think about that?

  • Reply 13 of 44
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

     
    Originally Posted by pedromartins View Post

    The price of the 5c and the lack of a bigger screen seem like moves from stupid irrational companies

     

    Maybe you just don’t get it. Ever think about that?


    I get it just fine. I read more and better, have more fun playing, browse more and edit more docs on a chinese phone with a 5" then the best phone Apple offers. So the conclusion is simple:

     

    - For people like me, a bigger iPhone is a better iPhone. Now, the question is, how many people like me are out there, waiting for it, so it makes sense to make one?

     

    Appleinsider cited a number when they made an editorial about high end phones. They said Samsung sold 100 000 000 million galaxy S and galaxy note compared with 150 000 000 iPhones. Of course, they tried to spin something positive about it, but the truth:

     

    Put that number together with the number of all flagships being sold, plus the "mini versions" that are still bigger than an iPhone and the answer is clear.

     

    But of course, I don't expect you to understand it. All of those phones cost the same or more and the number being sold is huge. But there you are, again and again.

  • Reply 14 of 44
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    I'm getting the feeling that Apple is losing its understanding of the market. It certainly can be that the loss of Jobs is the reason. Perhaps Jobs was the key person at Apple that could see outside the Apple corporate culture to understand what customers would want and pay for without needing focus groups.

    The very limited 5c now being offered and the reissued but brain-dead iPad 4 says they are missing the mark.

    Sure thing. Apple never released a limited iPod nor kept an older iPod in the lineup under Jobs. Of course the shuffle and classic dont count.
  • Reply 15 of 44
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Originally Posted by pedromartins View Post

    I get it just fine.

     

    But you don’t. You whine that the 5C isn’t cheap enough when it’s not supposed to be a cheap phone. It’s the midrange model. You should be whining that the 4S isn’t cheap enough. I haven’t heard a peep from anyone about the 4S since before the 5C was released.

     

    how many people like me are out there, waiting for it, so it makes sense to make one?


     

    A number small enough that it doesn’t make financial sense for Apple to compromise its values.

     

    Like I said, 50% of phone are iPhones. 50% of phones were iPhones when it had a 3.5” screen. A larger screen won’t change that.

     
     …100 000 000 million galaxy S and galaxy note compared with 150 000 000 iPhones.

     

    In saying “Galaxy S”, that includes all models thereof, doesn’t it?

     

    Put that number together with the number of all flagships being sold, plus the "mini versions" that are still bigger than an iPhone and the answer is clear.





    Yes, it’s clear: Since Apple still has 50% of the market ON THEIR OWN WITH THREE MODELS SOLD AT A TIME compared to the 300 from everyone else, they don’t need a larger device.

     

    All of those phones cost the same or more and the number being sold is huge.


     

    What, you’re claiming a larger model wouldn’t have a higher MSRP or even a higher component cost? Are you peanuts?! Do you even know why they exist at all?

  • Reply 16 of 44
    zoolookzoolook Posts: 657member

    I do not understand their strategy of restricting the capacity to 16GB, which is practically useless these days. It's gone with a couple of games and/or a couple of HD movies. With the retina screen, you'll want 1080p movies and better games. It's short-sighted moves like this, which keep cheap Android alternatives in the race.

     

    Minimum storage now should be 32GB, with 64GB being mid and 128GB being high. The 16/32/64 paradigm was reasonable in 2009 (5 years ago) but not now.

  • Reply 17 of 44
    mpantonempantone Posts: 2,033member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post





    4th gen iPad is a great product. But IMO Apple should have replaced the iPad 2 with it last year when the Air was announced. What's the point of doing it now, but not last October?

    Presumably, the gross margins on the iPad 2 are better than the iPad 4. So Apple has spent six months padding their profits.

     

    Now, there are indications that unit sales of the iPad 2 are slowing down considerably, so they will switch to a better device with less margin, but hopefully more unit sales.

     

    Remember that demand isn't a constant linear number, but function that fluctuates over time. Same goes for costs. Those fluctuate as well as the supply chain gains efficiency over time. The gross margin per unit would increase, but the actual number of unit sales would decrease.

     

    Also, by removing the iPad 4 in the product line six months ago, they drove more sales to the high-end iPad Air. 

  • Reply 18 of 44
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Every other full-sizes tablet manufacturer: Checkmate.

    Absolutely Brilliant move. The fact that the iPad 2 was still being sold (for $399 no less) left a bad taste in my mouth. This, I have no problem with. It's a pretty decent value. Hell, I'm even considering it.
  • Reply 19 of 44
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by waldobushman View Post



    I'm getting the feeling that Apple is losing its understanding of the market. It certainly can be that the loss of Jobs is the reason. Perhaps Jobs was the key person at Apple that could see outside the Apple corporate culture to understand what customers would want and pay for without needing focus groups.



    The very limited 5c now being offered and the reissued but brain-dead iPad 4 says they are missing the mark.

     

    You're right, absolutely nobody on Apple's highly skilled executive teams understands the market. But you do, right? How the **** is replacing an iPad 2 with an iPad4 at the same pricepoint "missing the mark"? Why is the iPad4 "brain-dead"? What else would you suggest at that price-point? Apparently you seem to think you know what consumers "want" more than Apple, which is a pretty hubristic statement, considering Apple's sales. You sound like a troll yourself, as you can't even defend your broad statements with any kind of fact. 

  • Reply 20 of 44
    mpantonempantone Posts: 2,033member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Zoolook View Post

     

    I do not understand their strategy of restricting the capacity to 16GB, which is practically useless these days. It's gone with a couple of games and/or a couple of HD movies. With the retina screen, you'll want 1080p movies and better games. It's short-sighted moves like this, which keep cheap Android alternatives in the race.


    A lot of these entry-level tablet offerings are geared toward educational, corporate, and industry business, not the consumer arena.

     

    A business-issued tablet is unlikely to need space for games, HD movies, etc. It's a work tool. Most of the content that the user needs will probably reside on secure database servers behind a corporate firewall: inventory database, medical records archive, CRM, etc. Huge amounts of local storage is often unimportant for enterprise customers.

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