What is Apples target market for the new iPads?

[9 Stone Elvis]

More of discussion point to keep it out of the iPad thread following todays launches.

Firstly I love the new Pro's, they look cracking and Im sure anyone buying one is getting a real premium device. However, who is buying them? I have had Pro's in the past and still do but I watched today and thought "this is so far beyond anything I could possibly need" so I marvelled at the coolness of the tech and moved on. The Air in two sizes seem to me to be everything most people would ever need. The difference here however is that Apple seem to agree and have marketed the new Pro's fairly and squarely and the creative types - content creators, video editors, musicians and artists. This I can understand on one hand BUT given the cost of the various higher end new Pro's with added keyboard you are well into MacBook Pro territory and surely that's a far more suitable device for these types of tasks?

So who is buying? Of course if you have the money and just want the new gear then fair play and more power to your wallet but other than those folks it seems most people would be better served with other purchases? The light user gets everything they need from the cheaper iPads and the people who may need the Pros are surely buying MacBooks and if they aren't are Apple not taking sales away from the MacBook market?

Maybe its just me but its probably the first time Ive looked at the tech (other than the absolute top end desktop macs) and not felt any desire to own it just because I want it and actually recognised that I have no use for it, not even it a pang of "i just want it because....."

Id be interested in the direction people feel this is going in? Is the market big enough for Apple to solely target content creators and the like?

 

[9 Stone Elvis]

It almost feels to me like Apple is segmenting the iPad market just like they do with the Mac's - Lower tier with the Macbook Air and Mac Mini, Mid Tier Mac Studio and some Macbook Pro's and the high end with Mac Pro and the top end Macbook Pro devices.
We now have similar with the iPads; the basic iPad at the bottom, iPad Air for most people's use and then iPad Pro with the power and capabilities for those who really want to use it; particularly creative types.

Thats what I thought too but then I thought if I was in the video editing and music areas would I really spend my £2k+ on a high end iPad for these tasks as opposed to the MacBook Pro? I get it for the artists using the pencil but not for the others, not that i know the first think bout photo and video editing or music making! People with all the cash will get both of course but is there a justifiable use case for that? Im guessing there must be and there must be a market or Apple wouldn't be doing it!

I do fancy the 13 inch iPad air though......

 

[9 Stone Elvis]

Probably people who used to buy macbooks just to send email and look at lol cats.

Thats me to a certain extent. I have an iPad Pro and a 2023 MacBook Air but Im typing this on a 2015 MacBook Air that really still does what I need it to do!!!

 

[9 Stone Elvis]

As an aside, you don't need an apostrophe to pluralise a word. Pros, not Pro's.

This is becoming the next "could \of\".

Cheer's

 

[9 Stone Elvis]

I'm upgrading to the M4 Pro from my 2021 M1 Pro primarily for the OLED screen. My main use is general web browsing and media consumption. Watching videos at night on OLED is so much better that it's worth it for me.

I TOTALLY get this up to a point but what I'm finding strange is that Apple haven't attempted to market this to you at all and I dont think they expect people to spend north of £1k (depending on size) just to watch videos in the dark. i understand that people will do this along the way but whats confusing me is that they seem to be marketing a device to users for whom they already produce devices better suited to doing what their use case is.

 

[9 Stone Elvis]

for me the pro iPad has always been about the screen, not the power.

The marketing is just about product segmentation and to try and differentiate some very technical upgrades from what otherwise is itself a very compelling product (iPad air).

Those roles you cite are considered aspirational by huge numbers of people, not just kids wanting to grow up to be YouTubers. People generally like creating stuff, drawing and art generally, particularly as they get older and have a bit more cash.

The marketing just buys into that, it’s nothing more than that really. It’s about creating a narrative that this is the best one that professionals use so it must be good - please buy me and not the Air.

Yeah to be fair maybe I'm just getting older so seeing past it a bit. Perhaps 10 years ago I would have been all over it and its me thats changed rather than Apples marketing strategy! I feel the ipad is quite far removed from the device it was initially brought in to be and I was feeling that Apple were now effectively confusing their customers. I get the Air as being the new default but with the various capacities, M2, and different sizes it seems to be the mass market device with the Pro being more niche. As you say though there are probably enough people who aspire to these roles to give it a market - I would still expect them to buy Macbooks though.

 

[9 Stone Elvis]

but he wants it in tablet form, the tablet form itself is the preferred form of people who buy tablets

He does, but they aren't marketing it to him, thats my point. they are marketing it to content creators, video editors and music producers and from any video you care to watch from those who have those use cases they seem find the Macbook a far more comfortable and versatile platform for those tasks than a tablet.

 

[9 Stone Elvis]

You can’t draw on MacBooks without a 3rd party tablet which is harder to use than just drawing on the iPad screen. That’s partly why people who draw or illustrate buy them over or in addition to to MacBooks.

Yes thats why I specifically didnt reference artists/illustrators. They would appreciate that form factor ahead of the traditional laptop.

 

[9 Stone Elvis]

I guess I fall into the “don’t need it for 99%, but I’ll get one anyway” camp.

It falls down to two things:

1) The screen-I can’t go back to a 60hz screen. I’ve tried, didn’t work for me. OLED is a bonus.

2 Updates/Longevity-my 2018 iPad Pro is probably one of my best Apple purchases ever and should I get another 6 years worth of updates (and with a brand spanking new M4 chip in it, it should), then I personally consider it fantastic vfm.

And then I get to pass down my 2018 iPad Pro down the family ladder and everyone is happy.

Your second point there is extremely relevant. I have Apple tech thats years old and still functioning and with at least something of a second hand value or could be passed on if required

 

[9 Stone Elvis]

My M1 iPad Pro is a great device … and the M4 technoligically very good … but any time I’ve tried to create something with it, I’ve invariably ended up back on the PC to do it particularly when shifting data between apps ( like repeated copy pastes between things ) … and I think is what stalls the iPad now … the OS. The hardware so far outstrips the software, and I think that gap is going to get bigger. At the same time, people will think they can get by with the older stuff, reducing the sales of the top end M4.

And to have the new accessories not work with the older stuff … sigh.

Thats essentially what most people seem to be saying unless there is a massive software bump coming up next month that unlocks the superior hardware in the M4 iPad. But even if thats the case surely Apple are just cannibalising sales of their own laptops by doing this?

I watched a Youtube video this weekend that I thought was really quite thought provoking. Basically the viewpoint was that Apple are accidentally killing their own market. The theory is thus......

A lot of the target market for the iPad is the creative types - artists, graphic designers, photographers, film makers, musicians that type of thing, and a lot of their "sausage machine" work will be designing things, logos, photos, music etc for individuals and small businesses. Theses guys may use the iPad or at least the Apple ecosystem to create these things. However if Apple get on board with AI and take to the mass market in their products, the individuals themselves can just get the iPad to create the content they require directly and cut out paying the creative guy. The iPad will create the logo for you using the parameters you give it etc etc. I think its an interesting potential scenario.