No, an iPad air plus is an iPad air 13... The best of everything means little in a given moment in time... The ipad air 2 had the best of everything a year before that....
It was a no brainer to get the pro iPad for me. I want the best, and am willing to pay for the best. The M2 chip is two years old at this point, which implies that an M2 iPad will be supported shorter.
Sure, it also means buying accessories all over again, but sometimes, that’s part of the fun. The ability to start over on a “clean slate” and well, the thrill of having something new and shiny to play with again.
For me, the iPad Pro (and iPads in general) are more similar to the MacBook. I use my iPhone 90% as a phone and occasionally as a general purpose computer. In contrast, my iPad Pro allows me to do 60% of what I do on my M1 Max MacBook Pro (the 40% includes production Xcode development/deployment and business process simulation). The M4 and Tandem OLED leapfrogged the MBP and improved its effectiveness as a laptop alternative for my use cases — so the price increases aren’t a surprise.
Understood. And yes, you’ve described free market dynamics and modern pricing practices perfectly — though I wouldn’t characterize the competitive scenario as “no effective competition” as there are multiple significant competitors and many options for tablet computers. It’s more that Apple has outclassed the competition and made them irrelevant.
“We were going to reprice the MacBook line when we put in OLEDs, but these forum members are making excellent arguments that we ought to do it sooner…” 😜
Which device do you need to get the work done that you want to do? Can you do it all on the iPad or can you do it all on the MacBook Pro? Or do you need both? Or is this a case of you want both but favor or be over the other until you compared the prices?
Based on inflation alone, the 2015 $800 ipad would be $1100 today. I think the improvements in memory, chips, speed, screen, sound, weight reduction and capability alone are worth more than $200 to me.
If we can agree that there is a baseline and inevitable increase in retail price due to inflation and other economic factors, both in Apple's lineup and across the entire industry, then it's less what Apple thinks the market will bear and more based on supply chain economics. The reason iPhones have increased in price less than iPads is due to scale. Apple owns the majority of the tablet market since day one, with very few competitors gaining any meaningful share since. iPad parts that are not shared with mobile phones, will be way more limited and expensive to source vs a saturated mobile phone parts mfg supply chain. The much higher volume of iPhone units sold vs iPads, also contributes to scale and lower design, support, assembly and parts sourcing costs, both of unique iPhone components and shared ones. In the supply chain world, procurement volume is a major factor in keeping assembly and component pricing down. And an iPhone will always have that advantage over the iPad. And even MacBooks have a slight advantage as well, as they are part of the wider laptop supply chain that includes MacBooks, Windows laptops and Chromebooks. There are also way more competing phone manufacturers out there, to put pressure on Apple retail pricing which may force them to reduce profit margins in response.
www.macrumors.com
1) You had the m4 ipad pro for much longer than the macbook pro has been out. Cost of buying early.
Productivity is subjective and changes Drastically for individual needs. It’s not rocket science, buy what is important to get work done. My M1 Max lacks productivity of an iPad Pro in different cases, and vice versa. I know guys who run business on iPad Pro making 7/8 figures income, and Mac isn’t an option for them.
