Why is the iPad 4 still fat with the lightning cable?

reneebjb23

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I mean when they introduced the lightning cable for the iPhone, they said it was completely necessary to make devices smaller. They kept toting the fact that the iPhone is so much thinner now since the introduction of the lightning cable.

Now I'm not completely savy with all the internal components, but can someone with a bit more knowledge on the matter explain why the iPad didn't trim down some of the baby fat?

Would love to hear your thoughts besides the obvious argument that it is to milk more money and make it thinner in the iPad 5. If that is the case, that really sucks. I've always loved this company, but it just seems like need to screw us over keeps getting worse.
 

END

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I really do not know why they did not refresh the iPad’s (4th generation) aesthetic to be more in line with the rest of their products. It was a disappointment for me.
One reason could of course be, as you said, that it will be one new thing to have for the 5th generation device.

However, perhaps the 4th generation was rushed a bit to market for a number of reasons-
1. They wanted to have something new to compete with the offerings from Microsoft and Google, and had no time to change aesthetic.
2. They made a late decision to shift toward a holiday release, and again no time to change the look.

Could be either of those, combination of them, or something else entirely.

:)
 
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applejosh

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I'm hoping that the reason they didn't change anything was to cram more components or larger battery (don't know if the batt capacity changed). Also, I hope that they took cases into account, so you can still use your favorite case you just bought 6 months prior. It was a quick update cycle for Apple, so maybe that had some effect on their decision.
 

rayz336

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I'm going to say it probably has a lot to do with heat dissipation. They could probably make it thinner but the amount of wear that could be added because of a more compact casing and may not be worth it at this time.
 

friskies64

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I never considered the iPad to be fat. It is comfortable to hold with my case and i don't see why it would need to be thinner.
 

Peligro911

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My guess is heat with the battery .. And CPU .. They will prob redesign the internals on iPad 5 so they can make it thinner with upgrades components


Sent from my iPhone 5 from a galaxy far far away (in the USA ) using Tapatalk !
 

Bcloutier

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I think they wanted to keep the iPad 4 as similar to the iPad 3, while still adding some new features, to keep current iPad 3 owners happy. I think the real reason that the iPad 4 was released was to ensure that all iOS devices were using Lightning; it wouldn't have made sense to keep selling the iPad 3 with the 30 pin for another 6 months until the next iPad was ready to be released. The iPad 4 is sort of a "unifying" iPad; the next iPad will be the big improvement.

Also, the iPad 3 needed all of that room for the huge battery that is in it. The iPad 4 has a slightly more power efficient processor and whatnot, but it still needs a large battery. It would have sucked for case makers and those that have invested in them to make yet another iPad size. iPhones typically keep the same design for two years, and maybe iPads will have the same pattern. The iPad 4 is sort of an iPad 3S, similar to the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.
 

Rene Ritchie

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The Retina display is currently the barrier to making the iPad thinner. At 2048x1536 it takes double the LED and a lot bigger battery to drive it, and that makes it thick.

The only reason the iPad mini is thin is because it's not Retina.

It sounds like the iPad 5 will be using new LED, and maybe new screen tech that lowers power demands and thins out the device again.

Right now it's a screen with a giant battery.
 

BreakingKayfabe

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The Retina display is currently the barrier to making the iPad thinner. At 2048x1536 it takes double the LED and a lot bigger battery to drive it, and that makes it thick.

The only reason the iPad mini is thin is because it's not Retina.

It sounds like the iPad 5 will be using new LED, and maybe new screen tech that lowers power demands and thins out the device again.

Right now it's a screen with a giant battery.
Once the Mini goes Retina, are we looking at a thicker iPad Mini or maybe even thinner?
 

Fausty82

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Would love to hear your thoughts besides the obvious argument that it is to milk more money and make it thinner in the iPad 5. If that is the case, that really sucks. I've always loved this company, but it just seems like need to screw us over keeps getting worse.

Just a wee bit cynical, aren’t we? Retina screen and battery. That’s the reason. The technology hasn’t evolved beyond that point yet.
 

Fausty82

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Once the Mini goes Retina, are we looking at a thicker iPad Mini or maybe even thinner?

I?d guess that if the new LED screens aren?t ready in time for the retina mini release, they will be thicker and heavier. Otherwise, there?s hope that it will not be.
 

Rene Ritchie

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Here's the deal with the iPad mini: Retina, battery life, or thinness. Apple could only pick 2 of those 3. They could have Retina with a thick casing, or Retina with a short battery life, or no Retina with a thin casing and 10 hour battery life. Given those realities, I think Apple made the right choice.

With battery life and thinness as a priority, they probably won't go Retina until they can do it at the same size and battery life, give or take a mm.

(For the iPad 3 and 4, they chose Retina and Battery life, and lost thinness -- also arguably the right choice for that device.)
 

BreakingKayfabe

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Here's the deal with the iPad mini: Retina, battery life, or thinness. Apple could only pick 2 of those 3. They could have Retina with a thick casing, or Retina with a short battery life, or no Retina with a thin casing and 10 hour battery life. Given those realities, I think Apple made the right choice.

With battery life and thinness as a priority, they probably won't go Retina until they can do it at the same size and battery life, give or take a mm.

(For the iPad 3 and 4, they chose Retina and Battery life, and lost thinness -- also arguably the right choice for that device.)
If those new LED's aren't ready by the time Apple wants to release a new iPad Mini with Retina, I'd take it a little thicker.
I really want to have the device, but, the screen resolution is just unbearable for me.
 

SteveW928

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(For the iPad 3 and 4, they chose Retina and Battery life, and lost thinness -- also arguably the right choice for that device.)

Hehe... I'd argue with that if I could get a non-Retina iPad 3 or 4 with like double the battery life and probably a heck of a lot better CPU and insanely more GPU performance. But, I guess the current battery life and performance are reasonable (on par with iPad 2) so they took the losses now and went with the super-screen. So, yea, arguably. :)
 

Garz

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I honestly think the 4th gen iPad only came out this soon to update the charging port. Then decide it needed something else to feel like a upgrade so the gave it the A6X to double the speed.
 

fury

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Hehe... I'd argue with that if I could get a non-Retina iPad 3 or 4 with like double the battery life and probably a heck of a lot better CPU and insanely more GPU performance. But, I guess the current battery life and performance are reasonable (on par with iPad 2) so they took the losses now and went with the super-screen. So, yea, arguably. :)

The iPad 4 manages to keep up with the iPad 2 in every way - GPU power is four times as much, to match the four times as many pixels - and then surpass it in CPU thanks to the jump from A5 to A6X. It's basically the iPad 3 that the iPad 3 should have been. An iPad 3S, if you will.

If an A6X were put into a non-retina screen iPad, or even the iPhone 7th generation, the graphical detail and effects they could achieve within that resolution would probably surpass the PS Vita.
 

impaler

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I don't see how not making the iPad 4 is "needing to screw" anyone. They need to standardize on a connector, and going forward, they had to make a decision - they're getting out of the 30-pin connector business as soon as possible. The iPad's bulk is mostly battery - and the reason the iPad 3 actually gained weight from the iPad 2 was that battery power needed to drive the Retina display and retain the 10 hours of battery life they like to tout.

You're only getting screwed if you're forced to buy it - or you're tricked into buying it. Which you're not.
 

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