On March 7, Apple announced the iPad 3. âLook how shiny it is!â Appleâs executives preached to a crowd full of cheering fans and press. âRetina display! Brand new graphics! You want one!â
The pitch worked on me, and I bought one right away. Sure, it cost $600, but between the spectacular resolution, the impressive graphical capabilities, and the robust iPad-only app library, it seemed like a necessary trinket for gaming in 2012.
I donât regret that decision. Iâve gotten a great deal of use out of Appleâs glossy tablet. Iâve spent a whole lot of time playing iOS gamesâKingdom Rush, Final Fantasy Dimensions, and many, many moreâand used the iPad as a more-than-adequate substitute for my laptop when traveling or covering press events.
https://lastchance.cc/the-12-best-games-for-the-ipad-5878797%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
But then. Surprise! Today, October 23, Apple revealed the iPad 4. âLook how shiny it is!â Appleâs executives preached to a crowd full of cheering fans and press. âNew processing chip! Double the graphics power! You want one!â
https://lastchance.cc/apple-announces-new-fourth-generation-ipad-with-double-5954211%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Nobody expected this. We all expected the iPad Mini, maybe a new MacBook, but none of the rumor-mongers predicted a brand new iPad with improved processing speed and brand new graphics. There was no reason for anyone to not buy an iPad 3 last month, two weeks ago, or even yesterdayâand in fact, a number of people noted to me on Twitter that they just bought the third-generation tablet
To add insult to injury, Apple didnât even mention the iPad 3, the machine that millions of people spent hundreds of dollars to buy just a few months ago. They swept it under the rug completely. Itâs not even part of their current line-up:
Now sure, this new iPad wonât force me to get less enjoyment out of my current one. It wonât suddenly explode or subliminally compel me to go throw it in a trash bin. Iâll still have just as much fun playing games on my iPad 3 as I would on an iPad 4.
But my new iPad is now one half-step closer to obsolescence. In 2012, game developers are creating software only for iOS hardware that is one or two generations old: most games youâd want to play on your Apple tablet will only support the iPad 2 or higher. Now that thereâs an iPad 4, weâre even closer to a point where developers are creating software that can only run on its A6 processor. Itâs faster! Itâs more powerful! Gotta have it!
Remember, this isnât like upgrading a PC. As a closed system, the iPad canât be upgraded or modified. People who bought the iPad 3 canât spend $150 to swap in new processors or beef up their graphics cards. Weâre stuck with what we got. Our iPad 3sâreleased, let me again reiterate, in March 2012âare now old news. And here I am still calling it âthe new iPad.â
So if you dished out $500, $600, or $700 this year expecting to be able to show off the hottest new piece of hardware for at least a whole year, youâre out of luck. Apple claims that the iPad 4 is twice as powerful as the iPad 3. And god help you if you have an iPad 2 orâperish the thoughtâone of those useless original iPads (released, believe it or not, in April 2010âonly two-and-a-half years ago).
Seems like Iâm not the only one who feels this way. In a poll on Cult of Mac, some 1,500 people (so far) said theyâre pissed that their iPad 3 is ânow obsolete.â And I bet the number is significantly higher than thatâas Apple themselves bragged today, theyâve sold 100 million iPads so far. Close to 45 million this year alone
Iâve never understood some folksâ fervent obsession with Apple, and I certainly donât expect the iPad makers to look out for my or any customersâ interests. But I also donât expect my ridiculously-expensive new hardware to feel stale after only half a year. How could I not feel like a chump?
