1. Apple’s marketing language feels contrived
Many commenters point out that Apple’s use of words like “value”, “upgraders”, and the Air label is more about buzz than substance.
“The word value appears four times in that press release. I sense a theme in the marketing this week.” – joezydeco
“Also upgraders (11 times, meaning a kind of buyer), that’s a new one for me in these introductions.” – harperlee
2. The M‑chip is over‑powered for the iPad’s OS
Users argue that the new M4 (and future M5) chips give the iPad more horsepower than the software can use, making the device feel “over‑spec’d” and “over‑priced.”
“I have an iPad for the purpose of 3D modeling… it’s an M2 Air, it’s still way overkill.” – pchew
“The processor is still fast enough, the RAM is too small for modern web apps.” – neurostimulant
3. Software bloat and aging apps keep the device from living long
Even though the hardware can last many years, app and OS updates (or lack thereof) cause performance to degrade or apps to disappear.
“I have an iPad 9th generation… after the Liquid Glass update it became so sluggish that I had to turn off animations.” – user34283
“Apps relying on anything online (including browsers) stop functioning at some point, because you can’t replace the OS or install arbitrary apps.” – nothercastle
4. The iPad is a niche tool for creatives, not a general‑purpose laptop
A large portion of the discussion centers on whether the iPad can replace a MacBook for work, with many users citing art, video, and music production as the main use cases.
“I do serious photo editing on the iPad because I have access to Apple Pencil… it’s helpful to my creative process.” – piazz
“Music production on it… the form factor forces AUv3 devs to design smarter interfaces.” – mauflows
5. Apple’s single‑user focus hurts families and multi‑device sharing
The lack of built‑in multi‑user profiles is a recurring complaint, seen as a deliberate strategy to push more device sales.
“Apple has historically never been good at multiple users at the same machine… I suspect their strategy is to not invest too much into profile management.” – giobox
“If you can put up with each update making it worse, slower, less precise user interface… Apple intentionally hobbles them to induce demand for multiple iPads.” – recursion
6. Price, value, and the “sell‑more‑devices” business model
Users debate whether the high price of the new iPads is justified by the hardware, or whether Apple is simply using the chips to drive sales.
“The base model has only 128 GB of storage… Apple is selling 20 million of them a year.” – bottlepalm
“Apple is a rent‑seeking company that makes money by being the iron‑fisted middleman for the app store.” – kibwen
These six themes capture the bulk of the discussion: marketing rhetoric, hardware‑software mismatch, software aging, niche creative use, single‑user lock‑in, and the price/value debate.