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One of the more interesting aspects of this is that they're keeping the iPad 2 at $399 (compared to the Air's $499). I can't imagine the value proposition for
by jmduke 13y ago
One of the more interesting aspects of this is that they're keeping the iPad 2 at $399 (compared to the Air's $499). I can't imagine the value proposition for a new iPad 2 is at all attractive at that price point (I bought mine used for ~$250 last summer.)
- tomkarlo 13y agoMaybe some kind of appeal to institutional buyers who want that form factor (and maybe the old port / shape) to keep their fleet of device consistent? Maybe just a lot of extra components / panels for that design?
- guyzero 13y agoYes, it's there to extract money from institutions that are stuck with 30-pin charging/management configurations.
- smackfu 13y agoIt's a crummy product, but if they put a better product at that price point, it would take too many sales away from the $499 one.
- nknighthb 13y agoThey did put a better product at that price point -- the new iPad Mini.
- SurfScore 13y agoThis is definitely for enterprise and school purchases. We have an educational app, Kodable, and a huge number of our users are still on iPad 2s. When you buy in volume, that extra $100 goes a long way, and, for better or worse, schools and enterprise don't always want cutting edge tech.
- fumar 13y agoI see it as an anchoring point, to move users upstream. For $100, you can have the newest technology. Perhaps we will see an iPad C next time around.
- mfringel 13y agoThere are a ton of vertical applications (think industrial/manufacturing, etc.) built on an iPad2 plus purpose-built case with sensors, etc. The margins will only get better on the older hardware, and there's no way they'd walk away from that stream.
- anigbrowl 13y agoIt surprises me that they've just ditched the iPad 3/4 altogether from the comparison page, though they still sell refurbished iPad 4s for $379 in the store. It seems to me that this is to put a floor under the second hand value; in terms of bang-for-the buck, the right price for a used iPad 2 should really be about $175 by now, but it's rare to see one under $200. One reason the iPad 2 remains attractive to many (especially musicians) is that peripherals - there hasn't been that much take-up of Apple's Lightning connector by people who make add-on hardware.
- kayoone 13y agoI think keeping the iPad2 as an entry level iPad is fine, the problem is the price imo. I got my iPad2 for about that price a year ago... But then again, Apple is known to do that..the outgoing Mac Pro is pretty overpriced given how outdated the hardware has become.
- bsaul 13y agothey've done it for the ipad mini and the macbook pro as well. their product line involves one retina and one non retina model ( except for the iphone). i believe it's done that way purely because it's easier to explain to people when it's consistent. next year will probably see the switch to pure retina across all product lines.