iPad Pro Not convinced iPad needs OLED

[rui no onna]

Add multiple user accounts and they'd be worthwhile for many more households, including mine. But it still wouldn't be an essential buy.

To be honest, this wouldn't work for our household. It's like an iPhone for us and everyone has their own. We have shared desktops but the laptops are per individual as well.

Mind, I do want multiple user accounts on the iPad for separate personal, work and occasional guest profile.

 

[ric22]

And even then… it still won’t be enough lol.


Because it can be for a vast number of folks… you might not fall into that group, but for some they can make it work. Eventually the features you want from macOS could trickle down to the iPad, but until then… there’s the Mac.

If they made the obvious and easy to implement improvements we were discussing, it would still be just as good for those of you that can make it a laptop replacement.

 

[ric22]

To be honest, this wouldn't work for our household. It's like an iPhone for us and everyone has their own. We have shared desktops but the laptops are per individual as well.

Mind, I do want multiple user accounts on the iPad for separate personal, work and occasional guest profile.

Out of curiosity, why do all your family members need their own iPhone, own iPad, own laptop and access to desktops?

 

[rui no onna]

Out of curiosity, why do all your family members need their own iPhone, own iPad, own laptop and access to desktops?

In fairness, not everyone has a laptop. My brother has a gaming laptop and I have a ThinkPad. My parents just use the shared desktop (NUC-like Mini PC).

The iPads and gaming laptops are not needs but they're nice/fun to have/use. For aging eyes, the iPad's also a lot more comfortable to look at than even an iPhone 15 Pro Max.

My parents prefer iPads over laptops. If they need a computer, they'll just use the desktop.

 

[Macalicious2011]

iPads are getting disrespectfully expensive, even more so if you upgrade from 64Gb. I don’t think OLED is worth it if it bumps price up by 20%.

 

[6749974]

Source, please? Mac revenue is still well above iPad revenue... though perhaps the average iPad costs under 1/3 the cost? But then the average iPad can't be a Pro? 🧐

What I was responding to wasn't revenue but about number of customers who care, since that seemed to be what rkuo was disputing.

I'm claiming that there is a segment of customers that do care given that (a) there are more iPad customers than Mac customers by a factor of 3x and (b) that the amount of iPad Pro customers, alone, equals or exceeds Mac customers.

• "In 2022, Apple Mac shipments surpassed 26 million units" [source]
• "In 2022 alone, Apple shipped 60.4 million iPads" [source]
• "The iPad Pro 12.9″ was the most popular model in 2022, outselling the iPad 10.2″ (but only by a 1% market share)." [source]
• 12.9" iPad Pro is 27% of total iPads sold in 2022
• 11" iPad Pro is 17% of total iPads sold in 2022

So 44% of iPads sold are iPad Pros which is 26.6 million units.

Corrections:

• According to this [source] and math, I see that Mac units are 26.8 million sold in 2022, not just 2.6 million, so iPad Pros did not exceed but are about equal to Macs sold (26.8M vs 26.6M).
• iPads surpass Mac sales by 2.4x (not 3x)

That informs my perspective that people do care about the iPad Pro and iPads in general.

Regarding revenue: quick google search says in 2023 Mac revenue was 29.4 billion and iPad revenue was 28 billion, so about the same. Apple also counts amount of cross-selling revenue per product category (eg. App Store sales) and my guess is iPad makes Apple more money than Macs. But I haven't looked into it.

 

[rkuo]

What I was responding to wasn't revenue but about number of customers who care, since that seemed to be what rkuo was disputing.

I'm claiming that there is a segment of customers that do care given that (a) there are more iPad customers than Mac customers by a factor of 3x and (b) that the amount of iPad Pro customers, alone, equals or exceeds Mac customers.

• "In 2022, Apple Mac shipments surpassed 26 million units" [source]
• "In 2022 alone, Apple shipped 60.4 million iPads" [source]
• "The iPad Pro 12.9″ was the most popular model in 2022, outselling the iPad 10.2″ (but only by a 1% market share)." [source]
• 12.9" iPad Pro is 27% of total iPads sold in 2022
• 11" iPad Pro is 17% of total iPads sold in 2022

So 44% of iPads sold are iPad Pros which is 26.6 million units.

Corrections:

• According to this [source] and math, I see that Mac units are 26.8 million sold in 2022, not just 2.6 million, so iPad Pros did not exceed but are about equal to Macs sold (26.8M vs 26.6M).
• iPads surpass Mac sales by 2.4x (not 3x)

That informs my perspective that people do care about the iPad Pro and iPads in general.

Regarding revenue: quick google search says in 2023 Mac revenue was 29.4 billion and iPad revenue was 28 billion, so about the same. Apple also counts amount of cross-selling revenue per product category (eg. App Store sales) and my guess is iPad makes Apple more money than Macs. But I haven't looked into it.

Those are interesting numbers, but I was really referring to the number of people caring about upgrades (like OLED) to a tablet that fundamentally doesn't bring anything new to the table. I don't think that what we know about the M3 iPad Pro as of now is going to bring in new Android converts or turn into an upgrade supercycle.

 

[6749974]

Those are interesting numbers, but I was really referring to the number of people caring about upgrades (like OLED) to a tablet that fundamentally doesn't bring anything new to the table. I don't think that what we know about the M3 iPad Pro as of now is going to bring in new Android converts or turn into an upgrade supercycle.

OLED is a sensory benefit that a regular person can understand when they see it. Regular people can't see "M3" and don't know what that means in terms of benefits year-over-year. M3 means much less to an android/windows user, but OLED already has FOMO attached, and the early adopters will pounce. OLED TVs, OLED Switch, OLED monitors—its a trending driver of sales.

Pros will be interested for video reference reasons; movie and TV watchers want the perfect Netflix device; gamers want perfect image and actual 120Hz sub 1ms pixel response; visual artists want the perfect contrast, and rich and expanded color space (plus the new pencil features)—I think all the people with heavily visual use cases will be excited; the productivity people will be less so because "meh, my productivity won't increase simply because of OLED, I wanted this to be more of a laptop replacement."

I agree there isn't going to be a doubling of sales, but I think it will get Apple out of their sales hump from 2022 and 2023 and successfully return iPad Pro to flagship halo status with all the Youtubers praising the redesign. There may be some resistance to an increase in price so it will be interesting how they pull that off.

 

[rui no onna]

OLED is a sensory benefit that a regular person can understand when they see it. Regular people can't see "M3" and don't know what that means in terms of benefits year-over-year. M3 means much less to an android/windows user, but OLED already has FOMO attached, and the early adopters will pounce. OLED TVs, OLED Switch, OLED monitors—its a trending driver of sales.

movie and TV watchers want the perfect Netflix device;

Lol, true. I think my non-techie aunt might upgrade for the better screen.

 

[That70sGAdawg]

Current mini led on my 12" Pro is fine for a few more years. OLED & They will throw in "dynamic Island" & pretend it's a major update. Dynamic island on phone with timers & music controls makes sense. Not needed on an ipad.

 

[ewitte]

The only tech that I would want more than OLED is micro led (not mini). Nothing beats per pixel lighting. Being said if you are watching movies in the dark it's a big plus, if you're using it for work in the light not so much. Mini LED on the iPAD is a very good implementation.

 

[AlexESP]

If they made the obvious and easy to implement improvements we were discussing, it would still be just as good for those of you that can make it a laptop replacement.

What are those obvious and easy to implement improvements? I mean specific ones, rather than the generic “features from MacOS”. I’d say obvious means that benefits should clearly outweigh the downsides.

 

[DSTOFEL]

The only tech that I would want more than OLED is micro led (not mini). Nothing beats per pixel lighting. Being said if you are watching movies in the dark it's a big plus, if you're using it for work in the light not so much. Mini LED on the iPAD is a very good implementation.

I tend to agree. I’ve got a couple of OLED TV’s. They’re fantastic in rooms where you can control the light. However, in a room with sun pouring in, I’d choose Mini LED for the brightness…plus, no risk of burn in. I’ll be interested Apple’s implementation of OLED…if/when it happens. However, I think I’d prefer Mini LED on an iPad.

 

[Jackbequickly]

Does not matter if one thinks we need OLED or not, as Apple has made the choice for you! You choice is to keep what you have, buy the new OLED Pro or the Air! I could not go back to the Air so it will be Pro for me when I replace my iPad. I am in no hurry as for the extra money, I can stand my blacks not being more black . . . .

 

[AdamSeen]

I tend to agree. I’ve got a couple of OLED TV’s. They’re fantastic in rooms where you can control the light. However, in a room with sun pouring in, I’d choose Mini LED for the brightness…plus, no risk of burn in. I’ll be interested Apple’s implementation of OLED…if/when it happens. However, I think I’d prefer Mini LED on an iPad.

Dual layer (two-stack) OLEDs are going to be a lot brighter than traditional OLED. Think we'll be happy with the implementation. Apple know this will be an upgrade

 

[DSTOFEL]

Dual layer (two-stack) OLEDs are going to be a lot brighter than traditional OLED. Think we'll be happy with the implementation. Apple know this will be an upgrade

We’ll see soon enough😊

 

[HDFan]

However, in a room with sun pouring in, I’d choose Mini LED

I have no problem with my C8 OLED in a sunny room. Sun isn't directly hitting the screen though.

 

[ric22]

What are those obvious and easy to implement improvements? I mean specific ones, rather than the generic “features from MacOS”. I’d say obvious means that benefits should clearly outweigh the downsides.

The big improvement that is essential for many is multi user accounts. A proper file system and ability to download and install apps from outside the App Store are others.

 

[Seanm87]

I disagree. It’s very overdue.

The blacks look terrible on my 11inch.