Analyst: Surface Could Mean Slimmer iPad for Early 2013

[zakislam]

Microsoft's Surface tablet said to be forcing Apple toward launching thinner and lighter iPad 4 model.

Analyst: Surface Could Mean Slimmer iPad for Early 2013 : Read more

 

[cknobman]

So WTF is thinner and lighter going to do for the iPad in regards to competing with Surface??

It will still have a chump smartphone OS on it that has about 1/3 the potential capabilities as Windows 8/RT.

 

[jakes69]

I don't get thinner and lighter is better thinking. Too light make it looks cheap. I like to hold on a device that feels sturdy.

 

[d_kuhn]

Competition is good... Apple seems to have gotten lazy lately, iPhone 5 that's basically an iPhone 4t, ipad mini that's not really bringing new capabilities to the table. Android has been out-innovating them lately, and while they've still got great LOOKING products... they need to pick up their game.

 

[misterawsome]

ipad 4 just released

 

[Botia]

Having an iPad 3, here are some things Apple could improve on:
1) Lighter. It's a little too heavy.
2) Cooler. It runs too hot. - fixed in iPad 4 I believe
3) Better edges. The current rounded edges are a pain for holding, plugging in, etc. The surface looks much better in this regards.
4) Volume control - move it away from the power button. I hate turning the device off when I want to change the volume. I also hate how it mutes the volume when you turn the volume down.

As far as the OS, it's good for what the tablet is used for - web browser, mail, netflix, some games.

Having used Windows 8 for a bit, it appears it would be really nice on a tablet. It's not so nice on a dual screen setup. Actually reverted back to Windows 7 due to usability. Microsoft did improve a lot of the core in Windows 8, but the new UI can be crippling for advanced users.

 

[panini]

[citation][nom]d_kuhn[/nom]Competition is good... Apple seems to have gotten lazy lately, iPhone 5 that's basically an iPhone 4t, ipad mini that's not really bringing new capabilities to the table. Android has been out-innovating them lately, and while they've still got great LOOKING products... they need to pick up their game.[/citation]

For once someone who makes a criticism on Apple without bashing on them.

 

[blakphoenix]

Is it just me or does Toms now have a very strong apple bias? I hardly see any leaked details about windows or android devices but we seem to get 5-6 ridiculous apple headlines a day. If you're desperate to give us apple news then PLEASE consolidate it into ONE post per day Toms and how about news on the new windows 8 products and new android products? I don't see Apple innovating things like the new Dell XPS 12 or ASUS Thaichi at the moment, to me those things are exciting!

 

[tipoo]

Keep the size the same, use the space you keep getting for more battery instead. Thin is nice, but things have gotten to the point where even thinner doesn't seem like a benefit anymore.

 

[nuvon]

Without Steve Job, Apple seems to be losing ground....

 

[Guest]

i hope they will upgrade the camera to 8 megapixals with flash

 

[captainblacko]

surely if this was true they would have released a few days ago....more scare mongering from Toms

 

[d_kuhn]

For once someone who makes a criticism on Apple without bashing on them.

My criticism of Apple is that I want MORE than they're delivering. Some folks will buy Apple because it's cool, or because it matches their purse... I'm OK with that... I bought an iPhone because it fit my needs better than the other options at that time... but I've been disappointed with the lost opportunity that Apple had and has nearly lost through complacency. They have complete control over a wide swath of the current computing infrastructure (mobile, tablet, laptop, desktop) yet their interoperability is TERRIBLE. They could have tightly integrated those devices to make my life easier by having them able to connect transparently with each other, authenticate, and then link in ways that would be useful to me (like drag and drop, display extension, single control point for multiple devices, transparent tethering, etc...) but they've done nothing. Well that's not exactly true... they've asked us to put our faith in the 'Cloud' to connect devices, which is a poor solution (why send data to a remote server in order to retrieve it to a device 2 inches away from the source machine?).

Now Microsoft nearly has the same basic breadth of products (phone/tablet/laptop/desktop)... and they have the advantage of already showing tech demos of what I'm talking about (remember the big 'surface' that allowed you to drop a phone on it and pull pictures off the phone in about 2 seconds?). It's sad to say, but I think at this point we're more likely to see this (IMO Revolutionary) step in technology from the company that is rediculously late to the big game. That's inexcusable, and Jobs was as guilty of missing the boat as current Apple management.

I like Apple products, I've got an iPhone, iPad, Mac Mini, a bunch of mp3 players... but I want their innovation to be more than just another pretty skin on the same functionality... or a new map app.