iPad iPad lineup a hot mess...

[swingerofbirch]

I disagree.

Not enough offerings.

I'm waiting for the iPad Performa 5200.

 

[firewire9000]

Why so many iPads? Why so many accessories? It’s even confusing if you’re selling them, not to mention if you want to buy one.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Beyond the lineup, the iPad in general is just a hot mess. iPadOS is so bogged down and Apple keeps trying to advertise it as a notebook replacement instead of...you know, A TABLET. Add that with the fact there's so many basic features missing, there's little to no reason to buy an iPad anymore when you can find M1 Macbook Airs for $800 and below.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

The 10th gen means they’ve given up on the education market. All hail king Chromebook’s.

Maybe Valve was on to something in making Steam for ChromeOS.

 

[MisterSavage]

I really don't understand the regular iPad having landscape camera but not the Pro.

 

[tomtad]

I really don't understand the regular iPad having landscape camera but not the Pro.

The Pro will get it when it has a more substantial redesign. These things are so expensive however you would expect to not have to wait around for minimum a year due to Apple not wanting to pony up the costs for changes to the assembly line

 

[Rogifan]

My guess is that the 10th gen iPad will eventually replace the 9th gen iPad. It just needs another year or two for costs to come down so Apple can reduce the price further. I don't know if Apple can ever lower it enough to reach that magical $329/299 threshold, but at present, the iPad costs more because it cost more to design and make, and that's simply the reality of hardware manufacturing.

Apple needs to simplify its lineups. Having all these different models just to hit price points results in a confusing mess. What is the point of the iPad Air? The name has no meaning anymore. Who is it for, exactly?

 

[dwaltwhit]

Definitely need to cull the herd. mini at 329, Vanilla at 449, air at 599, pro 11" 799, pro 13" 999

 

[Rogifan]

My pick of line-up would be:

iPad - in Mini / Regular / Large
iPad Pro - in Mini / Regular / Large

That way you get all three sizes (since I think size is the key differentiator), with the ability to upgrade to a Pro version of a size if you need the higher end configuration.

We could have ended up here quite easily if Apple kept a home button version of the Mini, Regular and 12 inch iPads in the range and then had the Pro line-up be the the FaceID range.

As things stand the minor spec differences are so numerous and arbitrary you have to really dig into the range to work out whether you are getting the best of something or not.

Although the worst thing is that Apple hasn't really delivered anything exciting to the iPad in years - my 2018 11 inch iPad Pro is really no different to the latest model.

But saying FaceID is for ‘pro’ models and TouchID/home button is for non-pro models seems arbitrary. Especially since non-pro iPhones have FaceID. What makes FaceID a pro feature?

 

[Rogifan]

Definitely need to cull the herd. mini at 329, Vanilla at 449, air at 599, pro 11" 799, pro 13" 999

What’s the point of the Air other than there’s too much of a price gap between the vanilla and pro models? Maybe Apple needs to stop caring about price gaps between non-pro and pro models and stop filling them with unnecessary products.

 

[rui no onna]

Definitely need to cull the herd. mini at 329, Vanilla at 449, air at 599, pro 11" 799, pro 13" 999

I think the older price points worked better:

Good
iPad $329

Better
iPad mini $399-499
iPad Air $499-599

Best
iPad Pro $799+

Hopefully, the vanilla iPad (which is basically a gimped Air 4) at $449 is only a temporary thing.

 

[Abazigal]

Apple needs to simplify its lineups. Having all these different models just to hit price points results in a confusing mess. What is the point of the iPad Air? The name has no meaning anymore. Who is it for, exactly?

My take:

The entry iPad for people looking to handle a few specific needs (eg: video consumption, web surfing, email etc).

The new 10th gen iPad - still aimed at education. I feel that the reason for maintaining Apple Pencil 1 support is primarily cost. The 2nd gen Apple Pencil costs more than the 1st gen (making it less accessible for schools / students). Baking in support for wireless charging would have further increased the cost, as well as making it impossible for the welcome to be shifted to landscape mode (focus is probably on video calls).

The Air is for people wanting an iPad that can handle any future use case, and don't need the bells and whistles that the pro models have. It has the same M1 chip, and uses the same accessories as the Pro. So anything the Pro can do, the Air can as well. Just maybe not as "nice".

If my 2018 iPad Pro had given way any time from this April to yesterday, I would probably have purchased the Air as a replacement, not the 2021 iPad Pro.

The Pro is for creatives and "pros" with demanding workflows which might benefit from the larger screen, LIDAR, promotion etc. Or just for people who want the best iPad experience money can buy.

I agree that "Air" doesn't mean the same thing it did anymore, but I think it still has a place in the current iPad lineup.

 

[MisterSavage]

The Pro will get it when it has a more substantial redesign. These things are so expensive however you would expect to not have to wait around for minimum a year due to Apple not wanting to pony up the costs for changes to the assembly line

Unfortunately as an iPad fan I'm used to the whole "well, we'll get that in a year" routine. At least we get the weather app this year.

 

[MacBird]

I thought I would order a new Pro to replace my 2017 10.5'' iPad Pro. Right now I'm leaning toward getting the battery of the old one replaced and revisit the options in a couple of years or once the 2017 doesn't get updates anymore.

 

[msackey]

I miss when Apple had iPad, iPad Mini and iPad Pro. That was enough. If you really want to add in the Air do it but then don’t make it so close to the iPad Pro.

I agree that Apple only needs 3 categories of iPads:
- iPad Pro (2 sizes)
- iPad regular (2 sizes if needed)
- iPad mini (1 size)

That's it! What purpose does the iPad Air serve at this point? We now not only have iPad Air, but we also have iPad 10th generation and iPad 9th generation of which all are currently being sold by the Apple Store as current lineups? WTH is that?

 

[msackey]

I thought I would order a new Pro to replace my 2017 10.5'' iPad Pro. Right now I'm leaning toward getting the battery of the old one replaced and revisit the options in a couple of years or once the 2017 doesn't get updates anymore.

Sounds like a good idea! The current lineup is a bit f-ed up. I'd wait another generation or two for the M-series of chip to be in the iPad Pro before considering an upgrade.

I bought my iPad Pro in 2020 and while the battery life is no longer like it used to be, I'm much more inclined to have the battery replaced maybe some time end of next year instead of upgrading.

 

[msackey]

I disagree.

Not enough offerings.

I'm waiting for the iPad Performa 5200.

Oh goodness...! I remember those days of the Performa. Lord, how many variations of the Performa were there? I had the Centris 650 which came out a couple years or so before the Performa line took off. After the Centris generation, we suddenly saw a plethora or Performa of which one or more of those Performas looked exactly like a Centris 650.

Apple! Quit making things so complex! Simplicity is one reason many of us are using Apple instead of going to the land of Windows and Android!

 

[mnsportsgeek]

My guess is that the 10th gen iPad will eventually replace the 9th gen iPad. It just needs another year or two for costs to come down so Apple can reduce the price further. I don't know if Apple can ever lower it enough to reach that magical $329/299 threshold, but at present, the iPad costs more because it cost more to design and make, and that's simply the reality of hardware manufacturing.

I think next year you'll see minor spec bumps for the 11th gen. A15. Maybe Apple Pencil 2 support. It'll drop to $399 and the 9th gen goes away or is only sold on the eductation store.

Or, you'll see no changes at all and it'll just drop to $399.

$329 iPad is dead. It'll have been $329 for 6.5 years next fall. $399 is the new $329.

 

[GMShadow]

I think you're right.

The iPad has always been advertised as 'thin and light' and therefore the Air branding has always felt redundant to me. It felt redundant in 2013, and it feels even more redundant now. The Air is still the lightest full-size iPad but the difference is so small you're grasping at straws really.

Fair enough the 1st gen iPad Air truly was significantly thinner and lighter than what came before, but that was just a natural development of the 9.7-inch iPad and didn't need to be rebranded 'Air'.

When the MacBook Air was introduced it made perfect sense as it genuinely was strikingly thin and it ushered in a new class of notebook computers. It booted out the optical drive and shocked the world with how it could fit in an envelope. iPad Air? Can't say the same. In fact I recall a slight giggle from the audience when Phil Shiller said it'd be called iPad Air.

From Anandtech's review of the original iPad Air:

Two weeks ago I had all but written off the bigger iPad. It was too bulky and just no where near as portable as the iPad mini. Once the latter gets a Retina Display and equal hardware across the board, why would anyone consider the bigger model?


The iPad Air changed my perspective on all of that. It really does modernize the big iPad. While I suspect there are still going to be a lot of users who prefer the smaller form factor of the iPad mini with Retina Display, I do feel like there are those users who will continue to appreciate all of the benefits that go along with having a larger display. Text is easier to read, particularly on desktop versions of websites. Photos and videos are larger and thus more engaging as well. In the past there was this complex matrix of tradeoffs that you had to make between iPad and iPad mini. This generation, Apple does away with all of that.

I think people forget how big and heavy the iPad 3 and 4 were. 1.5 pounds crammed into a 9.7" chassis was very noticeable. Also remember that Apple kept the iPad 2 around as the cheaper model until 2014, only doing a brief run of fourth gens for like six months before the Air 2 came out and the Air took the $399 spot.

 

[rui no onna]

I think people forget how big and heavy the iPad 3 and 4 were. 1.5 pounds crammed into a 9.7" chassis was very noticeable. Also remember that Apple kept the iPad 2 around as the cheaper model until 2014, only doing a brief run of fourth gens for like six months before the Air 2 came out and the Air took the $399 spot.

Yep. The older iPads are around the same weight as the iPad Pro 12.9".

I used to wish for the iPad mini back in the iPad 2-4 days but after getting the iPad Air, I changed my mind. The size and weight reduction were sufficient so I could carry the Air around everywhere (purse) instead of being limited to just the iPhone while on the go.

 

[msackey]

I think people forget how big and heavy the iPad 3 and 4 were. 1.5 pounds crammed into a 9.7" chassis was very noticeable. Also remember that Apple kept the iPad 2 around as the cheaper model until 2014, only doing a brief run of fourth gens for like six months before the Air 2 came out and the Air took the $399 spot.

I once owned an iPad Air and that was a long time ago. When the iPad Air came out, it made sense for me to move from whatever iPad I had at that time to the Air version because it was indeed quite a bit lighter. But at this point, the Air serves no purpose, really.

 

[Rogifan]

My take:

The entry iPad for people looking to handle a few specific needs (eg: video consumption, web surfing, email etc).

The new 10th gen iPad - still aimed at education. I feel that the reason for maintaining Apple Pencil 1 support is primarily cost. The 2nd gen Apple Pencil costs more than the 1st gen (making it less accessible for schools / students). Baking in support for wireless charging would have further increased the cost, as well as making it impossible for the welcome to be shifted to landscape mode (focus is probably on video calls).

The Air is for people wanting an iPad that can handle any future use case, and don't need the bells and whistles that the pro models have. It has the same M1 chip, and uses the same accessories as the Pro. So anything the Pro can do, the Air can as well. Just maybe not as "nice".

If my 2018 iPad Pro had given way any time from this April to yesterday, I would probably have purchased the Air as a replacement, not the 2021 iPad Pro.

The Pro is for creatives and "pros" with demanding workflows which might benefit from the larger screen, LIDAR, promotion etc. Or just for people who want the best iPad experience money can buy.

I agree that "Air" doesn't mean the same thing it did anymore, but I think it still has a place in the current iPad lineup.

Sorry but your explanation for the Air is weak. It’s in the lineup to fill a price gap. If it’s a good —> better —> best strategy then having two models at the low end plus a smaller size that’s more expensive than either model at the low end is confusing.

 

[audiokid]

Just have the mini, combine the 'regular' iPad with the Air and then the pros. Simple.

 

[Rogifan]

I agree that Apple only needs 3 categories of iPads:
- iPad Pro (2 sizes)
- iPad regular (2 sizes if needed)
- iPad mini (1 size)

That's it! What purpose does the iPad Air serve at this point? We now not only have iPad Air, but we also have iPad 10th generation and iPad 9th generation of which all are currently being sold by the Apple Store as current lineups? WTH is that?

It exists to fill a price gap. The 9th gen iPad is $329 (which Apple kept around so they could sell an iPad for under $400) and the 11” iPad Pro is $799. That‘s a $470 difference. I think Apple should only have iPad and iPad Pro but that is a huge price gap. Of course if the Pros are priced fairly then it is what it is and who cares.

 

[cardfan]

The new iPad lineup is a confusing, hot mess.

There is so much overlap and so many weird compromises, trying to figure out which iPad is best for whom is now an exercise in real frustration.

I'm a keen iPad user, and have been for a long time. I use them professionally and in my personal life (in accompaniment to Macs) and want to see the line up thrive.

But seriously, Tim, keep it simple.

WTF...

What’s confusing you? Looks simple enough