Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

New iPad Air, powered by M4

apple.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 693 posts

Re: New iPad Air, powered by M4

#191

Post by cosmic_cheese »

swiftcoder wrote: post #54
dylan604 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on how you look at it. While the hardware might keep functioning and current software might keep running, some devs also deprecate their software. I have an old 6S+ that I keep software that I don't want to install on my actual device. Slack informed me that it will no longer function after a date set later this year. Other apps have already stopped working on it because the devs do not want to deal with it.…

> TL;DR sometimes it's not Apple, it's the app devs that deprecate them. Are the app devs deprecating just because their support matrix is too big, or because current SDKs will no longer build apps compatible with those devices? I think the later case is less common on the Android side of the fence, but Apple is not great about keeping old versions of the dev tools functional, and you end up needing to keep elderly M…

It’s because every supported version multiplies support burden and sometimes can prevent use of new APIs that substantially improve quality of life unless the dev is willing to turn their code into a patchwork quilt of version checks (which brings its own problems).

On Android it’s less of an issue because the SDK ships separately from the system, but there are often still substantial behavioral differences between system versions under the same SDK that can be a real pain in the rear, especially when it comes to permissions-related issues. This why it’s common for Android apps to have odd bugs or behave strangely on ancient versions of Android — while it’s easy for the dev to produce a build technically runs on a wide range of versions, properly testing against all those permutations of versions and manufacturer skins is practically speaking impossible unless you’re a sizable company that keeps a lab full of devices with CI rigged up to test against them all.

Re: New iPad Air, powered by M4

#192

Post by piazz »

vintagedave wrote: post #4

My current iPad is the iPad Air 3 (the one with the backlight issue that's never been acknowledged, to my understanding.) Can someone explain to me why an iPad at all, let alone an iPad Air, needs as powerful a processor as a M4? That's stronger than my laptop (a M2) where I run multiple VMs and more.

Some creative workflows genuinely benefit from the tablet form factor. I often do serious photo editing on the iPad because I have access to Apple Pencil, and, somehow, holding the thing in my hands like an actual physical object activates some different more analog brain region for me than using a laptop / desktop, and it’s helpful to my creative process. Lightroom for iPad is quite capable but it requires some power.

And then visual artists are often using Procreate, and those files can get heavy as well.

Plus, it’s nice to carry my iPad around with me in a sling and work in a cafe whenever I feel like it. I wouldn’t want to do that with my 16” MBP.

Re: New iPad Air, powered by M4

#193

Post by michaelmcdonald »

isodev wrote: post #174
HaloZero wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd be surprised by the horsepower some games require, my wife plays Love and Deep Space and she recently just bought a new iPad because the game requires some good specs and a LOT of storage space. She's not a "serious gamer" as your parlance.

But the iPad is not a console … it doesn’t even do Steam. All that horsepower to play … a couple of forever titles and that’s it. I have the M1 iPad Air and it has never used that processor to its fullest. I think iPad is just an odd device for most people

On the go video / photo editing is AMAZING on my iPad! More power speeds up some the effects / transition editing. Batch processing, all with a device that has great battery life and is smaller than a magazine. For super heavy stuff, sure, use my Mac, but when I travel and want to be productive on the go, the iPad is awesome!

Re: New iPad Air, powered by M4

#195

Post by mort96 »

baby wrote: post #189
Havoc wrote: post #117

To what end? I genuinely don’t get the purpose of these high end processors in a tablet. Like more power is nice but what would I do on it that needs it? Serious gamers mostly steer clear of Apple. Video editors presumably use desktops/laptops. Browsing doesn’t need power. Video watching doesn’t need it. Programming on iPads is cumbersome. Who is the target audience that gains from this?

Ive been using mine since 2018, the ipad pro. If you do any drawing then it’s a no brainer, and that’s why I got it in the first place. Then it was so good that I used it to travel and to watch videos in bed in place of my computer. If I need to work I’ll take my laptop though. IMO if you don’t use your laptop to work it doesn’t make sense to use a laptop instead of an iPad.

It's great, sure. But why release an M4 iPad Pro when essentially no software can make use of the processor power improvements since 2018?

Re: New iPad Air, powered by M4

#196

Post by SenHeng »

rllearneratwork wrote: post #173
sccxy wrote: post #160

Can you connect it to USB-C/Thunderbolt monitor/dock and use it with keyboard and mouse?

yes. Has been possible since at least M1. Buy M-based iPad, nice monitor, keyboard and mouse. Connect mouse and keyboard to monitor via USB. Then iPad via USB-C/Thunderbolt to monitor. Everything "just works" and you can handle surprisingly high amount of work this way

It's been possible since the iPad 2.

I used to code HTML/CSS that way back in... 2011?

Re: New iPad Air, powered by M4

#197

Post by bigyabai »

nozzlegear wrote: post #169
jbellis wrote: post #150

When the M1 ipad came out I said I'd upgrade from whatever my model year 2020 ipad is once I could run a Linux VM on it without rooting it. Still waiting.

Why did you get an iPad if you wanted to run a Linux VM? Wouldn't a Macbook Air have been a better choice?

Because they like the hardware? The better question is why Apple pretends these devices can't run VMs.

Re: New iPad Air, powered by M4

#198

Post by zikduruqe »

aalam wrote: post #182

As always, I _wish_ I had a use case for an iPad. Seem like such powerful machines hindered by where they live in the serious-computing space. The iPadOS being much more restrictive doesn't help either. I wish they could repurpose macOS to touch screens... Oh well.

Same here. I have tried my dangedest to want to need an iPad. Once the new wears off, I just cannot find a use for them.

Re: New iPad Air, powered by M4

#199

Post by joshkojoras »

I had a 2008 iPad until few years ago and I think it was the most impressive device I ever owned. I couldn't believe how much performance and longevity you can get out of such a small and simple device, for the price which hasn't changed in 8 years. I sold it because I spent most of my time on a laptop, but looking at this new M4 Air iPad makes my wallet tingle. I first want to see what the low cost Macbook is like, hopefully that's tomorrow.

Re: New iPad Air, powered by M4

#200

Post by bombcar »

Havoc wrote: post #117

To what end? I genuinely don’t get the purpose of these high end processors in a tablet. Like more power is nice but what would I do on it that needs it? Serious gamers mostly steer clear of Apple. Video editors presumably use desktops/laptops. Browsing doesn’t need power. Video watching doesn’t need it. Programming on iPads is cumbersome. Who is the target audience that gains from this?

They're half a second away from offering an iPad running MacOS (or a tablet MacBook, take your pick). They're baby-stepping their way to this, obviously.

I've yet to figure anything you can do with these but watch videos and play some games; I always end up grabbing the laptop.

Post reply on HN