Why the iPad 3 sucks for the rest of us
Ok everyone, stand back, I’m going to try to do some math and I don’t want anyone getting hurt.
So, if you’re anything like me (and God help you if you are) you have way too many apps on your iPhone. In fact I have approximately 1 fuck-ton of apps, which to my metric readers is about 907 fuck-kilograms. Ok, actually, I have 26.2 GB of apps currently on my iPhone, which is just short of a fuck-ton.
Now, starting late last week, I began receiving an increase is my (universal) App updates, where the only listed feature is “support for the new iPad display”. Here is a good example:
OK, so I update, mainly because if I DON’T I will forever see the update icon, and forever have to manually choose which apps to update going forward instead of just hitting “Update All”, which as you can imagine for a person with a fuck-ton of apps, isn’t going to work.
So, here’s the BEFORE UPDATING shot of Monsters At My Condo (which it should be noted, is a fairly simple game with not a huge amount of different graphical elements):
And here’s the After:
“Wow”, you say. A whole 4 MB difference, how ever will you handle it? Well, yes, I can handle it, but let’s not make this about ME for once. Those 4 MB’s amount to a 14% increase in file size. So take my 26.2 GB of apps and boost it up by 14% and suddenly I am losing an extra 3.66 GB of space without getting ANY benefit, since I am not running these apps on an iPad 3. I mean, 3rd gen iPad. Or new iPad.
Now yes, only “Universal apps” should feel the hit, but most of my apps are universal, and the trend going forward certainly seems to be for folks to develop new apps universally. And honestly, I don’t have a problem with that, or the increased file size. It would suck for developers if they had to make 5 versions of each app based on which iOS device was going to be running it.
What I REALLY have a problem with is that Apple seems to be deliberately holding back the 128 GB of storage for iPhones and iPads for the NEXT revisions, despite giving their most recent devices full HD video recording, high-megapixel cameras, fairly powerful Photo editing capabilities, and knowing full-well the 3rd gen iPad (and it’s “enhanced” app sizes) was coming. In fact I (and others) began bitching about a lack of 128 GB when the iPhone 4 came out, so for it to still be missing on the 4S and iPad 2 (and Pad 3) is baffling to me. My iPhone may have 15 GB of free space now, but I have actually gotten within 1 GB of filling while it on vacation with video, and if I lose an extra 4 GB of space due to the iPad 3 upgrades, it will both suck AND blow.
But again, this isn’t just about ME. Let’s not forget that not EVERY iPhone owner is a big shot millionaire blogger like myself. Think of the poverty-stricken iPhone users who are trying to make due with a 32 GB iPhone, or even, (horror) a 16 GB model. In fact, I hear Apple still makes 8 GB iPod touches, presumably for the third world countries. What about these people, Apple? What about THEM?!?! Perhaps Apple should make a special section on the App store listing the best 10 games you can fit on your iPod touch.
Yea verily, Dr M!!! Exactly the issue I’ve been bemoaning for the past week! While on vacation in December I had to delete apps from my 64 GB iPad2 to make room for the photos I was loading there from my DSLR. I sure hope that the price point for 128 GB flash comes out of the clouds!!!
It would be nice if the devices were smart enough to not download the resources they don’t need…
can you modify apps after you download them? I remember you had a post about taking the music from apps. Can you similarly open up the app’s package, go into resources, and just delete the iPad@2x resources?
This is why I’m not using bitmap graphics files at all going forward anymore… I’m just going to use drawing commands with quartz in code instead… maybe I’ll support SVG files if I figure out how those work.
I agree. A couple of weeks ago I deleted a lot of music from my 64 GB iPad in order to free up space. The only reason I didn’t preorder an iPad 3 was because they didn’t increase the memory.
Im pretty sure that even if they decided that dubbing the memory to 128 will cost more that the 100 Euro ($ you name it) more you would have takers. But I understand there Problem it would definitely ruin the Esthetics of the Pricing and it took months for the “Pricing Team” to come up with the numbers. Because the Price has absolutely nothing to do withe the Production costs, because Apple is making a killing.
/s
I’ve been using a i4 16gb for about a year and I’ve never filled it up, ever! I have lots of music, but I keep the selection on my phone to a minimum; why have it on there if you don’t listen to it!
Same for my apps. I have tried pretty much every game worth trying since the beginning of iOS and yet I have only 2 pages of them on my phone.
I get that you have a lot of apps and that it’s fun to show them off. But ask yourself the question of which games you have on there that you haven’t opened in a month.
Delete all those and you’ll have a shit-load of extra space in no time 🙂
It’s Apples way of forcing the big shot millionaire bloggers to buy an iPad for apps, for music and for video.
This is exactly why my No. 1 wish list item for the iPad 3 was a bump in storage- as in instead of the 16/32/64 split to 32/64/128.
Myself, I’m coming from this POV: My iPod Classic’s HD died, so I’m stuck using my wife’s old 16GB iPod Touch. It sucks. No longer can I carry my entire music library around with a few movies and free space to shuttle files between work and home. Now, it’s barely big enough for a drastically pared down selection of music, no video, and a bare handful of apps with no space to spare.
For people who have digital copies of movies, I’m sure they’d want the full 1080p resolution if they’re watching on these great displays. Do you think there’s even room for even ONE of those with a tiny library and a few apps at the 16GB level? I certainly don’t think so.
Some of it is keeping apple’s margins with suppliers. Double the storages shrinks the supply quicker.
May add cost, but be nice to be able to plug-in a sdxc card.
All this is why I hate closed lock you in architectures. On the mac, you run a script and delete the unused/unwanted resources (language, graphics, audio, movies). How do you drop down into the shell on the iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch?
Speaking of locked down architectures, is it possible yet to go your buddies and have a jam session, record it with garage band, and everyone add the track to their iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch from your buddies computer for your enjoyment back home? Seemed weird that Apple would assume you were stealing your own Garageband created tracks.
Well, I can certainly see why you start by warning us about your math skills.
For starters: going from 27 to 31 is a 14.8% increase. And a 14.8% increase on 26.2 is 30.08, or an additional 3.88GB.
But most importantly: given the additional 4MB for a single app … to go on to suggest that everyone will experience a 14.8% increase is just ridiculous.
Leave the math to the grown-ups, please.
Ok, for those Mac fans iPad is great, if u are in any other country than the continent of Africa! Nothing bloody works! You can’t buy any apps etc. so as much I I love my iPad, I am buying the BB version or Samsung version? Hey iPad is tops, but in Africa it sucks. To anyone who wants to buy a iPad in Africa, don’t. You don’t have what apple promises overseas.