6 ms·

Apple introduces new 9.7-inch iPad with Apple Pencil support

29 points by Osiris 9y ago

walterbell 9y ago
> advanced sensors that help deliver immersive augmented reality What are these sensors — are they present in existing iPads?
- grzm 9y ago
  Further down in the press release: > *"The new iPad is a stunning, large viewfinder for immersive AR experiences. Its Retina display, powerful chip, enhanced cameras and advanced sensors, including a gyroscope and accelerometer for accurate motion tracking, are designed to support the next generation of AR apps."
  - walterbell 9y ago
    Doesn't every iOS device have a gyroscope and accelerometer? That sentence does not name the other advanced sensors.
    - grzm 9y ago
      I believe so, yes. I only addressed your first question as to what those sensors are. (Edit to add: I neglected to do a full feature comparison because I suspected that perhaps initial iPad releases had different but was too lazy to do the research of a full feature comparison across all models.) The full sentence mentions the "new iPad", not that the sensors are necessarily new, not surprising in a press release.
      - walterbell 9y ago
        What's new is the reference to "immersive augmented reality".
        grzm 9y ago
        The whole sentence is "The new iPad is more versatile and capable than ever, features a large Retina display, the A10 Fusion chip and advanced sensors that help deliver immersive augmented reality, and provides unmatched portability, ease of use and all-day battery life." I read "that help deliver immersive augmented reality" as referring to the display, the chip, and the sensors as a whole. Even then, the "new" just refers to the new iPad, and doesn't say that "immersive augmented reality" is a new feature. Apple's been touting AR for a while now, introducing ARKit with iOS 11, so it's not surprising that they'd include it here. It's a press release, and should be read as such.
        walterbell 9y ago
        Here is the 2017 iPad press release: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2017/06/ipad-pro-10-5-and-12-9-inch-models-introduces-worlds-most-advanced-display-breakthrough-performance/ https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2017/06/ipad-pro-10-5-and-12-... It has no references to augmented reality. The only reference to sensors are for the Apple Pencil.
        grzm 9y ago
        iOS 11 wasn't released until September 2017. It not all that surprising that they'd leave out AR until it was actually available in the product.
    - GoToRO 9y ago
      Better ones. As in more precise.
      - grzm 9y ago
        Do you have a reference that this is the case? I don't see anything about that in the submission. The tech-spec pages don't provide enough detail to make a distinction (only mentioning "Three-axis gyro" and "Accelerometer"), AFAICS. - https://www.apple.com/ipad-pro/specs/ https://www.apple.com/ipad-pro/specs/ - https://www.apple.com/ipad-mini-4/specs/ https://www.apple.com/ipad-mini-4/specs/ - https://www.apple.com/ipad-9.7/specs/ https://www.apple.com/ipad-9.7/specs/
        GoToRO 9y ago
        No. no reference. I just tried to reverse engineer the marketing talk: advanced sensors -> better than the ones before. Also they talk about AR, and one problem with AR is that if the sensors are not good enough you will get a difference in position between the virtual and the real world. "Advance sensors" would help then to eliminate that difference.
        grzm 9y ago
        I think you're reading too much into it. "Advanced" doesn't necessitate any change or advancement over previous models. It's imprecise marketing speak.
decacorn 9y ago
a $300 ipad is still technology for the privileged. come back with $20 tech that the majority of underprivileged can actually afford, then you (apple) can boast about making tech ubiquitous. Until then, nothing they have made in the last 5 years has been significant.
- askafriend 9y ago
  Quite odd to make such bold, sweeping statements about the world with zero data presented.
  - oblio 9y ago
    He’s quite aggressive, but he does have a point. Apple doesn’t serve at all the bottom 20% of the world. Maybe, maybe it does so through the second hand market, which doesn’t really count cause every other manufacturer also has it. You could argue that by pushing the high end the low end is also pulled up slowly. Still doesn’t seem like a great argument.
    - askafriend 9y ago
      Why is the very first piece of criticism on something like this that Apple doesn't serve the bottom 20%? I can make that argument about tons of things unfairly. For example, does Toyota serve the bottom 20% of the world? Does Hacker News? Does Tesla? Why don't the middle 50% deserve a great experience or progress? There is A LOT of progress to be made in education in the first world. There is so much low hanging fruit. Did iPhone serve the bottom 20% of the market when it was released? No. Did it subsequently change the quality of life for the bottom 20% as it ushered in the smartphone era? Undoubtedly. Will this particular announcement do the same? Probably not, but who knows. Does it need to in order for iPad to be successful? No. Look at it this way, if a $300 iPad is easy to administer, easy to manage, easy to get children to use, easy to clean, easy to handle, useful for teachers and students, and extremely reliable - that is a huge win compared to the status quo because it will convince schools that implementing and integrating technology is both a worthwhile and easy endeavor. Can Google do something similar with Chromebooks? Sure. Is it a different approach from Apple? Yes. Are both approaches worthwhile? Probably yes, let’s see what happens.   I feel like there’s a fundamental pragmatism missing in the OP’s snap judgement and that results in something short-sighted and irrelevant. Ultimately s/he has a point but not a useful one and there are far far more useful critiques for us to be talking about.
bitmapbrother 9y ago
Is the screen laminated or are they using the same screen as on the 2017 iPad?
sxates 9y ago
>Schools can purchase iPad starting at $299 (US) and Apple Pencil for $89 (US). I'm imagining how easy it is to lose a 'pencil' in a school - at $89 each!
- musicpi 9y ago
  They also introduced a Logitech “crayon” for $49
oblib 9y ago
Looks pretty nice for the price. I'm still waiting for a new Mac Mini though.
lowlevel 9y ago
Nice, but too bad this didn't come out before I spent $2000 on the iPad Pro.
- mcphage 9y ago
  How?!
sathomasga 9y ago
Sure looks a lot like the (now discontinued) 9.7-inch iPad Pro

29 points by Osiris 9y ago

> advanced sensors that help deliver immersive augmented reality What are these sensors — are they present in existing iPads?

grzm 9y ago
Further down in the press release: > *"The new iPad is a stunning, large viewfinder for immersive AR experiences. Its Retina display, powerful chip, enhanced cameras and advanced sensors, including a gyroscope and accelerometer for accurate motion tracking, are designed to support the next generation of AR apps."
- walterbell 9y ago
  Doesn't every iOS device have a gyroscope and accelerometer? That sentence does not name the other advanced sensors.
  - grzm 9y ago
    I believe so, yes. I only addressed your first question as to what those sensors are. (Edit to add: I neglected to do a full feature comparison because I suspected that perhaps initial iPad releases had different but was too lazy to do the research of a full feature comparison across all models.) The full sentence mentions the "new iPad", not that the sensors are necessarily new, not surprising in a press release.
    - walterbell 9y ago
      What's new is the reference to "immersive augmented reality".
      - grzm 9y ago
        The whole sentence is "The new iPad is more versatile and capable than ever, features a large Retina display, the A10 Fusion chip and advanced sensors that help deliver immersive augmented reality, and provides unmatched portability, ease of use and all-day battery life." I read "that help deliver immersive augmented reality" as referring to the display, the chip, and the sensors as a whole. Even then, the "new" just refers to the new iPad, and doesn't say that "immersive augmented reality" is a new feature. Apple's been touting AR for a while now, introducing ARKit with iOS 11, so it's not surprising that they'd include it here. It's a press release, and should be read as such.
        walterbell 9y ago
        Here is the 2017 iPad press release: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2017/06/ipad-pro-10-5-and-12-9-inch-models-introduces-worlds-most-advanced-display-breakthrough-performance/ https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2017/06/ipad-pro-10-5-and-12-... It has no references to augmented reality. The only reference to sensors are for the Apple Pencil.
        grzm 9y ago
        iOS 11 wasn't released until September 2017. It not all that surprising that they'd leave out AR until it was actually available in the product.
  - GoToRO 9y ago
    Better ones. As in more precise.
    - grzm 9y ago
      Do you have a reference that this is the case? I don't see anything about that in the submission. The tech-spec pages don't provide enough detail to make a distinction (only mentioning "Three-axis gyro" and "Accelerometer"), AFAICS. - https://www.apple.com/ipad-pro/specs/ https://www.apple.com/ipad-pro/specs/ - https://www.apple.com/ipad-mini-4/specs/ https://www.apple.com/ipad-mini-4/specs/ - https://www.apple.com/ipad-9.7/specs/ https://www.apple.com/ipad-9.7/specs/
      - GoToRO 9y ago
        No. no reference. I just tried to reverse engineer the marketing talk: advanced sensors -> better than the ones before. Also they talk about AR, and one problem with AR is that if the sensors are not good enough you will get a difference in position between the virtual and the real world. "Advance sensors" would help then to eliminate that difference.
        grzm 9y ago
        I think you're reading too much into it. "Advanced" doesn't necessitate any change or advancement over previous models. It's imprecise marketing speak.

decacorn 9y ago

a $300 ipad is still technology for the privileged. come back with $20 tech that the majority of underprivileged can actually afford, then you (apple) can boast about making tech ubiquitous. Until then, nothing they have made in the last 5 years has been significant.

askafriend 9y ago
Quite odd to make such bold, sweeping statements about the world with zero data presented.
- oblio 9y ago
  He’s quite aggressive, but he does have a point. Apple doesn’t serve at all the bottom 20% of the world. Maybe, maybe it does so through the second hand market, which doesn’t really count cause every other manufacturer also has it. You could argue that by pushing the high end the low end is also pulled up slowly. Still doesn’t seem like a great argument.
  - askafriend 9y ago
    Why is the very first piece of criticism on something like this that Apple doesn't serve the bottom 20%? I can make that argument about tons of things unfairly. For example, does Toyota serve the bottom 20% of the world? Does Hacker News? Does Tesla? Why don't the middle 50% deserve a great experience or progress? There is A LOT of progress to be made in education in the first world. There is so much low hanging fruit. Did iPhone serve the bottom 20% of the market when it was released? No. Did it subsequently change the quality of life for the bottom 20% as it ushered in the smartphone era? Undoubtedly. Will this particular announcement do the same? Probably not, but who knows. Does it need to in order for iPad to be successful? No. Look at it this way, if a $300 iPad is easy to administer, easy to manage, easy to get children to use, easy to clean, easy to handle, useful for teachers and students, and extremely reliable - that is a huge win compared to the status quo because it will convince schools that implementing and integrating technology is both a worthwhile and easy endeavor. Can Google do something similar with Chromebooks? Sure. Is it a different approach from Apple? Yes. Are both approaches worthwhile? Probably yes, let’s see what happens.   I feel like there’s a fundamental pragmatism missing in the OP’s snap judgement and that results in something short-sighted and irrelevant. Ultimately s/he has a point but not a useful one and there are far far more useful critiques for us to be talking about.

bitmapbrother 9y ago

Is the screen laminated or are they using the same screen as on the 2017 iPad?

sxates 9y ago

>Schools can purchase iPad starting at $299 (US) and Apple Pencil for $89 (US). I'm imagining how easy it is to lose a 'pencil' in a school - at $89 each!

musicpi 9y ago
They also introduced a Logitech “crayon” for $49

oblib 9y ago

Looks pretty nice for the price. I'm still waiting for a new Mac Mini though.

lowlevel 9y ago

Nice, but too bad this didn't come out before I spent $2000 on the iPad Pro.

mcphage 9y ago
How?!

sathomasga 9y ago

Sure looks a lot like the (now discontinued) 9.7-inch iPad Pro