13 ms·

Apple has unveiled the new seventh-gen iPad

116 points by artsandsci 7y ago

forgotmyhnacc 7y ago
I have the iPad Air 2, released in 2014 and looks identical to the new iPad released today. It has the latest OS updates and it's never had any performance issues. Why would someone upgrade from this 5 year old device?
- r00fus 7y ago
  Arguably they wouldn't. This is for folks who want to buy their first iPad or are upgrading from Air1 or previous.
- spike021 7y ago
  They gave a number, something like 60% of new iPad owners are buying in at this level. Assuming there's truth to that number then this is meant as an entry-level iPad, not an "upgrade".
- cma 7y ago
  One reason people might upgrade from that one is I think Apple Pencil isn't supported on the 2014.
- nickthegreek 7y ago
  pencil support, better gaming, or 1 yr of tv+ service that I believe comes with all new apple products are some possible reasons. Screen is also slightly bigger. You could always hustle that Air 2 for a decent amount and pick up the new one for a great deal.
- hadlock 7y ago
  We're going to buy an iPad for our boat to keep track of systems (they all have bluetooth now, especially the solar power stuff) and gps/navigation/charts ("maps"), plus have a copy of all the manuals in PDF ready to go. Also it interfaces with the onboard navigational sensors via a wifi gateway. It will probably live on the boat for 8-10 years before it's replaced, but since it's expected to have a long lifespan we want one with a new battery. Also also, the newer models are typically IPX-something rated (waterproof/resistant-esque) better than the old models. Not everyone bought in to the tablet craze in the first few years.
  - js2 7y ago
    None of the iPads have any splash, water, or dust resistance rating. Only iPhone 7 and later, and the Apple Watch have ratings: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207043 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207043 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205000 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205000 You should definitely put any iPad in a case if you need water resistance.
  - barkingcat 7y ago
    I don't think an ipad would last 8 years. Some of the existing models will have bulging batteries within 2 years. Add the water / wet environment, and as a previous poster says - no waterproof/resistant rating. Put it in a watertight case, and expect to change it within 3 years.
    - java-man 7y ago
      not to say some software that used to work stops for no (valid) reason (skype).
    - Tomte 7y ago
      My iPad Air 1st gen (that's from six years ago) is still working fine. It got a little sluggish, but iOS 12 made it fast again.
    - donarb 7y ago
      I have an original iPad I got the first day they came out (April 2010). Still works and the battery still charges. Only bad part is the OS is stuck at 5 and Safari crashes on some websites.
      - simlevesque 7y ago
        My mom uses her iPad 1 since then without any problem.
      - martin_a 7y ago
        Got one laying around, too. But Safari seems to crash on almost any website these days and there are no updates anymore etc. pp. Wonder what to do with it. Any ideas?
- fucking_tragedy 7y ago
  Well, if you bought a new iPad mini in 2014, Apple is deprecating your device in this release. Based on previous iPad deprecations, your iPad Air 2 will probably be deprecated within the next two years. Convenience and security wise, you'd want to buy a new device before your old one is made incompatible with new iOS releases.
- Fnoord 7y ago
  To me the answer seemed obvious, and I wanted to reply "it isn't supported anymore in iOS". To my surprise, this 5 year old tablet of yours is still supported in iOS 12.4.1 [1], and it will also be supported in iPadOS 13 [2]. That's impressive. Which Android tablet from 2014 or 2015 is still supported nowadays? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPad_Air_2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPad_Air_2 [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPadOS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPadOS
  - ocdtrekkie 7y ago
    The crazy reality is: major carriers like Verizon still sell iPhone 6S devices today, brand new. So there's an expectation that they have to support a brand new iPhone with iOS upgrades for a significant number of years. And Apple can do it because they only sell a handful of models that have a very common hardware set.
    - josephg 7y ago
      The iPhone 6s is still a great phone. I’m using a 6s+ to write this, and with a new battery it still feels new and responsive, especially after the optimizations Apple made in iOS a couple years back. This phone is 5 years old now. With each new iPhone release I look for excuses to spend the money and upgrade, and I still can’t see any reason to do so. I mean, those new cameras and faceid looks great but touchid is fine and I’m not a photographer. I feel torn on the price of new iPhones - on one hand, spending so much makes it harder to justify the incremental upgrades. And on the other hand, after my experience with the 6s+ I’ll expect my next iphone to last at least 5-6 years as well, so forking out that much money for a smartphone doesn’t seem so crazy any more.
      - ocdtrekkie 7y ago
        Yeah, part of me says, hey, buy the newest phone, and keep it five or six years. Though the other part says, if iPhone 7 is are free on contract right now. Get that, and in two years get an iphone XR or whatever for free on contract, etc. Because then I get that fresh new battery every couple years, and spend a lot less money on having that shiny new top-of-the-line-ness that wears off shortly anyways.
- hrktb 7y ago
  As someone planning on upgrading a kid’s device, better performance: you never have any, we get tons, in particular when multitasking. I confess I am used to the 13” pro so I am more sensible to the glitches perhaps. Touch ID is a real QOL improvement. A better camera is actually nice, I don’t understand people making fun of it. All in all I think there’s a ton to love in this new version. That doesn’t make older ones obsolete, but it’s significantly better I think.
- landcoctos 7y ago
  I have an Air 2 as well but my screen is cracked. The glued glass/display is great however the cost to repair is nearly equal to what I paid (on sale). The current ipad does not have a similar display setup.
- breakbread 7y ago
  I recently inherited a gen1 iPad Pro (9.7in) and did not realize the Pro models were originally released in 2015/2016. I can see it being relevant for quite a while, especially considering I don't use it for anything "Pro" in nature.
- AdrianB1 7y ago
  I have an even older iPad 4 since 2012; I use it for a single purpose, flying (LSA planes) with a specific app that has no comparable (good enough) version for Android. I will not upgrade until the app will no longer work, I guess you will do the same.
- pfranz 7y ago
  My wife has an iPad Air 2. The screen cracked over the years (it's mostly our 3yo's now--the source of the cracks). I went to get the screen repaired and was quoted at $169 (because the screen was "a one-off" for Apple) other devices were quoted closer to $99. The battery life isn't the best anymore, either. If you're playing videos and using basic apps, it still works great. My wife likes to use Garage Band to jot down ideas and over the years it has gotten a bit sluggish. She also really likes the keyboard case on the newer iPads. If it wasn't for Garage Band she'd probably get a Surface. If you're happy with what you have, keep on using it.
- kayoone 7y ago
  This is the lowest end iPad for students and people who just want a basic tablet, it's also only $320. It has the CPU out of the iPhone 7 and pencil and keyboard support. I own the previous 2018 one and combined with the pencil it's a pretty great tablet for a good price. Used it a lot for note taking in the past and to control media around the house.
- Tepix 7y ago
  I upgraded from the iPad Air 2 to the iPad Air 3. Performance is better (mostly noticeable when upgrading apps), the display is slightly larger, which is nice.
- ianamartin 7y ago
  I have the exact same iPad. It's a stretch to say it has no performance issues. It's sluggish, at best. It's not so bad that I'm ready to buy a new one. But it's slow, it's memory constrained. It is damn impressive though. Many laptops don't have a working life near this long before they become unusably slow.
- grepthisab 7y ago
  Same boat here, I got an iPad Air (first gen) refurbished many years ago. Still works great, and I used it this morning. Showing no signs of not working properly, unlike old iPhones seem to do when they're dated. I like the new ones, but I can't imagine spending money on one in my current situation.
arielceja 7y ago
Bummer that it's only compatible with the first-generation Apple Pencil and not second-generation Pencil. What's their rationale?
- iaabtpbtpnn 7y ago
  The second-generation Pencil only charges by attaching magnetically to the flat side of an iPad Pro. It has no ports or any way to plug it in to charge otherwise. Only the iPad Pro has the physical design to accommodate it.
  - the_watcher 7y ago
    Since when has ease of charging stopped Apple? I'd have expected it to only be compatible with the second-gen Pencil, along with an announcement of an optional Pencil charger. NOTE: I'm 95% joking about this. It does seem like a missed opportunity for them to sell a second gen Pencil charger if it's the only way to use it with a non-iPad Pro though.
    - liamcardenas 7y ago
      You’re totally right but the 2nd gen Apple Pencil can’t hold charge for very long even when not being used — so that wouldn’t work.
      - coldtea 7y ago
        >but the 2nd gen Apple Pencil can’t hold charge for very long even when not being used Who said that?
        deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
      - akerl_ 7y ago
        I use an iPad Pro and pencil as my primary computing device, and my experience is that I’ve forgotten the Apple Pencil has a battery at all. I’ve never had it run out of charge or even come close. I use it on-and-off all day, and when I’m not using it I either toss it on the table or click it back onto the iPad, based on whichever motion is easier. I’ve never thought “ugh, I need to click it back onto the iPad to recharge”.
sschueller 7y ago
USB-C or lightning?
- akersten 7y ago
  It is compatible with the 1st Gen Pencil only, which has a Lightning plug to charge it, so I presume that the iPad has a corresponding Lightning port.
- jonny_eh 7y ago
  I'd assume no change, so lightning, since they didn't mention it.
- izacus 7y ago
  It's compatible with 1st Gen Apple Pencil which charges through Lightning... so lightning I guess. Disappointing though :/
  - SlowRobotAhead 7y ago
    >Disappointing though :/ Esp as it makes it less likely new iPhone will be USB.
    - alistairSH 7y ago
      The iPhone 11 is also Lightning. So, if I'm remembering correctly, only the current iPad Pros are USB-C.
      - jsjohnst 7y ago
        > only the current iPad Pros are USB-C Correct, but the new iPhones come with a USB-C charger and a USB-C to Lightning cable, so at least that’s a step in the right direction.
        deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
willtim 7y ago
Am thinking about picking one of these up for my daughter, 32GB seems a bit stingy though, will that be enough for apps and games?
- ghaff 7y ago
  It does sound stingy although it's mostly media (audio and video) that's the storage killer.
- extesy 7y ago
  My daughter has 64GB version and she often struggles with insufficient storage. And she doesn't really have much media, just a bunch of games and apps.
  - coldtea 7y ago
    Depends on the game, an AAA could be several GB by itself. On the other hand you can have 100s of smaller games on a few GB...
    - masklinn 7y ago
      > On the other hand you can have 100s of smaller games on a few GB… You need really small games, Monument Valley or King of Dragon Path are not especially big games but they're both well above 200MB. Though you can certainly fit games in way less (Shaun Inman's Horror Vacui and Last Rocket are 1.xMB, Passage is 110K) the data-light games are few and far between.
- leetcrew 7y ago
  I would say it's pretty rare that younger people store media locally on their devices these days. I personally would like to but my music collection is >125 GB of mostly mp3 v0 files so I don't bother. currently I'm using 28 GB of storage on my pixel 2 (including os install). 32 GB would be a bit cramped, but probably sufficient for the next couple years if she doesn't have tons of games installed.
  - 7y ago
nailer 7y ago
Still waiting for xcode for iPad. If iPads are to be taken seriously as a laptop replacement we have to be able to make software with them. I'm confident Apple will eventually get there though.
- ddoolin 7y ago
  Agreed. I tried to make it work (for a mix of systems and web development) and although it's possible, it's ham-fisted at best. I would love to see some first-class developer support for the iPad (or Pro only, not picky, although this seems like only a software solution).
- simonh 7y ago
  I don't think Apple seriously sees them as laptop replacements, not in the complete sense. For some people yes, but not in general. I think they'll get there with XCode or something like it eventually, but there are already several dev environments for the iPad. They are primarily aimed at people for whom code is a tool, who code to get their job done, rather than people coding to produce apps for distribution, but they can do that too. Codea (Lua) is one, Pythonista and Pyto (Python) are two more. Once you develop the app on the iPad, once it's ready for release you copy the code into an XCode template and submit it to the App Store.
  - theshrike79 7y ago
    iPads used to be just pure consumption devices (video, web, books). But now they can actually be used for media production and writing. The only thing still missing is software development, but that's a bit of a special case anyway.
    - simonh 7y ago
      Apple have never marketed the iPad in that way. Right from their very first presentation introducing the device, they have promoted productivity and creative apps for iPads. Pages, Numbers and Keynote were available from day 1 and Garageband came out a few months later. There were already art apps out for the iPhone and iPad versions were available within weeks of launch.
rchaud 7y ago
I hope they're retaining the 4:3 aspect ratio. Samsung IMO shot themselves in the foot by switching back to 16:10 for their recent tablets after going with 4:3 for the Tab S3. 16:10 on portrait is far too tall and narrow to use comfortably, while in landscape it's far too wide. 4:3 has a nice balance, and is shaped like a piece of paper, which is extremely useful when reading PDFs. Websites also render in their desktop view in portrait, whereas you get a weird semi-mobile view in 16:10 on portrait due to the breakpoints that have been set on most sites' CSS.
- Mindwipe 7y ago
  They will retain the current ratio, but both parties are in the wrong - 4:3 isn't the shape of a piece of paper, 1:√2 is. The most mainstream tablet device to have had that ratio was Google's discontinued Pixel C, which was a fantastic device to read on because of it (granted, when the damned hardware worked).
  - whereistimbo 7y ago
    Which paper size? Letter? A4?
    - jsjohnst 7y ago
      A4, GP’s view of paper is only what’s native to GP apparently. As already established by sibling comment to yours, 8.5 x 11 is very close to 4:3. A4 is 297mm x 210mm which is very very close to √2.
      - tsbinz 7y ago
        It (A4) has tolerances of 2mm on either side though so you can go as close to a √2 ratio as you want :) Not sure about the tolerances on letter paper.
        jsjohnst 7y ago
        The fact is has loose tolerances seems a bit non-sequitur, but thanks for sharing. In both cases, I was using the “standard” dimensions.
akmittal 7y ago
It has the A10 bionic chip(which is 3 years old), Same as last yeras model. It is very similar to iPad 6th gen. They should have atleat put A11.
- kalleboo 7y ago
  I would love to see the pricing of their chips to understand the upgrade cycle. It looks like A10->A11 transitioned them from 16 to 10 nm, I wonder if the newer process is still appreciably more expensive for them?
  - ksec 7y ago
    1. Yes. 2. 10nm is a short term node, only as a stepping stone to 7nm. 3. A-11 would move it too close to Pro. Since they did not mention EUV in their A13 presentation, I am betting A13 is actually a 7nm+ design. And all 7nm are long term node, iPad upgrade path might look more like A10 >> A12 > A13 over the span of next 3 - 4 years.
- chooseaname 7y ago
  Especially when the iPad Mini 5 has the A12.
willio58 7y ago
I don’t understand the large screen bezels on non-pro versions of the iPad in late 2019. Once they release a cheap iPad without large bezels, I’ll get one.
- beaner 7y ago
  Don't bezels make it easier to hold without touching the screen? Thin bezels on a tablet just seem uncomfortable.
  - sambe 7y ago
    Yes; I find it strange they have gone down the thin bezels and non-curved edge route with iPad. It seems much less ergonomic, and a big reason for me to hold off upgrading. I read into it that having some specs for announcements has become more important that the spec itself. I also note the increasing number of specs that are announced in these events which were already in the previous model(s).
airnomad 7y ago
I still use first gen iPad for occasional Netflix and it's working just fine. Hopefully Netflix won't drop the support for older clients like YouTube did.
torgian 7y ago
Meh? I dont understand why there are incremental updates to these devices every year. It doesn't seem like a big deal to me. Do it every two or three years and it'll probably end up being better products anyway.
- codnee 7y ago
  The short answer is because people will pay for them.
- rtcoms 7y ago
  There are enough people every year who need a new tablet. Millions of people would've bought iPad 3 years ago, for them this would be significant upgrade.
- theshrike79 7y ago
  Because they aren't targeting the people who upgrade every year. The current iPads (and iPhones) are for the people with 4-5 year old devices. For them it's not an "incremental upgrade", 4-5 yearly incremental upgrades sums up to one big upgrade.
- ken 7y ago
  Doing updates every few years means half the internet is going to spend 2 of every 3 years complaining "I don't want to buy a years-old device" and asking "should I wait, is there going to be a new one soon?". Continuous delivery has also shown itself to be a much more reliable way to deliver technology products at all. Compared to shipping 10 new features in a year, shipping 30 new features in 3 years is much more than 3x harder.
jve 7y ago
I can't believe Apple made an dense and ugly slide like this: https://boygeniusreport.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/apple-iphone-11-event-13.jpg?quality=98&strip=all&w=834 https://boygeniusreport.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/apple-ip...
- sjwright 7y ago
  It's dense (but they've had dense slides before) and it's a departure from their previous aesthetic (which they've also done before) but it's not objectively ugly.
- nolok 7y ago
  Personally I’ve never used an iPad (nothing against, just more of an android guy) but I’m more surprised that split view, pop over, custom fonts, external storage displayed in the storage viewer and all are apparent just new on it. Phone I can understand but on tablet it seems late.
  - dahfizz 7y ago
    I don't think people buy apple products for the amazing cutting edge features. Android has beaten apple to just about every feature ever. People buy apple for the same reason they buy a Mercedes. It does all the same stuff, but it feels nicer.
  - Infernal 7y ago
    Based on using a 10.5" iPad Pro since 2017, I believe what this slide is saying is that all of these things are new to the volume priced iPad, which after all just got an upgrade to the 3 year old A10. On my Pro, I've had most of the stuff on this slide from the beginning. Not sure about custom fonts as I've never looked into it, and I think native external storage support is new in the upcoming OS (though it was achievable with third-party apps since iOS 11). But yeah, bottom line of this slide is that these formerly pro-only features are now in the $329 product.
    - johnnycab 7y ago

116 points by artsandsci 7y ago

I have the iPad Air 2, released in 2014 and looks identical to the new iPad released today. It has the latest OS updates and it's never had any performance issues. Why would someone upgrade from this 5 year old device?

r00fus 7y ago
Arguably they wouldn't. This is for folks who want to buy their first iPad or are upgrading from Air1 or previous.
spike021 7y ago
They gave a number, something like 60% of new iPad owners are buying in at this level. Assuming there's truth to that number then this is meant as an entry-level iPad, not an "upgrade".
cma 7y ago
One reason people might upgrade from that one is I think Apple Pencil isn't supported on the 2014.
nickthegreek 7y ago
pencil support, better gaming, or 1 yr of tv+ service that I believe comes with all new apple products are some possible reasons. Screen is also slightly bigger. You could always hustle that Air 2 for a decent amount and pick up the new one for a great deal.
hadlock 7y ago
We're going to buy an iPad for our boat to keep track of systems (they all have bluetooth now, especially the solar power stuff) and gps/navigation/charts ("maps"), plus have a copy of all the manuals in PDF ready to go. Also it interfaces with the onboard navigational sensors via a wifi gateway. It will probably live on the boat for 8-10 years before it's replaced, but since it's expected to have a long lifespan we want one with a new battery. Also also, the newer models are typically IPX-something rated (waterproof/resistant-esque) better than the old models. Not everyone bought in to the tablet craze in the first few years.
- js2 7y ago
  None of the iPads have any splash, water, or dust resistance rating. Only iPhone 7 and later, and the Apple Watch have ratings: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207043 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207043 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205000 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205000 You should definitely put any iPad in a case if you need water resistance.
- barkingcat 7y ago
  I don't think an ipad would last 8 years. Some of the existing models will have bulging batteries within 2 years. Add the water / wet environment, and as a previous poster says - no waterproof/resistant rating. Put it in a watertight case, and expect to change it within 3 years.
  - java-man 7y ago
    not to say some software that used to work stops for no (valid) reason (skype).
  - Tomte 7y ago
    My iPad Air 1st gen (that's from six years ago) is still working fine. It got a little sluggish, but iOS 12 made it fast again.
  - donarb 7y ago
    I have an original iPad I got the first day they came out (April 2010). Still works and the battery still charges. Only bad part is the OS is stuck at 5 and Safari crashes on some websites.
    - simlevesque 7y ago
      My mom uses her iPad 1 since then without any problem.
    - martin_a 7y ago
      Got one laying around, too. But Safari seems to crash on almost any website these days and there are no updates anymore etc. pp. Wonder what to do with it. Any ideas?
fucking_tragedy 7y ago
Well, if you bought a new iPad mini in 2014, Apple is deprecating your device in this release. Based on previous iPad deprecations, your iPad Air 2 will probably be deprecated within the next two years. Convenience and security wise, you'd want to buy a new device before your old one is made incompatible with new iOS releases.
Fnoord 7y ago
To me the answer seemed obvious, and I wanted to reply "it isn't supported anymore in iOS". To my surprise, this 5 year old tablet of yours is still supported in iOS 12.4.1 [1], and it will also be supported in iPadOS 13 [2]. That's impressive. Which Android tablet from 2014 or 2015 is still supported nowadays? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPad_Air_2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPad_Air_2 [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPadOS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPadOS
- ocdtrekkie 7y ago
  The crazy reality is: major carriers like Verizon still sell iPhone 6S devices today, brand new. So there's an expectation that they have to support a brand new iPhone with iOS upgrades for a significant number of years. And Apple can do it because they only sell a handful of models that have a very common hardware set.
  - josephg 7y ago
    The iPhone 6s is still a great phone. I’m using a 6s+ to write this, and with a new battery it still feels new and responsive, especially after the optimizations Apple made in iOS a couple years back. This phone is 5 years old now. With each new iPhone release I look for excuses to spend the money and upgrade, and I still can’t see any reason to do so. I mean, those new cameras and faceid looks great but touchid is fine and I’m not a photographer. I feel torn on the price of new iPhones - on one hand, spending so much makes it harder to justify the incremental upgrades. And on the other hand, after my experience with the 6s+ I’ll expect my next iphone to last at least 5-6 years as well, so forking out that much money for a smartphone doesn’t seem so crazy any more.
    - ocdtrekkie 7y ago
      Yeah, part of me says, hey, buy the newest phone, and keep it five or six years. Though the other part says, if iPhone 7 is are free on contract right now. Get that, and in two years get an iphone XR or whatever for free on contract, etc. Because then I get that fresh new battery every couple years, and spend a lot less money on having that shiny new top-of-the-line-ness that wears off shortly anyways.
hrktb 7y ago
As someone planning on upgrading a kid’s device, better performance: you never have any, we get tons, in particular when multitasking. I confess I am used to the 13” pro so I am more sensible to the glitches perhaps. Touch ID is a real QOL improvement. A better camera is actually nice, I don’t understand people making fun of it. All in all I think there’s a ton to love in this new version. That doesn’t make older ones obsolete, but it’s significantly better I think.
landcoctos 7y ago
I have an Air 2 as well but my screen is cracked. The glued glass/display is great however the cost to repair is nearly equal to what I paid (on sale). The current ipad does not have a similar display setup.
breakbread 7y ago
I recently inherited a gen1 iPad Pro (9.7in) and did not realize the Pro models were originally released in 2015/2016. I can see it being relevant for quite a while, especially considering I don't use it for anything "Pro" in nature.
AdrianB1 7y ago
I have an even older iPad 4 since 2012; I use it for a single purpose, flying (LSA planes) with a specific app that has no comparable (good enough) version for Android. I will not upgrade until the app will no longer work, I guess you will do the same.
pfranz 7y ago
My wife has an iPad Air 2. The screen cracked over the years (it's mostly our 3yo's now--the source of the cracks). I went to get the screen repaired and was quoted at $169 (because the screen was "a one-off" for Apple) other devices were quoted closer to $99. The battery life isn't the best anymore, either. If you're playing videos and using basic apps, it still works great. My wife likes to use Garage Band to jot down ideas and over the years it has gotten a bit sluggish. She also really likes the keyboard case on the newer iPads. If it wasn't for Garage Band she'd probably get a Surface. If you're happy with what you have, keep on using it.
kayoone 7y ago
This is the lowest end iPad for students and people who just want a basic tablet, it's also only $320. It has the CPU out of the iPhone 7 and pencil and keyboard support. I own the previous 2018 one and combined with the pencil it's a pretty great tablet for a good price. Used it a lot for note taking in the past and to control media around the house.
Tepix 7y ago
I upgraded from the iPad Air 2 to the iPad Air 3. Performance is better (mostly noticeable when upgrading apps), the display is slightly larger, which is nice.
ianamartin 7y ago
I have the exact same iPad. It's a stretch to say it has no performance issues. It's sluggish, at best. It's not so bad that I'm ready to buy a new one. But it's slow, it's memory constrained. It is damn impressive though. Many laptops don't have a working life near this long before they become unusably slow.
grepthisab 7y ago
Same boat here, I got an iPad Air (first gen) refurbished many years ago. Still works great, and I used it this morning. Showing no signs of not working properly, unlike old iPhones seem to do when they're dated. I like the new ones, but I can't imagine spending money on one in my current situation.

arielceja 7y ago

Bummer that it's only compatible with the first-generation Apple Pencil and not second-generation Pencil. What's their rationale?

iaabtpbtpnn 7y ago
The second-generation Pencil only charges by attaching magnetically to the flat side of an iPad Pro. It has no ports or any way to plug it in to charge otherwise. Only the iPad Pro has the physical design to accommodate it.
- the_watcher 7y ago
  Since when has ease of charging stopped Apple? I'd have expected it to only be compatible with the second-gen Pencil, along with an announcement of an optional Pencil charger. NOTE: I'm 95% joking about this. It does seem like a missed opportunity for them to sell a second gen Pencil charger if it's the only way to use it with a non-iPad Pro though.
  - liamcardenas 7y ago
    You’re totally right but the 2nd gen Apple Pencil can’t hold charge for very long even when not being used — so that wouldn’t work.
    - coldtea 7y ago
      >but the 2nd gen Apple Pencil can’t hold charge for very long even when not being used Who said that?
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
    - akerl_ 7y ago
      I use an iPad Pro and pencil as my primary computing device, and my experience is that I’ve forgotten the Apple Pencil has a battery at all. I’ve never had it run out of charge or even come close. I use it on-and-off all day, and when I’m not using it I either toss it on the table or click it back onto the iPad, based on whichever motion is easier. I’ve never thought “ugh, I need to click it back onto the iPad to recharge”.

sschueller 7y ago

USB-C or lightning?

akersten 7y ago
It is compatible with the 1st Gen Pencil only, which has a Lightning plug to charge it, so I presume that the iPad has a corresponding Lightning port.
jonny_eh 7y ago
I'd assume no change, so lightning, since they didn't mention it.
izacus 7y ago
It's compatible with 1st Gen Apple Pencil which charges through Lightning... so lightning I guess. Disappointing though :/
- SlowRobotAhead 7y ago
  >Disappointing though :/ Esp as it makes it less likely new iPhone will be USB.
  - alistairSH 7y ago
    The iPhone 11 is also Lightning. So, if I'm remembering correctly, only the current iPad Pros are USB-C.
    - jsjohnst 7y ago
      > only the current iPad Pros are USB-C Correct, but the new iPhones come with a USB-C charger and a USB-C to Lightning cable, so at least that’s a step in the right direction.
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]

willtim 7y ago

Am thinking about picking one of these up for my daughter, 32GB seems a bit stingy though, will that be enough for apps and games?

ghaff 7y ago
It does sound stingy although it's mostly media (audio and video) that's the storage killer.
extesy 7y ago
My daughter has 64GB version and she often struggles with insufficient storage. And she doesn't really have much media, just a bunch of games and apps.
- coldtea 7y ago
  Depends on the game, an AAA could be several GB by itself. On the other hand you can have 100s of smaller games on a few GB...
  - masklinn 7y ago
    > On the other hand you can have 100s of smaller games on a few GB… You need really small games, Monument Valley or King of Dragon Path are not especially big games but they're both well above 200MB. Though you can certainly fit games in way less (Shaun Inman's Horror Vacui and Last Rocket are 1.xMB, Passage is 110K) the data-light games are few and far between.
leetcrew 7y ago
I would say it's pretty rare that younger people store media locally on their devices these days. I personally would like to but my music collection is >125 GB of mostly mp3 v0 files so I don't bother. currently I'm using 28 GB of storage on my pixel 2 (including os install). 32 GB would be a bit cramped, but probably sufficient for the next couple years if she doesn't have tons of games installed.
- 7y ago

nailer 7y ago

Still waiting for xcode for iPad. If iPads are to be taken seriously as a laptop replacement we have to be able to make software with them. I'm confident Apple will eventually get there though.

ddoolin 7y ago
Agreed. I tried to make it work (for a mix of systems and web development) and although it's possible, it's ham-fisted at best. I would love to see some first-class developer support for the iPad (or Pro only, not picky, although this seems like only a software solution).
simonh 7y ago
I don't think Apple seriously sees them as laptop replacements, not in the complete sense. For some people yes, but not in general. I think they'll get there with XCode or something like it eventually, but there are already several dev environments for the iPad. They are primarily aimed at people for whom code is a tool, who code to get their job done, rather than people coding to produce apps for distribution, but they can do that too. Codea (Lua) is one, Pythonista and Pyto (Python) are two more. Once you develop the app on the iPad, once it's ready for release you copy the code into an XCode template and submit it to the App Store.
- theshrike79 7y ago
  iPads used to be just pure consumption devices (video, web, books). But now they can actually be used for media production and writing. The only thing still missing is software development, but that's a bit of a special case anyway.
  - simonh 7y ago
    Apple have never marketed the iPad in that way. Right from their very first presentation introducing the device, they have promoted productivity and creative apps for iPads. Pages, Numbers and Keynote were available from day 1 and Garageband came out a few months later. There were already art apps out for the iPhone and iPad versions were available within weeks of launch.

rchaud 7y ago

I hope they're retaining the 4:3 aspect ratio. Samsung IMO shot themselves in the foot by switching back to 16:10 for their recent tablets after going with 4:3 for the Tab S3. 16:10 on portrait is far too tall and narrow to use comfortably, while in landscape it's far too wide. 4:3 has a nice balance, and is shaped like a piece of paper, which is extremely useful when reading PDFs. Websites also render in their desktop view in portrait, whereas you get a weird semi-mobile view in 16:10 on portrait due to the breakpoints that have been set on most sites' CSS.

Mindwipe 7y ago
They will retain the current ratio, but both parties are in the wrong - 4:3 isn't the shape of a piece of paper, 1:√2 is. The most mainstream tablet device to have had that ratio was Google's discontinued Pixel C, which was a fantastic device to read on because of it (granted, when the damned hardware worked).
- whereistimbo 7y ago
  Which paper size? Letter? A4?
  - jsjohnst 7y ago
    A4, GP’s view of paper is only what’s native to GP apparently. As already established by sibling comment to yours, 8.5 x 11 is very close to 4:3. A4 is 297mm x 210mm which is very very close to √2.
    - tsbinz 7y ago
      It (A4) has tolerances of 2mm on either side though so you can go as close to a √2 ratio as you want :) Not sure about the tolerances on letter paper.
      - jsjohnst 7y ago
        The fact is has loose tolerances seems a bit non-sequitur, but thanks for sharing. In both cases, I was using the “standard” dimensions.

akmittal 7y ago

It has the A10 bionic chip(which is 3 years old), Same as last yeras model. It is very similar to iPad 6th gen. They should have atleat put A11.

kalleboo 7y ago
I would love to see the pricing of their chips to understand the upgrade cycle. It looks like A10->A11 transitioned them from 16 to 10 nm, I wonder if the newer process is still appreciably more expensive for them?
- ksec 7y ago
  1. Yes. 2. 10nm is a short term node, only as a stepping stone to 7nm. 3. A-11 would move it too close to Pro. Since they did not mention EUV in their A13 presentation, I am betting A13 is actually a 7nm+ design. And all 7nm are long term node, iPad upgrade path might look more like A10 >> A12 > A13 over the span of next 3 - 4 years.
chooseaname 7y ago
Especially when the iPad Mini 5 has the A12.

willio58 7y ago

I don’t understand the large screen bezels on non-pro versions of the iPad in late 2019. Once they release a cheap iPad without large bezels, I’ll get one.

beaner 7y ago
Don't bezels make it easier to hold without touching the screen? Thin bezels on a tablet just seem uncomfortable.
- sambe 7y ago
  Yes; I find it strange they have gone down the thin bezels and non-curved edge route with iPad. It seems much less ergonomic, and a big reason for me to hold off upgrading. I read into it that having some specs for announcements has become more important that the spec itself. I also note the increasing number of specs that are announced in these events which were already in the previous model(s).

airnomad 7y ago

I still use first gen iPad for occasional Netflix and it's working just fine. Hopefully Netflix won't drop the support for older clients like YouTube did.

torgian 7y ago

Meh? I dont understand why there are incremental updates to these devices every year. It doesn't seem like a big deal to me. Do it every two or three years and it'll probably end up being better products anyway.

codnee 7y ago
The short answer is because people will pay for them.
rtcoms 7y ago
There are enough people every year who need a new tablet. Millions of people would've bought iPad 3 years ago, for them this would be significant upgrade.
theshrike79 7y ago
Because they aren't targeting the people who upgrade every year. The current iPads (and iPhones) are for the people with 4-5 year old devices. For them it's not an "incremental upgrade", 4-5 yearly incremental upgrades sums up to one big upgrade.
ken 7y ago
Doing updates every few years means half the internet is going to spend 2 of every 3 years complaining "I don't want to buy a years-old device" and asking "should I wait, is there going to be a new one soon?". Continuous delivery has also shown itself to be a much more reliable way to deliver technology products at all. Compared to shipping 10 new features in a year, shipping 30 new features in 3 years is much more than 3x harder.

jve 7y ago

I can't believe Apple made an dense and ugly slide like this: https://boygeniusreport.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/apple-iphone-11-event-13.jpg?quality=98&strip=all&w=834 https://boygeniusreport.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/apple-ip...

sjwright 7y ago
It's dense (but they've had dense slides before) and it's a departure from their previous aesthetic (which they've also done before) but it's not objectively ugly.
nolok 7y ago
Personally I’ve never used an iPad (nothing against, just more of an android guy) but I’m more surprised that split view, pop over, custom fonts, external storage displayed in the storage viewer and all are apparent just new on it. Phone I can understand but on tablet it seems late.
- dahfizz 7y ago
  I don't think people buy apple products for the amazing cutting edge features. Android has beaten apple to just about every feature ever. People buy apple for the same reason they buy a Mercedes. It does all the same stuff, but it feels nicer.
- Infernal 7y ago
  Based on using a 10.5" iPad Pro since 2017, I believe what this slide is saying is that all of these things are new to the volume priced iPad, which after all just got an upgrade to the 3 year old A10. On my Pro, I've had most of the stuff on this slide from the beginning. Not sure about custom fonts as I've never looked into it, and I think native external storage support is new in the upcoming OS (though it was achievable with third-party apps since iOS 11). But yeah, bottom line of this slide is that these formerly pro-only features are now in the $329 product.
  - johnnycab 7y ago