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iPad Isn't Apple's iPad lineup a little confusing?

F

Ffosse

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Nov 5, 2012
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Maybe it's me going senile but I think their lineup is confusing from the 2017 basic models to the Pro's and now the new iPad Air 3 or whatever it's called.

The new Mini makes sense as it is the small one.
 
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Ffosse said:
Maybe it's me going senile but I think their lineup is confusing from the 2017 basic models to the Pro's and now the new iPad Air 3 or whatever it's called.

The new Mini makes sense as it is the small one.
Click to expand...
Not confusing to me but Apple could've helped clarify things for those who are easily confused, by naming the 10.5 "Air" the iPad Plus.

They should've had a different suffix for each size...
7.9 iPad Mini = iPad Mini
9.7 iPad = iPad
10.5 Air = iPad Plus
11 Pro = iPad Pro
12.9 Pro = iPad Max
 
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Renaming the 10.5" to Air makes sense to me. The old 10.5" Pro didn't belong in terms of pricing nor naming.

The iPad Air follows the same strategy as the MacBook Air. It's a de-featured Pro with less processing power.
 
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Ffosse said:
Maybe it's me going senile but I think their lineup is confusing from the 2017 basic models to the Pro's and now the new iPad Air 3 or whatever it's called.

The new Mini makes sense as it is the small one.
Click to expand...
I totally agree

Sincerely,

Capt. Obvious
 
I'm going to hang on to my now obsolete iPad Pro 10.5. It's just that I didn't see new iPads coming. I can't believe that I bought it in July 2017; time really flies.
 
It's not really as confusing as you would think. If you look at the MacBook lineup, the iPad lineup is now analogous: iPad Pro = MacBook Pro, iPad Air = MacBook Air, iPad mini = MacBook, and iPad = old MacBook Air (2017)
 
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Steve121178 said:
My 10.5" Pro will be supported for years by Apple & developers, so why is your iPad Pro 10.5" obsolete?
Click to expand...

Sorry, I didn't mean obsolete, wrong word, I meant no longer on sale in Apple's line-up although I expect there will be retailers who still have them.
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msp3 said:
It's not really as confusing as you would think. If you look at the MacBook lineup, the iPad lineup is now analogous: iPad Pro = MacBook Pro, iPad Air = MacBook Air, iPad mini = MacBook, and iPad = old MacBook Air (2017)
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I've got a MacBook and I can see how it would compare in the Mac lineup to be similar to the iPad Mini's position.

OT a bit, but that one single USB-C port never bothered me until I decided to transfer all my iTunes music to my XS Max. 9500 songs and syncing, the Macbooks battery gave out at around 6000 songs and I had to interrupt the process when the Macbook got down to 2% battery left. I recharged it overnight and somehow managed to transfer the remaining songs without anything being corrupted. I wasn't going to pay £50 for the adaptor that gives you 2 ports. I don't use iTunes that much, I'm more a fan of Google Music but decided that I may as well put my music library on there. I also have the music uploaded to Google.

That's the biggest flaw in the MacBook - it should have come with 2 ports. I wanted to take mine into hospital as it's so much easier typing on it than my iPhone, but I ended up using my iPad, sort of a compromise between the two. I don't use my iPad very much, though and haven't even mastered everything it can do. I had the iPad mini 4 and am sure this new model will be a welcome upgrade for many who are happy with that size.
 
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msp3 said:
It's not really as confusing as you would think. If you look at the MacBook lineup, the iPad lineup is now analogous: iPad Pro = MacBook Pro, iPad Air = MacBook Air, iPad mini = MacBook, and iPad = old MacBook Air (2017)
Click to expand...
Orly? Shouldn't it be called the iPad Air 3 and the iPad Mini 5? Nah, it's not confusing /s
 
Heat_Fan89 said:
Orly? Shouldn't it be called the iPad Air 3 and the iPad Mini 5? Nah, it's not confusing /s
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To a non techy like me it was confusing at first but I read the comments here and it makes sense to me now.
 
Ffosse said:
I'm going to hang on to my now obsolete iPad Pro 10.5. It's just that I didn't see new iPads coming. I can't believe that I bought it in July 2017; time really flies.
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Obsolete?

Obsolete means that something is functionally useless, not just that it’s not the newest anymore.

*edit*
Nevermind, I see that you corrected yourself.
 
The Air modifier definitely became stupid / confusing.

Its blindingly obvious connotation is "light as air", i.e. what the original MacBook Air was when it was introduced in 2008.

Fast forward to recent years, and neither is the MacBook Air their lightest laptop, nor is the iPad Air their lightest tablet.
 
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Feels to me the 10.5 ipad is a little redundant. Apple should really cut it (or cut the 9.7) and make people go 9.7 air or 11 pro depending on their needs.
The 10.5 does not really differentiate from the 9.7.
 
Ffosse said:
Maybe it's me going senile but I think their lineup is confusing from the 2017 basic models to the Pro's and now the new iPad Air 3 or whatever it's called.

The new Mini makes sense as it is the small one.
Click to expand...

There only needs to be three, the 7,9,11 models.
 
It isn’t confusing to me personally but I can se why it’d be to, for example, my mum or a friend that isn’t that into apple or tech in general. What is confusing to me on the other hand, is the cases for the iPads, I was getting an apple case for the latest pro and boy I was confused, several IPad pro cases, some leather folios, which you’d think they’d offer for the latest pro models, since leather is a premium material but nope, only the base line iPad does. What I think they are trying to do with the iPad line is exactly what they have in the Macintosh line, MacBook, Air, Pro etc...
 
personally i think they should have 3 physical sizes and if they want to dupe the middle one so there's a lightweight specs and the Pro specs, cool.
if they really want them to be physically different than 7.9 and 9.7 for the lighters specs and 10.5/11 and 12.9 for the Pro
 
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