iPad iPad lineup a hot mess...

[Rogifan]

From Anandtech's review of the original iPad Air:



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.

The original iPad Air was probably one of the worst products Apple released (I didn’t own an iPad 3rd gen). If you played music or videos on it and were holding it in your hand you could feel the vibration. It only had 1GB RAM so if you had more than one tab open in Safari they would constantly re-load. It really was a terrible product.

 

[Rogifan]

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.

So in your scenario does the ‘good’ iPad get the new keyboard?

 

[GMShadow]

The original iPad Air was probably one of the worst products Apple released (I didn’t own an iPad 3rd gen). If you played music or videos on it and were holding it in your hand you could feel the vibration. It only had 1GB RAM so if you had more than one tab open in Safari they would constantly re-load. It really was a terrible product.

The music vibration is the epitome of a first world problem.

I owned one from 2013 to 2017, the first few years were just fine on Safari, and it was still tolerable up to the end of the time I owned it.

 

[rui no onna]

So in your scenario does the ‘good’ iPad get the new keyboard?

The Smart Connector and Smart Keyboard was an iPad Pro only thing before they eventually trickled down to the $329 iPad (7th gen). I was expecting the 10th gen to see support for existing accessories like the Smart Keyboard Folio and Magic Keyboard and a minor price bump to $349-379. Granted, there'll probably be very few takers for a $299 Magic Keyboard on a $300+ device.

To be honest, it also doesn't make much sense to me that Apple made a $249 keyboard accessory that only works with the $449 iPad.

 

[jclardy]

The worst part is that they made decisions worse across the entire lineup, even at the high end.

M2 iPad Pro, or M1 iPad Pro - for 99.9% of users they are identical. The "hover" is a software feature (You can enable hover labels and get the same few mm of hover support on the existing M1 iPad, so it is just software limited.)

Then they introduce the fancy new $250 keyboard accessory that I have wanted since the first iPad...and it only applies to the cheap iPad.

So as a pro user, I don't want to upgrade because I know in a year they will add a side smart connector to the next iPad pro, give it the same new keyboard (Or maybe it will support both, but either way the M2 iPad won't support the new keyboard.)

But then for the regular user...you just have no clue. I have no idea what iPad I would recommend for my Dad. There are price considerations, peripheral support considerations (which keyboard/pencil combo), display considerations (How much brightness do you need, what size.) At this point I think there are too many options which is going to end up with people just choosing none of them. Honestly just buying a used 2018 iPad Pro at this point is probably the best option for most people.

 

[MacBird]

Honestly just buying a used 2018 iPad Pro at this point is probably the best option for most people.

...or keep whatever they have for another year.

 

[Rogifan]

The music vibration is the epitome of a first world problem.

I owned one from 2013 to 2017, the first few years were just fine on Safari, and it was still tolerable up to the end of the time I owned it.

Glad it worked out for you. It was the worst iPad experience I’ve ever had.

 

[Rogifan]

The Smart Connector and Smart Keyboard was an iPad Pro only thing before they eventually trickled down to the $329 iPad (7th gen). I was expecting the 10th gen to see support for existing accessories like the Smart Keyboard Folio and Magic Keyboard and a minor price bump to $349-379. Granted, there'll probably be very few takers for a $299 Magic Keyboard on a $300+ device.

To be honest, it also doesn't make much sense to me that Apple made a $249 keyboard accessory that only works with the $449 iPad.

Very little of the iPad line makes sense right now.

 

[rui no onna]

Very little of the iPad line makes sense right now.

Take out the 10th gen and to me it looks fine (same as it's been since 2019).

You've got good/low end - better/mid-range - best/high end in the 10-11" range (probably their most popular size class) plus two niche sizes: Mini (mid-range) and 12.9" (high end). The 10th gen's really the one muddying the waters.

Fewer reasons to upgrade though given performance of even 4 year old iPads are pretty good.

 

[pedregosa]

I may be in a minority here, but as a 2020 IPP 11 user, I find the new iPad 10 addresses two of my main wishes -- repositioned camera (I use my iPad a lot for Zoom, etc., and the current position sucks) plus function keys on the keyboard. The pencil issue doesn't bother me as I don’t use the pencil much anyway. Main downside of the new model compared with my old IPP is probably the lack of a laminated screen.

 

[rui no onna]

I may be in a minority here, but as a 2020 IPP 11 user, I find the new iPad 10 addresses two of my main wishes -- repositioned camera (I use my iPad a lot for Zoom, etc., and the current position sucks) plus function keys on the keyboard. The pencil issue doesn't bother me as I don’t use the pencil much anyway. Main downside of the new model compared with my old IPP is probably the lack of a laminated screen.

That's why it's out of place. The iPad 10th gen redesign makes it better than both the Air 5 and even the newly released M2 Pro 11" in some areas but worse in others.

Without the 10th gen, good-better-best is pretty clear even if the difference between better-best may not be that huge.

 

[pedregosa]

That's why it's out of place. The iPad 10th gen redesign makes it better than both the Air 5 and even the newly released M2 Pro 11" in some areas but worse in others.

Agree. But looked at on its own, as opposed to as part of something trying to be a coherent line-up, it can still make sense for some use cases. Tempted to get it while Apple is still willing to pay me $330 for my 2020 IPP.

 

[DeepSix]

I remember the last time you guys did honey on a pizza, it changed my life. I am going to make the drive to get one of these!

 

[Abazigal]

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.

The two aren’t mutually exclusive. You are right in that there is a gap between the iPad Pro and the base iPad, both in terms of price and specs.

That’s where the iPad Air comes in. It gives you the core functionality of an iPad (most importantly, the M1 chip required to power stage manager), at a more affordable price (accomplished by taking away the features most people won’t need, like promotion).

Likewise, my guess is that the 10th gen iPad will eventually replace the 9th gen one. It may need an additional year or two for costs to come down enough to further lower the price.

It’s kinda like the iPhone vs iPhone Pro paradigm. It doesn’t always line up nicely, but I will say that there is a method to the madness here.

 

[Rogifan]

Take out the 10th gen and to me it looks fine (same as it's been since 2019).

You've got good/low end - better/mid-range - best/high end in the 10-11" range (probably their most popular size class) plus two niche sizes: Mini (mid-range) and 12.9" (high end). The 10th gen's really the one muddying the waters.

Fewer reasons to upgrade though given performance of even 4 year old iPads are pretty good.

OK but it exists. And one could quibble as to whether the 10th gen or the Air is the one muddying the waters. The Air is very close in specs to the smaller iPad Pro.

 

[Rogifan]

The two aren’t mutually exclusive. You are right in that there is a gap between the iPad Pro and the base iPad, both in terms of price and specs.

That’s where the iPad Air comes in. It gives you the core functionality of an iPad (most importantly, the M1 chip required to power stage manager), at a more affordable price (accomplished by taking away the features most people won’t need, like promotion).

Likewise, my guess is that the 10th gen iPad will eventually replace the 9th gen one. It may need an additional year or two for costs to come down enough to further lower the price.

It’s kinda like the iPhone vs iPhone Pro paradigm. It doesn’t always line up nicely, but I will say that there is a method to the madness here.

Right now the 10th gen and Air are muddying the waters. If you think of it in terms of good, better and best what is considered the “better” model? The 10th gen or the Air? Or do we completely ignore the 9th gen and then the 10th becomes the “good’ model? But Apple left the 9th gen in the lineup presumably because they thought the price of the 10th gen was too high for an entry level iPad. Btw, in the UK if you buy this new iPad, with the new keyboard and get the cellular option you’re spending over £1,000. That’s crazy.

Edit: I should add…none of these iPads are bad iPads.Yes, I think they should have figured out how to make the 10th gen work with Apple Pencil 2 but otherwise it’s a good iPad. I use a 12.9” Pro and I love it. I‘d love a landscape camera and function keys on the Magic Keyboard but other than that it’s great. The problem isn’t the products are bad but that the lineups are convoluted and confusing. And there aren’t a lot of differences between models to make it easy for you to know which one to buy.

 

[rui no onna]

OK but it exists. And one could quibble as to whether the 10th gen or the Air is the one muddying the waters. The Air is very close in specs to the smaller iPad Pro.

The iPad Air 5 is close but in no way is it better than the iPad Pro 11" (unless you prefer TouchID). Accessories support is the same, too. MSRP could be more affordable though. The 2019 Air was $499.

Of course, the Air 5 is on sale pretty much all the time now for $519 on Amazon so there's that.

 

[Abazigal]

Right now the 10th gen and Air are muddying the waters. If you think of it in terms of good, better and best what is considered the “better” model? The 10th gen or the Air? Or do we completely ignore the 9th gen and then the 10th becomes the “good’ model? But Apple left the 9th gen in the lineup presumably because they thought the price of the 10th gen was too high for an entry level iPad. Btw, in the UK if you buy this new iPad, with the new keyboard and get the cellular option you’re spending over £1,000. That’s crazy.

Edit: I should add…none of these iPads are bad iPads.Yes, I think they should have figured out how to make the 10th gen work with Apple Pencil 2 but otherwise it’s a good iPad. I use a 12.9” Pro and I love it. I‘d love a landscape camera and function keys on the Magic Keyboard but other than that it’s great. The problem isn’t the products are bad but that the lineups are convoluted and confusing. And there aren’t a lot of differences between models to make it easy for you to know which one to buy.

I would also like to question just how relevant this “good better best” product line is today.

It worked for Apple back when it was on the verge of bankruptcy and had limited resources and had to be extremely focused on which products to design. It has its merits, but it also meant that a large swath of the population wasn’t served by Apple’s products back then.

I think the issue is that many people here on Macrumours are more tech savvy and would automatically opt for the device which has everything. They have difficulty seeing why someone would select an iPad model which cost $100 less with a feature set that is in between the two.

Apple sees this, and they are open to giving consumers more hardware choice, which in turn leads to more iPads being purchased. This is how Apple grows their user base.

I am confused at how people have no issues navigating the myriad of android phones in circulation, yet look at the 5-6 iPad models that Apple sells and act like it’s some complex mathematical conundrum that would make Einstein quiver.

 

[JPack]

Apple sells 8 iPhones concurrently, but nobody is confused. When Apple offers 6 iPads, some people think it’s a “mess”?

At the end of the day, you have some people who think inflation does not exist and the $329 iPad will continue forever with upgrades.

 

[Abazigal]

OK but it exists. And one could quibble as to whether the 10th gen or the Air is the one muddying the waters. The Air is very close in specs to the smaller iPad Pro.

The way I see it is - do you want / need Lidar, promotion, quad speakers, the nicer screen? It's sorta like the iPhone 13 / 13 pro max paradigm. Do you just need a basic iPhone, or are you happy to pay more for a better camera and promotion?

To add on, I feel the iPad mini is mainly geared towards enterprise and institutions that would benefit from a smaller tablet (maybe hospitals?) while the 9th gen iPad is catered at schools (who are more price sensitive). Which is why I am questioning the "good, better, best" lineup when it's pretty clear that Apple is deviating from this in order to cater to as many use cases as possible. Which doesn't seem like a bad thing in itself given that, as has been pointed out above, the company happens to be managed by a supply chain wiz who should be able to minimise the parts and components they need to order.

I agree the old Apple wouldn't have done this, not because it made bad business sense, but because they simply didn't have the bandwidth for it back then. The Apple of today does, and so they do.

As to why the "air" branding exists, possibly because you already have the base iPad, so you can't have just iPad (the current iPad Air) / iPad Pro. So you need a name for the iPad in between the base iPad and the iPad Pro. Hence "Air" just for a familiar suffix, even if it really isn't all that thin or light.

Give it another year or two, but I find that Apple's product lineup remains fairly lean for a company of their size.

 

[bassexpander]

I see this as Apple pre-thinking the coming price drops on everything. Bezos said it... the economy is in a shambles. Apple is just pricing high now to leave room for "amazing discounts" later (discounts that won't actually be that great, given their real target price). They are setting the stage for something to talk about, so they create buzz and sell in an otherwise poor economy.

These high prices are being priced up now to price down "on steep discount" in 6 months.

 

[Mac47]

Keeping the first-generation Apple Pencil is the worst decision they made. Of course, if this 10th gen iPad had supported the 2nd gen Pencil 2, it would have cannibalized most sales of the iPad Air (and maybe some of the Pros?).

That’s about the only thing that doesn’t make sense to me. Non-laminated screen and inferior SoC are quite clear differentiation from the Air. The price is also a bit high, but…inflation. Not surprising.

It’s easy to make it seem like the iPad lines are confusing, but they really aren’t. There’s a basic tier, a better tier (Air and the Mini, which is basically a shrunken Air), and a best tier (Pro).

 

[Flash1420]

They should have used the iPad Air 3 design for the base iPad and keep it cheap.

 

[krell100]

At this point Apple seems to be embracing complexity. The iPad lineup is weird and the MacBooks aren't far behind either. Strangely its the desktops that actually make sense for a change.. although with M2 I'm sure Apple can completely fark that up too.

 

[teh_hunterer]

I think the Air 5 is a good option. Great performance and longevity at a lower price point for those who don't need all the bells and whistles of the Pro 11.

It's really just the 10th gen that's out of place.

Something isn't right though. Maybe the Air is fine, but it's too close to the 11" Pro. Could be the 11" Pro's fault. It should have mini LED or OLED and a centred camera.

Possibly without the all the world issues over the last couple of years, they might have had a meaningful update for the Pros ready by now and this lineup might not have looked so bizarre. The new base model iPad might have been able to completely replace the old one at its price point as well - something they have have planned but isn't possible now because of inflation.