It's time to scream, drool, or whatever Cupertino enthusiasts. Apple announced this morning that Wi-Fi-enabled models of the iPad have been slated for an April 3rd release in North America, with pre-orders beginning next week, on March 12th. 3G + Wi-Fi models will be a bit late out of the gate, now pegged for a "late April" launch.
The Apple tablet will probably launch with its own share of delicious and platform-specific downloadables, but keep in mind that most iTunes Apps will work with the device. It'll just look crappy, like playing a DS game on a DS XL. Hit below the fold for some pricing information or stare at Apple.com and its pretty pictures and charts.
iPad Wi-Fi Model prices (all available on April 3rd)
16 GB - $499
32 GB $599
64 GB $699
iPad 3G + Wi-Fi Model prices (available in 'late April)
16 GB $629
32 GB $729
64 GB $829
You can get these, of course, through select retailers, Apple.com, and Apple Stores.
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Contest:
10:40 AM on 03.05.2010
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I don't think I'll get one for a while, but it will be pretty neat to have an extra portable TV.
But I know millions will.
Sent from my iPhone
get off of my day, Apple.
This isn't for gaming, this is a convergence device for someone who doesn't want to carry their planner any more and their iPod, or wants a Internet device that looks good on the coffee table, bound in a leather case in either situation. I don't take issue with that. But gaming device, this is not.
-No mediacard slot (I hope 32/64GB is enough for you)
-No multitasking
-No Flash support (say goodbye to 50% of the internet)
-No video out
-No native widescreen support
-No assisted GPS
-No camera
-No phone support
-No replacement battery
Not to mention the fact that it has a closed SDK, which means no applications/programs developed by external companies or indies.
I'm not usually one to be so down on a piece of hardware, but fuck, if you want a tablet then buy a decent one. Don't let Apple shit on your face with this poor excuse for a product.
You want a good product for $800? How about a 15" Dell XPS with Windows 7, Intel Core i3, 4GB of DDR3 ram, MMC slot, 3xUSB, 3.0MP camera, 6 hour replaceable battery, etc.
Seriously. Don't buy this product. It is an enormous step backwards for technology.
first of all, there's a dock to USB connector, which is just like the other mobile devices apple released, so a USB port may not be necessary. not sure exactly how they may implement that with other devices. considering this IS NOT A COMPUTER, i don't see why it should have a USB port.
second, you really need more than 32/64 Gigs on a portable device?? really??
third, flash support i agree sucks. but i rather see HTML 5 hit huge anyway. who needs flash with HTML 5?
fourth, there is video out. again, dock connector.
fifth, there is assisted GPS
dude, you really need to read up before you start whining. here's some help:
http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs
seriously, read up dude.
the WIFI has no GPS. the 3G version will.
mah bad.
=)
The iPod Touch has a dock that connects, and makes the previously only wi-fi device a fully functional GPS.
I assume the iPad will have one sometime in the near future.
I hope it fails. The supreme lack of effort shown in this product is insulting. Apple clearly had no interest in applying themselves when designing this hardware (if you could call stuffing an iPod touch in a bigger case designing), instead relying on their ability to market it. It's the kind of business model that I hope catches up with them soon, it's totally disrespectful to the customer. Deliberately releasing a lazy, underpowered and underfeatured hardware because they know they can release an update next year and put out snazzy commercials in the meantime is just gross. Apple is clearly withholding features so there's room to update many times. It's as if Apple products only serve as advertising for the next year's update nowadays.
there is an SDK available. it's 99 dollars.
Hell, I hate the iPhone simply because Apple can just decide one day to go HURR LET'S ADD ANOTHER CUT FEATURE and bam, enjoy shelling out for an upgrade that should have been there in the first place.
Yeesh, I can't stand Apple.
You're not the market, and you can move on.
The market is families who want a coffee table book, and think it would be cool to have a "mini family computer", in which you could access 125,000+ free books (and education materials), as well as up to date dynamic news feeds.
Think of it like a portable newspaper that is always delivered to your doorstep 24 hours a day.
That's cool.
never mind it sucks already
I don't know about you, but I wouldn't pay $499 for a newspaper subscription.
Which is why you should never buy a 1st Gen Apple product. Always wait for 2nd Gen. Duh. People who bought iPhone's and iPod's will tell you that. The first good iPod? The 5th Gen. The first good iPhone? 3G/3Gs. The first good iPod Touch? 2nd Gen.
1st Gen are for rich people and gadget fans. Not for you, not for me.
@Skribble
-No direct USB input
Did you really expect any different from Apple, master of non-compliant cable accessories?
-No mediacard slot (I hope 32/64GB is enough for you)
Why did you need more than 64GB? Were you expecting this to be a fully functional laptop? It's not. I didn't expect it to be. If you want a laptop from Apple, they'll sell you a MacBook. Or go roll your own from a Dell Mini 10v for $300. It's a perfectly decent substitute without having to have Windows tainting my computing experience.
-No multitasking
Hahaha, wait till the jailbreakers hit the scene. If you want multitasking, it'll be there for you then. Bump in the road.
-No Flash support (say goodbye to 50% of the internet)
And thank you for not putting it in there. Adobe can't optimize Flash for any mobile platform. It runs like shit on netbooks, and OSX gets lousy support from Adobe to boot. Why should I care? Most of the Flash based content I would care about is already available elsewhere online in some form or fashion. All I'm doing is just shifting my Hulu habits over to a DLNA compliant program on the iPad. Wooo... That's hard to do too, since they've already got like 2-3 major competitors on the iTunes store that do DLNA stuff. Slingbox? Orb Live? Yeah, not missing out on the Hulu and Netflix when I'm watching live Cable TV and DVR from the iPhone/iPad.
-No video out
http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/ Uh, yeah it does... VGA, component, and composite. And when the jailbreakers hit, expect there to be video out for everything too. Also, why would you care about video out on a tablet computer? So you can tether yourself to a TV to surf the internet? Yay... :-/
-No native widescreen support
Great. Yeah, um, so? Widescreen is only important to the platform for movies. Your video out to your TV won't reflect what you see on screen, so it's irrelevant.
-No assisted GPS
As someone else pointed out, the 3G model has it.
-No camera
I agree with you on this one. I'd love to have iChat AV on this thing. But, I've also got a netbook, an iPhone, a camera, a video camera, and the Xbox Live camera. If I need to take a picture of my face or stream video of me sitting shirtless on the couch, I've already got plenty of options. Besides, what other practical implementation of a camera would you see in this? Do you really think there'd be a bunch of goobs running around snapping pics on a 10" screen like a normal camera?
-No phone support
3G model. Skype. Built in Microphone and Speakers. No contract. If not for the fact that I'd be lugging around a 10" screen to make phone calls, this gives me the chance to fuck over AT&T for all the years of shitty dropped phone calls I've had to make. I'd cut bait with their phone packages in a heartbeat with this device.
-No replacement battery
So, 10 hours isn't enough for you?
Let's look at the bigger picture here rather than running down a list of issues people think exist with the iPad.
The iPad is NOT a laptop. The iPad is not a replacement computer. The iPad is NOT a netbook. It's an internet capable appliance. It's a content delivery system. It's an ebook reader. It's a gaming platform. It's everything the iPhone is capable of being, but with a larger screen, better processor, and longer battery life.
Would I swap out an iPad for a $400+ macro-driven media center remote? Fuck yes. Would I swap out an iPad for a Kindle? The potential for full color e-book comics say I will. Would I game on it? I already play Peggle on my iPhone, it works here too, so yep. Will all my iTunes compatible movies, TV, and music work on this device? Yep. Another bonus for me. Would I swap this out for the inconvenience of trying to bring a laptop out when I'm at the gym on a treadmill? Fuck yes. Find me a treadmill that supports me surfing the web and I'm there. I get bored when I exercise. DLNA-based media at lunch, or watching CNN in the break room with no WiFi...?
This product fills the void for people who don't need a full blown computer with them at all times. As I said before, it's not a replacement computer. It's a bigger iPhone. That is going to be a lot for a lot of people on that basis alone.
I expect similar functionality out of any of those Android tablets as well. The sole exception is that Android has the potential to do more since the software is open source, but the limitations of the hardware will nip that potential in the bud.
To date, no one's produced an Android concept tablet with any of those big missing features you listed added into their product. Media cards? Yeah, but it's SD. Swapping out flash ram for an SD card is like dropping a golf cart engine into a nice sleek italian sports car.
I know there is a dock to USB connector, I have an iPhone, I know how it works. What if I want to plug in my USB stick to transfer a file over so I can read it on my iPad?. Oh I can't. I need a 3rd party computer to transfer files on to it. That is just stupid. Plain and simple. Especially when USB connections cost about 50 cents.
Yes, I do want more than 32/64GB on a tablet that promotes itself as being a gaming platform. What if I want some videos, my music collection, my eBook collection, etc on it? Oh, now my iPad runs at half the speed. Not having an expandable hard drive is RIDICULOUS. It's a piece of portable hardware.
Flash can still do many things that HTML5 cannot. I've been developing Flash applications, both amateur and professional, for the last 7 years, and while HTML5 is awesome, it can't replace Flash. Not yet.
Don't tell me to "seriously read up" when I know exactly what I'm talking about. Thanks.
Actually, I believe the SDK (both for iPhone and iPad) is free. $99 is if you want to publish apps to the App Store.
@ UltorOscariot
I think it's a bit of an overstatement to say the iPad "isn't for gaming." There are plenty of games genres that can play better on a touch screen: tower defense (Plants vs Zombies), RTSs, point-and-click adventures (Machinarium), puzzle games, simple one-button platformers (Canabalt), and others that I don't even know what to call them (Spider, Zen Bound, Eliss).
Sure, you can play most of these on an iPhone but it's cramped. And since the iPad supports real, physical keyboards, fighting games (SFIV) and precise platformers (Braid and VVVVV) are much more playable.
Jesus. Don't claim to nit want to insult anyone then immediately tack on the most childish insult you can think of.
Get off the apple cock and stick with games.
I second that motion
I have an iPod touch, and while I'd agree, Plants Vs Zombies works well, not much else does IMO. The lack of tactile response still feels very unnatural for someone who's been gaming on keyboards and controllers for 20 years now.
Maybe I'm just old and don't get it.
wasn't trying to rag on you .. just turns out like over 50% of the stuff you're talking about is completely wrong. just trying to help
also check out robo's post .. he's totally chewing you out too. (not really, but you might think so)
seriously read up
I get so sick of all the iShit that people drool over.
buying a new piece of hardware is supposed to be an investment put towards more universal applications and peripherals, not a gateway to more apple presents apple shit by apple.
granted it's "not a computer", but if it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck...
but hey, good news is they'll have a jailbreak for it in about 3 weeks, to the money you spend on the iPad can be returned with pirated music, apps and movies!
Yeah I stick to games that were built for the platform, rather than those that feel shoehorned in. I generally can't stand first or third person shooters or games that use the accelerometer extensively. Those really require tactile feedback and physical buttons, so I play them on consoles.
Here are a few of the games I play regularly on my iPod touch:
Canabalt
Eliss
Spider (though it's a bit clumsy)
Primrose
Peggle and PvZ (obviously)
I would wager that many Flash game developers will port over games like Machinarium (yep, that was Flash, surprisingly) and VVVVV given the larger screen and the iPad's hardware keyboard support will make the latter completely playable (VVVVVV uses keyboard input as its sole means of navigation). There are already apps on the App Store that were made in Flash that have been ported to the App Store using Adobe's new Packager for iPhone software, which recently was expanded to produce iPad apps. Here is one (albeit non-game) example of what it can produce.
I've yacked too much now so I'll stop. :/
As to your earlier comment about storage- you really do need more than 64 gigs- hell my archos 5 that I uses as a pmp has 160 gigs and it is about 75%-80% full at any given time- if all you want to do is read e books and surf the web, sure you don't need much but once you start installing apps and media on the device you will run out of space fast
And concerning the usb, it limits a whole lot that you can do on the device when you can't hook up external devices and it requires an extra attachment just to charge.
it really shouldn't be a computer. ok look, i'm going to preface this comment with something first before i start blabbing. I'M NOT TRYING TO INSULT YOUR INTELLIGENCE OR HARP ON YOU, as skribble tends to think i was to him (originally, the second time i was totally being a douche). what it comes down to is, the company made an attempt to make a tablet once. didn't go so well. IN FACT, all tablet pc's, aren't doing well AT ALL. netbooks kinda took over that market. while i agree that it would pimp as a stand alone computer, and it should have this and that and this and that, you have to consider that people that requests all these things or think that IT SHOULD HAVE IT are just entitled little whores. i'm a computer technician. i'm hoping that everyone here knows that hard drives fail. well today, as an example, a customer came in and stated that he couldn't boot to his OS. i ran some tests, figured out his hard drive is failing based on what the SMART status was indicating. the customer then starts yelling at me, stating he's a computer technician, and states that there is nothing wrong with the drive, when CLEARLY, with over 500+ errors on bad sectors, the drive is failing. the customer demanded that it get fixed so he can get his data, i informed him that is not possible with the current gear i have in the store, and he would have to find service at a data recovery place, you know with the clean rooms and the white suits and all that jazz. he then stated, and i quote "i'm a computer ENGINEER. you can fix this". REALLY?!?!?! a COMPUTER ENGINEER just told me that we can fix his hard drive with bad sectors....REALLY?!?!?!?!?!? point of the story, people demand too much. gotta understand this company is testing the market. they have NO idea if it will do well or not.
in terms of the future, i TOTALLY see it eventually becoming a stand alone computer. but right now? probably not a smart idea to just up and go at it. no room for improvement. you gotta look at the company stand point on this.
also, about the storage thing. look, i had ipod 5th gen 30gig black. it had all my music in it. filled to the brim. i bought iphone 8 gig when it came out. loaded maybe half of it with music. DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE. ebooks BARELY take up any space, and MOST of the apps as well, barely take up any space. now? i got myself an iphone 3G[S], 32 GB. i'm barely filling this thing half way with apps, photos, music, MUSIC VIDEOS, movies, i got everything in here man. i mean, it's very selective, and maybe once a month or 2 months i'll change or add information, like a new cd i bought, or like a new movie i ripped. but really, when was the last time you listened to that oasis album? well it's on your ipod amirite?! FUCK oasis they suck. lol. i mean, how many times have you filled like a 160 gig ipod or zune or whatever device you have, and skip half the songs you're listening to because you put the whole thing on shuffle. THIS MEANS YOU HAVE TOO MUCH DATA AND YOU SHOULD REORGANIZE YOUR LIFE ANYWAYS.
also, the point of my posts were, in fact, that while that "kid" (yeah skribble, calling you a CHILD because you ACTED like one) has "10 years of experience building computers" he's NEVER touched an ipad, and CLEARLY has no idea what he's talking about since MOST of us defeated his argument with a simple website. i was mainly making sure that people understood the specifications, so everyone in this community can make a decision to purchase or not. some people may need more than 64 gigs. i have no idea who, but i guess if you really need to have all 3 million of your songs with you, wait for the drives to get bigger.