A whole new/updated range of iOS and Mac OS devices were launched by Apple this year. They brought the iPad with Retina display and everyone rejoiced. The people who bought them would later regret it as it was replaced by the newer iPad with Retina display; seriously they need to find a better way to name it. The October 2012 version had a higher speed processor and the Lightning connector and port which was pretty neat. It is noteworthy that while the earlier retina iPad is no longer sold, the older iPad 2 is still available, which means the former has no backed resale value. But that is not all.
Apple released their super-thin-at-the-edges iMac series, which logically should have gone retina by now but with such a large screen, I’m pretty sure you’d have to sit at least 2 feet from it so it is pretty retina already. Their Mac mini has been made quite more feature rich and looks pretty impressive for a full powered computer that takes up lesser volumetric space than a lunchbox. They got us a 13″ MacBook Pro with Retina display, which is to 15″ retina MacBook Pro what any 13″ is to their corresponding 15″ notebooks.
The highlight of course was the iPad mini. I’ve given my thoughts about it on an earlier post(I’d let you find this one yourself). It was partially seen as a hasty move by many. With events from many major tech companies, most notably the Surface by Microsoft, the iPad mini was considered a hail mary pass(sorry! I should capital the ‘H’ and the ‘M’. I don’t know what’s my problem with Mary and hailing).
I’ve been wired to act like an Apple disliking tech enthusiast for a long while, until recently. This was mainly because their products are always different and mostly incompatible with others of its kind. Apple devices always have at least one port that is not found on any competing device from others; in phones that was like a big deal since the 30 pin connector was only used by iPhones and no other phone, of course, Samsung made sure they were put to good use later. When they replaced it, they used their own proprietary connector rather than using the established standard – microUSB. Apple phased out many components quite easily in their years of product revisions. Disc drives were phased out with MacBook Air – sure, netbooks did that too, but Apple never really made netbooks. They now have Thunderbolt ports as a standard on all of their current generation laptops; no other manufacturer has done it yet – and thunderbolt is 10 times faster than USB 3. It shouldn’t have taken me this long to realize it, but every move by Apple is exactly what I would done.
Apple doesn’t follow standards. They make their own. but this move actually seems pretty nice to me. Over time, the only thing they lagged in was from the lack of choice of hardware. They made up for it, albeit not easy on the wallet, by providing the best specs possible – one of the reasons why even Windows would be faster on a Mac than any other PC; the second being other manufacturers are lazy. You could get a screen with a computer attached to it – iMac range. You could buy a Mac mini and plug it into your own screen, most likely an FHDTV. Buy the traditional MacBooks if you wish or go retina. Same with the iPhone – you can still buy the one with four rows. Oh! Did I mention MacBook Air? And what is it I’m missing? Yes, the iPad 2; the iPad with Retina Display and at last… iPad mini.
It is all about choice. If I want to buy a tablet made by Apple, but not a 10 incher, this is the way to go. So, you see, iPad mini is not at all an unnecessary release. All they’re doing is giving you a choice. Tablets are quite yucky in the 7″ form factor in my opinion but the general population seems to like it for some reason. Why buy an iPad mini? The same reason anyone would buy a Galaxy Note – there is none. They just happen to like it and the iPad mini should not be any different. Sure you might be a bit disappointed by the screen resolution and pixel density, but they did their best to make it nice and light so that it would in fact compete with a notepad.
The iPad mini is not only a good news for their potential buyers. The fact that there is a new iPad with the same resolution as the iPad 2 makes iPad 2 owners heave a sigh of relief as they realize they’re still relevant. I’m sure Apple will devise a technology that would incorporate an iPhone quality retina display in the future versions of iPad mini soon enough. By my predictions, Apple has a long way to go. They don’t have a lot of room for improvement but history suggests they’ll make one. And damn their ads are great.
Thanks for reading. I just wanted it to get out there – I’m a huge fan of Apple, a bit more of Microsoft; but I’m rooting for Apple… and Microsoft too. Now let me get back to my studies. If you’re an Apple fan and wish to reward me then buy me stuff using the menu up top.