March 15, 2016 Apple media event: iPhone 5se and iPad Air 3?

[TheStu]

I'm tempted to get the SE, but I'm now too used to the 4.7" screen now...and the SE doesn't come in a 128GB version.

My hangup is that it doesn't have TouchID 2... not sure if I can handle going back to the slower sensor on my daily driver.

On the other hand, I'm leasing my phone, and this would probably cut my monthly payments by A LOT.

 

[Artdeco]

I like the idea of a smaller phone, but I'm not going back to a smaller screen & keyboard.

 

[Eug]

At that price, I'd guess 1 GB, but I dunno. Apple never announces the RAM on any of the iOS devices. We get the RAM either from tear downs or else from Geekbench leaks, etc.

I am happy to report that I am wrong in my guess. The iPhone SE has 2 GB RAM.

https://twitter.com/panzer/status/712330579291668480

That's the way it should be. That makes the iPhone 6 (which is still for sale, at a higher price than the iPhone SE) look even more lame these days.

 

[pcslookout]

I am happy to report that I am wrong in my guess. The iPhone SE has 2 GB RAM.

https://twitter.com/panzer/status/712330579291668480

That's the way it should be. That makes the iPhone 6 (which is still for sale, at a higher price than the iPhone SE) look even more lame these days.

Yes but the iPad Pro 9.7 inch only has 2 GB of ram

 

[Eug]

Yes but the iPad Pro 9.7 inch only has 2 GB of ram

Heh. The "low cost" SE has 2 GB RAM, and the premium 9.7" Pro only has 2 GB RAM. That makes the CAD$800 price tag of the 32 GB 9.7" even more crazy IMO.

 

[pcslookout]

Heh. The "low cost" SE has 2 GB RAM, and the premium 9.7" Pro only has 2 GB RAM. That makes the CAD$800 price tag of the 32 GB 9.7" even more crazy IMO.

I agree.

So should I keep my iPad Air 2 128 GB or return it and get a 12.9 inch iPad Pro 256 GB ?

 

[amyklai]

I agree.

So should I keep my iPad Air 2 128 GB or return it and get a 12.9 inch iPad Pro 256 GB ?

Depends on whether you can handle an Xboxhuge tablet.

 

[StinkyPinky]

Still see Apple are doing the 16gb thing. Seriously, make the default 32 for the love of god.

 

[Subyman]

Disappointed to see the SE not getting the design of the 6. Looks like they just jammed better hardware into the 4 year old enclosure. Not a very sleek offering IMO. I'm also trying to find a reason why someone with a 5S would upgrade to it other than Apple Pay, fast wifi, and marginally better performance in real world applications. 16GB base is asinine.

iPad Pro is shaping up to be a nice device. I may look into getting one to replace my MacBook Pro when it gives up the ghost. I mostly only surf the net, check email, and such on my lap top anymore.

 

[Eug]

So should I keep my iPad Air 2 128 GB or return it and get a 12.9 inch iPad Pro 256 GB ?

I have two friends with the 12.9" Pro:

One guy loves it and uses it all the time at home, and even brings it with him to work. However, he states it's a table-top or laptop device for the most part, not handheld like the 9.7", and he also uses it to demo his work to clients. So for him, he's actually using it as a "Pro" device to an extent.

The other guy thinks the 12.9" Pro is totally useless. He uses his iPads purely as consumption devices, and likes to have the portability and handholdability of his consumption devices, and unfortunately, the 12.9" just doesn't suit that.

So two very different perspectives, from two very big Apple fans. BTW, I fall in the latter group. The 9.7" is as big as I'd go. If I want more "Pro" usage, I pull out my MacBook Pro.

Still see Apple are doing the 16gb thing. Seriously, make the default 32 for the love of god.

I'm not surprised at 16 GB with the SE. I would be disappointed with the iPhone 7 though.

 

[Pneumothorax]

Heh. The "low cost" SE has 2 GB RAM, and the premium 9.7" Pro only has 2 GB RAM. That makes the CAD$800 price tag of the 32 GB 9.7" even more crazy IMO.

In my experience with iOS devices (I've owned every single one with the exception of the 1st iPhone and 5S), it's the ram limitations that kill their performance with iOS updates. In other words, by gimping the iPP 9.7 with only 2gb of ram, it's going to go obsolete at about the same time as the 1.5 year old Air 2. Thank God I didn't put my Air 2 128gb for sale. I may just bite the bullet on the iPP 12.9 as it's going to have longer legs than it's smaller brother.

 

[Oyeve]

I was hoping for an ipad pro that ran OSX. That would be killer and even I would consider getting one.

 

[Blackjack200]

I have two friends with the 12.9" Pro:

One guy loves it and uses it all the time at home, and even brings it with him to work. However, he states it's a table-top or laptop device for the most part, not handheld like the 9.7", and he also uses it to demo his work to clients. So for him, he's actually using it as a "Pro" device to an extent.

The other guy thinks the 12.9" Pro is totally useless. He uses his iPads purely as consumption devices, and likes to have the portability and handholdability of his consumption devices, and unfortunately, the 12.9" just doesn't suit that.

So two very different perspectives, from two very big Apple fans. BTW, I fall in the latter group. The 9.7" is as big as I'd go. If I want more "Pro" usage, I pull out my MacBook Pro.



I'm not surprised at 16 GB with the SE. I would be disappointed with the iPhone 7 though.

I've posted before about my iPP, it boils down to personal preference. I "upgraded" from an Air2, which I almost never used. The Air2 was too small for me, everything felt cramped, I didn't think web pages looked good, I didn't use it for productivity.

The iPP changed everything. I use it for almost everything. Netflix and HBO Now look so good I don't bother with the TV anymore. I've ordered a laptop and once I get it I'm going to download Duet and have a portable dual screen setup with LTE internet through the iPP, so I'll be able to work from anywhere, even if there's no WiFi. Yesterday I had to do some data entry into an Excel file I had on One Drive. I downloaded One Drive and Excel onto the iPad, and was up and rolling in a few minutes. I was really amazed at how well the UI worked. The performance was completely smooth (it was a decent size, but not huge Excel file, somewhere between 5,000 and 7,000 cells).

All that said, if you feel like a big tablet would be awkward, stick with the 9.7". I would buy a 15" iPad if I could, I love the big screen, but my dad uses an iPad mini and thinks I'm crazy. It's all personal preference.

 

[Eug]

I use my 9.7" Air 2 as my primary Netflix and TV viewing device. Perfect size for me. However, I HAD to choose a different size, I'd actually go smaller than bigger. The problem with going with the iPad mini though is I don't like surfing on it at all. It's perfectly fine on the Air 2 though.

15" is too big for me for laptop. I'm looking to get a 12" or 13" Mac laptop in the next 18 months.

 

[ultimatebob]

I am happy to report that I am wrong in my guess. The iPhone SE has 2 GB RAM.

https://twitter.com/panzer/status/712330579291668480

That's the way it should be. That makes the iPhone 6 (which is still for sale, at a higher price than the iPhone SE) look even more lame these days.

Makes sense. The new phone is basically an iPhone 6S is an iPhone 5S case.

 

[Hugo Drax]

I ordered a ipad pro 12 inch with 128gb and lte cellular. They are going for 950 now. The smaller version with 2gb ram is a poor value at 850. I ended up just keeping my ipad air first gen with lte, it still works fine.

I have a feeling the referesh next year will include 4gb of ram.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I manage and buy phones for our company and they want me to stick with the free on 2 year contract phones. This has often been painful for me, as these phones often have two year old specs and only 8GB of storage ($0 5S fortunately stayed at 16GB).

I'm pretty excited about the 5SE. This is a phone I can order our employees and not feel like I have to apologize when I hand it to them. It has the current A9 processor and 2GB of RAM. So it won't feel obsolete out of the box and employs may even be happy with it for the length of their 2 year contract.

I'm disappointed with the 2GB of RAM and USB 2.0 Lightning port on the iPad Pro 9.7. Disappointing Apple gimped these specs just because the screen size is smaller. I'll skip this and stick to my Air 2 a bit longer.

 

[Blackjack200]

Ugh, Apple also announced USB-C to Lightning cable for fast-charging the iPad Pro. For it to work you also need to buy the 29 watt power supply. About $80 together.

You couldn't include that with my $1,000 tablet? Fuck you, Apple.

 

[Hugo Drax]

I manage and buy phones for our company and they want me to stick with the free on 2 year contract phones. This has often been painful for me, as these phones often have two year old specs and only 8GB of storage ($0 5S fortunately stayed at 16GB).

I'm pretty excited about the 5SE. This is a phone I can order our employees and not feel like I have to apologize when I hand it to them. It has the current A9 processor and 2GB of RAM. So it won't feel obsolete out of the box and employs may even be happy with it for the length of their 2 year contract.

I'm disappointed with the 2GB of RAM and USB 2.0 Lightning port on the iPad Pro 9.7. Disappointing Apple gimped these specs just because the screen size is smaller. I'll skip this and stick to my Air 2 a bit longer.

I bet next year it will have usb 3 and 4gb and the lifespan of this ipad pro 9.7 will be cut shorter than usual. It is a poor purchase currently with the extra price increase and 2gb is too small for ipads with these websites that hog memory with all the junk java scripts and 800 advertisement calls to all kinds of other ip addresses to load more junk.

4gb should be the standard for all tablets at this point.

 

[NetGuySC]

I was waiting for the Ipad pro 9.7, but at $599 it was just too much so I got a 32 gig Ipad pro 12.9 for $650. Seemed like a much better deal to me.

 

[Eug]

^^^ That upsell is exactly what Apple wants.

The upsell wasn't going to happen from the much more reasonably priced iPad Air 2. However, marketing a crazy expensive 9.7" Pro suddenly makes the 12.9" Pro's high price seem more reasonable.

 

[Aikouka]

I've been contemplating getting an iPad Pro for a while. I originally had an iPad 2 and upgraded to an iPad 4, which I sold about a year ago. The problem is that I just never used it that much. Although, I've always had an interest in digital drawing, but spending money on a drawing surface for a PC seemed a bit too pricey for such a niche interest. So, when I heard rumors that the 9.7" iPad Pro would support the pencil, I was a bit excited; however, the reduced RAM does have me leaning away a bit. Honestly, I doubt it would hurt me in the end, but I'd always be worried about something down the line becoming limiting.

So, now I'm tempted to see if I can get Best Buy to price match Staples on the 128GB iPad Pro. Best Buy has it for $850 but Staples has it for $800. I also considered getting a Surface Pro instead since I'd probably rather have a Windows machine if anything, but if I were to go that route, I'd rather get a Surface Book. That gets even more ridiculous, as I'd rather get the one with the Nvidia GPU in it, and that's about $1800.