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How did Apple "trick" us into accepting an $800 base iPad?

K

Kendo

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 4, 2011
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From the very first iPad through the iPad Air 2 (2010 to 2014), the iPad always had a base price of $500 and a base configuration of 16GB. With the $600 release of the 9.7" iPad Pro, they sort of kind of convinced us to cough up an extra $100 by reasoning we are paying $50 for the doubled base storage to 32GB, and $50 for the "pro" feature of writing on the screen with a pencil. Then with the $650 10.5 Pro, they slyly convinced us to cough up an extra $50 since they increased the base storage to 64GB.

But with the 11" Pro, I feel like it is an arbitrary $150 increase to $800 just because they could. It offers the same storage and has the usual A chip upgrade while keeping the same RAM. One could even argue that Face ID shouldn't be as expensive today since they first came up with the technology last year with the iPhone X. This opens up the possibility of a $1,000 base iPad, just like the iPhone X started which is a little bonkers.
 
Choices. We all have to make them. I purchased an iPad Pro 2018 to go with my other expensive iPad's and iPhone's.
My cousin is an android user. He was showing me his galaxy tab 4 over thanksgiving weekend. He paid $700 plus keyboard and other accessories. He kept playing with my iPad asking questions about the price. He told me that his galaxy tab was trash. The apps are just phone apps blown up and a lot of the apps never get updated. Or , he couldn't find certain apps in the play store. He plans on getting a 12.9 pro. He finally realized that you pay for what you want and you get what you pay for.
 
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Storage for Apple is worth in gold when we have terabytes in drives for less than a single iPad.

Don’t support them, don’t pay what they ask
 
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DNichter said:
They didn't. The base iPad is $329, far cheaper than the original iPad. If you want the features of the Pro, there is a cost to it. Think of it like the MacBook and the MacBook Pro. Same OS, but more power and features in the Pro machine.
Click to expand...

This. Exactly. They are not tricking anyone. I know people who aren’t buying it because of the cost. To me, it is worth it. No tricks. It is what it is. Buy it, or don’t.
 
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At $329 the 9.7” iPad makes the iPad more capable and more affordable than ever before. The new iPad Pro is clearly targeted at Surface Pro level pricing for a premium device. There is still the 10.5” Pro if you want something in between.

Have you seen the pricing of the new and crippled Pixel Slate?
 
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Thing is, this time we weren't tricked !!!!

I think this year Apple went too far and aside from some Apple fanatics buying the new iPad Pro with all accessories, most people that would have bought an iPad Pro in previous years are no longer willing to pay so much for Apple hardware. And even hardcore fanboys (like me) are complaining about it (which has been making Apple come across as consumer unfriendly, greedy etc.)

See what happened with the iPhone. Discounts, sales etc. 1 month after release.

They aimed too high and I honestly think the iPhone XR will end up with an average sale price that's even lower than last year's iPhone 8. Same will happen with this new iPad. Obviously they're never going to do it at their retail stores, but I can guarantee you Best Buy and the like will have some fantastic deals come January.

Screw them. They had it coming.
 
Kendo said:
From the very first iPad through the iPad Air 2 (2010 to 2014), the iPad always had a base price of $500 and a base configuration of 16GB. With the $600 release of the 9.7" iPad Pro, they sort of kind of convinced us to cough up an extra $100 by reasoning we are paying $50 for the doubled base storage to 32GB, and $50 for the "pro" feature of writing on the screen with a pencil. Then with the $650 10.5 Pro, they slyly convinced us to cough up an extra $50 since they increased the base storage to 64GB.

But with the 11" Pro, I feel like it is an arbitrary $150 increase to $800 just because they could. It offers the same storage and has the usual A chip upgrade while keeping the same RAM. One could even argue that Face ID shouldn't be as expensive today since they first came up with the technology last year with the iPhone X. This opens up the possibility of a $1,000 base iPad, just like the iPhone X started which is a little bonkers.
Click to expand...

I don’t feel “trick” and there are other iPad options. A person doesn’t buy an Accord and claim the Honda dealer tricked him into a more expensive Civic. No it’s a whole other car.

This is an iPad Pro. Not a “base” iPad. For me personally. My cost was far less. Financed an 9.7” iPad Pro LTE model with Sprint in 2016 for $529/24 months that’s an iPad Pro for $29 bucks more than a base iPad Air 2 in 2014 which was $499

Traded in 9.7” Pro for $250 in October at Apple store.
Bank of America gave me $200
$50 from a Ford Test drive gift card
$50 gift card from Smith & Wesson for buying a new M&P 2.0c 9mm
So it’s was $855 with tax - $350 = $505 -$200 from BoA = $305 for a new 64GB 11” iPad Pro. Is a great value.

https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit-cards/products/cash-back-credit-card/
 
Myself i did not see it really worth upgrading to the 2018 and bought the older 2017, same with the phone i had to get this year as my old iPhone 6 could no longer be charged and i bought the older iPhone8Plus.

The prices alone should tell people Apples Mr. Cook, is just pushing prices of all new Apples products higher and higher just to get higher profits for the company and it's share holders.

As many others have posted the new iPads really don't give us major improvements that merit this new pricing, for it and the new pen and keyboard and memory.

As the new year rolls in we will see how well everything works out for Apple and its iPads.
[doublepost=1543414328][/doublepost]
TheRealAlex said:
I don’t feel “trick” and there are other iPad options. A person doesn’t buy an Accord and claim the Honda dealer tricked him into a more expensive Civic. No it’s a whole other car.

This is an iPad Pro. Not a “base” iPad. For me personally. My cost was far less. Financed an 9.7” iPad Pro LTE model with Sprint in 2016 for $529/24 months that’s an iPad Pro for $29 bucks more than a base iPad Air 2 in 2014 which was $499

Traded in 9.7” Pro for $250 in October at Apple store.
Bank of America gave me $200
$50 from a Ford Test drive gift card
$50 gift card from Smith & Wesson for buying a new M&P 2.0c 9mm
So it’s was $855 with tax - $350 = $505 -$200 from BoA = $305 for a new 64GB 11” iPad Pro. Is a great value.

https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit-cards/products/cash-back-credit-card/
Click to expand...
I give you a high five for the buying of the Smith & Wesson handgun.
 
Kendo said:
From the very first iPad through the iPad Air 2 (2010 to 2014), the iPad always had a base price of $500 and a base configuration of 16GB. With the $600 release of the 9.7" iPad Pro, they sort of kind of convinced us to cough up an extra $100 by reasoning we are paying $50 for the doubled base storage to 32GB, and $50 for the "pro" feature of writing on the screen with a pencil. Then with the $650 10.5 Pro, they slyly convinced us to cough up an extra $50 since they increased the base storage to 64GB.

But with the 11" Pro, I feel like it is an arbitrary $150 increase to $800 just because they could. It offers the same storage and has the usual A chip upgrade while keeping the same RAM. One could even argue that Face ID shouldn't be as expensive today since they first came up with the technology last year with the iPhone X. This opens up the possibility of a $1,000 base iPad, just like the iPhone X started which is a little bonkers.
Click to expand...
If you really want to, get a cheaper iPad. It’s not the end of the world.
 
When Apple released the first iPad, they only had the one screen size. For several years that was the case, until the iPad mini.

If you just follow the original 9.7" size, it's price has come down significantly over it's life.

It's not fair to compare the iPad Pro to the original iPad pricing. The Pro is not targeted at the casual tablet user, but the "Pro". The Pro did not replace the standard iPad option from Apple, they still sell it at and other options. If Apple had stopped selling the standard 9.7" iPad and only sold the Pro, I would understand your argument that they have increased the iPad selling price.
 
It's kind of weird that with both the iPhone and iPad, people have somehow decided that the upper-end SKUs are somehow the "base" model. Just last year the iPhone 8 came out at the regular price and the iPhone X was a new, premium tier. This year so many of the comparisons talk about having to upgrade to the XS when the XR exists (which, to be fair, did increase in price $50.)

Meanwhile the iPad Pros are more expensive, but the base iPad is the most affordable a 9.7" iPad has been since forever (counting inflation, it dropped in price from the previous gen model also priced at $329.)

I don't know what to describe this phenomenon—somehow consumers have convinced themselves they have to constantly buy the most expensive SKU without regard to whether they need it?
 
They didn’t trick anyone. It’s pretty much out in the open, and people do have free will. Buy or don’t buy. Plus they also offer a great low budget iPad with an A10 processor & pencil support for only $329. It’s not like customers don’t have choices.
 
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Kendo said:
From the very first iPad through the iPad Air 2 (2010 to 2014), the iPad always had a base price of $500 and a base configuration of 16GB. With the $600 release of the 9.7" iPad Pro, they sort of kind of convinced us to cough up an extra $100 by reasoning we are paying $50 for the doubled base storage to 32GB, and $50 for the "pro" feature of writing on the screen with a pencil. Then with the $650 10.5 Pro, they slyly convinced us to cough up an extra $50 since they increased the base storage to 64GB.

But with the 11" Pro, I feel like it is an arbitrary $150 increase to $800 just because they could. It offers the same storage and has the usual A chip upgrade while keeping the same RAM. One could even argue that Face ID shouldn't be as expensive today since they first came up with the technology last year with the iPhone X. This opens up the possibility of a $1,000 base iPad, just like the iPhone X started which is a little bonkers.
Click to expand...
I don't know how they "tricked" you, but they only "fooled" me once. I say "fooled" but I don't believe there was any malice in Apple's actions... and I certainly don't take it personally.

I've been a fan of the iPad from the very beginning when it was announced and pre-ordered the iPad 1 with the keyboard dock. I saw the potential of that platform at that moment... and I've owned all but the iPad 3 and Air 1 since then.

With the introduction of the 1st gen iPad Pro 12.9 and Apple's marketing hyperbole that it can replace a laptop, I had a reasonable expectation that they were serious about delivering on that claim for how *I* use my laptop. (mouse support, universally-accessible file system, support for USB peripherals)

I bought that 12.9 Pro 4-5 months after it was released during the super-sales at Staples and Best Buy.

But with each update to iOS and newer generation of Pros, I didn't see anything with these Pro iPads that would advance those laptop-replacing capabilities. Although I thoroughly enjoy using it as simply a blown-up 9.7" iPad, after 2 years I knew that Apple wasn't going to deliver any time soon.

I gave the 12.9 Pro to my wife as her primary tablet, and I bought a 2018 iPad (I kept the Pencil from my 12.9 Pro). Everything that I was doing on my 12.9 Pro (and I was doing quite a lot!) can be done on this 2018 iPad at less than half the price.

So the 2018 iPad serves me extremely well and I'm absolutely delighted by the functionality I'm getting out of it for the price... it is one of, if not only, genuine bargains in Apple's product line.

As for laptop replacement, for less than the price of a 10.5 iPad Pro alone, I was able to buy a new Google Pixelbook and Google Pen which has gone on to replace my Macbook Air and 12.9 Pro for mobile uses.

I'm confident that Apple WILL one day offer those things I mentioned, and when they do, THAT is when I'll pony up for whatever is that iPad Pro that will do those things. Until then, I'll rock on with what I have, enjoy, and save a ton of money in the process.
 
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My primary complaint is that you have to get a pro to get the 12.9" screen size. If they made a large screen non-pro iPad I would have been all over it. I don't need it to have an i7-equivalent processor or some weird screen color tech that makes it look washed out under pretty much every lighting condition. I need it to have a bigger screen.

I guess Apple got me. :oops:
 
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