I can't stand the fact that the iPhone 4 has better specs than the iPad

[kiranmk2]

As someone who doesn't have an ipad or iphone4 preorder, I find it weird the state the ipad launched in. I mean, I can understand the lack of retina display on the ipad - I presume it would mean it would need 1600x1200 or even 1920x1440 and on a 10" screen that would cost sooooo much. But, the lower amount of RAM and lack of gyro and GPS chip on the non 3G models and, perhaps most puzzling of all, the lack of front-facing camera (especially Apple's big push of face-time and statement they will sell 10 million face time "devices" by the end of the year) are very strange given the launch dates. My guess is that the ipad was delayed so the specs matched the 3GS. Whether it was problems with the A4 chip, screen availability or software, I think we may very well see a new iphone4-esque ipad this autumn when iOS4 for ipad launches. The retina display is still a way off, but it will probably have a face-time camera and gyro.

As has been mentioned before though, it doesn't mean the ipad v1 will stop working, but it will probably age badly in terms of new app support. I was intregues by the ipad, but imediately saw that the lack of the camera was an obvious update for the near future.

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

The lack of a front-facing camera on the iPad isn't a surprise at all. Clearly, the iPhone is meant to be first and foremost a communications device. The iPad's primary purpose is that of media consumption. This is evidenced by the lack of a camera in the iPod Touch as well (at least as of right now).

 

[mbell75]

I bet its because the iOS4 has alot more features, multitasking for example. Cant do that on 256MB of RAM very efficiently at all. What does this mean for the OS update for the iPad? Will it be a dumbed down "lite" version of the iOS4 due to its RAM limitations? If so, I will sell mine now.

 

[fibrizo]

An iPhone 4 with 16GB of storage without a two-year commitment -- if the carrier does such a thing -- is $599. An iPad with 16GB of storage and no two-year commitment is $499. The iPad is MUCH LARGER and still comes in cheaper. About the only downside is the lesser RAM, which probably isn't a huge deal. I have a 3GS, and it's not like this is a slow device. You've still got the A4 chip in the iPad.

All that said, this is why I waited on the iPad. I really couldn't afford it, and I'd like to see what Apple does with model 2.0. If it looks more like the iPhone 4 and you can buy Rhode Island-sized bumpers for it, that will be a nice visual upgrade.

Not that I support the argument, but you are comparing the wrong things. Ie there is no iphone 4 that does not have 3g and gps etc built in. so you have to compare to the ipad 3g model... which is 629 for 16gb vs 599... which is actually more, but then again the screen is much larger/likely more expensive.

 

[heywoodja]

The iPad is barely two month old, but the new iPhone has 2x the amount of RAM and the same chip (albeit possibly underclocked). Has this bothered anyone else? I know that technology is constantly being outdated, but months ago when the iPad launched they knew that the new iPhone would have 512 MB of Ram.

This really grinds my gears.

Then design and build a better one and compete against apple..good luck

 

[optophobia]

The iPad is barely two month old, but the new iPhone has 2x the amount of RAM and the same chip (albeit possibly underclocked). Has this bothered anyone else? I know that technology is constantly being outdated, but months ago when the iPad launched they knew that the new iPhone would have 512 MB of Ram.

This really grinds my gears.

Did you really write this ? Really ? Wow. If this wasn't a forum, and we were all in a room together, you would be in the corner crying and mumbling "His iPhone is better than my iPad".....
For goodness sake grow up and stop being a bloody baby.

And for the record, yes my new iPhone IS better than your iPad. HA HA HA

 

[Batt]

Did you really write this ? Really ? Wow. If this wasn't a forum, and we were all in a room together, you would be in the corner crying and mumbling "His iPhone is better than my iPad".....
For goodness sake grow up and stop being a bloody baby.

And for the record, yes my new iPhone IS better than your iPad. HA HA HA

Best response yet.

 

[cmvsm]

Did you really write this ? Really ? Wow. If this wasn't a forum, and we were all in a room together, you would be in the corner crying and mumbling "His iPhone is better than my iPad".....
For goodness sake grow up and stop being a bloody baby.

And for the record, yes my new iPhone IS better than your iPad. HA HA HA

Yeah, he wrote it, and the comment is supported by the majority of the folks in the forum, so take your $99 phone, move on with the minority, your little fingers and screen, and get a life.

 

[cmvsm]

Yeah, it seems my iPad is running only half as fast as it was day before the announcement...

...troll.

Honestly what IS it about tech forums that attracts the neurotic?

I'm already getting out of memory errors with the Rock Band game. Once more apps come out written for multi-tasking and OS4, slower performance will be a reality with the current iPad. Of course, that's only IF you want to continue to buy apps, which is a valid assumption.

 

[ciaran00]

In all honesty, sometimes the thing does run out of memory...

I think a lot of people could visualize the danger in the device having only 256 MB when we all first found out about it (long before we knew ip4 had 512). It's sort of like the danger of ATT's 2 GB cap. Yeah it probably works OK today, but with usages being unlocked (multitasking, more powerful games, MMOs), you can see how 256 can quickly become very, very limited.

Let's see what iOS4 gives us - Apple knows its software well and maybe they'll give us a way to keep how snappy this device is, even with multitasking. However, I think it's natural for some folks to be skeptical...

ip4 drives less pixels and the size of the screen doesn't lend it to as much content being passed through it as the iPad. So why does it get twice the memory? A lot of what our gut tells us is Apple was simply being cheap, or even worse - short-sighted. I hope we're wrong, because it really would suck to get the experience of the device take a hit when multiple things are up and running.

The safari reloading can be quite annoying, too. Perhaps almost as annoying as Apple's lack of response for this feedback from their customers.

My iPad tends to "flush" (ie: dump) multitasked processes in its jailbreak state now and then - something my iPhone gen 1 doesn't yet do with the same apps running simultaneously. It's my hope that this is an artefact of implementation shortcomings of jailbreak-Backgrounder instead of the obvious - a device running "huger" apps on not so much "huger" memory,

 

[foidulus]

This will come back to bite Apple

Ironically they are creating the EXACT type of heavily segmented portable operating environment that they initially decried when they launched the iPhone/iPod touch.

With widely varying hardware capabilities it's going to be harder and harder for the consumer to find applications that "just work" on their device and work in similar fashion across devices.

I think Apple is creating a dangerous ecosystem here and really needs to take a step back and make a more concerted effort to try to bring the various iOS devices hardware capabilities at least close to each other(they are never going to be the exact same for obvious reasons).

I do understand that as new devices come out they will have better,faster,cheaper hardware compared to the previous generation, but when Apple launches two new products within months of each other that doesn't really apply.

The biggest problem with Android is that the various hardware configurations make writing software to take advantage of them difficult, Apple would do well not to go down that path.

 

[brentsg]

Yeah, he wrote it, and the comment is supported by the majority of the folks in the forum, so take your $99 phone, move on with the minority, your little fingers and screen, and get a life.

Proof?

His comment is supported by the majority of the folks that decided to whine along with. Everyone else has been laughing and reading the thread for kicks.

But seriously, the people who AREN'T obsessing over the spec disparity between the phone and pad need to get a life? I think it's the other way around. People who have a life have much more important things to worry about.

 

[ciaran00]

Ironically they are creating the EXACT type of heavily segmented portable operating environment that they initially decried when they launched the iPhone/iPod touch. [snip]

Hit the nail on the head here. Looking a little like android isn't it?
-A device with X pixels w/ 128 but with slower processor
-A device with X pixels w/ 256
-A device with 4X+Y pixels w/ 256 but with faster processor
-A device with 4X pixels w/ 512 and faster processor

This has to have some negative impact on developers trying to gauge stability.

 

[spinedoc77]

You guys just don't understand, we got ripped off big time. They say as technology advances our gadgets are supposed to get smaller, but we all got saddled with the huge ipad. I can't believe at the same time they were developing the ipad they developed the iphone4, which clearly based on specs and pictures it is MUCH smaller than the ipad. I'm extremely pissed at Apple ripping me off in selling me the much larger ipad when a smaller, more modern ipad type device was concurrently being developed.

 

[Siguy]

You guys just don't understand, we got ripped off big time. They say as technology advances our gadgets are supposed to get smaller, but we all got saddled with the huge ipad. I can't believe at the same time they were developing the ipad they developed the iphone4, which clearly based on specs and pictures it is MUCH smaller than the ipad. I'm extremely pissed at Apple ripping me off in selling me the much larger ipad when a smaller, more modern ipad type device was concurrently being developed.

I can't tell whether the above is a joke or not. The whole point of the iPad is a mobile processor in a different, larger form factor with incredible battery life. The inside of an iPad is basically a 1GHZ iPhone with tons of battery and an amazing screen. The inside is almost nothing but batteries.

Getting angry because they were developing the iPhone at the same time is a very odd thing to say. The form factor is everything that makes the iPad great.

Back to the original topic, yes, I am a little miffed the iPad doesn't have 512MB of RAM simply because it feels like it needs more RAM. Big webpages do prompt out of memory crashes and whatnot which mars the otherwise brilliant experience of using it. So it is frustrating that I will probably buy the next one and sell the current one in exchange for the tech boost, but using this thing has been a pure delight and in no way could an iPhone have replaced the experience.

 

[Dorkington]

I'm not pissed... as so far 256mb has been OK (it'd be better with 512mb). I'm more amused... Apple released a purporsefully underpowered/underfeatured device like normal and will improve upon it in time to maximize sales.

It's good business, but kind of sucks for us.

Still enjoy my iPad though, and jailbreaking has helped fix a couple things.

 

[cmvsm]

I'm not pissed... as so far 256mb has been OK (it'd be better with 512mb). I'm more amused... Apple released a purporsefully underpowered/underfeatured device like normal and will improve upon it in time to maximize sales.

It's good business, but kind of sucks for us.

Still enjoy my iPad though, and jailbreaking has helped fix a couple things.

It's not good business actually. A six or 12 month upgrade or new device...that's good business. Releasing an update in a new device 6 weeks after the first was launched, is either very ill prepared and rushing to get something to market, or has no fore thought when it comes to maximizing the app capability from a developer's standpoint. Whether you are a consumer or Apple, you don't benefit from this situation.

 

[cmvsm]

Proof?

His comment is supported by the majority of the folks that decided to whine along with. Everyone else has been laughing and reading the thread for kicks.

But seriously, the people who AREN'T obsessing over the spec disparity between the phone and pad need to get a life? I think it's the other way around. People who have a life have much more important things to worry about.

If you spent $800 on a device that has had memory issues with certain current applications, only to find out that a device 1/8 of its cost 6 weeks later has been updated with current hardware to handle those memory issues, I'd classify that as a legitimate concern, and far from the 'whine' that you are speaking about.

 

[darngooddesign]

I can't tell whether the above is a joke or not...

How could you not tell? It was dripping with sarcasm.

 

[darngooddesign]

If you spent $800 on a device that has had memory issues with certain current applications, only to find out that a device 1/8 of its cost 6 weeks later has been updated with current hardware to handle those memory issues, I'd classify that as a legitimate concern, and far from the 'whine' that you are speaking about.

Its not 1/8 the cost. 32GB iPhone costs 599 unsubsidized.

 

[The General]

As someone who doesn't have an ipad or iphone4 preorder, I find it weird the state the ipad launched in. I mean, I can understand the lack of retina display on the ipad - I presume it would mean it would need 1600x1200 or even 1920x1440 and on a 10" screen that would cost sooooo much.

it would have to be 2560x1920

 

[brentsg]

If you spent $800 on a device that has had memory issues with certain current applications, only to find out that a device 1/8 of its cost 6 weeks later has been updated with current hardware to handle those memory issues, I'd classify that as a legitimate concern, and far from the 'whine' that you are speaking about.

Well I've yet to be able to produce any memory errors on mine, but ok fair enough.

 

[yegon]

90% of my usage is browsing/ebooks/manga/comics and a bit of email. This experience won't diminish in the next 2 years, so me = happy. In 2 years, I'll flog this for 40% of what I bought it for and buy the 3rd gen, probably.

My only beef is the reloading tabs, although Atomic lessens that annoyance to some extent.

Its not 1/8 the cost. 32GB iPhone costs 599 unsubsidized.

Yeah, I lolled at his maths there

 

[yegon]

Its not 1/8 the cost. 32GB iPhone costs 599 unsubsidized.

Yeah, I lolled at his maths there

Edit: oops sorry for dp

 

[darngooddesign]

On the 24th I'll call the OP a waambulance from my iPhone 4.