Obscene iPad Pro pricing

[sracer]

If that's the case I would buy it in a heartbeat. I don't understand for the life of me why Apple would not just reassure potential buyers this will be the case.

Because there's no guarantee that those nebulous "big changes" will ever see the light of day. And you know if Apple didn't deliver on the specifics they promised, even the faithful would have torches and pitchforks in hand.

Why would the promise of some "big changes" to iOS convince you to buy an iPad Pro now? What would need to be in iOS 13 to sway you to buy now?

 

[richpjr]

If that's the case I would buy it in a heartbeat. I don't understand for the life of me why Apple would not just reassure potential buyers this will be the case.

Buying a product with the hope that the vendor will eventually release updates to it that make it more useful will often lead to disappointment. Clearly Apple will continue to upgrade iOS, but people are clamoring for mouse support, file system support, better multi-tasking and all kinds of things. Who knows if any of them are in Apple's plans or when they will be added, so the smart thing is to buy something for what it does today. Any upgrades in the future are a bonus.

 

[digitalcuriosity]

Was in Best Buy today i talked to an iPad salesman told him the Apple pricing ,for the 2018 iPads and related items like new pen and keyboard just was pushing the limits.
He just started showing me how pen worked and went into a sales pitch for me to get a Best Buy credit card, this way I could get a discount on items bought.
I never asked for the demo or how to pay for iPad,just said thanks and walked off.

 

[martyhimself]

Why would the promise of some "big changes" to iOS convince you to buy an iPad Pro now? What would need to be in iOS 13 to sway you to buy now?

If Apple would have released some sort of roadmap it would give me more confidence to buy it.

For me personally I would like to see support for iOS development in Xcode on iPad, or the promise of premium games that use the alleged power 'equivalent to the XBox One S' and run exclusively on iPad Pro. They could work with games publishers to achieve that, easily.

Or some sort of reassure that they plan to capitalize on the power of that chip beyond photographer / graphic designer workflows.

 

[sracer]

If Apple would have released some sort of roadmap it would give me more confidence to buy it.

For me personally I would like to see support for iOS development in Xcode on iPad, or the promise of premium games that use the alleged power 'equivalent to the XBox One S' and run exclusively on iPad Pro. They could work with games publishers to achieve that, easily.

Or some sort of reassure that they plan to capitalize on the power of that chip beyond photographer / graphic designer workflows.

Here's Apple's roadmap: the hardware makes great strides with every generation, the OS and software make small incremental steps.

You can count on the iPad Pro hardware having a significant improvement in 15-18 months. You can count on iOS having "major" enhancements every 36 months. (depending upon your definition of "major"...if it includes emojis, then every 12 months )

 

[martyhimself]

if it includes emojis, then every 12 months

Right that's me convinced I'm off to the Apple Store right now.

 

[DNichter]

+1

YMMV but I am really impressed with my new IPP 11”

Using it with a regular Bluetooth keyboard (Logitech 480 $20) feels like a touchscreen mac sans Excel (that’s the holy grail). But Safari feels faster, email is a breeze, PDF look amazing (the screen is the best).

Using in my hands, like right now, feels like the perfect couch computer. SJ would be proud.

I agree. There’s old video of Jobs describing a thin client that can attach to a dock to be used with a larger monitor in the future. I think Apple is finally starting to move towards his long term vision for the iPad. I see nothing but progress for the platform over the next 3-5 years. It actually gives me a nice sigh of relief to jump in now, adjust my workflows, and then be in an extremely flexible position for the future. I have been very happy going iPad only.

 

[VMMan]

I’m okay with the iPad prices. The iPhones, well, that’s a different story.

 

[PanAm-L1011]

I had a Surface Pro at work. I hated it. I have a Surface Book now at work and I absolutely hate it. It is an every day headache. It's literally always something. It's annoying. It's frustrating. I've had Samsung phones and tablets, which were fun in a lot of ways, but also did annoying things that really frustrated my OCD self. I pay Apple's prices because their products do what they say they are going to do, and they work like they should every minute of every day. For me, the lack of constant headaches is worth paying extra for.

I'm not an Apple Fan Boy and I don't blindly follow Apple. As soon as another company can do something as well/or better than Apple, then I'll jump ship. Until then, I'm sticking with what's reliable. In the long run that just makes life easier.

 

[rocknblogger]

I love my iPad Air 2, and I was hoping to upgrade to the new iPad Pro.

I am able to afford the tablet and I don't mind paying an Apple 'premium' because I know it will pay itself back in terms of reliability, resale value and what not.

However, for me, the recent iPad Pro price points cross over into the 'obscene'.

Over here in the UK the 128Gb / 8Gb Surface Go was available last weekend with a keyboard for £509. The iPad Pro (256Gb / 4Gb with Smart Keyboard Folio, which I think is a fair comparison) comes to a whopping £1098.

That's over double the price for a 'computer' with a crippled OS. If I knew it would be a good future investment because Apple is planning a major overhaul of iOS I may be persuaded.

Does anyone else find it impossible to justify purchasing Apple products anymore?

I agree 100% with you. I too have the Air 2 and was also planning to upgrade this year. Now I don’t think I will.

The iPad Air 2 was the last “prosumer” iPad. What I mean by that is that the only difference back then was storage capacity. Now you have; entry level, low end pro, high end pro. It’s become ridiculous.

Apple priced the iPad to make it accessible to just about anyone and with features being the same across all models. Until recently. Now they offer the low end model and a high end model with enough difference in features that I, as a pro/tech enthusiast, would only want the high end model. I can surely afford it but it’s a matter of principal and the fact that I no longer think the high end models are a good value anymore.

I’m actually really glad that I didn’t wait one more year and bought the iPad Air 2 when I did. I think Apple is becoming an evil disgusting company that no longer cares about the user experience the way they did under different leadership.

I have an iPhone XS which I now plan to keep until it is no longer usable. I’m not sure what I’ll do at that point.
I have a rMBP 2013 that I was planing on upgrading in 2017 but again I find the value proposition a poor one. I don’t want the damn touch bar and I don’t like the keyboard. And yes I borrowed a friends 2017 model for a week when he went on vacation, so I know what it feels like and how it functions. It’s not a piece of crap but it doesn’t feel as good as my 2013. I honestly don’t know what I’ll do once mine becomes too slow.

I have a high end PC I built myself for gaming and my work (photography) so I’m very familiar with Windows which I have zero problems with. I’d hate to give up macOS but the increases in price are simply too much to ignore.

Apologies for being long winded but I’m angry with Apple for how they’re treating their longtime loyal customers.

 

[zhenya]

It seems pretty obvious to me that Apple is now positioning the iPad Pro more in-line with Microsoft Surface Pro and traditional laptop pricing. Arguably it’s a pretty good deal in comparison to the Surface.

With the current 9.7” iPad starting at $329, in some ways, the iPad is more capable and more affordable than ever. Apple is simply drawing a hard line between the consumer line and Pro lines. Your ‘Prosumer’ line is now the 10.5” Pro.

Have you seen the pricing of the new Pixel Slate?

 

[ActionableMango]

Does anyone else find it impossible to justify purchasing Apple products anymore?

At that price I would find it difficult.

However I have found that if I have patience I can avoid paying MSRP. For example I bought iPad Pro 12.9" Gen 2, on sale 4 months after release, for $550 (£431). It's MSRP is $800, so that's $250 off (about 1/3 off), just for waiting a few months for a good sale.

Of course I don't have time to constantly be on the lookout for a great deal, so I use a service like slickdeals.net. There you can set up an alert for "ipad pro" for example, and when a deal happens that matches the keywords, I get notified. I don't know if there is an equivalent for the UK.

 

[AppleHaterLover]

It seems pretty obvious to me that Apple is now positioning the iPad Pro more in-line with Microsoft Surface Pro and traditional laptop pricing. Arguably it’s a pretty good deal in comparison to the Surface.

With the current 9.7” iPad starting at $329, in some ways, the iPad is more capable and more affordable than ever. Apple is simply drawing a hard line between the consumer line and Pro lines. Your ‘Prosumer’ line is now the 10.5” Pro.

Have you seen the pricing of the new Pixel Slate?

I don't think the iPad is "more capable than ever". The current iPad is a 2013 iPad Air with an iPhone 7 processor and Apple Pencil support and that's it.

And I think its days as a $329 device are numbered. Next March they will give it the A11, say it is the best thing since sliced bread, give it a new color and that's $429 please.

They're not "drawing a line", they're increasing prices for the sake of it, full stop.

 

[zhenya]

I don't think the iPad is "more capable than ever". The current iPad is a 2013 iPad Air with an iPhone 7 processor and Apple Pencil support and that's it.

And I think its days as a $329 device are numbered. Next March they will give it the A11, say it is the best thing since sliced bread, give it a new color and that's $429 please.

They're not "drawing a line", they're increasing prices for the sake of it, full stop.

A $329 device compatible with the best stylus on the market is a pretty big deal. That’s what’s pretty much getting ignored in this uproar - everyone is focused on the fact that the iPad Pro has been re-positioned up-market, while the bread and butter iPad that suits the vast majority of users has seen a dramatic drop in price. Apple is simply bifurcating the two lines more clearly now. Yes, there will be some backlash initially because previously there has generally been only one new model of iPad.

 

[AppleHaterLover]

A $329 device compatible with the best stylus on the market is a pretty big deal. That’s what’s pretty much getting ignored in this uproar - everyone is focused on the fact that the iPad Pro has been re-positioned up-market, while the bread and butter iPad that suits the vast majority of users has seen a dramatic drop in price. Apple is simply bifurcating the two lines more clearly now. Yes, there will be some backlash initially because previously there has generally been only one new model of iPad.

The base iPad has been priced at $329 since 2017. And stylus support aside it's 2013-14 technology.

What you call "bifurcarting the lines" means they're increasing the prices for no reason whatsoever and guess what, consumers didn't like it.

There hasn't been "only one new model of iPad" generally. In early years, we've had the iPad 3,4 and Mini in the same year, then iPad Air 1,2 and several iPad Minis. We've seen the iPad Pro in 2015, then only a few months later the 9.7, Pro, then in 2017 we had 3 new iPads, and this year it's the same story. Only last year prices were reasonable.

"Re-positioned up-market" is corporate meeting room-speak for "let's jack up the prices and hope it sticks". We have our day jobs, corporate iPhones and receive salaries to defend large corporations during work hours. We'd benefit from looking at ourselves as the consumers we are, with very little power, from time to time.

 

[Commy1]

I think the only reason people have any issue with the pricing is iOS. This new hardware is awesome, it isnt inconceivable that iPadOS is released in the foreseeable future and people see and iPad as more than a way to keep their kids quiet.

 

[haruhiko]

I had a Surface Pro at work. I hated it. I have a Surface Book now at work and I absolutely hate it. It is an every day headache. It's literally always something. It's annoying. It's frustrating. I've had Samsung phones and tablets, which were fun in a lot of ways, but also did annoying things that really frustrated my OCD self. I pay Apple's prices because their products do what they say they are going to do, and they work like they should every minute of every day. For me, the lack of constant headaches is worth paying extra for.

I'm not an Apple Fan Boy and I don't blindly follow Apple. As soon as another company can do something as well/or better than Apple, then I'll jump ship. Until then, I'm sticking with what's reliable. In the long run that just makes life easier.

Don't know why people need to make this statement. After praising Apple and its products one must proclaim that he or she is not an Apple fanboy to prevent being attacked by the others. How sad it is.

 

[threeonthetree]

It is definitely overpriced however you justify it. Mine was almost $1800 CAN with the keyboard. After two weeks I cannot justify the cost with the kind of use I have for it, so I returned it to Apple.

 

[OLDGUYWITHAHIFI]

I love my iPad Air 2, and I was hoping to upgrade to the new iPad Pro.

I am able to afford the tablet and I don't mind paying an Apple 'premium' because I know it will pay itself back in terms of reliability, resale value and what not.

However, for me, the recent iPad Pro price points cross over into the 'obscene'.

Over here in the UK the 128Gb / 8Gb Surface Go was available last weekend with a keyboard for £509. The iPad Pro (256Gb / 4Gb with Smart Keyboard Folio, which I think is a fair comparison) comes to a whopping £1098.

That's over double the price for a 'computer' with a crippled OS. If I knew it would be a good future investment because Apple is planning a major overhaul of iOS I may be persuaded.

Does anyone else find it impossible to justify purchasing Apple products anymore?

Anyone who weighs the value of a purchase over impulse or peer pressure may agree.

 

[omelet1978]

So I was able to get a Black Friday deal which cut off $100 and there was no sales tax, so by doing that I feel that I bought mine for about the price that it was worth. IPad Pro 11 256gb w/ LTE with AppleCare for $1000 even. I’d say that if you can find a sale of some sorts it’s worth the update, but it’s not worth paying full price plus taxes for.

 

[OLDGUYWITHAHIFI]

I had a Surface Pro at work. I hated it. I have a Surface Book now at work and I absolutely hate it. It is an every day headache. It's literally always something. It's annoying. It's frustrating. I've had Samsung phones and tablets, which were fun in a lot of ways, but also did annoying things that really frustrated my OCD self. I pay Apple's prices because their products do what they say they are going to do, and they work like they should every minute of every day. For me, the lack of constant headaches is worth paying extra for.

I'm not an Apple Fan Boy and I don't blindly follow Apple. As soon as another company can do something as well/or better than Apple, then I'll jump ship. Until then, I'm sticking with what's reliable. In the long run that just makes life easier.

Why did you hate the Surface line AND the Samsung lines? I find it coincidental that both were not Apple, yet Apple can do no wrong. I too love Apple products, but they are limiting in many ways. The eco-system can be a burden and counter productive in my opinion.

 

[PanAm-L1011]

Why did you hate the Surface line AND the Samsung lines? I find it coincidental that both were not Apple, yet Apple can do no wrong. I too love Apple products, but they are limiting in may ways. The eco-system can be a burden and counter productive in my opinion.

I absolutely agree the Apple eco-system is limited. And, no, Apple can do wrong. There are things that annoy me about Apple products, but they are really little things, like the camera bump. Not the things that annoyed me with Microsoft and Samsung.

I hate the Surface line because the laptop drives me nuts. It constantly changes the way my docking works with my two monitors with no rhyme or reason. I get updates at the most inconvenient times and it takes 20+ minutes usually. It crashes. It’s a pain to hard reboot.

Samsung I loved in so many ways. I loved the customization of Android. I loved the cool features, although most of them were fun at first then I never used them. I didn’t like the never-appearing software updates, syncing music was imposssible, and Android was buggy.

I know Apple is limited. I wish in someways there was more customization options. I don’t know what allowing that would do to the stability of iOS, but perhaps we’ll get more in the future. Apple isn’t perfect, but I never have bugs, it works as it says it will work, it works all the the time, it’s simple to use yet offers some cool features, and their customer service is the best. Those are among the reasons I keep coming back.

 

[haruhiko]

Some Apple products are good =/= Apple can do no wrong
It's simple logic.
Why someone can't hate on the Surface line and the Samsung line?
You can hate on Apple too.

Whether you can convince the others to hate on the same is another issue.

 

[Booji]

For the first time since the beginnings of both the iPhone & iPad, I'm not upgrading. Going to hold on to my iPhone X & iPP 12.9 & see where the wind blows. The new prices just don't rest well with me. Unfortunate.

I'm the same way. After years of upgrading on every cycle, this time I am not.

What puzzles me is that Apple, in business science circles, has always been sighted as true experts in product pricing. I think now they have lost the plot.

IMHO, the new Pros should have been priced the same, or even a bit lower than last year's models, plus allow for the sharing of last year's accessories (keyboard, Pencil).

 

[martyhimself]

I don't have time to constantly be on the lookout for a great deal, so I use a service like slickdeals.net. There you can set up an alert for "ipad pro" for example, and when a deal happens that matches the keywords, I get notified. I don't know if there is an equivalent for the UK.

I don't think there are ever any deals on current gen Apple products in the UK, but I may be mistaken.

That and also there was a price hike after the Brexit referendum due to exchange rate changes. It's funny but I doubt we'll see prices readjusted in favour of consumers when the exchange rate goes the other way.
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I had a Surface Pro at work. I hated it. I have a Surface Book now at work and I absolutely hate it. It is an every day headache. It's literally always something.

This is one of the reasons I love iOS. The API's are so tightly controlled the experience is almost flawless. But that control means you are very much at the mercy of the company exerting the control.

It's funny how for a lot of people there is still such a gap between the experience on work devices (by and large PC's running Windows) and the use of consumer devices (iPad). I remember an interview with Steve Jobs where he talked about wanting to disrupt the workspace as well, it would be interesting what he would make of today's situation.