Apple today made some notable changes to its iPad and iPhone lineup.
Apple today made a noteworthy change to its venerable iPad lineup today, replacing the tried-and-true iPad 2 as the company’s tablet entry model and replacing it with last year’s iPad 4 with Retina Display. The 16GB Wi-Fi model for the iPad 4 will start at $399.
“Now for $399, customers can get iPad with a stunning 9.7-inch Retina display, fast A6X chip, and 5MP iSight camera, offering a dramatic upgrade in power, performance and value compared to the iPad 2 it replaces,” Apple marketing executive Phil Schiller explained in a press release.
And so ends the iPad 2’s run, a remarkable device that somehow managed to stick around for an impressive three years.
iPad news aside, there’s also some iPhone 5 news to dissect. Apple today began offering an 8GB version of the iPhone 5c, an interesting move especially in light of reports that the 5c model hasn’t been selling as briskly as Apple initially forecasted. Note, though, that the lower-capacity iPhone 5c appears to only be available in Europe. Specifically, the device is up for sale in the UK, France, Germany, Australia, and China.
Incidentally, in markets where the 8GB iPhone 5c is available, the iPhone 4s also remains available for purchase.
During a recent Apple earnings conference call, Tim Cook conceded that demand for the 5c “turned out to be different than we thought.” Consequently, there have been rumblings that Apple may scrap the “C” model altogether when it refreshes its iPhone line later this year.
