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What's the issue with four iPad models? iPads practically are the tablet market. Is four options too many? There were dozens of different Android tablets at th

What's the issue with four iPad models? iPads practically are the tablet market. Is four options too many? There were dozens of different Android tablets at the peak. That didn't go well for any of the Android tablet vendors.

jeromegv 5y ago
I follow Apple news a lot and still get confused with the differences between each iPads nowadays. iPad Pro.. iPad Air.. iPad "normal". iPad mini is the only one easy to understand. Some models support Apple Pencil 1st gen... some models support Apple Pencil 2nd gen. WHYYYYYY? It should all be the same. Which iPad support the smart keyboard? What about the "magic" keyboard?
- dmitriid 5y ago
  They are now doing the same thing with iPhones. 12 and 12 Pro were identical phones. 13 and 13 Pro are identical phones. Yes, there are differences in cameras, but that's really about as far as the difference goes.
  - dkonofalski 5y ago
    "These are exactly the same if you ignore the differences."
    - dmitriid 5y ago
      The "differences" are in some very minor specs that don't matter to the absolute vast majority of people.
      - dkonofalski 5y ago
        If they didn't matter to the vast majority of people then they wouldn't sell them every year in record-breaking numbers.
        FiggyPudding 5y ago
        Could argue they sell more by fashion and desire to have the newest thing than people caring at all about specs, more ram or cpu or x% better resolution etc.
        dmitriid 5y ago
        Record-breaking numbers because: - record-breaking numbers are upgrading from multiple previous models - smartphone market is still growing - there's a non-negligible number of people going for the "shiny new thing" They were selling record-breaking numbers when they only had a "pro" and a "non-pro" model, too
        dkonofalski 5y ago
        That's irrelevant. People are buying iPhones every year instead of switching to a different phone, repairing their existing phone, or buying the same phone (Apple offers the same models for at least 3 years after initial release). There are enough differences to matter to most people.
- MBCook 5y ago
  In general it makes a lot of sense to me, but I do find it very odd that they’re still using the first-gen pencil all these years later. And because it charges by lightning, that means the devices that support it have to have lightning and can’t move to USB-C. I don’t know if it’s cheaper to implement than the second-gen (that’s my guess). But for some reason it lives on.
- cjohansson 5y ago
  You just need to update your hardware from time to time, not because the software needs it really, just because Apple needs to keep cash flowing in. I use the same apps on my iPhone 12 that I did on my iPhone 6, the only reason I upgrade is because Apple won't let me update the software without buying their new uneccessary hardware
LeoPanthera 5y ago
It wouldn’t be so bad if they were better described. OK so there’s the “iPad” and “iPad Pro”, I guess I can figure that out, the Pro probably has better specs. Then there’s the “mini”, which implies smaller, but is it a mini iPad or a mini iPad Pro? It turns out that it used to be a mini iPad, but today it is a mini iPad Pro. That’s confusing. And also there’s an “iPad Air” - what the hell is that? The name implies it is thinner? Lighter? But it’s not either of those things. I have no idea. The iPhones are just as bad, today you can buy an iPhone 13, 12, and 11. And there’s also an “SE” which doesn’t have a number and I have absolutely no idea why it’s different. Jobs would be turning in his grave.
- Thlom 5y ago
  For most people, just buy the cheapest one with the form factor you like the best. Unless there’s something the other models have that you need/really want. I moved from a iPhone 8 to iPhone 12 earlier this year. 12 has faceId instead of touchID and a better camera, but that’s really the only difference I notice. I’m not even sure I like faceId better than touchID. But yeah, it sucks.
- askonomm 5y ago
  Not sure what's so hard to figure out about the iPhone. Bigger number means newer. SE means budget. If you visited the homepage even for just 1 second, you'd already know as it says so in the very beginning of the page (https://www.apple.com/iphone-se/ https://www.apple.com/iphone-se/). But, if Apple is so bad at naming things, show me one android phone maker that does it better (and has as many products, it's easy to name things if you only have 1 product).
  - LeoPanthera 5y ago
    Everyone else being worse is not an excuse for you not to be better. Edit: For some reason I can’t reply to the following comment so I will reply here: I didn’t realize that constantly striving for improvement would be controversial? Yes, I do believe that everyone should always be striving for improvement. For me that might even be the closest possible thing to “the meaning of life”. Without wanting to sound too much like a Star Trek episode, if we are not constantly trying to better ourselves, what is the point of anything?
ecshafer 5y ago
https://www.statista.com/statistics/276635/market-share-held-by-tablet-vendors/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/276635/market-share-held... What are you talking about? Apple is at 30% market share for tablets. That is a far cry from dominating the market.
- gumby 5y ago
  I have hardly seen an android tablet in the last five years, except in POS systems or some other industrial equipment. I've seen iPads even in "android homes". But I think most tablets are used in the home and I don't go into a lot of peoples' houses, much less see tablet when I'm visiting, so there may be a vast dark pool of personally-owned android tablets.
  - zerocrates 5y ago
    Things like Amazon's Fire being so cheap are probably propping up the Android (or non-Apple, whatever) side of the ledger. I have a Fire because it was very cheap and it's a reasonable "small thing that plays videos" device. I don't really have a use for a tablet to do anything else.
- dkonofalski 5y ago
  Your link it's about tablet market share. It's based on the number of shipments from each company. Does a Kindle count as a "tablet" in that? Does an Echo Touch count as a "tablet"? I don't know that I'd agree that Apple dominates the market either but I think you need to use a better metric to justify your opposition than the one you posted. https://dazeinfo.com/2019/08/21/tablet-browser-market-share-worldwide-by-month-graphfarm/ https://dazeinfo.com/2019/08/21/tablet-browser-market-share-... This is just browser use and the Safari version of iPad is only available on iPads and yet makes up 48% of use. My primary browser on my iPad is Firefox and I know others use Chrome so that does put them squarely in the "leader" category based on that.
rrrrrrrrrrrryan 5y ago
Steve was famous for brutally streamlining Apple's product offerings, and making it stupidly easy to understand the differences between product tiers. I don't necessarily think four iPad offerings is too many, but I don't think Steve would've ever found it acceptable. He loved debuting with a single product, then adding a cheaper "mini," then eventually creating a holy trinity (mini/regular/pro), and leaving it that way forever.
- oceanplexian 5y ago
  The complexity of Apple's product offerings is not that new. iPod consisted of a bunch of random variants over the years (Shuffle, Mini, Nano, Color, etc.) and people were complaining about conflicting product features back in the day (Now it's USB-C vs. Lightning, back then it was Firewire vs. USB).

jeromegv 5y ago

I follow Apple news a lot and still get confused with the differences between each iPads nowadays. iPad Pro.. iPad Air.. iPad "normal". iPad mini is the only one easy to understand. Some models support Apple Pencil 1st gen... some models support Apple Pencil 2nd gen. WHYYYYYY? It should all be the same. Which iPad support the smart keyboard? What about the "magic" keyboard?

dmitriid 5y ago
They are now doing the same thing with iPhones. 12 and 12 Pro were identical phones. 13 and 13 Pro are identical phones. Yes, there are differences in cameras, but that's really about as far as the difference goes.
- dkonofalski 5y ago
  "These are exactly the same if you ignore the differences."
  - dmitriid 5y ago
    The "differences" are in some very minor specs that don't matter to the absolute vast majority of people.
    - dkonofalski 5y ago
      If they didn't matter to the vast majority of people then they wouldn't sell them every year in record-breaking numbers.
      - FiggyPudding 5y ago
        Could argue they sell more by fashion and desire to have the newest thing than people caring at all about specs, more ram or cpu or x% better resolution etc.
      - dmitriid 5y ago
        Record-breaking numbers because: - record-breaking numbers are upgrading from multiple previous models - smartphone market is still growing - there's a non-negligible number of people going for the "shiny new thing" They were selling record-breaking numbers when they only had a "pro" and a "non-pro" model, too
        dkonofalski 5y ago
        That's irrelevant. People are buying iPhones every year instead of switching to a different phone, repairing their existing phone, or buying the same phone (Apple offers the same models for at least 3 years after initial release). There are enough differences to matter to most people.
MBCook 5y ago
In general it makes a lot of sense to me, but I do find it very odd that they’re still using the first-gen pencil all these years later. And because it charges by lightning, that means the devices that support it have to have lightning and can’t move to USB-C. I don’t know if it’s cheaper to implement than the second-gen (that’s my guess). But for some reason it lives on.
cjohansson 5y ago
You just need to update your hardware from time to time, not because the software needs it really, just because Apple needs to keep cash flowing in. I use the same apps on my iPhone 12 that I did on my iPhone 6, the only reason I upgrade is because Apple won't let me update the software without buying their new uneccessary hardware

LeoPanthera 5y ago

It wouldn’t be so bad if they were better described. OK so there’s the “iPad” and “iPad Pro”, I guess I can figure that out, the Pro probably has better specs. Then there’s the “mini”, which implies smaller, but is it a mini iPad or a mini iPad Pro? It turns out that it used to be a mini iPad, but today it is a mini iPad Pro. That’s confusing. And also there’s an “iPad Air” - what the hell is that? The name implies it is thinner? Lighter? But it’s not either of those things. I have no idea. The iPhones are just as bad, today you can buy an iPhone 13, 12, and 11. And there’s also an “SE” which doesn’t have a number and I have absolutely no idea why it’s different. Jobs would be turning in his grave.

Thlom 5y ago
For most people, just buy the cheapest one with the form factor you like the best. Unless there’s something the other models have that you need/really want. I moved from a iPhone 8 to iPhone 12 earlier this year. 12 has faceId instead of touchID and a better camera, but that’s really the only difference I notice. I’m not even sure I like faceId better than touchID. But yeah, it sucks.
askonomm 5y ago
Not sure what's so hard to figure out about the iPhone. Bigger number means newer. SE means budget. If you visited the homepage even for just 1 second, you'd already know as it says so in the very beginning of the page (https://www.apple.com/iphone-se/ https://www.apple.com/iphone-se/). But, if Apple is so bad at naming things, show me one android phone maker that does it better (and has as many products, it's easy to name things if you only have 1 product).
- LeoPanthera 5y ago
  Everyone else being worse is not an excuse for you not to be better. Edit: For some reason I can’t reply to the following comment so I will reply here: I didn’t realize that constantly striving for improvement would be controversial? Yes, I do believe that everyone should always be striving for improvement. For me that might even be the closest possible thing to “the meaning of life”. Without wanting to sound too much like a Star Trek episode, if we are not constantly trying to better ourselves, what is the point of anything?

ecshafer 5y ago

https://www.statista.com/statistics/276635/market-share-held-by-tablet-vendors/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/276635/market-share-held... What are you talking about? Apple is at 30% market share for tablets. That is a far cry from dominating the market.

gumby 5y ago
I have hardly seen an android tablet in the last five years, except in POS systems or some other industrial equipment. I've seen iPads even in "android homes". But I think most tablets are used in the home and I don't go into a lot of peoples' houses, much less see tablet when I'm visiting, so there may be a vast dark pool of personally-owned android tablets.
- zerocrates 5y ago
  Things like Amazon's Fire being so cheap are probably propping up the Android (or non-Apple, whatever) side of the ledger. I have a Fire because it was very cheap and it's a reasonable "small thing that plays videos" device. I don't really have a use for a tablet to do anything else.
dkonofalski 5y ago
Your link it's about tablet market share. It's based on the number of shipments from each company. Does a Kindle count as a "tablet" in that? Does an Echo Touch count as a "tablet"? I don't know that I'd agree that Apple dominates the market either but I think you need to use a better metric to justify your opposition than the one you posted. https://dazeinfo.com/2019/08/21/tablet-browser-market-share-worldwide-by-month-graphfarm/ https://dazeinfo.com/2019/08/21/tablet-browser-market-share-... This is just browser use and the Safari version of iPad is only available on iPads and yet makes up 48% of use. My primary browser on my iPad is Firefox and I know others use Chrome so that does put them squarely in the "leader" category based on that.

rrrrrrrrrrrryan 5y ago

Steve was famous for brutally streamlining Apple's product offerings, and making it stupidly easy to understand the differences between product tiers. I don't necessarily think four iPad offerings is too many, but I don't think Steve would've ever found it acceptable. He loved debuting with a single product, then adding a cheaper "mini," then eventually creating a holy trinity (mini/regular/pro), and leaving it that way forever.

oceanplexian 5y ago
The complexity of Apple's product offerings is not that new. iPod consisted of a bunch of random variants over the years (Shuffle, Mini, Nano, Color, etc.) and people were complaining about conflicting product features back in the day (Now it's USB-C vs. Lightning, back then it was Firewire vs. USB).