It’s always interesting to see how they innovate around the goal of making something gimped and cheap
“Mega Margin Machines” if you will
“Mega Margin Machines” if you will
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New Entry-Level iPad Now Expected to Arrive in Spring 2025
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How about a 90 Hz ProMotion screen for the iPad Air (and next MacBook Air, iPad mini, and regular iPhones)? Call it ProMotion, but bump the screens on the super premium devices (iPhone Pro, iPad Pro, MacBook Pro) to 144 Hz "ProMotion+" in their next models. The iPhone SE and base iPad remain at 60 Hz for the time being.
I think a US$399 starting list price (US$359 for education) is tolerable. For 96 or 128 GB of flash storage, Wi-Fi only, non-laminated display, A16 processor, 8GB of RAM, and maybe 2 or 3 colors (if Apple wants to reserve "special" colors for higher spec models, to play those pricing games). Keep the iPad 10 around for a while at US$329 (US$289 education).
The most funny thing is that Pro iPads are lighter than Air. Also, the difference between the 11 Pro and 11 Air is only 16 grams. So Air now means nothing really, maybe just that it is lighter on your wallet compared to the Pro.
That is pretty funny .. lol
Apple tried to abandon the "Air" names in the 2010's and I think they saw a noticeable sales hit
The Air branding, because of how amazing the 13" MBA was in that decade, has really really stuck with consumers.
This would make sense, as the iPad doesn't really need anything faster than A16 from a non-AI performance point of view, but...
This is an assumption, and a big one at that, but we have no real evidence this is the case. If Apple wanted A17 Pro in the base iPad, they would have planned for it. (Note that not all binned chips are actually defective.)
I agree A18 is quite unlikely, but that still doesn't rule out A17 Pro.
Either way, the SoC is less of a concern to me for real world usage, AI notwithstanding. I'll likely be buying the next iPad, and what I really want to see is 6 to 8 GB RAM (the latter perhaps needed for AI) and 128 GB storage. The SoC is of secondary interest. To put it another way, for the entry level iPad:
A16 / 4 GB / 64 GB - I wouldn't buy this unless they lowered the price.
A16 / 6 GB / 64 GB - I'd be OK with this if the price is right.
A16 / 6 GB / 128 GB - I'd be very pleased with this, if they didn't raise the base price.
A17 / 8 GB / 64 GB - I'd be OK with this, but it would be a bit of a let down. I'd rather have 128 GB than A17.
A17 / 8 GB / 128 GB - This would be amazing, if they didn't raise the base price.
I figured that they were waiting to add an A17 or A18 so that they can have all new products support AI features.
I imagine Apple Watch 11 could be next.
I imagine Apple Watch 11 could be next.
A16 would be absolutely find for the average iPad user, but Apple has been pushing so heavily on Apple Intelligence in its adverts over the last month that I find it hard to believe that they wouldn't want this device to have it too so they can highlight that their complete iOS/iPadOS/MacOS lineup has AI access.
We've heard all year that Apple (and TSMC) want to get off the first gen 3 nm line / A17Pros and onto the second gen / A18 line due to lower per chips costs. I believe that the all the binned A17Pro chips that weren't up to iPhone 15 Pro standards will be used in the iPad Minis. If I am wrong, surely it would make sense for the non-binned / full GPU A17Pros to ship in the more expensive Mini and the binned / lower GPU count A17Pros to ship in the cheaper, base iPad.
My point was that "binned" chips don't actually have to be defective. They can be fully functioning chips that were "binned" purely for marketing purposes. There is a long history of many companies doing this. In fact, Apple is doing this right now with memory chips for the iPad Pro. It is using 6 GB chips with 2 GB deactivated per chip.
If Apple wanted to use A17 Pro in the base iPad, they would have just planned for it.
Neither, just a criticism. Which was what happened when Steve Jobs came back to Apple when their product lineup was similarly bloated
They should just put the A20 Pro in the base iPad and then they wouldn’t have to update it for 5 plus years.
"Deep into the development of an entry-level 11th-generation iPad"
As in, they are adding USB-C to the device... Going SUPER DEEP!
As in, they are adding USB-C to the device... Going SUPER DEEP!
You’d think they would want to get these out before Christmas … never understood the springtime launch of products
The new iPad will definitely have the M1 chip, just like the old iPad Air. The old iPad Air had the M1 chip, so it’s a safe bet. It’ll also support Apple’s intelligence features, but only the USB-C Apple Pencil. Book mark me 😉
Not a chance. Like the iPad mini, the new iPad will not get an M series chip. Bookmark me.
Agreed. It would be fair enough if the Mini 8 (rumoured to have OLED of some sort) came before the Air 7 - and surely that would make sense for Apple since if Air users then wanted OLED and were annoyed that the Mini had it first, they could just buy a Pro. Users of the 8.3 inch size are the only ones without an OLED option.
The Air 4 was essentially a Mini 6, but with the latter having a later chip reflecting the fact it came a year later. If we take the Air 6 as a rough equivalent to the Mini 7, the Air has already had an extra refresh.
I’ve said in other threads that A17 Pro was an odd choice, with a binned version of the latest A18 Pro looking like better value to Mini users while everyone else buying a mid range model gets a M chip. That would have cleared the way for the base model to get A17 without the lineup turning into a mess - having the Pro version of the same generation of chip isn’t reason enough to pay the Mini premium. But if it means a shorter gap between Mini updates this time around, that will be welcome.
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Maybe that explains the iPhone Air...
The A18 is cheaper than the A17 Pro. Smaller die size and uses cheaper TSMC N3E process. The N3B process was discontinued by TSMC so these are using their inventory of parts.
All A18s are needed early on for the iPhone launch, but there will be more than enough for the base iPad by the end of the year.
Apple using more N3E capacity is a good thing for them. It prevents their competitors from using it, and Apple has agreements to get first dibs.