Reactions to Apple iPad Air, Mini and free Mavericks [Photos]
With Apple’s long-awaited updates to its iPads and MacBook Pros done, there was plenty of reaction from analysts and other interested observers.
Here’s a sampling:
Video: iPad Air versus the 4th-generation iPad
Sarah Rotman Epps, Forrester Research’s mobile analyst:
“Today’s new range of products from iPad Air, iPad Mini 2 and new line of MacBook computers are great additions to the Apple product portfolio just in time for the holiday season. They will maintain Apple’s premium positioning in the increasingly competitive tablet market.
“Apple is increasingly offering free content, services (iLife, iWork, iPhoto, iMovie etc…), and software across iOS and OS X to enable cross platform engagement on top of its incredible app ecosystem. Marketers need to wake up to these new opportunities by differentiating their tablet strategy.â€
Brian White, analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald:
“We characterized today’s iPad refresh as the most significant since the original iPad went on sale in April 2010 and we were not disappointed. In fact, Apple surprised us on the upside. With Apple today announcing that 170 million iPads have been sold (as of earlier this month) since the introduction of the iPad, we believe this will prove to be a major upgrade cycle.â€
Gene Munster, analyst at Piper Jaffray:
“Today Apple announced the iPad Air, which is essentially the 5th generation iPad, now with body styling more in line with the iPad Mini and iPhone 5S. The iPad Air is significantly thinner and lighter than the prior iPad and utilizes the A7 chip. We note the ‘Air’ naming is the one surprise from the announcement. Standard iPad pricing remains the same, starting at $499. We note that Apple has chosen to apply the Mac nomenclature to iPad with the Air and Mini models now. We note this would seem to leave room for a ‘Pro’ model at some point if a market for a higher performance tablet exists.â€
Jan Dawson, chief telecoms analyst at Ovum:
“As expected, Apple took some cues from the iPad Mini in launching the new iPad Air, which is thinner and lighter, while adopting many of the internal improvements first seen in the iPhone 5S. This represents a good enough boost to the previous version to trigger good upgrade sales and get iPad shipments growing again, which was a key objective for this launch.â€
Hayes Roth, chief marketing officer of Landor Associates, one of the world’s leading brand consulting and design firms:
“Apple’s opening ad about innovation and perfection is extremely interesting, simple and a compelling iteration of their core brand story -- a perfect setup for the breakthrough of the OS X Mavericks and improvements of the iPads.â€
Tom Kemp, chief executive of Centrify, an Apple partner that specializes in identity and access management:
“The new features of OS X Maverick support Apple is acknowledging its role in the enterprise -- thanks to emergence of BYOD policies. Although the finder improvements, multiple displays and faster, redeveloped version of Safari appeal to consumers, these features show that Apple is dedicated to serving its fans, whether at home or at the office. It’ll be interesting to see what new hardware features are unveiled in the coming month -- I see added security features in the future.â€
ALSO:
Apple’s iPad event: Here’s what you need to know
Apple introduces Retina display for new iPad mini
How to know if your Mac computer can upgrade to new Mavericks OS X
