“Apple is expected to take the wraps off a new batch of iPads on Thursday, banking that a refreshed lineup can reignite the tablet’s growth,” Daisuke Wakabayashi reports for The Wall Street Journal. “In an uncharacteristic slip-up for the secretive company, Apple revealed what appeared to be images of two new iPads – an iPad mini 3 and iPad Air 2 – in an official guide to its iOS 8 software that surfaced Wednesday.”
“Apple will describe the new offerings at a 1 p.m. ET event at its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters,” Wakabayashi reports. “Tablet computers are facing an existential question as technology evolves. Smartphones are growing bigger with larger screens and more powerful processors, increasingly capable of handling tasks once earmarked for tablets. Laptops are lighter and more portable, meeting some of the demand for a lightweight, mobile computing device. The trends are visible in Apple’s own product line, where the new iPhone 6 Plus comes with a 5.5-inch display, encroaching on the iPad Mini’s 7.9-inch screen.”
“Apple defined the tablet computer market four years ago when it introduced the iPad, the last major new product released under then-CEO Steve Jobs. Initial sales were strong, but demand started to slow last year,” Wakabayashi reports. “Part of the problem is that iPad owners are not replacing tablets as often as they swap phones. According to Kantar Worldpanel Comtech data, nearly 50% of iPads in use are the original iPad and the iPad 2 – which were introduced in 2010 and 2011, respectively.”
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MacDailyNews Take: The original iPad suffers from a pronounced dearth of RAM. It’s stuck at iOS 5.5.1. It’s heavy. It’s definitely time to upgrade, original iPadders!