So the big day has arrived for Apple to unveil the iPad 2 but as you may recall almost half a year ago we speculated that the price of the current generation would drop to $299 … Apple’s Steve Jobs made no official announcement of such a thing taking place, he simply stated that the new generation of their greatly successful device is getting many additions while maintaining the same price-points as the original iPad for the same 16, 32 and 64GB configurations.
So what about selling an original iPad cheaper? Turns out they are doing that in the refurbished section of their online store – by going there you can pick up a 16GB Wi-Fi version of the iPad for $349 which is just $50 more than the price we predicted it was likely to end up at.
We have no idea how long that deal will go on for, but if I had to guess, I’d say there are parts of the world where people will be excited to get their hands on any kind of iPad. But some gadget junkies will still want the latest and will gladly fork over the money for the iPad 2 with a dual-core processor, 2 cameras and HDMI out. For that matter, I know people will just buy the original iPad for family members who only wish to check their e-mail and do casual web browsing since it would eliminate a great deal of family member “tech support” calls. So we may not have gotten an official announcement from Apple, but today you can pick up an original 16GB iPad for $150 less than its initial $499 in Apple’s official online store.
Update: It looks like Apple dropped the price on the original (by $100 rather than $200 … for now) putting some more pressure on the competition so if you don’t care about the new iPad 2 but don’t want to “risk it” with a refurbished unit for $349 (or just happen to love the retail box of the retail unit), another $50 on top of the refurbished unit’s price gets you a brand new 16GB original iPad (at $399).
Hm..no USB port yet. At least they solved the camera issue. Like the blue Apple cover…that’s really cool!
Dan,
I was hoping for just one USB, but this new version adds a lot more features and it has a sleeker design.
I got the original iPad in December for my birthday and I love it. To be honest, I was really disappointed to see the new one come out and not see anything I was really excited over. I wouldn’t buy the 2 anyway since I just got the first one a few months ago, but it would have been more enticing to upgrade had there been some “can’t live without” features. A camera doesn’t do anything for me on a device so big. What’s the point? The only things that sound good are the faster speed and the ability to do HD out. Otherwise I’m quite happy with my original iPad until the iPad 3 comes out!
Sarah,
If you are happy, that’s what matters. I think the same way, if the new one is not mind blowing, than why bother when the device I have fits my needs.
Wow! If i was going to spend $349 for a refurbished ipad think i would just go ahead and get a new one! ‘m not feeling this new one, no USB yet!!! Come on guys, surely you could design one with that simple feature!
Yeah, I just don’t get the whole lack of USB thing. Rather perplexing. Especially combined with no Flash support. It seems like a slick device but….
Mike,
I agree! A USB is the least this iPad 2 could of had and SD support would of been the icing on the cake.
Im pretty sure that they released a dock connector with a usb port not too long ago, its main function is to be able to plug a usb camera straight into the device without taking out the SD card, but you can use other devices with it too. http://store.apple.com/au/product/MC531