Wednesday, January 30, 2013

The 128 GB Apple iPad Was Inevitable But I Was Surprised By the Pricing


Apple announced a new variant of its popular 9.7-inch Apple iPad, with the new addition coming with 128 GB of storage. I felt this was inevitable since it migrated to the new 2048 x 1536 display, from the older 1024 x 768 display last March 2012. The new display meant that apps had to be adapted to look better at the higher resolution mainly by enlarging the graphics elements. This resulted in the install size some apps growing marginally, while others double in size. With apps and games breaching the 2 GB mark, 16 GB pre-iPad 3 was not 16 GB anymore.

I thought that Apple would phase out the 16 GB iPad's sooner or later, and replace it with a 32 GB model, and do the same down the line with a 128 GB model replacing the 64 GB model. The launch of a 128 GB Apple iPad priced US$100 more than the 64 GB iPad caught me a bit by surprise. When the new 128 GB iPad lands in the Philippines, it will cost Php38,990 for the basic model and Php44,990 for the Cellular version.

Apple is notorious for charging a lot for extra storage, charging you Php5,000, for the 16 GB increase from 16 GB to 32 GB, the same for the increase from 32 GB to 64 GB, and will do the same for the increase from 64 GB to 128 GB. All in all, the move from a 16 GB model to a 128 GB model means an "upgrade" cost of Php15,000.  That is a lot considering that a Class 10 64 GB MicroSD card costs less than Php4,000 and a 120 GB SSD drive only costs about Php4,500.

Still, having another option never hurts. 

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