Apple Oct. 22 event: We Still Have A Lot To Cover

[Koing]

while I agree with you, it's still $400 vs $230, and that's what matters to many buyers.

According to the article I read at engadget they are losing marke tshare in the tablet arena...

http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/22/take-two-tablets-cure-apples-market-share-slide/

http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/mac-pro

$4k and you get only 256GB PCIe SSD TROLLOLOLZ. I guess they figured since your already paying $4k that you can shell out another $200 to get 512GB?

Koing

 

[blackened23]

It's not all about the hardware. You're also paying for the (IMO) much better ecosystem and OS. Android is generally a mess, especially the phones. Now with Mavericks the iOS and OSX integration is better too.

iOS is leagues ahead of Android in the things that matter most to the majority of buyers. Those buyers do NOT frequent tech forums.

It isn't 2011 anymore. This may have been true 1.5 years ago but not anymore. The nexus 7 2nd gen is a great tablet and can certainly hold it's own beside the ipad (which I do think is the best, but the N7 is VERY VERY good.).

Android has made leaps over the prior year, while Apple has mostly been status quo. The nexus 7 is a fantastic tablet, as I mentioned. Apple should be creating a lower cost device to increase their market share in the small tablet space. Instead, they're doing the opposite - with the rate of advancements that Google has been making, and they're getting better, this will just allow Google to gain even more share with their nexus line of tablets.

The 399$ price is stupid. Period, end of. I know Apple loves their profit margins but you have to wonder WTH they're thinking when Google has been creeping up and gaining on them steadily while Apple has mostly stood still with very few advancements. Don't get me wrong - I love Apple hardware. But, I think the price of the rIpad Mini is utterly absurd and the fact that they're selling the iPad 2 discounted (as opposed to iPad 4) is completely stupid. Every prior generation saw price decreases on the one generation old stuff. Apparently Apple doesn't want to do that now?

 

[poofyhairguy]

Apple considers their iMac as their mid range desktop, which drives nerds to hackintoshing

FIFY

 

[jpiniero]

iOS is leagues ahead of Android in the things that matter most to the majority of buyers. Those buyers do NOT frequent tech forums.

Apple made iOS 7 so ugly I don't think the advantage is there anymore IMO.

 

[Eug]

I think if I were buying an iPad air, I would wait until the teardowns happen. The iPhone 5s only has one gigabyte of RAM, and while that is basically sufficient for iOS 7, especially on a phone, it's somewhat risky to get a tablet with that little RAM, especially if you plan on keeping the tablet for a while. On the iPhone 5s, a couple of times I've hit the ram ceiling, where stored tabs in Safari had to reload. Granted this is in the context of having lots and lots of tabs in the background, but this is something that is likely common to occur on a tablet.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I think if I were buying an iPad air, I would wait until the teardowns happen. The iPhone 5s only has one gigabyte of RAM, and while that is basically sufficient for iOS 7, especially on a phone, it's somewhat risky to get a tablet with that little RAM, especially if you plan on keeping the tablet for a while. On the iPhone 5s, a couple of times I've hit the ram ceiling, where stored tabs in Safari had to reload. Granted this is in the context of having lots and lots of tabs in the background, but this is something that is likely common to occur on a tablet.

Chrome redraws on a daily basis on Android with 2GB. I hardly find this an issue on iOS.

 

[blairharrington]

The Good:

iPad Air gets a much needed weight drop.

iPad Mini goes retina and offers a 128 GB variant now.

MBPr costs and weighs less. (3.46 lbs!)

Mac Pro details unveiled.

1st gen iPad Mini is $300.

Mavericks is free.

The Bad:

No new Mac Mini.

No Apple TV update. (UI is a mess.)

No Touch ID for iPad's.

No larger-screened iPad. (iPad Pro?)

The Ugly:

iPad 2 remains in the lineup and it's $400. (?!?!?!?!)

 

[mavere]

$300 normal mini, +$100 for bigger screen: both has same CPU and GPU performance

$400 retina mini, +$100 for bigger screen: both has same CPU and GPU performance(?)

I think that pricing structure has a numeric elegance. Too bad it's so uncompetitive at the lower end. :/

Frankly, I think the iPad Air is the best buy in the iPad lineup. I'll wait until Anand's review to make sure but I'll likely grab one before Christmas.

 

[Eug]

Chrome redraws on a daily basis on Android with 2GB. I hardly find this an issue on iOS.

Huh? I am talking about neither android nor chrome. I am talking specifically about 64-bit 1 GB iOS 7 devices.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Huh? I am talking about neither android nor chrome. I am talking specifically about 64-bit 1 GB iOS 7 devices.

As Anand said in the podcast the A7 has 20% hit on the ram for 64 bit an A6(x) SoC doesn't have.

 

[ultimatebob]

That Mac Pro is soo friggin cool looking... I just wish that it had an extra drive expansion bay on the bottom of it.

Oh well... I'm sure that someone will make a cool looking Thunderbolt storage tower to put next to it.

 

[JAG87]

Mavericks is absolutely awesome so far. Just installed it, everything feels snappier, gained a whole bunch of features (the new notifications and finder tabs are great), gained energy efficiency, and gained 7GB of space somehow....

 

[Zink]

I don't get all of the complaining about the Retina Mini? It has all of the same specs as fastest iPad plus it is smaller and cheaper. Last year's mini was a shrunk down iPad 2, now the mini is a shrunk down iPad Air for $100 cheaper.

The iPad mini is also a bit bigger and higher end than the Nexus 7 2013 with a faster processor and higher resolution display. I think that even for people who aren't picky about iOS vs Android the iPad mini is still a decent option to consider for $170 more. A7 is just about twice as fast as the 2013 Nexus 7 in benchmarks plus whatever polish iOS brings if you're into that. The screens are the same quality and PPI but the mini has a different aspect ratio (4:3 ftw) and is 35% larger.

 

[desura]

So, both the mini and the air have the A7 chip.

Does the air have any advantages besides a larger screen? For a great many people, the smaller size of the mini is advantage...

jump from the original mini to this one is pretty darn big. Like, 8x?

Air is very tempting to pick up, but this is a 1st gen apple product so I expect several bugs.

 

[mmntech]

Anybody had a chance to install Mavericks yet? I assume the downloads must be taking ages.

 

[JAG87]

Anybody had a chance to install Mavericks yet? I assume the downloads must be taking ages.

Actually it's not that bad, it took me around 15 minutes for 5. something GB. Didn't max out my connection but it's pretty good speed.

 

[mmntech]

Hopefully performance is okay on my late 2008 Macbook Unibody. I'll mess around with it on the weekend. Still got to migrate my OS X install onto the SSD.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I don't get all of the complaining about the Retina Mini? It has all of the same specs as fastest iPad plus it is smaller and cheaper. Last year's mini was a shrunk down iPad 2, now the mini is a shrunk down iPad Air for $100 cheaper.

The iPad mini is also a bit bigger and higher end than the Nexus 7 2013 with a faster processor and higher resolution display. I think that even for people who aren't picky about iOS vs Android the iPad mini is still a decent option to consider for $170 more. A7 is just about twice as fast as the 2013 Nexus 7 in benchmarks plus whatever polish iOS brings if you're into that. The screens are the same quality and PPI but the mini has a different aspect ratio (4:3 ftw) and is 35% larger.

The new mini isn't as light as the iPad Air. I really don't get why they did that. Stupid.

 

[Koing]

Hopefully performance is okay on my late 2008 Macbook Unibody. I'll mess around with it on the weekend. Still got to migrate my OS X install onto the SSD.

DO IT.

Best purchase I have done hardware wise besides the 23 and 24 monitors

Koing

 

[ControlD]

Actually it's not that bad, it took me around 15 minutes for 5. something GB. Didn't max out my connection but it's pretty good speed.

I'd say it has slowed down considerably since then lol. I started the download about an hour ago and I have yet to see the progress bar move past 5% or so.

 

[boomhower]

My thoughts:

iPad Air really impressed me, the up date that should have come last year. Finally got the weight loss and slimmer body it needed.

iPad Mini Retina is a long term game. Many reports showed limited availability of displays. So they price it high so they limit demand. Next year when they have manufacturing figured out they drop the price.

iPad 2 still on the roster and at $400 is insane. iPad 4 at $400 would have been a good seller.

Mavericks for free rocks. Can't wait to try out Keychain, downloading now.

MBPr and Mac Pro updates are nice. Pro seems expensive but that was expected.

Apple TV update would have been nice though.

No Touch ID's are also disappointing but I'm chalking that up to a combo of availability and wanting something to add next year.

 

[Childs]

It isn't 2011 anymore. This may have been true 1.5 years ago but not anymore. The nexus 7 2nd gen is a great tablet and can certainly hold it's own beside the ipad (which I do think is the best, but the N7 is VERY VERY good.).

While I dont use an iPad, just an iPhone, I must say that I don't think the Nexus 7 is all that good on the software side. I bought the second gen on impulse, and half the time the software just doesn't work all that well. I'm not sure if its Android or the developers, but I have some apps that are available on Android and IOS, and the IOS versions are fairly stable, but the Android versions dont always work. While the Nexus 7 was cheap, I know I should have just gotten an iPad, but I was in that in between state where I wanted something and knew the new iPads would come out later in the year. I thought the Nexus would be good enough, and I guess for the most part its serviceable, but I use it less and less. I will probably give it to a family member and get the new Mini in Nov.

 

[BrokenVisage]

I want my iPad mini Retina. Don't know what it is, but I may wait in line for maybe, like, 30 minutes to buy it on launch day and I NEVER do shit like that.

 

[desura]

There are some *very* good deals on the apple store for refurb 4th gen units...

How important is that A7 chip?

 

[mmntech]

DO IT.

Best purchase I have done hardware wise besides the 23 and 24 monitors

Koing

Got a 120GB Samsung drive all ready to go. Was actually just waiting for Mavericks to come out.