Apple removing outdated iPads and iPhones

After Apple’s presentation on March 21st 2016 it seems as if they have listened to my previous post on their line-up, at least with regards to the internals. All iPhones and all apart from one iPad now have the latest or previous generation CPU and camera on board. Only the $279 iPad mini 2 still has a 2013 CPU. Nice! Having said that, their naming is still seemingly getting worse and worse.

iPhone names: 6S, 6S Plus, 6, 6 Plus, SE
iPad names: 12.9 Pro, 9.7 Pro, Air 2, mini 4, mini 2

This is obviously all over the place and still does not seem particularly logical. The iPhones are simple generation numbers or random letters. The iPad is slightly more clear with the Pro range including their respective sizes (as I recommended). Other than that, iPads are named Pro (pencil support?), Air (which it isn’t made of) and mini (it is smaller). This still needs some cleaning up though it’s getting better.

Other thoughts:

The iPhone SE is clearly their new entry level device, despite having high end internals. $399 puts it in direct competition with the competitively priced Google nexus or motorola devices. Though it is of course smaller, possibly making it more appealing to first time smart phone buyers?! Nice move. I personally won’t move on from my 5S though as it has the same first gen touch ID and no 3D touch.

Apple has pulled an interesting trick with the iPad. They have effectively raised the price of their 9.7in iPad from $499 to $599 and hidden it by naming it Pro! Such wow! I was hoping they would drop the price given that competition, particularly with regards to price, is seemingly heating up. In effect, this is an opposite move to the iPhone’s price drop. Apple remains a premium manufacturer after all. Meanwhile, their Air and mini line-up have a year+ old processors.

As a general trend, Apple is seemingly becoming comfortable with their line-up not being entirely up to date, though has further removed very old and outdated devices.