The soulless business people have taken over

With the iPad 2022, Apple took it to the extreme. Never before has a tablet from the cult manufacturer been so focused on maximizing profits. The customers are the fools who have to put up with absurd limitations. Greed now runs like a red thread through the iPad product range.

A commentary by Kaan Gürayer

In 2010 Steve Jobs presented the first iPad. Since then, Apple has sat unchallenged on the tablet throne, and no other manufacturer even comes close to the US group. The combination of hardware and software and the millions of tablet-optimized apps make the iPad virtually unassailable. The new iPad 2022 shows impressively how much a lack of competition for 12 years can also make you full and sluggish.

At least it is on the outside iPad 2022 an iPad Air in every respect (2022). It looks the same, weighs almost the same, and has pretty much the same dimensions: 248.6 × 179.5 × 7mm vs. 247.6 × 178.5 × 6.1mm.

Apple artificially limits the iPad 2022

Now, with so much similarity, there is a problem: Why should you buy an iPad Air (2022) for 769 euros when you can get a new iPad 2022 for almost 200 euros less? Apple also knows that, which is why they made cuts in Cupertino: Laminated display? Painted! Apple Pencil 2 support? Away with it! The first generation has to be enough.

All this is not new – and by the way, it is not scandalous either. Products must be at a certain distance from each other so as not to cannibalize each other. It becomes reprehensible when the intentional restrictions are at the expense of the customer. That’s the case here: The lack of support for the Apple Pencil 2 leads to the absurd situation that buyers of the iPad 2022 need a dongle for the Apple Pencil 1, because it still only has a Lightning connector. At least the new Logitech Crayon is an alternative.

Magic Keyboard Folio compatible with iPad 2022 only

But the artificial barriers go even further. Along with the iPad 2022, Apple also introduced a new Magic Keyboard Folio for 299 euros, which consists of two parts: a protective cover and an attachable keyboard. Not only is it thinner than the Magic Keyboard, making it more convenient to carry, it also offers a set of function keys – something the more expensive Magic Keyboard lacks.

To the Protect Magic Keyboard sales – so the obvious assumption – Apple has the folio Made exclusively compatible with the iPad 2022. Apple didn’t feel too bad about moving the smart connector from the back to the edge. As a reminder, the iPad 2022 and iPad Air (2020) are virtually identical. If you own the latter, you cannot use the Magic Keyboard Folio and have to use the more expensive Magic Keyboard. Why actually, Apple?

More about the new iPad 2022 in the video:

Features are shuffled around like on a chess board

The reason is clear: profit maximization. Apple’s entire iPad lineup now feels like soulless business people have taken control and are deciding features at the chessboard. Instead of queen and pawn, however, they move features – all with the aim of squeezing a little more out of the buyer’s wallet.

Note: There was confusion in the article between iPad Air 2020 and iPad Air 2022. The relevant sections have been revised.