What's the issue with four iPad models? iPads practically are the tablet market. Is four options too many?
There were dozens of different Android tablets at the peak. That didn't go well for any of the Android tablet vendors.
There were dozens of different Android tablets at the peak. That didn't go well for any of the Android tablet vendors.
Then there’s the “mini”, which implies smaller, but is it a mini iPad or a mini iPad Pro? It turns out that it used to be a mini iPad, but today it is a mini iPad Pro. That’s confusing.
And also there’s an “iPad Air” - what the hell is that? The name implies it is thinner? Lighter? But it’s not either of those things. I have no idea.
The iPhones are just as bad, today you can buy an iPhone 13, 12, and 11. And there’s also an “SE” which doesn’t have a number and I have absolutely no idea why it’s different.
Jobs would be turning in his grave.
Jobs originated the multiple model strategy at Apple by filling out a wide variety of iPod SKUs. He also originated the idea to keep older iPhones in production to fill out lower price points.
It’s funny how often “Jobs would never allow this” comments refer to things he actually did. And of course Apple’s market performance in the phone and tablet space is obvious.
But yeah, it sucks.
But, if Apple is so bad at naming things, show me one android phone maker that does it better (and has as many products, it's easy to name things if you only have 1 product).
Edit: For some reason I can’t reply to the following comment so I will reply here:
I didn’t realize that constantly striving for improvement would be controversial? Yes, I do believe that everyone should always be striving for improvement. For me that might even be the closest possible thing to “the meaning of life”.
Without wanting to sound too much like a Star Trek episode, if we are not constantly trying to better ourselves, what is the point of anything?
That's a pretty toxic approach to things. That's like saying I as a person should always strive to be better, and it's not okay being who or what I am right now.
Edit update regarding above edit: My point was merely that always complaining is imo why so much negativity exists in the world. Nobody is happy with anything. Always something wrong / X Y Z doesn't satisfy me / Apple has a new HR person whose face I don't like so I will leave the whole ecosystem now / Touch ID sucks / Face ID sucks / Apple sucks.
I realize HN folk LOOOOVE complaining, and not being happy with anything, and perhaps that is an inherent feature of start-up founders, but would it kill you once think "You know what, this is alright!"?
XS — 6.1" (iPhone) S — 6.8" (iPhone Max) M — 8.3" (iPad Mini) L — 11" (iPad) XL — 12.9" (Big iPad)
That's it. Same design language, same thing. Pick your screen size, storage amount, whether you want cellular or just Wi-Fi, and color, and you're good.
This completely unifies everything—iPads, iPod Touches, and iPhones. You could even do a second Pro line alongside this.
I'm sure there are manufacturing difficulties involved here, in addition to having a single chipset that conforms to each size, but this should be getting a bit easier as they move into the M-series architecture. Or you just keep the A-series in the XS and S models and put an M-series chip in the iPad mini eventually.
What are you talking about? Apple is at 30% market share for tablets. That is a far cry from dominating the market.
I've seen iPads even in "android homes". But I think most tablets are used in the home and I don't go into a lot of peoples' houses, much less see tablet when I'm visiting, so there may be a vast dark pool of personally-owned android tablets.
I have a Fire because it was very cheap and it's a reasonable "small thing that plays videos" device. I don't really have a use for a tablet to do anything else.
https://dazeinfo.com/2019/08/21/tablet-browser-market-share-...
This is just browser use and the Safari version of iPad is only available on iPads and yet makes up 48% of use. My primary browser on my iPad is Firefox and I know others use Chrome so that does put them squarely in the "leader" category based on that.
Which iPad support the smart keyboard? What about the "magic" keyboard?
And because it charges by lightning, that means the devices that support it have to have lightning and can’t move to USB-C.
I don’t know if it’s cheaper to implement than the second-gen (that’s my guess). But for some reason it lives on.
- record-breaking numbers are upgrading from multiple previous models
- smartphone market is still growing
- there's a non-negligible number of people going for the "shiny new thing"
They were selling record-breaking numbers when they only had a "pro" and a "non-pro" model, too
I don't necessarily think four iPad offerings is too many, but I don't think Steve would've ever found it acceptable. He loved debuting with a single product, then adding a cheaper "mini," then eventually creating a holy trinity (mini/regular/pro), and leaving it that way forever.