With 128GB, iPad Hits Surface Pro, Ultrabook Territory

noh8rz10 writes "Holy moly! iPad gets a heavyweight sibling, clicking in at 128GB. This places it in range of storage for Surface Pro and ultrabooks. It's clearly targeted at the professional market, as the press release cites X-rays and CAD files as reasons. Should Microsoft be afraid? Methinks so. Best part, pricing is growing by log 2. Just as the 32GB version is $100 more than the 16, and the 64 is $100 more than the 32, this new version is $100 more than the 64!" Update: 01/29 16:00 GMT by T : Here's Apple's announcement itself.

Comments

Uh yeah

[Anonymous Coward]

Because the amount of storage is the only things that's different between an ipad and an ultrabook...

Re:Uh yeah

[Anonymous Coward]

I own a ultrabook. It is my main workstation. I have nginx, php, ruby, java, sqlite, mysql, some IDEs and all the unix toolkit at my disposition.

Do that with you iPad. Oh wait, you can't.

So get over yourself.

Re:Uh yeah

[sl4shd0rk]

Because the amount of storage is the only things that's different between an ipad and an ultrabook...

Oh, actually there are quite a few differences:

1) You don't need a special repository to install software on your Ultrabook.

2) Most Ultrabooks will let you install another OS

3) You have a better chance of upgrading/replacing the components in your Ultrabook.

4) Ultrabooks have standard connectors for peripherals

5) I've yet to hear sneering from an Ultrabook owner directed at someone who doesn't have one

Re:Uh yeah

[dinfinity]

Woosh.

But I can do stuff with an Ultrabook

[Anonymous Coward]

Besides content consumption, that is...

Re:But I can do stuff with an Ultrabook

[Old97]

I don't know why some idiot scored you as "informative". There is more to content creation than programming. Development may not be possible on a tablet, but you certainly can create a lot of other content. Diagrams, documents, artwork, video, music, etc. Want a physical keyboard? Well just like a Surface Pro you can select from a variety of keyboards. Mine is part of the cover, real keys, lasts 40 hours of use and recharges with microUSB. Personally, I'd prefer an ultrabook because I do development and I'm a geek, but for most people tablets like the iPad fit their needs very well.

The pricing is still a bit ridiculous

[Bagels]

Logarithmic pricing or not, if you're paying a $300 premium for this version of the iPad (vs. the 16GB version), that's a seriously lousy price on flash storage; typical SSD prices these days are on the order of $180 for a 250GB SSD (and I've seen sale prices as low as $140-150). Apple's doing this with a lot of other products these days, too: the RAM on their laptops isn't user-serviceable any more, so you have to buy it built-in at hugely inflated prices.

Re:The pricing is still a bit ridiculous

[timeOday]

Yes - the 128GB version is $100 more than the 64 GB version - a difference of 64 GB - but a 64 GB SD card is less than $50.

The lack of a MicroSD slot on the Apple products is a complete racket.

Only stupid people think so

[TheSkepticalOptimist]

The whole point of Surface Pro is to actually develop apps on it, its a hybrid device that is a little tablet and a little laptop. Only stupid people think that iPad with 128gb of storage is intended to compete with Surface Pro, or Ultrabooks for that matter.

Until Apple allows the iPad to support content creation (true content creation, not the limited "hold your hands" approach to content creation that it currently has), then I don't think anybody should confuse iPad in the same market as Ultrabooks, or the jack of all trades Surface Pro.