Hah, exactly what I was thinking I'm not sure why Apple decided to keep the iPad 2. Some are suggesting they're using it for the 'Decoy Effect'. http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/brain-games/videos/the-decoy-effect/
Cheap to produce and they can still sell it at a premium price. People who don't know any better will still go for it and the non-retina Mini because they have an Apple logo and a lower price than the most recent version. It was a foregone conclusion that the iPad2 would be staying around for another year (at the least) when iOS7 support was announced for it.
The educational market for the iPad 2 is huge, and schools can't just upgrade all the time. This will extend their investment and keep that market happy with Apple.
I am in the market for 3 ipads. One for my mother (who has never owned an iDevice) and one for my wife and I (she has a 4s I have iPhone 5). The wife should be fine with a mini because it probably wont get used for more than facebook and some light web browsing and candy crushing. Mine will be used for a little of everything. Mainly gaming and watching video. My mothers will be mainly facebook and skype/facetime and some light web browsing. All things considered is there any reason I should get the Air over the Mini 2? For people who have used both, will I wish I had the extra screen space? Expecially for skype/video calling etc, it is going to be a Christmas gift so i dont want to regret my purchases. Lastly, does anyone know how well the ipads / minis work as e-readers? Will I enjoy using this to read books on or is using a dedicated e-reader a better choice(looking at kobos). Thanks for any suggestions. Also, for the record I am rocking a first gen ipad, it still works great but it starting to slow down a little an cant play most new good games that come out... Im pretty stoked to finally upgrade
It's really going to come down to personal preference in terms of Mini2 vs Air. For me, I'd go with the Air. Once you get up to the size where it's too big to fit in your pocket anyways, bigger is better, imo. Obviously there's a ceiling, but I'd say that 10" is just about perfect. I have never even considered downsizing to a Mini, and even now that there's one that specs out the same as the full size, it just doesn't entice me. But, a lot of people don't feel that way, and they find the smaller size and weight of the Mini to be enough of a benefit to outweigh the larger screen. As for an e-reader, again that's going to be personal preference. I have a Kindle Touch that's been gathering dust for over a year because I read exclusively on my iPad. Some people find the iPad screen to be too bright, and can't read on it for extended periods of time like they can with an e-reader. My gf is one of those people, as is my mom. There are some options you can use to make that less of an issue (lowering the screen brightness, and/or inverting the colors are some options to try), but some people still prefer the more book like e-readers. Regardless of use, I would not suggest anyone get the original Mini or iPad 2 as a new device at this point. They're basically running on 3 year old tech, which means that not only will their lifespan be limited, but they'll also never function as well as the most current releases. The extra $100 for the A7 processor and retina support is well worth it. And in two years if you want to upgrade, the resale value will be at least $100 greater than the original mini or iPad2.
Because this thread is about the new iPads and I was adding to the conversation, showing my interest, but explaining why I don't see a need to jump on one quite so fast. There's a lot of fun new tech coming.
The retina Mini is lighter and physically smaller, making it easier to move around and hold it for longer periods of time. However, it is impossible to type on as the screen size is too small. I am talking typing as in two hand typing like on a keyboard here, which is what I am doing right now. The iAir has reduced in weight, so I am seriously considering it over the retina Mini. My only beef with my iPad 2 has always been its weight. In short, if typing is important, get iAir. If just for content consumption on the go, get retina Mini. Now, the real question, save money by Wi-Fi only to get a higher capacity iPad. But that means connecting to my iPhone's hotspot, which could be cumbersome... Strongly agree with. Do not buy an iPad 2 now. Just read any of Mene's posts to get a feel of how badly it handles iOS 7...
I didnt wait this long to upgrade to get myself an out of date device xD I should have been more clear, all 3 devices will be either Mini with retina, or Ipad Air. even on my full size ipad I only ever 1 finger peck, so I dont think keyboard size will be an issue. Thanks for weighing in!
Mini looks like it would be fun to own price is a bit heavy compared to something like the new Nexus 7 but I will say at least Apple are giving good storage sizes while Google going the other way and trying to force everyone to buy into google drive. The air I'm actually less impressed by mainly because every time I see thinner I just think why compromise the battery life, yeah I know apple claims it's the same but it's a smaller battery we could be getting a full days use by now if they didn't play the thinness game. I think both devices show promise for Apple though both are appealing in different ways.
I'm with you on that one. Anything between 18-24 hours would be amazing, I'd happily double the thickness for that.
eke Sign me up for more battery life. The first thing I do when I get a new iDevice is to turn off all the radios, dim the screen to uber dark and set auto turn off at 1 min. Even then, I can barely eke out 1 day's use, with minimal usage of apps. What I want is an iDevice where I can leave all radios on, screen on at least 50% brightness, without auto shutdown for 24 hours...
I like the name "iPad Air" but I'm surprised they didn't out an A7X chip in it. They just put the same iPhone 5s one in. No overclocked version
If your family mainly want it for faecesbook and other social media crap, wouldn't it be a lot cheaper to get them laptops or net books?
The variations are usually lower power consumption and less ports in a smaller box as time progresses, nothing really changes as far as one being better than the other goes so I don't fully understand. It's not like Apple, you're pretty safe for a good few years after purchase. The larger drives are needed for the games themselves, I think digitally Uncharted 3 for the PS3 was just shy of 90 gig, so I can imagine those sorts of figures will blow out with larger texture resolutions of the PS4.
When it doesn't perform the necessary tasks you need it to. Come one, can people stop asking questions like this -_-
With Smartwool seemingly introducing new socks every season, how long until my current pairs are obsolete? 6 months? 1 year? Should I wait to get new socks? DBC
I didn't think it was a common conclusion seeing as the iPhone 4 is out of the picture yet still supports iOS 7.
