“Front and center at [yesterday’s Apple] event was the iPad Air 2, a thinner, more powerful version of the original iPad Air,” James Kendrick writes for ZDNet. “While it was evident Apple believes the iPad Air 2 is a big play for the company, the new iPad mini 3 didn’t have much of a launch.”
“Apple added Touch ID — the secure fingerprint reader —and a gold option. Everything else in the iPad mini 3 is exactly the same as the iPad mini 2,” Kendrick writes. “The lack of attention Apple is giving to the iPad mini seems like it’s stepping away from the small tablet form and going all in with the iPad Air 2 and iPhone 6 Plus. Perhaps management thinks that the big iPhone screen is infringing on iPad mini territory.”
“If so, it may be onto something. The iPhone 6 Plus is incredibly useful due to the large display,” Kendrick writes. “Moving away from the iPad mini makes sense when you think of Apple’s push to get in the enterprise. Its recent deal with IBM to get iPads into the corporate world is suited to the iPad Air 2 and iPhone 6 Plus far more than the iPad mini.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
iPad mini 3 vs. iPad mini 2 – October 17, 2014
Apple’s new iPad Air 2 is 13% thinner than a pencil; Touch ID a boon for enterprise users – October 16, 2014
Apple’s ‘superior’ iPhone 6 Plus destroys Samsung’s ‘clunky’ Galaxy Note 4 – October 15, 2014
Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus: Changing the way I work in a big way – October 14, 2014
Open thread: Does iPhone 6 Plus kill iPad mini, iPad Air sales? – October 6, 2014
Not sure 6 Plus will displace mini Retina eyes. I have a 6 Plus in my pocket while I enjoy my mini Retina for this session with MDN. The much bigger keyboard is a big plus over the 6 Plus keyboard. And the mini Retina is still very light and easy to hold for long periods of time. Still, I am ordering an Air 2 cause I have to have the latest greatest all the time. 😜
Anyone else surprised that the IBM partnership (as in whats happening to date) didn’t play a larger role in the Apple show?
Maybe IBM needs Apple more than Apple needs IBM. I think the “halo” effect is still at play as evident by BYOD initiatives and Apple will be in corporate applications with or without IBM.
The IBM deal is a slow burner. I am sure once IBM has developed a few hundred vertical apps for X percent of the Fortune 500 Apple will talk about it again. Until then, I am sure they have a lot of quiet stuff to do helping IBM get running with iOS on large scale.
Exactly. I don’t expect to see much from them till next summer.
Yep. I expected some sort of demo from them for the new iPad Air. Although, the 2 that they showed off were damn impressive!
The mini retina won’t die, unless Apple kills it.
People forget how important the iPad mini is for doctors and hospitals. The medical field is obviously one that Apple is making a play for and the mini is perfect. The iPad Air is too big to hold easily in one hand, and more importantly, the mini fits easily into the pocket of a white coat.
And the iPad mini does not require a contract, unlike most users for the iPhone 6 (+)
Does anyone know what the differences are between the iPad mini 2 and 3 models are? Other than the Touch ID I mean, and the gold color.
Go to the Apple website and look at the ‘compare iPad’ page.
It isn’t hard.
JAIFC
For what it’s worth I love my 6 plus as a phone but still use my retina mini a lot
What I hardly use is my full sized iPad
Just the opposite for me. I love my 6 plus but I gave my mini to my daughter. I use my iPad Air and cannot wait for the 2. As a golfer I am going to really like the 120 fps slo-mo camera. The 6 and plus have 240 fps slo mo which is great, but the smaller screen is hard to see, particularly in the sun. The iPad Air 2 has far less reflection and is really nice outside. One of the genius at Apple store brought one outside to compare. And what a great golfing GPS for the golf cart. Just one great advantage of the Air 2 and I am getting one. I also will get my iMac K5 monday. iPhone pics going to look great on that. Putting my 2012 27″ iMac fusion on Craigslist come tuesday. Like Xmas for halloween!
We don’t know yet about how much RAM is in the Air 2 And mini 3. Maybe both got a very welcome 2 GB upgrade.
I also get the feeling the mini2 for 299 will last as long as inventories are stocked. With the mini2 @ 299 the almost identical mini3 @ 399 doesn’t make sense. With mini2 out of the picture is does.
I am greatly disappointed that Apple didn’t upgrade the mini to the same specs as iPad Air 2 other than screen size! For that reason I am no longer considering a new iPad!
I originally went from the large iPad to the mini for it’s lighter weight and more convenient size! I really don’t get Apple’s thinking on this especially since the first 2 minis had essentially the same specs as that year’s ipad!
So for a user like me who has converted to mini but would like the ipad air 2 specs It leaves me with no choice!
It seems penny wise and pound foolish!
I hope Tim get’s asked on the earnings call about this and how many mini sales they expect to lose because of it!
And how many will feel reluctantly forced to “upgrade” to the air 2!
I don’t know which iPad size businesses, including their people who travel, would prefer, but I bet they would like to have it be their choice, not a forced decision based on specs!
They have always preferred people to buy the larger iPad the mini was a necessity because of th opposition. Because of the larger IPhones I think they want to see how they affect the minis sales before updating it further. To be fare its specs were very high for last time around and it’s still completely competitive as it stands as much as people want the latest and greatest, and probably fits in with the Air better to their way of thinking. I can see their logic even if it might affect whether I buy a mini over the Air now to replace my aging iPad.