Apple iPad Event - 16 Oct 2014

[tubemonkey]

For those wanting an iPad mini, the 32GB mini 2 looks to be the best deal at $349. Come Black Friday, you may be able to get a mini along with a free $50-$100 store gift card.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

For those wanting an iPad mini, the 32GB mini 2 looks to be the best deal at $349. Come Black Friday, you may be able to get a mini along with a free $50-$100 store gift card.

That is of course the model which is in direct competition with devices like the 32GB Nexus 7. I know previously, at least, in the UK it was exactly double the price of the Nexus 7 (£399 for the 32GB iPad Retina Mini vs. £199 for the 32GB Nexus 7). Apple can afford to charge proportionally more for the 64/128GB models, because they really have no competitors.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That is of course the model which is in direct competition with devices like the 32GB Nexus 7. I know previously, at least, in the UK it was exactly double the price of the Nexus 7 (£399 for the 32GB iPad Retina Mini vs. £199 for the 32GB Nexus 7). Apple can afford to charge proportionally more for the 64/128GB models, because they really have no competitors.

I was able to get two 1st gen minis last Black Friday for $200 each from Best Buy after subtracting the free $100 gift cards they came with. I then converted the Best Buy gift cards into Amazon gift cards. Pretty good deal for an Apple product.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I was able to get two 1st gen minis last Black Friday for $200 each from Best Buy after subtracting the free $100 gift cards they came with. I then converted the Best Buy gift cards into Amazon gift cards. Pretty good deal for an Apple product.

"Where there is a will, there is a way."

[drofgnal]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

iPod touch...

I'm hoping this isn't true and the reason we've heard nothing is so apple can catch up to the backlog of iphone 6 and 6+ orders. Perhaps after the new year, we'll quietly see ipod's with 6 or 6+ screens.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by drofgnal

I'm hoping this isn't true and the reason we've heard nothing is so apple can catch up to the backlog of iphone 6 and 6+ orders. Perhaps after the new year, we'll quietly see ipod's with 6 or 6+ screens.

That would be dirty pool if they did that. I say that because of the impending holiday shopping season. If some people knew that an upgrade would be available the first part of next year, they'd hold off purchasing until then. Others won't wait and will purchase now for a guaranteed gift under the tree (either a touch or something else instead).

If Apple planned to release a new touch after the iPhone backlog was remedied, it's best not to reveal that fact to the public. It would hurt touch sales over the holiday.

[pwalker8]

I didn't see anything in the event that made me say - I've got to have that. To an extent, that is because I bought a new iPad and iPad mini last spring and a new iMac about a year ago, so I won't be in the market for any of those for several years. I had hoped that the rumor about a new AppleTV was true, but no mention.

Basically, I think that this was simply the pre-Christmas refresh. A little faster, a little thinner

[Prestidigitweeze]

The thing I found most interesting this time was Apple's inclusion in the iPad Air of its own SIM, which effectively will allow users to switch to any of the major carriers in the States (with the exception of Verizon) and will probably come (in later iterations) to include more carriers in Europe. The idea of being able to switch from service to service depending on which is cheaper and where I am appeals to me; it will be interesting to see whether Apple does that with some version of the iPhone eventually. I might actually pay for a feature like that:-- the ability to switch from T-Mobile to Credo using the same hardware.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

The thing I found most interesting this time was Apple's inclusion in the iPad Air of its own SIM, which effectively will allow users to switch to any of the major carriers in the States (with the exception of Verizon) and will probably come (in later iterations) to include more carriers in Europe. The idea of being able to switch from service to service depending on which is cheaper and where I am appeals to me; it will be interesting to see whether Apple does that with some version of the iPhone eventually. I might actually pay for a feature like that:-- the ability to switch from T-Mobile to Credo using the same hardware.

SIM cards are generally free, though (in Europe, at least). I agree it's a time-saving feature, but if I want to switch from, say, Vodafone to O2, all I need to is to go to the O2 web site, or call into one of their shops, and get an O2 SIM.

[xendula]

I was really hoping for an iPad witn stylus support. I guess now I can save my money, but I also thought I'd get a Nexus 9 and am so disappointed in the price that I won't do it either. With the Nexus 9 now priced like the iPad Air 1 or a mini retina, there is so much less appeal.

Very disappointing events

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by HarryT

SIM cards are generally free, though (in Europe, at least). I agree it's a time-saving feature, but if I want to switch from, say, Vodafone to O2, all I need to is to go to the O2 web site, or call into one of their shops, and get an O2 SIM.

It sounds as though Europe doesn't have the same issue as the States with carriers and networks that require different radios. I can use the same smartphone with T-Mobile and AT&T by swapping the SIM. Not so with Credo and Sprint; not so with Verizon either. Each group uses a different kind of network (though that's probably going to change eventually).

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

It sounds as though Europe doesn't have the same issue as the States with carriers and networks that require different hardware. I can use the same smartphone with T-Mobile and AT&T by swapping the SIM. Not so with Credo and Sprint; not so with Verizon either. Each uses a different kind of network.

That's right. In the US you have GSM and CDMA phone networks. Europe is all GSM, so no problem swapping carriers.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's right. In the US you have GSM and CDMA phone networks. Europe is all GSM, so no problem swapping carriers.

Still, I'm sure you can see why the ability to switch to any carrier but Verizon would appeal to someone who lived Stateside.

If smartphones offered that option, I'd be able to choose the best carrier pricing at any given time -- and despite Americans' advantage in terms of hardware pricing, the place where Europeans tend to have the pricing advantage is service.

I'd be glad to have a multicarrier-enhanced SIM that allowed me to choose the least expensive and most regionally dense service depending on where I was and what the market dictated.

The advantage to having EE included as an accepted carrier would be that I could use the same phone with Sprint that I did if I traveled to London.

Heady stuff for people who live in the United States and have spent lifetimes dealing with exclusivity-enforcing monopolies.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Still, I'm sure you can see why the ability to switch to any carrier but Verizon would appeal to someone who lived Stateside.

Certainly I see it, yes.

[xendula]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Still, I'm sure you can see why the ability to switch to any carrier but Verizon would appeal to someone who lived Stateside.

If smartphones offered that option, I'd be able to choose the best carrier pricing at any given time --

...

I'd be glad to have a multicarrier-enhanced SIM that allowed me to choose the least expensive and most regionally dense service depending on where I was and what the market dictated.

You already can choose freely in the US. Apart from still having CDMA carriers like Sprint and Verizon, the problem is that GSM carriers in the US lock phones even if they are bought on contract, while in Germany, only phones sold with prepaid SIMs have a SIM lock. I assume the same holds true for the rest of Europe.

Simple solution: don't buy your cell or tablet from a carrier or on a plan. Pay the manufacturer up front full price, and have the freedom to switch carriers. Or pay whatever fee they charge you to unlock your device. All new GSM devices are already multiple-band.

The iPad has never been SIM locked, and I can swap SIM cards as I please. When I travel internationally, I just pop in a different SIM card, and I've been able to do that since the iPad 1. SIM cards can range between 0 and maybe $15, depending on the carrier, so it's not a huge expense either way.