Apple has quietly launched a 128GB iPad 4, likely to compete against Microsoft's Surface with Windows 8 Pro.
The upcoming Microsoft tablet comes in two GB variants, 64GB and 128GB, and now Apple has beaten Microsoft to the punch and released their 128GB variant and likely in a cheaper price too.
Apple's 128GB price tag is $799 while the Wi-Fi and Cellular model is $929.
"With more than 120 million iPads sold, it's clear that customers around the world love their iPads, and everyday they are finding more great reasons to work, learn and play on their iPads rather than their old PCs," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "With twice the storage capacity and an unparalleled selection of over 300,000 native iPad apps, enterprises, educators and artists have even more reasons to use iPad for all their business and personal needs."
How are reviewers taking the news?
"Apple is hoping the higher-capacity iPad will be better suited for the business world. Over the past few years, the company has made a concerted push to get into companies for professional use," stated Roger Cheng of CNET.
"If you're a movie buff who likes to ensure you have plenty of content to watch on the go, or a gamer who likes to have a wide variety of games at their fingertips, then it might be worthwhile; you could fit up to 32 hours of high-definition video on a 128GB iPad, and more than 2,000 games," noted CultofMac's Killian Bell.
CNET's Scott Stein looked at it from a price and against the MacBook Air perspective. He stated, "The real benefit of 128GB of storage, though, would be in the 11-inch MacBook Air. That $999 entry-level device is the only MacBook under $1,000. It's a wonderful, compact laptop. It's fast. But 64GB of onboard storage just doesn't cut it...especially when you can't swap in a standard SSD upgrade."
"The addition of a higher-capacity tablet to the iPad family should come as welcome news to power users who need to store lots of media like videos, photos, or high-quality music. In addition, as the App Store inches towards one million apps, more memory is likely to benefit every user in the long run, particularly once economies of scale allow Apple to lower prices in the long run," wrote Marco Tabini of MacWorld.
Michael Simon from MacLife wrote, "The 128GB iPad... is a little like the Verizon iPhone 4. Also released in early February, it gave Apple an excuse to push back the launch of the iPhone from June to September. Although the larger-capacity iPad is far more of a niche product - don't expect any constraints with this model - it seems as though Apple's using this new model to stem any rumor-induced see-saws in sales, while also aligning all of its iOS devices for an autumn release party."
Was the 128GB of an iPad inevitable? Or is it nearing the purpose of a laptop or notebook?
Let us know in the comments section below.
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