Apple Event thread - New iPads etc. - Oct. 16, 2014

[LightPattern]

I'll be sending a PSA on my social media advising them not to go for the 16 GB base models... and to stay the hell away from the original iPad mini with ancient specs.

Here's an article that covers this, hitting all the needed points, and without extraneous content:

If You're Going To Buy A New iPhone Or iPad, Get Ready To Pay At Least $100 Extra


​

 

[Eug]

iPad Air 2 already shipping. Some guy in Australia got his shipping notice today (which is Tuesday in Australia).

I hope to see more benches and confirmation of 2 GB --- and triple core? --- within a day or two.

My friend here in Canada also got his 5K iMac shipping notice today (Monday). Coming from China.

 

[Eug]

Hey Brits!

iPad Air 2 now in stock at John Lewis.

http://www.johnlewis.com/electrical...3_RTCTAPPLE_20141021&s_emuid=SCV_100007145220

Only Space Grey WiFi though.

 

[rsutoratosu]

My local vz is holding an Air2 128gb one for me.. i guess they dont sell at lot of them that they are willing to hold it for me. I also have a 200 off FIOS coupon from last month so i'll be like 629 for the Air 2

 

[mmntech]

Fairly credible rumour that the iPad Air 2 may have a tri-core CPU.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/1...ark-suggests-tri-core-cpu-2gb-of-ram/#image-2

 

[Eug]

^^^ Yeah, we've been talking about that for the last couple of days in the CPU forum. It started with the PassMark leak, which we were a little suspicious of, and then came the Geekbench leak today.

I'm glad I pre-ordered my iPad Air 2 when I did (minutes after the store went live), on the assumption it'd have 2 GB RAM. The triple core is just a bonus.

I hope to get my iPad Air 2 by the end of the week. It hasn't shipped yet, but my order states the delivery date should be between Oct. 23 and Oct. 27.

Edit:

Shipped!

 

[mmntech]

^^^ Yeah, we've been talking about that for the last couple of days in the CPU forum. It started with the PassMark leak, which we were a little suspicious of, and then came the Geekbench leak today.

I'm glad I pre-ordered my iPad Air 2 when I did (minutes after the store went live), on the assumption it'd have 2 GB RAM. The triple core is just a bonus.

I hope to get my iPad Air 2 by the end of the week. It hasn't shipped yet, but my order states the delivery date should be between Oct. 23 and Oct. 27.

Edit:

Shipped!

Yeah, I had posted that right before it's own thread went up. Might convince me to upgrade once things in life settle down a little.

 

[StarTech15]

I'll be getting the gold iPad Air 2. Why? Not why you'd imagine. Because it is super fast and super light, and unlike the other iPad's, dust won't get stuck under it's screen.

AND BECAUSE IT'S GOOOOOLD!

 

[Steelbom]

GLBenchmark: link

iPad Air 2 scores really well.

 

[mugs]

You can get the 2013 2.3Ghz i7 quad Mac Mini for $740 right now on BHPhotoVideo. I don't know what price was on the Apple store on 10/15. Boost is 3.3Ghz. 4Gb RAM, 1TB 5400 RPM drive. New Mac Mini at $700 is 2.6 Ghz i5 dual-core, boost to 3.1Ghz with 8GB RAM and 1TB 5400 RPM drive. I would rather pay the $40 for the quad, as you can make up the difference by user installed RAM and SSD, which would cost much more on the new model. Not to mention you can add a second HD in the 2013 version. Graphics isn't much of an upgrade on the new version.

I guess another way to look at it is there is no reason to upgrade from the 2013 version. I was thinking f it and started looking at the 5K iMac. Its tempting, but target display mode isn't 5K, but 4K. I don't know how that would look if I wanted to reuse it as only a monitor in a couple years when I upgrade again. I don't really hold that against them, as DP 1.3 is really ready yet, and no Mac now would support that resolution. It seems like the choices they made with the new models was just enough to make me think I'll upgrade next time around instead of now. Which is what they did last year. hahaha

After more research I decided to upgrade my 2011 Mini to 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB SSD. Maybe next year they'll have a new Mini worth buying.

 

[Aikouka]

Talked to the local Verizon store on Wednesday. They said the iPad would be coming in on Friday, but they couldn't tell me how many. I go there today, and I get, "Oh, we don't have any, but we can order one for you!" ...! "It will ship on 11/21" ...!!!

You know, I'm a pretty simple guy, but I've only got two pet peeves... and wasting my time is one of them. So, not only did I have to go there at 10 AM, but I could have gotten one much sooner if I just ordered it myself. I was really on the fence about getting one to begin with, but honestly... the debacle has soured me enough to just want to toss the receipt in their face, voice my displeasure, and tell them to cancel it. If only I could be more confrontational and tell them this sort of stuff from the start. :|

 

[smackababy]

After more research I decided to upgrade my 2011 Mini to 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB SSD. Maybe next year they'll have a new Mini worth buying.

IMO, the Mini is only worth it if you want a low cost entry into the OSX ecosystem (which, for app development reasons, I happen to want said entry). The $699 isn't an awful deal, I just wish the SSD options wasn't as expensive. I mean, $200 isn't that bad for a 256SSD, but it is still annoying.

 

[mugs]

IMO, the Mini is only worth it if you want a low cost entry into the OSX ecosystem (which, for app development reasons, I happen to want said entry). The $699 isn't an awful deal, I just wish the SSD options wasn't as expensive. I mean, $200 isn't that bad for a 256SSD, but it is still annoying.

The new Mini is fine if I didn't already have one. It just isn't enough of an upgrade over what I already had. I was looking at $1200+ for the top-end model with 16 GB of RAM (SSD is free, so it's basically a $100 CPU upgrade over the $699 model). Instead I spent ~$350 and upgraded my 2011 Mini to 16 GB of RAM and put in a 512 GB SSD. I wish I realized how easy it was to do the upgrade before, because I could have been using an SSD for a while now. Granted, it would have been 128 or 256 GB.

I just remembered the unpleasant experience I had upgrading RAM in my 2009 Mini, but there's less going on inside the newer Minis.

Also picked up a new iPad Air 2, and man this thing is nice. Coming from the 3rd gen iPad it's so thin and light.

 

[Blanky]

Here's an article that covers this, hitting all the needed points, and without extraneous content:

If You're Going To Buy A New iPhone Or iPad, Get Ready To Pay At Least $100 Extra


​

Article makes good points but ultimately I went with 16gb again because the way I use my iPad that is sufficient. I roll vid and pics off regularly and unlike most people who crap apps all over their devices I only have what I regulary use.

Also f Apple if it thinks I am paying $100 for $20 worth of memory, which is what that extra 48 gb is costing it. It is just silly that they are still releasing these with 16 though. Probably air 3 they do base 32 and it is going to cut right into those who are on the fence about whether 16 is enough for them or not.

ANYWAY, ionic keyboard case is $20 at Amazon. Are there any other good keyboard cases for the air 2 worth buying now? I don't want one of those $50-100 options so the Amazon one seems like I may have to go that route.

 

[Eug]

Ars Technica review of iPad Air 2

we loaded a Facebook page in Safari, set the news feed sorting to "most recent," and began scrolling down. On older iPads, this doesn't take long to crash Safari browsing (my account contains over 650 friends and a healthy smattering of "likes," which means the insufferable baby photos and Buzzfeed quiz results pile up pretty fast). In this Safari implementation, the site eternally scrolls without deleting any of the previously viewed content. It's a recipe for all-too-soon crashes.

Yet on the iPad Air 2, we could keep scrolling... and scrolling... and scrolling. We managed to load roughly 46 hours' worth of feed content, throughout which we would randomly hit "like," click on new-tab links, or load embedded videos, before Safari crashed. This took about eight minutes of relatively fast scrolling to accomplish.

In another far-from-scientific Safari test, we loaded full sites on 15 tabs on both Air models, then waited a few minutes and flipped back through each tab to see how long it'd take for the iPad to either crash or reload a particular tab. The iPad Air 2 lasted 11 tabs before it had to call back to the server for a reload, while the original iPad Air needed a recall as early as its fifth.

 

[Blanky]

Ars Technica review of iPad Air 2

we loaded a Facebook page in Safari, set the news feed sorting to "most recent," and began scrolling down. On older iPads, this doesn't take long to crash Safari browsing (my account contains over 650 friends and a healthy smattering of "likes," which means the insufferable baby photos and Buzzfeed quiz results pile up pretty fast). In this Safari implementation, the site eternally scrolls without deleting any of the previously viewed content. It's a recipe for all-too-soon crashes.

Yet on the iPad Air 2, we could keep scrolling... and scrolling... and scrolling. We managed to load roughly 46 hours' worth of feed content, throughout which we would randomly hit "like," click on new-tab links, or load embedded videos, before Safari crashed. This took about eight minutes of relatively fast scrolling to accomplish.

In another far-from-scientific Safari test, we loaded full sites on 15 tabs on both Air models, then waited a few minutes and flipped back through each tab to see how long it'd take for the iPad to either crash or reload a particular tab. The iPad Air 2 lasted 11 tabs before it had to call back to the server for a reload, while the original iPad Air needed a recall as early as its fifth.

RAM FTW. It really is quite a nice upgrade. Three cores, twice the ram. It's possible this thing will "last" longer than other ipads before it gets longer in the tooth. Makes me almost regret not paying the extra $100 for 64 GB

 

[MichaelHudson]

I used the Best Buy 200 dollar deal to trade in my iPad2 for an iPad Air 2 64 GB today. So far it seems pretty awesome and a lot faster. I purchase the 2 in April of 2011 so I had a good run and still amazed I got that much in trade.

 

[Rakehellion]

It seems this may end up being one of those classic Apple version 1.0 gotchas.

Watch all the early adopters cry next year when they realize their 2014 Retina iMacs don't support the 5K Cinema Displays when they are released next year.

Apparently it's only 30Hz at 5K.

http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/1...y-how-do-you-squeeze-5k-out-of-a-last-gen-gpu

 

[mmntech]

Looks like the 2014 MacMini has become Apple's latest disposable computer. Ars wasn't impressed by it.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/11/not-the-upgrade-we-were-hoping-for-the-2014-mac-mini-reviewed/

I really hate, hate how you cannot upgrade the RAM in these computers anymore. It's so asinine. I know it won't affect most people, but it's definitely something that's steering me away from buying another Mac. Lack of a quad core option is also a big drawback, especially if you're using them for video editing.

 

[Eug]

AnandTech iPad Air 2 review:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8666/the-apple-ipad-air-2-review

Overall, the iPad Air 2 is likely to be one of the only tablets worth buying on the market today. While iOS isn’t perfect, it’s definitely delivering the best tablet experience as its app support is second to none. While other OEMs may have more features, iOS manages to hold on by virtue of its superior polish and integration with Apple hardware. While I’d like to see Apple push the envelope further with the iPad line, it’s hard to argue this when other OEMs seem to be content with the status quo. While it’s likely that Apple will be able to hold on to its tablet lead, it remains to be seen if Google’s Nexus 9 can prove to be a viable competitor to the iPad Air 2.

 

[SKORPI0]

AnandTech iPad Air 2 review:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8666/the-apple-ipad-air-2-review

Not surprised about the Apple biased review by Anandtech anymore. The author is deluding himself that the iPad Air 2 "likely to be one of the only tablets worth buying on the market today".
Other sites have way better reviews. I've used both iOS and Android products, sure it's a different experience, but I enjoy and prefer the later.

 

[Eug]

Wow. I just started using Keynote and PowerPoint on this iPad Air 2. Remarkably responsive. In fact it's either as fast or faster than my 2009 2.26 GHz Core 2 Duo 13" MacBook Pro with the latest Keynote and PowerPoint 2011. The main annoyance is the focus on cloud storage for both, although both do allow local storage, albeit not sharable between the two locally.

With a decent detachable keyboard and proper iOS support, along with an integrated trackpad preferably, a 12" MaxiPad would be a fine office productivity tool and a decent hybrid tablet/ultra-portable laptop.

I almost want to get a Lightning to VGA adapter for presentations. In fact I would if it were under $20. Unfortunately it is $55, and has mixed reviews.