Apple unveils completely redesigned iPad in four vibrant colors

[mechtech]

When times are good, revenue, profit, even gross margin can all go up. When business is contracting, a company needs make decisions about what to prioritize.

Remember that companies can control things like COGS and pricing which affects gross margin. They can't control revenue, i.e., the number of times a customer opens up their wallet nor can entirely predict which will be their most popular products.

They can when they jack the price up on stuff during a time of high demand like a pandemic

 

[cvaldes]

They can when they jack the price up on stuff during a time of high demand like a pandemic

They will charge what the market is willing to pay.

When the market is supply constrained, the natural direction of pricing will be to go up.

To their credit, Apple rarely makes mid-cycle pricing changes. My iPad mini (6th generation) is still priced (at least here in the USA) the same when it launched in September 2021. Apple's usual behavior is to introduce price changes with new product announcements.

The PC graphics card market is far more cutthroat. Most of them took price increases at the beginning of 2022 on existing product SKUs. And the GPU chip makers didn't tell retailers to control their pricing. It turned into a free-for-all and scalpers used bots to vacuum up all inventory.

Apple doesn't let that happen. You don't need to spend $3000 on a new iPhone from Dodgy PhoneMart at fleeceBay.com.

Both AMD and NVIDIA are willing to let the GPU marketplace devolve into a lawless moshpit. And most tellingly, consumer GPU customers jump into that moshpit. They are willing to pay usuriously inflated retailer prices over MSRP and even more outrageous sums to scalpers. That sends a crystal clear message to AMD and NVIDIA that they are likely to do it again.

 

[lemonadesoda]

It is a mistake to drop the physical home button on the entry ipad. How many times, over the phone, have I told a friend/family to click the home button... allowing them to escape whatever app they are in and get to the home screen. I can then give them the next instruction to follow... With complex finger flicking haptics there is no guarantee that after saying "do this" they are where you want them to be.

$449... is a lot for an entry level 64GB ipad. But then again, it reflects the competition out there... none worthy of mention.

I dont like the look of the new overly round edges, but I appreciate their practicality if it makes the edges less prone to knock-damage. How many screens have I replaced over the years because of edge cracks in the corners from small knocks.

 

[cvaldes]

It is a mistake to drop the physical home button on the entry ipad.

It was a bigger deal a few years ago. Today, not so much.

iPhones from recent years have dropped the physical home button; this is bringing the iPad design inline with the rest of their current mobile device design language.

Users who don't own current iPhones will figure it out in a couple days. It took me a few days to get used to the home buttonless iPhone too.

 

[watzupken]

@TheLostSwede is the A14 bionic chip slower than the A15 bionic chip? and if so, then why is the mini with the A15 chip still cheaper than this...

This should answer your question in relation to the performance. In short, it is quite a bit better.
The Apple A15 SoC Performance Review: Faster & More Efficient (anandtech.com)

It is hard to tell why the difference in price. The 2 products were launched at very different times, so the timing may have contributed to a lower cost and thus, price. We also don't know the BOM for each these devices. I believe if Apple chooses to launch this iPad Mini now, it is possible that it may cost more or about the same as this new base iPad model. In fact, I believe also increase the price of the newer iPad Mini over the 5th generation, though not as aggressively.

They will charge what the market is willing to pay.

When the market is supply constrained, the natural direction of pricing will be to go up.

To their credit, Apple rarely makes mid-cycle pricing changes. My iPad mini (6th generation) is still priced (at least here in the USA) the same when it launched in September 2021. Apple's usual behavior is to introduce price changes with new product announcements.

The PC graphics card market is far more cutthroat. Most of them took price increases at the beginning of 2022 on existing product SKUs. And the GPU chip makers didn't tell retailers to control their pricing. It turned into a free-for-all and scalpers used bots to vacuum up all inventory.

Apple doesn't let that happen. You don't need to spend $3000 on a new iPhone from Dodgy PhoneMart at fleeceBay.com.

Both AMD and NVIDIA are willing to let the GPU marketplace devolve into a lawless moshpit. And most tellingly, consumer GPU customers jump into that moshpit. They are willing to pay usuriously inflated retailer prices over MSRP and even more outrageous sums to scalpers. That sends a crystal clear message to AMD and NVIDIA that they are likely to do it again.

For Apple, I feel the first line don't apply. Basically they charge whatever is required to maintain their margin. People will generally buy it regardless of the price increase because they may be locked in the ecosystem and find it hard to get out of iOS. This is also a reason why their iPhone demand have been declining because they price what they want, and as a result, people don't upgrade as fast even though they continue to use an iPhone. In this case, the upgraded base iPad model is actually very costly when you figure that there are very attractive Android based tablets that offers decent performance and better screen (higher refresh rate).
I do agree that Apple products tend to maintain their value significantly better than its competitors because they don't officially offer discount on their products at any point in time. For example, I recently traded in my iPhone 12 Pro Max at about the same price as when I got it with a contract 1.5 years ago.

 

[tomo82]

Completely redesigned you say? I think I need to get my eyes tested...

 

[Vya Domus]

$449... That's $120 more than the last iPad.

This is basically the 4th gen iPad air which was even more than that, so no surprises there.

 

[NC37]

They really should have done this to the laptops like all the rumors were hinting awhile back. Expected M2 to be colorful and then they just went boring again.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

Completely redesigned you say? I think I need to get my eyes tested...

The last "ipad" was still one of the old Air designs, for for this model, it is technically a "redesign".

 

[RandallFlagg]

This is basically the 4th gen iPad air which was even more than that, so no surprises there.

Yeah they do add some value in the redesign.

They are moving it upscale, like everything, and abandoning the mid range (I consider $300 to be midrange for tablets). More and more bifurcation, things are either cheap garbage or high end very expensive.

I just took my old iPad Mini 4 and put it in a kids cover for a toddler to play with, will probably just replace it with last gen iPad.

 

[HairyLobsters]

How does it differ from the ipad air 2020?

 

[cvaldes]

How does it differ from the ipad air 2020?

Go nuts:

iPad - Compare Models

Compare resolution, size, weight, performance, battery life, and storage of iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad, and iPad mini models.

www.apple.com

Enjoy!