Friend of mine made some cinnamon buns this weekend using a traditional Swedish recipe. Oh my lord. I'm not a fan either generally but they were lovely.

Sad but probably true

They must have more money to burn than us.

Nope.

For me, the iPad 3 display was the draw. Comparing it to my iPad 1, there is a huge difference. Add to that cameras and just beefier internals, it was a pretty easy upgrade to lay for. I like drawing on the iPad, and that retina display makes a massive difference.

There is not much to draw me to the iPad 4. I was surprised that it was released this soon too, but there is one the that you lot have missed that makes sense. The dock connector has gone. All the iOS devices now sport the new connector. It does not add up to have everything in the "current" range using two different connectors.

It also aligns the iOS range. If Apple holds true, next September will see new iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads up until now, iPads were announced earlier in the year.

So it's an alignment exercise. The big news is the iPad mini, but this is as much about getting things in the right launch window too.

I completely agree with this. It also means that in 2014 we shall see the iPad 6 and the iPhone 6, perhaps aligning the naming of them too?

I can see the alignment exercise as having value in terms of easing production runs & rationalising shop inventory stuff but I can't see why they should care if the model numbers match up or not.

Jon

Perhaps it would if they want to tie the OS releases to model versions.

Hmm.. maybe. But I bloody hope we have another version of iOS some time before October 2014.

I suspect another incremental upgrade before long even if it is just to address security issues or battery problems.

I doubt that there will be an iPhone 6. It will just be iPhone, like iPads are just iPads now.

These devices are fully mature now. There is little Apple can to hardware wise to make bug leaps. Increases in battery longevity, faster processors, but how, outside of software, do you innovate a black slab of glass that shows you pictures?

I think we will start to see obsolescence not coming out of hardware restrictions, but imposed more by software detecting old hardware and not running on it.

This will allow the manufacturers to determine a life span of a device and market the new ones to those people who are deemed to be up for a renewal purchase. We already get this with mobile phones. The iPhone 5 is not much if a leap from a 4, but it is for those with a 3G or 3GS, and those are the people for whom contracts are expiring. The iPad (and other tablets) don't have the expiry time built in. That may change.

In effect, Aplle have done this with the new connector. iPads bought this year are suddenly old because if this.

Oh yeah? Then why can't I upgrade my iPad 1 to iOS 6 then?

As I just bought an iPhone 5 on a two year contract and will probably run it for another year on another network so that I am free to get the next iPhone in three years time on a good cashback deal I can live with the restrictions. My iPad 2 will be upgraded to a new Lightning version eventually but I will wait till next year.

Apple are gently reminding you that you should really update to a new shiny shiny.

I thought it was being released because of Windows 8 coming out soon.

I doubt that Surface is a credible threat yet. Though small Android apps are so that is why this happened now. It hurts Android tablets far more than Windows Surface tablets.

You can still buy and run apps on it though. There will be a point where, yes, apps will naturally cease to function. However, I am envisioning a time when the differences between hardware are so subtle insofar as many generations of hardware could run the current iOS that the cut off point will be software controlled, not defined by hardware.