iPad Anyone miss the old Apple lineup?

[aevan]

The amount of Steve Jobs references referring to how he would never this and that… talk about remembering with rose tinted specs! If he had his way everything would be locked down, everything inaccessible and everything proprietary. There would be no backtracking, or reintroduction of ports. There would be no stylus. We are lucky there was an AppStore!

I’m impressed by Jobs as much as the next person, but Tims Apple has opened up vastly in comparison with his Apple, whilst still maintaining his core ethics and ideals.

And on topic: we have a refined product line, it’s just bigger.

Yup, 100%

 

[aevan]

One of my friends I grew up with emigrated and eventually worked there, and this was one of the reasons he left.
We were talking a few weeks ago about how I used to get so excited about new product launches, but it's been a while since I got that tingle! The G4 iMac blew my mind, moving from a Lime iMac to that felt like the future I was promised as a kid. Same with the iPad, iPod and iPhone. Today's smaller bezels, better cameras and faster processors feel like tweaks, rather than the innovative, world changing devices I grew up with.

1. World changing devices are not something you should expect in a mature product like a phone, tablet or laptop, especially during a pandemic.

2. And yet, Apple somehow succeeded in bringing us industry changing laptops with Apple Silicon.

3. It was the same with AirPods, iPhone X and, even the Apple Watch, though it took some time to get there.

 

[phenste]

don’t miss it. @GMShadow, @HobeSoundDarryl, and @aevan have already torn this to shreds (along with plenty others, i’m sure) but i’ll pose the following questions for thought:

would you prefer Macs stay on Intel?

do you truly think iPad segmenting makes no sense?

do you want an iPhone with *checks Wikipedia* 32GB in 2022?

one more thing…

⌚️

i tire greatly of this commentariat—it’s been getting things wrong since the introduction of iPod. (you really chose that nano model to screenshot?)

P.S.—everyone with WWSD (What Would Steve Do) syndrome, please, see your local medical professional. he has been dead for over a decade. we do recall that Tim had long been his personally-chosen second-in-line, am i correct?

 

[phenste]

don’t miss it at all. if someone at tesla came out with cybernetic implants tomorrow i’d say sign me up. i don’t look back with tech, only forward

was going to say—humans (myself included) are plagued by a tendency to romanticize the past. the human brain is wired to store positive memories moreso than negative ones (save for traumatic events, though YMMV), so it makes perfect sense. it’s always important to look at the objective truth of the past and realize that we are in a constant state of innovation, thanks to people obsessively and altruistically motivated to bring the world forward.

(i’m not saying this exclusively about 🍎. this applies to people in every career field, from STEM to the arts. that being said…i’m not letting Tesla put anything in me any time soon, but thank you for helping my portfolio sometime in the future my friend 😂🙂)

 

[okkibs]

I like that we have more options nowadays - except for the iPods of course. That's the sole thing I miss these days. Want a tiny dedicated music player for sports? They got it. Want one with the one-and-only clickwheel? Or a touchscreen instead? Apple had it all. Yet they decided for us that iPhones and iPads without headphone jacks are the future for listening to music. I can't enjoy listening to an album when I get interrupted by notifications multiple times.

 

[phenste]

I like that we have more options nowadays - except for the iPods of course. That's the sole thing I miss these days. Want a tiny dedicated music player for sports? They got it. Want one with the one-and-only clickwheel? Or a touchscreen instead? Apple had it all. Yet they decided for us that iPhones and iPads without headphone jacks are the future for listening to music. I can't enjoy listening to an album when I get interrupted by notifications multiple times.

this is a frustration of mine as well! if i may offer a (truly, in good faith) friendly suggestion…

say what you will about having to set up a focus, rather than having it “just work”—i have far more gripes with Apple’s software than their hardware in 2022—i do find it quite useful as an album enthusiast (a rare find in the age of curated streaming playlists) constantly on the lookout for new music. 😉🙂

 

[Tozovac]

Those were good times. Late 2010 Apple store. No compromises anywhere. Sure, iPads have evolved from what they once were, but still – did it have to become what it is now? View attachment 2098838

Also, back that it was much easier, efficient and intuitive to sort through the refurbished offerings. Combining today’s increased options with decreased descriptions is just wonderful. 🤪. Before, you could very easily compare a dozen or more of an item on the screen and fully understand their differences. Now, each item takes up so much space you can only see a handful at a time and there’s not a complete description of each item, so you have to click through on each to compare the specs.

The Apple support communities/board was also more efficient to use and better laid out than today’s minimalist, space wasting.

#progress
#jonyandangelawerenotgeniuses
#changeforsakeofchange

 

[phenste]

I said in another thread the only people not confused are people who want/need a 12.9” iPad Pro or an iPad mini.

i’m sorry—i find this utterly untrue. (where’s Burial when you need him?)

iPad -> iPad mini/iPad Air -> iPad Pro. iPad has an A14 and first-gen Apple Pencil support for the sake of a redesign that gives full design parity across the lineup (finally!) at a base-tier price point. note that the mini has an A15, along with 2nd-gen Pencil support, making its (frankly nominal in Apple-price territory) $50 price differential understandable; the mini is far more like a miniature Air than a miniature base-tier.

iPad Air is for the “prosumer” (or just someone who wants a really, really nice tablet without paying >=$200 extra); iPad Pro is for…the pro. these things are easily explained by Specialists. Steve was one of a very, very select few tech CEOs that pulled off physical retail, and their stores still aren’t collapsing under Amazon’s pressure, even WITH their products being sold on that site. there’s a reason for that.

 

[allenvanhellen]

This kind of thinking is ALSO longing for an Apple Inc that was a fraction of its size today. Ask those holding a lot of AAPL stock if they would like revenue & profit to fall back to the days of a much smaller number of products... and thus have their shares fall back to share prices that reflect a much smaller Apple.

Do a search for the list of companies with TRILLION dollar valuations and then look at the product mix they sell to be on that list. Amazon? Microsoft? Etc. The closest one to Apple in terms of relatively small number of products is Saudi Aramco... a gigantosaurus, "Big Oil" company. Here's their core product mix.

A lot of us armchair CEOs/Marketers seem to have this idea that "simplifying the product mix" down to even single choices can somehow bring in even more revenue: 199X-200X Apple product mix but 202X Apple revenue & profit records.

Apple revenue has long-since outgrown those days. They don't make several variations of each core product because everyone wants to buy only one of them. To segments of buyers for each variation, each is the ideal one for them.

Apple cut a VERY POPULAR Mac from the lineup this year- iMac 27". Apple cut a very popular (original) HomePod when sales did not grow as they expected. They cut the dogs or those that don't yield enough towards "another record quarter of revenue/profit" contributions. They are certainly NOT just making stuff to make it... or to make "us" pay up for the higher-priced alternative by also offering weaker variations that "no one wants to buy."

If anything, Apple needs to roll out some MORE products, as the existing players are unlikely to keep carrying the "another record quarter" weight on iterative changes. Thus, we have rumors of Goggles and Car, etc. Cutting back to ONE iPhone model and ONE iPad model would yield a much louder wail calling for more consumer CHOICE... more variations that have what "I" want... "like they used to have back in 2022."... "I want a little <bigger/smaller> <iPhone/iPad/Mac>"... etc.

Is there any room for some simplification? Probably. 5 distinct iPad "silos" does look like 1 too many to me too. But I'm confident Apple is NOT offering 5 because no one buys 1+ of them. Each must be sufficiently profitable to offer 5, else 1+ would be cut... just like iMac 27" and HomePod.

If anyone knows better, go pitch a lucrative consulting gig with Apple and fix their terrible problem. Be sure to take a LONG ladder to climb over the mounds of cash piled up around the donut so you can actually get to the decision-makers to wake them up to the right way to run the company.

I’m primarily a user, not an investor.

 

[progx]

But what if I want a Performa?

Go buy a cube pack of Pepsi while you look.

 

[TVreporter]

I miss the prices

 

[ScreenSavers]

Just wanted to comment that the iPhone 4 is unusable on iOS 7, and widely considered one of the worst iPhone/iOS combos ever.

Second only to any A5 devices on iOS 9.

 

[FeliApple]

Second only to any A5 devices on iOS 9.

Completely agree. I extensively tested an iPod Touch 5G on iOS 9 and wow... Utterly unusable. Which is why I said “one of the worst” instead of “the worst”

 

[ScreenSavers]

Completely agree. I extensively tested an iPod Touch 5G on iOS 9 and wow... Utterly unusable. Which is why I said “one of the worst” instead of “the worst”

You think that’s bad – try a 3rd generation iPad with its retina display. Oh boy. Big mistakes on Apple’s part but I think that’s why they are doing things like cutting off the iPhone 7 prematurely.

 

[FeliApple]

You think that’s bad – try a 3rd generation iPad with its retina display. Oh boy. Big mistakes on Apple’s part but I think that’s why they are doing things like cutting off the iPhone 7 prematurely.

Yes, its CPU and GPU were wildly underpowered for the Retina screen, and that release was an absolute fiasco, which is why Apple released the iPad 4 only 6 months later.

This is completely unpopular, but I’ve always been a proponent of fewer iOS updates, not more. In fact, I never update anything, keeping everything I’m allowed to on its original version of iOS. Devices work flawlessly for years that way.

Also, I tested an iPhone 4s on iOS 9, and we’ve already mentioned the performance, but battery life... the one I tested might’ve been really degraded, but that’s no excuse for the absolutely perfect battery life I saw: it dropped from 100 to 90% in... nine minutes!

 

[reeneebob]

I miss the iPod classic. So much so I bought a refurbed Gen 5.5 white one on eBay.

I wish they’d bring it back, and use the Wolfsen DAC.

 

[ScreenSavers]

I miss the iPod classic. So much so I bought a refurbed Gen 5.5 white one on eBay.

I wish they’d bring it back, and use the Wolfsen DAC.

I have one too. 60 GB. Great little device. If only they made an iPod with Bluetooth and Apple Music… I think it would sell well. No other unnecessary features like the iPod touch… Just a music player

 

[reeneebob]

I have one too. 60 GB. Great little device. If only they made an iPod with Bluetooth and Apple Music… I think it would sell well. No other unnecessary features like the iPod touch… Just a music player

I would be the first in line to buy it.

And don’t have the aluminum face like the last Gen Classics did. Go full retro- white.

 

[Howard2k]

I just don’t find the current lineup confusing. Use the compare feature options and pick what is right.

 

[mectojic]

but i’ll pose the following questions for thought:

would you prefer Macs stay on Intel?

No, but Intel in 2010 produced a very good range of processors. The Core 2 Duos were very efficient and fast, and the i series had not stagnated yet. They were a great choice for that time, so great that Steve actually asked Intel to help make the original iPhone processor (they declined).

do you truly think iPad segmenting makes no sense?

It makes sense, but probably should have never expanded beyond 2 models, with perhaps 3 sizes (mini, regular, 12.9). I still don't get why the iPad Mini needs to be its own category, and not just tied in with the iPad normal.

do you want an iPhone with *checks Wikipedia* 32GB in 2022?

Of course not, we're not idiots- most people realise my post wasn't begging for old technology, rather for a simpler product line with clearly defined categories. But, I would've really expected iPads to have more than 64gb as a base model in 2022- that's just absurd. The 2010 MacBook Air at top spec could have a 256GB SSD, and here we are on all iPads but the pro, also stuck at 256GB max.

i tire greatly of this commentariat—it’s been getting things wrong since the introduction of iPod. (you really chose that nano model to screenshot?)

True, that Nano lacked video, something I didn't like, but those Nanos were getting updated every year or two, so no one felt like Apple was forcing a bad deal onto them. You could just wait, or buy something else.

we do recall that Tim had long been his personally-chosen second-in-line, am i correct?

Yeah, but this was when they still had people like Ive, Scott Forstall and Phil Schiller. I get it, Steve made a good choice to ensure Apple's success. Not denying that. Just lamenting on some things we lost.

 

[GMShadow]

I miss the iPod classic. So much so I bought a refurbed Gen 5.5 white one on eBay.

I wish they’d bring it back, and use the Wolfsen DAC.

Cirrus Logic bought Wolfsen years ago.

 

[nate320]

I could individually refute each point, but I think that's not the point. Most of your refutations apply more to "pro users" rather than the average consumer. Apple adopts new technologies fast enough, even if not instantaneously – and I'm sure they have good reasons for that.

What is more important is, customers who came to the Apple Store looking for a device in 2010 had a very, very easy time working out what to get. The same can't be said today, when higher price points can often mean less features.

Sellers determine price; buyers determine value.

 

[mxrider88]

Those were good times. Late 2010 Apple store. No compromises anywhere. Sure, iPads have evolved from what they once were, but still – did it have to become what it is now? View attachment 2098838

I miss the old management more Jobs, Ive, Mansfield, Serlet and Forstall.

 

[Richard8655]

I truly miss the iPod Nano, especially 5th generation with stored music, FM radio, and video camera in such a tiny form factor. It was cutting edge.

 

[Lioness~]

No problem with the larger lineup, even if confused and not well thought through always.
Apple is growing, no surprise.
But I miss Apple’s soul.