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iPad Air

arstechnica.com

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Re: iPad Air

#251

Post by devx »

aeontech wrote: post #161
devx wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know at least 2 people who'd love to have the option to buy Wacom pens for iPads. Right now it doesn't really work unless you use some very hacky solutions. I wish Apple supported pressure sensitive pens. I'n also still hoping for an 11"-12" 16:9 iPad Pro (they can just make it longer like they did with the iPhone 5 that comes with a keyboard. It should basically be an iPad laptop (not hybrids, no point) that costs…

Have you seen http://intuoscreativestylus.wacom.com/en/ ? No idea how well it works, but might be just what they need.

Yeah, it might be pressure sensitive, but I doubt it's anywhere as close to accurate as active digitizer pens. It looks like a capacitive pen with a thick rubber tip, so I doubt it's much more useful than a $20 capacitive stylus.

Re: iPad Air

#252

Post by 6ren »

tedunangst wrote: post #183
6ren wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but I don't follow how that's connected to my comment... maybe I should explain the background of my comment. The iPhone 5S (A7) has x1 the graphics power as the iPad 4. The iPad 5 (A7) has x2 the graphics power of the iPad 4. So... how to get double the graphics power out of the same SoC (A7)? That was the puzzle (likely ans: x2 frequency)

You may be incorrectly assuming all A7 SoCs are identical. The Apple TV has an A5, but it's only single core, unlike it's dual core phone and tablet brethren. Maybe they just dropped the X moniker.

If you have a look at my original comment, I suggested that: "Have they just stopped using the A7X style name?"

Re: iPad Air

#253

Post by rsynnott »

vsampath wrote: post #29

Apple is going for even higher margins, and it will still sell well since who doesn't want a lighter iPad? * SoC: A5X was 165mm^2. A6X was 123mm^2. A7 is only 102mm^2 with a 64-bit memory interface instead of 128-bit. They can do PoP memory too for even smaller PCB area. So much cheaper. * WiFi/LTE: same chips probably used on iPhone 5c, 5s, iPad Air, and iPad mini. Simpler inventory and buy in even higher quantities…

> * SoC: A5X was 165mm^2. A6X was 123mm^2. A7 is only 102mm^2 with a 64-bit memory interface instead of 128-bit.

This was pretty inevitable; the A5X was _absurdly_ large for a mobile SoC, and they only did it because they had to. Even the A7 is on the hefty side; it's about the biggest of its process node.

Re: iPad Air

#254

Post by devx »

rsynnott wrote: post #247
keeperofdakeys wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They aren't trying to inform you of useful specs, they are trying to wow you and make you think this thing is new and revolutionary. If they don't mention the RAM, then they probably haven't upgraded it.

> If they don't mention the RAM, then they probably haven't upgraded it. Apple have never mentioned the amount of RAM in any iOS device.

They have actually, I think at least a couple of times with the 3GS and then the 4, when they said they "doubled the memory". But not sure if they said exactly how much that was, but everyone knew how much they had before anyway, so it was easy to guess.

Re: iPad Air

#255

Post by devx »

rje wrote: post #146
4ad wrote: post #20

> Sadly, one thing it doesn't appear to have—at least, not yet—is a gold casing. Can't tell if sarcasm or not.

Given that the gold 5s was incredibly popular at launch, would it really be surprising that someone wants an ipad with the same option?

But having that color covering a whole laptop does seems a lot tackier. Now, a black Macbook Air would be interesting - or perhaps even a "space grey" one.

Re: iPad Air

#256

Post by stevetursi »

freehunter wrote: post #106
stevetursi wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it's 2013 and both Verizon and ATT are still charging $50/month for 5GB. Until unlimited plans at reasonable prices become available, cloud+mobile is useless to me and it'd be more affordable to store media on my device instead of streaming it.

T-Mobile may work for your use case (if you're in a coverage zone), with 5GB of their 4G and unlimited EDGE (it was good enough for the original iPhone which relied exclusively on HTML5 apps, right?) for $30/mo prepaid. I don't know how well the iPad works on T-Mobile's network though, YMMV.

Yeah, I'd love T-Mobile, but pretty much every friend/coworker who uses T-Mobile complains about coverage. It's apparently pretty dismal in my area (North Jersey/Hudson Valley.)

Re: iPad Air

#257

Post by blisterpeanuts »

mark_integerdsv wrote: post #243
NicoJuicy wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The iPad to enrich people's live... Sorry, but the iPad/tablets are mostly used for browsing, creating photos and using apps and games. That's not really "enriching" life as i see it, it's a consumer device, not a production device... If you really want to make it enriching, make it non-obtrusive. And i would feel sorry for those whose life really is enriched with a electronic device.

My dad is 79 years of age. He could never adjust to the digital world. Something as simple as checking a hotmail account was out of his reach. With his iPad he is able to: - keep on touch with my expat brother - see pictures of his grand kids on FB and emails - catch up woth long lost fire do on FB - read magazines without his glasses ...in general: just take part in the modern world as opposed to being an outsider.…

Ditto. 88-year-old Dad finally got himself an ipad, after decades of wondering whether to get a PC (I got him an HP laptop a while back that he and my mom never quite took to).

Now he's an avid user. The tablet is a miracle of innovation. And the Kindle has enabled my mom to read again, with her macular degeneration.

Tens of millions of ordinary non-techies out there have transformed their lives by means of these gadgets.

Re: iPad Air

#258

Post by epo »

NicoJuicy wrote: post #222
ek wrote: post #207

I really, really dislike how much hate there is in this thread. I feel like someone always ends up making similar comments every time there's a new launch from Apple/Microsoft/Google/whomever, and there is never any change. Do you guys get psyched about anything ? On the one end we have "Oh man, iPad air only has 1GB of RAM and 16GB of flash, how stupid" and on the other end we have "iPad hasn't cured cancer yet; wou…

The iPad to enrich people's live... Sorry, but the iPad/tablets are mostly used for browsing, creating photos and using apps and games. That's not really "enriching" life as i see it, it's a consumer device, not a production device... If you really want to make it enriching, make it non-obtrusive. And i would feel sorry for those whose life really is enriched with a electronic device.

That's not really "enriching" life as i see it followed by more patronising rubbish. Just because something doesn't meet your needs, circumstances or prejudices it must be worthless? Oddly, I had exactly the same reaction to your opinions.

Re: iPad Air

#259

Post by epo »

Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #239
GuiA wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By your definition of "enriching", 80% of the startups discussed on HN are not enriching anyone's lives.

Just 80%? I think you're being very generous. 95%? 98%?

You're being very generous, 99.9% is probably still too generous.

Re: iPad Air

#260

Post by epo »

snowwrestler wrote: post #126
radicalbyte wrote: post #15

Lighter. Faster. More magical. Sigh. Disappointing. What happened to doing something revolutionary? Where is the the text input? Apple are driving by creatives. When can I write my book on my Apple tablet? And what's with the 16gb model. As they said, it has been almost 4 years now. And the 16gb model persists.

If you look back at their last decade or so, Apple only rarely releases revolutionary things. The bulk of Apple product releases have been incremental upgrades. We just forget about those more easily.

Revolutions are notable because of their rarity. Were they commonplace they would be "events". 10, 20 years ago these incremental changes would indeed have seemed revolutionary but now they are just "boring upgrades". Anyway, all these "lack of innovation, where is the revolution" comments are really just Apple haters complaining that there is nothing sexier for Samsung or Microsoft to copy.
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