Speculation on upgrade cycle?

[P-Worm]

I'm a grad student that is thinking about getting an iPad as a pseudo laptop. I don't own a laptop now because there are computer labs at school so I don't need a lot of computing power. However, I do need to give frequent presentations and I think an iPad with Keynote is the perfect solution to that.

With that said, this semester is ending soon and I won't need to give presentations until September. Because of this, it really doesn't make sense for me to buy an iPad now if they are just going to update it around November in time for the holiday shopping season.

So what do you think? Is Apple going to follow an iPod upgrade cycle (roughly twice a year) or an iPhone upgrade cycle (roughly once a year)? I'm going to be pretty annoyed if new iPads always come out right before summer break -- but I guess 'dems 'da breaks sometimes, right?

P-Worm

 

[ngenerator]

iPods are yearly in September. They haven't done more frequently than that since like 2005.

I would say the iPad, like every other device from Apple, would be refreshed yearly. You'll be fine

 

[colewave]

I wouldn't be surprised to see the first iPad upgrade come before Christmas this year: maybe lighter, more memory, with built-in camera. There are going to be too many competitors that come to market before Christmas that try to one up the iPad, and Apple will want to outdo them and position the iPad as the perfect Christmas gift this year.

 

[BruiserBear]

I would personally put the odds at seeing an iPad refresh before Christmas at about 10%.

Why? Because they've only rolled the iPad out in the U.S right now, and it won't even be reaching a lot of the world for another month or more. The idea that they'd then turn around and upgrade the device just a few months later is rather unlikely.

My guess is that even if an update did his before Christmas, it would be a VERY tiny tweaking. Such as adding the camera, and that would be it.

Most likely you'll see an iPad update next Spring, which would be consistent with their updates on all their portable iPhone/iPod devices.

 

[roland.g]

I wouldn't be surprised to see the first iPad upgrade come before Christmas this year: maybe lighter, more memory, with built-in camera. There are going to be too many competitors that come to market before Christmas that try to one up the iPad, and Apple will want to outdo them and position the iPad as the perfect Christmas gift this year.

I disagree, considering an April (almost May for the 3G) launch of the iPad and the 4.0 OS release this summer, I am betting like most that the upgrade will be next year Feb-May and that if anything the iPads will go $449 base price before xmas, though it is also conceivable that it could be a year or more before the price drops. We may see a $399 base price for the 2nd generation iPad in time for xmas 2011.

 

[P-Worm]

Hmm. This is kind of obnoxious then. I guess what I can do is hold out for the summer and then about August time see if there are any rumors of an update to be seen. Frankly, I don't need the device over the summer and just the possibility of getting more space in the base model (32GB would be perfect) is worth waiting for.

P-Worm