Back in late January, Apple unveiled its iPad (in case you missed it), an iPhone OS-powered tablet device which it said would ship later this year. Well, the Cupertino company is holding true to its promise, and has unveiled the pre-order and shipping dates of the iPad.
In a press release, Apple announced that the WiFi-only models of the iPad will become available Saturday, April 3, for customers in the United States only. The models with both WiFi and 3G will become available late April in the US. Customers in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK will be able to get their hands on all iPad models late April. As usual with 3G-equipped devices (Nexus One, iPhone, Pre, etc.) the rest of the world will have to wait for now.
US-based customers can pre-order Both the WiFi-only as well as the WiFi+3G models starting March 12, either through Apple’s online store, or at an Apple Store. No pre-orders have been announced for the rest of the world, so I guess all we poor non-US schmucks can do is queue in line on launch day.
In case you’re curious how fat your wallet needs to be:
- 16GB WiFi only – $499
- 32GB WiFi only – $599
- 64GB WiFi only – $699
- 16GB WiFi + 3G – $629
- 32GB WiFi + 3G – $729
- 64GB WiFi + 3G – $829
“iPad is something completely new,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, in the press release, “We’re excited for customers to get their hands on this magical and revolutionary product and connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.”
Will you be buying one?
I’m no expert in the cost of 3g radios, but there’s no way they can be that expensive can they?
Even if the price was decent, I won’t be buying one. I’ve had it with Apple. Though the battery life would be nice, I’ve just ordered an Asus 1005PE netbook which is reported to get anywhere from 10 to 14 hours of that, which will easily match the iPad. Ubuntu and some power management tweaks should do the job nicely, and it has a real keyboard for actual typing. Cost? $371, a lot less than the 16 gb Wifi iPad and a whole lot more capable.
130 + tax to be exact.
And if the CPU runs at full speed the thing will only get 1 and half hour of battery life, Steve said so.
Edited 2010-03-05 15:44 UTC
Link please? His most often given figure is approximately 11 hours. It’s a far cry from that to 1.5, especially seeing how this is a Cortex A9-based chip we’re talking about… you know, the ones that were going to give everyone revolutionary battery life? If it only gets 1.5 hours even at full speed CPU usage, they put one piss poor tiny battery in there.
It isn’t. It’s a single-core Cortex A8-based chip.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2010/02/meet-the-a4-the-ipads-brain.ar…
Oops, you’re right Thom. Shows me not to post before I get some coffee, I get confused.
I believe that the out of context quote is about if flash was enabled then the battery life would go down. And by a lot apparently.
If you do not want one then do not buy one. It doesn’t make you smarter or cooler or more ‘real’ to have it or skip it. It is a choice and a market one at that. I choose to ride my Bike to work it is 5 1/2 KM (3 miles and some change) But that doesn’t mean that is the best choice for everyone.
The cost of the 3g radio has little to do with how Apple prices their products. The question they ask is “what is the maximum price people are willing to pay for the capability of accessing the internet everywhere?” (with a very limited definition of “everywhere” courtesy of AT&T). So you might not be willing to pay that because you know the cost of the 3g radio, but most people don’t know how cheap that radio is or they know but choose to buy it anyway because they feel that the value added to the product justifies the cost.
Well, it supposedly won’t be locked to AT&T but the question still remains as to exactly what 3g bands it will support. It may not be locked to AT&T but if, in the U.S, it only supports the AT&T 3g bands that’s effectively a lock, just a more subtle one.
I know, but even a moderately intelligent consumer can compare the prices between the Wifi and 3g models, then compare it to the average cel phone and question it.
I agree. This will be a good test of the Reality Distortion Field.
You get a good one for around 10 bucks.
I’m going to hold off until the second gen comes around. It’s a good amount of money to spend on it, and I think it’ll be worth the wait to hopefully get double the capacity and a new feature here or there for the same price as paying for it now.
I’m mostly looking to use it as a digital music book.. I’ve got hundreds of PDF documents of sheet music and chord charts that I use/refer to all the time as a musician. To be able to sit this on a stand and flip through pages and search for songs anywhere I am…. totally worth the money right there (and to have audio files as well so I can hear the song as I’m looking at it…. )
Everything else it does is just icing on my cake!
Yes in every market there is reason. If you don’t want it or need it then do not buy it, and if -otoh- you have a real need, Not a ‘vanity/desire’ equation then YOUR market needs are satisfied.
I like to read and have thousands of books, that i would just as soon replace with something that I can index. Ten years ago pundits (who worked largely for newspapers etc) were complaining that people would never use computers to read books because of cost and difficulties in the implementation (all the greazy wheels of Big Publishing). And now I can see very little reason to kill a tree to make a book.
Yes I will get one. No not the first generation and no not as my primary unit. Apple Makes Computers and Apple Makes Gadgets. In the same way that a book about Linux is not a Computer I do not think the iPad is a computer. (By definition:Yes in practice No)
A computer is for production work (and might have a real KB) and a Gadget is for media consumption (Music/Video/Web-Print) and might not -need- a KB.
this is exactly the main reason i want one, too!
and i am sure there will be tab/sheet editor soon enough to scribble down some chord progressions and riffs.
altough i am looking at alternatives, most notably the http://notionink.in/adamoverview.php“>NotionInk
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=41296440“>For
Edited 2010-03-05 16:32 UTC
Hey Jobs, c’mon, it’s just a bigger iPhone. How could it be “completely new”?
Well, what’s he gonna say. It’s not new, we’ve done this before? That’d go down real well with the shareholders.
Your pockets may be depth enough to buy one, but not to hold it!
I lol’d.
magical?
Heh. There’s marketing your product and there’s saying stupid things. This is the latter. I think the RDF is starting to affect his brain.
It’s not magic, it’s Great, Incredible and Easy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?videos=RALJr5VHU-k&v=Nx7v815bYUw
I’m probably going to buy one. I’m also looking at the mockups for the purported Microsoft Courier. I can see myself using both devices easily. Trouble is, my wallet will barely (if at all!) allow me to buy one. Decisions, decisions
People complaining abou the features of this product are missing the important matter.. it *is* going to be a great product, and this development is more important than the netbook phenomenon.
However, apple doesn’t own the form factor, and other, better and cheaper products will come. It’s a gold rush time. Apple is merely popularizing it, and I think it was about time. There will be plenty of options for people who don’t want to buy an Apple product, so not liking apple is not a reason to dismiss the tablet concept
.
Large, touch optimized tablet *is* going to be magical.
(typed from my old-gen n810… a quirky enthusiast tablet)
Edit: I would watch Litl closely – their easel product was shrugged off a a bit too lightly, but as a tablet they could make a real impact.
Edited 2010-03-05 19:30 UTC
Sorry, I do not want to offend you but this is nothing more than marketing b*llshit. “Magical” is nothing more than a buzzword. It doesn’t convey anything and it’s just a matter to mystify the facts about the tablet PCs. They are not more than a toy and they are not to start some revolution. A tablet PC can *never* replace a fully fledged desktop PC and whoever claims it can has never ever seriously used a computer for serious work. Try to start a larger project on a netbook, tablet PC or even notebook. You will give up very soon. I’m not talking about things like microblogging, instant messaging or short emails but rather data analysis and simulation, desktop publishing, CAD, programming, video and audio editing and much much more. Those are all things you will never be able to achieve with a tablet and that’s why these thingies are nothing more than a toy IMHO.
Don’t get me wrong, I have an iPod touch myself and I really enjoy the smoothness, speed and its ease of use. However, I always prefer using my laptop or even my desktop PC when dealing with just email correspondence, surfing the web or even more serious work. When I wrote my thesis, I even found the 15-inch display and relatively comfortable keyboard of my ThinkPad T43 inappropriate for longer write sessions.
Bernd
You’re missing the point. Tablet PCs can replace fully-fledged desktop PCs for *a lot of people*. No one is saying they will replace desktop PCs for ‘serious work’. But whatever ‘serious work’ may be, 80-90% of people don’t use their home PC for that.
Serious work involves tools like Office, Photoshop, Origin, Mathematica, Online Banking and so on.
I understand your point but I don’t think that only around 20% of users at home use their PCs for other than just Facebook and eBay. At least among most of my colleagues and friends, this is not the case.
Where do you have that number from? Any sources?
Adrian
Sources? Come on it is obvious he is guesstimating.
I think his number is rather high though. I think 90% is about right if you are talking about children and the elderly.
Edited 2010-03-07 07:17 UTC
I got it from the same ‘reliable’ source as the statics produced by the anecdotal evidence of observing your colleagues and friends
Who said anything about replacing? Everybody has a pc already.
I have a desktop pc, a laptop, netbook (for wife), n900 and n810 and I find myself doing casual surfing on n900 & n810 (on sofa) more than on pc. A tablet would fit that niche nicely, with ergonomics close to a book.
Such a device would be worth around 300-400 eur for me, but I wouldn’t buy anything >200eur from apple.
Looks like the perfect toilet companion to me. A keyboard in the bathroom is kind of gross whereas a tablet can be cleaned.
Easy there son, it doesn’t have to do serious work to start a revolution. When you get a chance, do a Google search for “Nintendo”. It’s fascinating stuff.
You and your friends must live in a boring world, my friend. If all I could do was “data analysis and simulation” on my computer, I’d have to shoot myself.
I like the look, but I’m going to skip on
this one. I’ll wait until a web cam is added.
I have a a bad feeling their is going to be
issues with the LCDs, poor battery life and
wifi problems.
The main issue is price and no flash support …
I’ll wait and get a jojo or a HP Slate …
64GB WiFi + 3G – $829 ? Is that for real ? I would translate that price into euro for Europe – around 500 (if not more by local resellers) – for that money I can get decent mobile computer of any type that will have Flash, USB and more space. Come on Apple, revolutionary and completely new product ? Even the most simple HD video I have around is approximately 1GB – how much disk space would I need for my FLAC also ? I don’t really believe in the market success that everyone screams for, but let’s see. I guess Apple are just good in PR and marketing
Edited 2010-03-06 13:12 UTC
I’m going to be very interested in the actual sales numbers for this thing. It’s generated lots of media buzz, and it has coolness factor, but it has very low utility and a very high price-tag (compared to it’s low utility!). I basically view this thing as a test of people’s ability to make rational decisions; I’m hoping that it sells in at-best modest numbers, driven by Apple fans, and that most (sane/normal) people aren’t willing to pay at $500-and-up for a device with so few actual uses, beyond as a display of personal wealth.