Secondly, discontinuing the older model as Apple did would require a great degree of forward-planning - at some point well before the October reveal, the firm would have slowed down and stopped production of the third-gen tablet and switched over to its successor. The simple fact that Apple was able to address two of the most obvious flaws of the third-gen model - heat and 3D performance - and reveal an improved product just seven months later demonstrates that conclusively. So back in March 2012, Apple introduced the third-gen iPad knowing full well that the A5X wasn't quite there in terms of performance, and almost certainly that it would be replaced in short order. It's the kind of leap in performance that Apple usually reserves for a next-gen update (see the transition from iPhone 4S to iPhone 5) and it puts the company's launch strategy under the microscope - resulting in some not-so-flattering conclusions for a firm that built its reputation on creating products that put the users first.įirstly, product development is a procedure that takes a least a couple of years, and engineering the main processor in itself takes at least 18 months. This new tablet follows in its wake, carrying the name "iPad 3,4" and yet there's clearly much more going on here in addition to a die-shrunk processor: the A5X, proven to be inadequate for cutting-edge 3D games at Retina resolutions, is replaced with the A6X, offering 2x the raw processing ability, according to Apple. Last year's iPad 2 update - which saw the inclusion of a more power efficient 32nm processor - was internally designated the "iPad 2,4". Even internally, the iPad 4 is clearly considered to be nothing more than a revision of the existing third-gen slate. And yet the fourth generation tablet didn't receive much of a marketing push from Apple, with almost all of the focus centring on the mini. While iPad 2 continued to be offered to the public, its successor was quietly discontinued - a swift and embarrassing end to a product that Apple described as its most successful tablet launch ever. During the October unveiling of the iPad mini, Apple also chose to reveal an upgrade to its existing third-gen tablet, replacing it after just seven months with a newer slate boasting a significant performance bump. It is one of the most bizarre - and for many, infuriating - product releases in recent years.
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