“Apple revved up the iPad brand Thursday with a new iPad Air 2 that is just 6.1 mm thick,” Elizabeth Weise reports for USA Today. “‘It is the thinnest iPad we have ever made,’ said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing. The new iPad Air 2 is so thin that two stacked on top of one and other are still thinner than the original iPad, said Schiller.”
“By keeping the previous iPad models in the running in addition to the newer, thinner iPads, Apple has added tablets at different price points. That creates a broader market, said Ben Bajarin, principal analyst with Creative Strategies, a Silicon Valley consulting firm,” Weise reports. “‘They can use this to fight those (iPad sales) trend lines that are trending down,’ he said.”
“The bottom end of the iPad range has now been extended down to $250 for the original iPad Mini, giving a range of iPads from $250 to around $1000. ‘There’s something for almost everyone here,’ said Jan Dawson, an analyst with Jackdaw Research,” Weise reports. “‘Apple adds about eight to ten million new iPad customers each quarter, and the new iPads should help keep that momentum going, while expanding the addressable market somewhat at the bottom end,’ Dawson said.”
“The addition of the Touch ID fingerprint identification technology, previously only available on the iPhone, to the new iPads will be a major perk for large businesses, he said,” Weise reports. “More and more companies are using iPads as work tools, but security is important to them. ‘Everyone we talked to wanted the Touch ID for security,’ Bajarin said.”
Read more in the full article here.
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Touch ID is a boon for users, period. Not only the ease of use in unlocking your device, but the more people who use Touch ID in combination with a longer alphanumeric pass code, the more theft is deterred, helping create a more secure environment for Apple users in general. The word is out that Touch ID and Activation Lock make it less worthwhile to target us.
Touch ID seems to the “$100 feature” for iPad mini. Comparing the specs between iPad mini 3 and mini 2 in this lineup, the primary difference is Touch ID. The only other differences are the gold color choice, and availability of higher storage options (up to 128GB). Price difference at the base, $100. iPad Air is the now the premier Apple tablet, iPad mini 2 represents the best “value.”
Touch ID is great !
Why not use it for the Mac Computers ?
Why there is delay ?
Yes !
They can incorporate it the On/Off button !!
Please, Please !!!
Apparently Apple tested this and found inconvenient as even the laterst iMac Retina does not have it.
The issue with On/Off button is that you need passwords not only when you turn iMac on, but also for many uses through out the day. So reaching hand out to this button over and over again is not good.
Putting sensor into keyboard or touch par or to mouse is whole different set of security issues, considering those parts do not belong to the body of iMac themselves. You have to store hash for your fingerprints securely, transmit and authorize and authenticate all the data and security-related actions with connection to TouchID.
Maybe Apple will solve this issue, but apparently they did not yet.
I bought my 128GB mini Retina a year ago. That much storage is not a new feature. Only the $100 lower price is new with Touch ID thrown in for free.
I didn’t mean 128GB for was a new feature. But “in this lineup,” iPad mini 2 no longer has that option (32Gb is the highest). I was comparing this year’s iPad mini 3 to this year’s iPad mini 2.
Also, you can’t get Touch ID on iPad mini 2. It is only on iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3. So, Touch ID is not included “for free” at $100 lower price…
Yes it is because the new prices are for 16, 64, 128 vs 16, 32, 64 & 128. You now get more storage for $100 less than last year.
Yes, you get iPad mini 2 (16GB) for $100 less than last year. That’s not surprising; that’s business as usual. But you don’t get “Touch ID thrown in for free.”
Maybe you are comparing last year’s iPad mini 2 prices to this year’s iPad mini 3 (which is not my comparison). Then, for the 64GB and 128GB options, it is $100 less than the equivalent storage choices last year (but not for the base 16GB). But what’s the point of comparing this year’s choices to last year’s choices? 🙂 Getting more for less is “normal progress.”
The new iPad mini 3 is really iPad mini 2 with Touch ID.
In an unrelated event, I was replacing the laces on my hiking boots this morning. I decided I needed to measure the thickness of the laces. Exactly the same as the iPad Air.
You’re still hiking, at your age? I’m impressed. Shows what clean living can do 🙂
More like an extremely casual fashion sense.
Apple today just gave me a reason to buy my first iPad … 🙂
You will like it.
Don’t sit on it, it might bend.
Wife and I are getting two new ones and will again pass down our iPad Air(s) to our kids and grandkids …… Makes it real easy to do when you get so much value from a product ……
And again we will be passing down perfect shape iPads – We even have the boxes with the shrink wrap just sliced on three sides – We shine up and put back into boxes and tape the sides and they look like new!
Like the kids won’t know that they’re not the newest model! They may end up with the new ones. Then when you buy the next new ones they can pass them up.
What else are you doing today Ansel? Going to CVS? Target? The dog park? Keep us posted.
I have never understand Apple’s obsession with thinness. Can anyone explain that to me. Wouldn’t better battery life, faster processors, video cards, etc. be better than thin?
Apple’s focus on thinness > easier to hold, lighter (lower weight being an important quality in a tablet).
Battery life on all iPads is fantastic.
If it is too big and heavy to hold and carry no one will use them. See any windows tablet in the past decade. Big, heavy and bulky.
Apple’s obsession is upon the entire user experience, not just one attribute of design.
How well does touch id work for folks? I have an unlocked iPhone 5s for development and have put my finger print in, but then after some period it stops working, until I redo my print again. Is has happened several times.
I had similar experiences on my iPhone 5s on iOS 7. I even would setup the same fingerprint multiple times in setting – my left thumb would be fingerprint #1 and #2, my right thumb would be fingerprint #3 and #4.
This is one area of improvement I see with iOS 8 – the Touch ID seems to work a lot better than it did in iOS 7.
what time does it go on sale on the east coast?
$829 is not nearly $1,000.
Last year’s cell 128GB iPad Air sold for $929. This year’s new cell 128GB iPad Air 2 sells for $829. That is incredible increasing value year over year. 😃
I have iPad 2&. Looks like an Air 2 to go with a 5K iMac to replace my PC which died.
It’s soo thin – bet it’s bendable /-: can’t wait to see the first YouTube video of some idiot bending it..
The iPad Air 2 nothing less than amazing. But they screwed up on the Mini 3.