A very very very. . . bad move by apple!!

[kulit_12]

they release a new ipad 4 'aka' ipad with retina display! they don't even think that there are millions of ipad 3 users that im sure very disappointed! they should release it by nex year . . because they know that ipad 3 is still fresh
from release. .

 

[iJamesH]

I saw a spec comparison between the 3 and 4 and outside of some different features(Lightning connector,HD FaceTime,improved WiFi)it really looks the same. Same RD,storage,RAM so I don't feel this is necessary.

 

[col.bris]

I disagree kulit_12 as frankly it was expected Apple to release a new iPad with at least the lightning connector and frankly adding a better processor plus including the new standard in wifi is a plus. There is no reason to get upset as the iPad 3 is an awesome computer. I really don't understand some of the comments as what Apple did by providing an earlier update is normal in the IT industry. I am employed with The Good Guys (similar to Best Buy USA) in Australia and previously operated a successful Apple Solutions specialist reseller business for 25 years. I can assure you many and I mean many computer manufactures update their products very 3 months. Further more most offer a series of computers with in a class such as i3 or i5 which causes utter confusion. One also only has to look at the Android platform to see how many versions of both phones and tablets their are. Apple changed their distribution and model program back in late 1998 and created a small line up of each product. This means that upgrading or speed bump as it is know is much easier to do if the time is right. This upgrade is just that A Speed bump with some extra benefits including the new connector. In summary it will provide more leverage for Apple to stay ahead of the competition like Microsoft and Samsung.. If you want to offload your current iPad 3 the good news is the cost of ownership is low which also means the resale value is high.

One more thing Apple does not make theses decisions over night they are planned some times a year or more before as it takes time to bring products to market in other words their iPad roadmap is spot on and not lost in translation like other manufactures whom are struggling just to release half decent tablets let alone quality products.

 

[Wolfpuppies3]

Disappointed? I doubt that very much. Who could be "disappointed" in advancing technology. If those advances don't fit your perception of a proper time schedule, get used to it. "fresh from release"? At six months? Hardly fresh in the tech world where freshness is measured in weeks not months.

Perhaps the frustration for some is that most of us cannot financially drop every thing we have to update it every time a little (or large) upgrade comes down the pike.

 

[Greg G]

I think it is natural to be upset and am in the club myself. I had thought my investment last March would have me be the high end target for apps for a year. That is not an unreasonable belief based on the refresh cycles in the past. Now app developers who build high end apps (e.g. games) will focus on the much more capable chip that is in the iPad4 and be less worried about iPad3 performance - especially since iPad3 had such a short run. I just hope that I don't end up having to sacrifice retina resolutions to be able to to play new games without experiencing a slow downs.

-Greg

PS - I am also feeling burnt by the money grab that the over priced lightening cables and converters have turned into. I think they are going to make a another fortune from this cable transition and are really sticking it to loyal customers.

 

[buerkletucson]

Geez...let it rest will ya.

Honestly it's all in your head.......
Your iPad 3 still does exactly what it was designed to do and is same as when you purchased it. Working flawlessly.
Why did you purchase it to begin with? Because it fit your needs and requirements. Has that changed in the last day since the release of the iPad 4?
NO!

Time moves on.....and so does technology. Get over it. :thumbs:

 

[Greg G]

Geez...let it rest will ya.

Honestly it's all in your head.......
Your iPad 3 still does exactly what it was designed to do and is same as when you purchased it. Working flawlessly.
Why did you purchase it to begin with? Because it fit your needs and requirements. Has that changed in the last day since the release of the iPad 4?
NO!

Time moves on.....and so does technology. Get over it. :thumbs:

I do see your point. Technology advancing is a good thing and there is more to life than how long my iPad 3 will continue to be viable. My iPad does not do less than it did yesterday but I do think it is fair to consider that the life cycle of the iPad 3 may now be shorter than previous models. I guess the positive spin would be that I can upgrade next October (assuming they wait that long) and mange to skip a generation without having to wait 2 years.

EDIT: Just saw on another thread that you bought yours 3 weeks ago and are not upset. You are a better person than me if you are OK with that. Especially since you could probably exchange it if you wanted to.

 

[Skull One]

I think it is natural to be upset and am in the club myself. I had thought my investment last March would have me be the high end target for apps for a year. That is not an unreasonable belief based on the refresh cycles in the past. Now app developers who build high end apps (e.g. games) will focus on the much more capable chip that is in the iPad4 and be less worried about iPad3 performance - especially since iPad3 had such a short run. I just hope that I don't end up having to sacrifice retina resolutions to be able to to play new games without experiencing a slow downs.

-Greg

PS - I am also feeling burnt by the money grab that the over priced lightening cables and converters have turned into. I think they are going to make a another fortune from this cable transition and are really sticking it to loyal customers.

Won't even bother to argue the whole lightning cable issue, because I don't have any proof that they are doing the right thing by dumping the 30 pin connector. Even though my gut instinct is to say "Thank goodness they dropped that monstrosity finally".

But your premise that developers will only be building games for the iPad 4, is so far off base it isn't even funny. In fact it is exactly the opposite situation. The iPad 2 and iPad 3 currently make up the bulk of ownership for developers to target. That means every game has to be tested on the iPad 2 to reach the largest possible audience. Otherwise they are cutting into their own profit margins for absolutely no reason. Developers won't even consider targeting an iPad 4 only application for at least 6 months so that they can get enough units in consumers hands to justify the man power and budget to begin with.


There are three reasons for this knee jerk reaction to an iPad 4.

1) People thought the next iPad wasn't going to be out till March 2013 and that they could wait till Feb 2013 to sell their current iPad 3 at maximum resell value before upgrading.

2) They aren't the coolest kid on the block anymore because they haven't had a year to save up for this new iPad.

3) Some people just like to whine because they have nothing better to do.

BTW, everything I have read, falls under those 3 conditions. No one has come up with a SINGLE LOGICAL reason to be upset with the iPad 4. Not one.

 

[buerkletucson]

EDIT: Just saw on another thread that you bought yours 3 weeks ago and are not upset. You are a better person than me if you are OK with that. Especially since you could probably exchange it if you wanted to.

I will check into exchanging it but won't be disappointed if I can't.
I'll take a freebie if I can get it........but won't fret about it if it's a no-go. I'm completely happy with the iPad3.

 

[Greg G]

Won't even bother to argue the whole lightning cable issue, because I don't have any proof that they are doing the right thing by dumping the 30 pin connector. Even though my gut instinct is to say "Thank goodness they dropped that monstrosity finally".

I agree that it makes sense to move forward with the lightening connector. I don't like that they are raping us for new cables and converters. Does it really need to cost $29 for an adapter?

But your premise that developers will only be building games for the iPad 4, is so far off base it isn't even funny. In fact it is exactly the opposite situation. The iPad 2 and iPad 3 currently make up the bulk of ownership for developers to target. That means every game has to be tested on the iPad 2 to reach the largest possible audience. Otherwise they are cutting into their own profit margins for absolutely no reason. Developers won't even consider targeting an iPad 4 only application for at least 6 months so that they can get enough units in consumers hands to justify the man power and budget to begin with.

I don't think you are getting my point on this. I don't think that they will only be building games for the iPad 4. That is silly as you say. It is about two things: 1) How long until the device needs to be retired because apps don't work on it anymore. My old iPad 1 crashes on many games (e.g. Dungeon Defenders after the last update after it was "optimized for iPad 2") because technology passed it by. With a limited device run of the iPad 3, I could see it loosing priority quicker than models that where on sale for a full year. 2) Being able to play games at the highest settings. It will not take long before apps are optimized (e.g. work better) for iPad2/mini for 1024x768 gaming and iPad4 for retina. When I see that a game has better features/graphics for the iPad 4 (optimized for iPad 4) and I have the iPad 3 then I feel like I'm missing something. I promise you that apps will be optimized for iPad 4 very quickly - especially those games where it is just a matter of tweaking some settings in the game engine. The problem is that it really is too soon to upgrade so I'll have to live with that. Hopefully it will make me a better person.

 

[Skull One]

*SNIP* Being able to play games at the highest settings. It will not take long before apps are optimized (e.g. work better) for iPad2/mini for 1024x768 gaming and iPad4 for retina. When I see that a game has better features/graphics for the iPad 4 (optimized for iPad 4) and I have the iPad 3 then I feel like I'm missing something. I promise you that apps will be optimized for iPad 4 very quickly - especially those games where it is just a matter of tweaking some settings in the game engine. The problem is that it really is too soon to upgrade so I'll have to live with that. Hopefully it will make me a better person.

Ah, I see where your confusion stems from and I have very good news for you.

All applications written for the iPad (every version ever made) are designed for 1024x768 only. There are NO apps that are designed for 2048x1536. It is currently impossible because the iOS SDK doesn't allow it. Now you are asking how do retina apps work. Easy. The developer provides two sets of graphics (hence the average app size growing by 16%). One set for 1024x768 and a second set at 2048x1536. They do that by providing a graphic asset with two different names. So pumpkin.png is the 1024x768 version and [email protected] is the 2048x1536. The developer doesn't have to change a single line of code to make this work. He simply calls for the asset pumpkin and iOS looks at which device it is running on to pick the graphic. And yes this applies to all iOS devices.

Now with that in mind, why do they want more CPU and GPU power? There in-lies the rub and what you are concerned with. The amount of AI (artificial intelligence) and how many different 3D objects built with multiple polygons that are independently textured is limited strictly by the amount of time between each screen refresh. The more horsepower the more you can do.

In that regard, they have to code for the iPad 2 and Mini which are both A5 CPUs. That means anything they can run, the iPad 3's A5X and iPad's 4 A6X can run without any issue. Heck for that matter, the iPhone 4S and 5 are compatible with that design criteria.

Hope that elevates some of your worries.

 

[Greg G]

why do they want more CPU and GPU power? There in-lies the rub and what you are concerned with. The amount of AI (artificial intelligence) and how many different 3D objects built with multiple polygons that are independently textured is limited strictly by the amount of time between each screen refresh. The more horsepower the more you can do.

In that regard, they have to code for the iPad 2 and Mini which are both A5 CPUs. That means anything they can run, the iPad 3's A5X and iPad's 4 A6X can run without any issue. Heck for that matter, the iPhone 4S and 5 are compatible with that design criteria.

Yes the impact of more horsepower for CPU/GPU activities is my concern. Suspect you are right that anything that runs on an iPad2 at 1024x768 should be able to run on an iPad3 at 2048x1536. I do expect there to be engine tweaks to make the same game look and run better on the iPad4. That is the primary disappointment for me. Up until now I've managed to upgrade each year as the new model comes out so I always had the best application experience but this is just too soon. I don't care about what others think - I'd be happy to have an iPad4 and not tell anyone it wasn't an iPad3 (actually, I'd prefer that since people already think I'm nuts for upgrading each year ).

Also, I'm sure I will be moving to the iPad5 before the iPad3 stops being able to run everything so for me that is less of an issue but others may be worried that they won't get as much longevity out of the iPad3 as they would the iPad2 if they had bought that when it first came out.

 

[AQ_OC]

Now app developers who build high end apps (e.g. games) will focus on the much more capable chip that is in the iPad4 and be less worried about iPad3 performance - especially since iPad3 had such a short run.

This is by no means a true statement. Most developers will want their games and apps to run on whatever hardware it can, as this translates into sales. Right now, NO one even has the 4th gen iPad. Your iPad 3 will continue to play plenty of games.

And of course you were given zero guarantees in terms of when a refresh would occur for iPad.

 

[seneca18]

Ah, I see where your confusion stems from and I have very good news for you.

All applications written for the iPad (every version ever made) are designed for 1024x768 only. There are NO apps that are designed for 2048x1536. It is currently impossible because the iOS SDK doesn't allow it. Now you are asking how do retina apps work. Easy. The developer provides two sets of graphics (hence the average app size growing by 16%). One set for 1024x768 and a second set at 2048x1536. They do that by providing a graphic asset with two different names. So pumpkin.png is the 1024x768 version and [email protected] is the 2048x1536. The developer doesn't have to change a single line of code to make this work. He simply calls for the asset pumpkin and iOS looks at which device it is running on to pick the graphic. And yes this applies to all iOS devices.

Now with that in mind, why do they want more CPU and GPU power? There in-lies the rub and what you are concerned with. The amount of AI (artificial intelligence) and how many different 3D objects built with multiple polygons that are independently textured is limited strictly by the amount of time between each screen refresh. The more horsepower the more you can do.

In that regard, they have to code for the iPad 2 and Mini which are both A5 CPUs. That means anything they can run, the iPad 3's A5X and iPad's 4 A6X can run without any issue. Heck for that matter, the iPhone 4S and 5 are compatible with that design criteria.

Hope that elevates some of your worries.

Welcome back Skull, haven't seen you in a while.

 

[Skull One]

Welcome back Skull, haven't seen you in a while.

Thank you. Needed a vacation