Next-gen iPad Air will reportedly come in gold

[Himanshu Arora]

Apple is planning to add a gold color option for its revamped 9.7-inch iPad Air, which is expected to be unveiled later this month, according to a Bloomberg report. The new choice of color for the rear metal cover will be in addition to the existing silver and grey options available for the device.

It may be an attempt to boost iPad sales, which have declined over the past two quarters. Apple sold 13.3 million iPads during the third quarter, down from 14.6 million in the year-ago quarter, and 16.3 million in Q2, down from 19.5 million in Q2 2013.

The new color option would also bring the company's tablets in line with the newly launched iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, both of which come in gold, silver, and space gray.

This isn't the first time a report has suggested that Apple is planning to add a gold variant to the iPad lineup. Earlier last month, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a good track record when it comes to predicting Apple’s product announcements, also reported that the Cupertino-based company would come up with a gold color option for the next iPad Air.

Aside from the new color option, the iPad Air 2, as it is unofficially known, is also rumored to feature Touch ID as well as Apple's new A8 processor.

In addition, the report also noted that Apple is working on a larger iPad with a 12.9-inch screen, which is around 75 per cent more screen area than the current 9.7 inch models. That device is expected to be unveiled next year.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/58277-next-gen-ipad-air-will-reportedly-come-in-gold.html

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

It may be an attempt to boost iPad sales.

Or... it's a stunt to excuse the price and distract customers from the fact that it'll probably only have 16 GB of storage in it.

Seriously though... it'll probably look great. The HTC M8 comes in gold and looks awesome. HTC didn't get a news story about having a device in gold, so you may not have seen it, but champagne gold makes for a cool color on brushed metal.

 

[VitalyT]

If Apple releases yet another iPad with the same 264 PPI as of the 4th generation in a row, then they have truly lost it. It is a shame to see a "premium" product with such ancient PPI next to already available phones with PPI twice as high.

 

[Hexic]

News flash: My next car purchase --may-- be a Honda.

Mundane online article to follow shortly.

 

[Arris]

If Apple releases yet another iPad with the same 264 PPI as of the 4th generation in a row, then they have truly lost it. It is a shame to see a "premium" product with such ancient PPI next to already available phones with PPI twice as high.

You know the PPI is related to the resolution and the physical size of the display. The Nexus 10 which is regarded as having a very good display is only 299. The Galaxy Tab S does blow it away at 360 but generally tablets aren't going to have the same PPI as phones, purely because of the relationship of the device size/resolution. Sure it would be nice to have 400+ PPI tablets but would you pay the increased price for it? Probably be prohibitive to a large part of the market. There is also something about the viewing distance being an influencing factor on the PPI adopted. Many PC monitors only have a PPI of around 100, but I would imagine a tablet would be viewed at the same distance as a phone so don't think this can be a reason for the low PPI of the iPad.

I do agree that Apple seem to be floundering and offering Gold coloured phones rather than evolution/revolutionary advancement of their products (even though they claim this every iteration) does seem in line with "you can't polish a turd" (bit harsh I guess).

 

[Guest]

LOL, I'll show you a device with a ppi of 260 and one with 360: You'll never guess what device is what

 

[VitalyT]

You know the PPI is related to the resolution and the physical size of the display. The Nexus 10 which is regarded as having a very good display is only 299. The Galaxy Tab S does blow it away at 360 but generally tablets aren't going to have the same PPI as phones, purely because of the relationship of the device size/resolution. Sure it would be nice to have 400+ PPI tablets but would you pay the increased price for it? Probably be prohibitive to a large part of the market. There is also something about the viewing distance being an influencing factor on the PPI adopted. Many PC monitors only have a PPI of around 100, but I would imagine a tablet would be viewed at the same distance as a phone so don't think this can be a reason for the low PPI of the iPad.

I do agree that Apple seem to be floundering and offering Gold coloured phones rather than evolution/revolutionary advancement of their products (even though they claim this every iteration) does seem in line with "you can't polish a turd" (bit harsh I guess).

The point being:

1. Tablets are positioned as tools for designers. That implies being able to see pictures taken from iPhone (as an example) in their native resolution (or close to). iPhone 6 can take 4K or higher resolution pictures, and iPad cannot display 1/4 of that. That's not good for graphics design or photo professionals.

2. Increasing resolution on tablets is much easier than on phones, because of the screen size and because they have more space for the battery to cater for the needs of the screen.

And at the last post, telling the difference between 264 PPI (iPad 4) and 550 PPI (LG G3) is very easy, especially when looking at a high resolution picture. They are worlds apart. All the depth and perfect rendering on G3 simply isn't there on iPad.

 

[Arris]

1. Tablets are positioned as tools for designers.

That's where our opinions differ. Maybe they are starting to try and appeal to that market segment but in my opinion they are positioned as media consumption devices for the masses who would have never spend more than an hour sat in front of a PC or even have owned a PC.

I mean you can't even colour calibrate most tablets, that's why I ended up getting my wife the Surface Pro 2. The surface pro 3 looks even better with its higher resolution. The Nexus 10 would have been my previous recommendation for photographers as it was found to have a colour space that was 100% RGB coverage which was better than iPads and just about any other tablet.

 

[Guest]

I've been using an iPad 4 for the last 2 years and never once have I said to myself, "gee I wish this had a higher resolution". But nearly every day I say to myself, "man, 2 gigs of RAM sure would be nice!". Apple can coat it in diamond and up the PPI to 1000 for all I care. I won't be buying another iPad until they stick at least 2 gigs of RAM in there.

As for designing, I would pick a Surface Pro 3 over an iPad any day of the week. But that's just me.