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To Apple: Thanks for making my 'new iPad' obsolete

<b>commentary</b> Apple's surprise announcement of a fourth-generation iPad so soon after the last version has one CNET editor feeling burned.

Roger Cheng Former Executive Editor / Head of News
Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.
Expertise Mobile, 5G, Big Tech, Social Media Credentials
  • SABEW Best in Business 2011 Award for Breaking News Coverage, Eddie Award in 2020 for 5G coverage, runner-up National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award for culture analysis.
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Roger Cheng
3 min read
The fourth-generation iPad. Looks a lot like the previous version, except for some critical upgrades inside. James Martin/CNET

Apple, I thought we had a deal.

I buy one of your products, and I'm guaranteed roughly a year feeling like I've got the latest and greatest that Apple has to offer. That's primarily been your product cycle, and it's worked out fairly well for everyone.

Apple's 'little' event

Which is why I'm shocked, and more than a little annoyed, to see a new iPad unveiled a half a year after I bought the "new iPad."

Philip Schiller, head of marketing for Apple, made a crack about how a new product instantly makes the previous one look old. Sure, that joke works fine when debuting a new iMac -- which hasn't seen a refresh in nearly a year and a half -- but it's less funny when you apply that to the 7-month-old iPad.

It's not like the improvements are that incremental. The fourth-generation iPad comes with a new A6X processor, which doubles the CPU and graphics power of the A5X chip used in the last iPad. It also gets 10 hours of battery life, FaceTime HD, and expanded LTE support. You can keep the Lightning dock connector.

The confusing thing is that the third-generation iPad appears to have disappeared from the Apple store. There's the newly unveiled iPad Mini, and lower priced iPad 2, and now the fourth-generation iPad.

Did Apple just disavow the third-generation iPad like an IMF agent on a "Mission:Impossible" sortie gone bad? And what does that mean for the folks who actually bought the new iPad? I have to imagine there were a lot of us; Apple CEO Tim Cook said it was the fastest-selling iPad and best-selling tablet.

Watch this: Apple surprises with fourth-gen, full-size iPad

Look, I'm not against the evolution of any product. But I'd appreciate it you let consumers catch their breath before moving on to the "next big thing." (Or is that Samsung's tagline now?) I imagine other Apple fans and iPad owners share my sentiment and frustration.

More troubling, what does the debut of the fourth-generation iPad now mean for the fifth-generation iPad next year? Can we still expect another iPad in March, or has the product cycle shifted to a launch in October?

Further down the line, does this open the door to more upgrades each year? The Android community already has to deal with a ceaseless wave of new mobile gadgets, and that isn't the sort of thing Apple should be aspiring to emulate.

At least one Apple store in San Francisco apparently feel the pain, and is offering to exchange iPads for anyone who has purchased a third-generation iPad in the last 30 days, according to CNET editor Sharon Vaknin.

It appears I'm not the only one annoyed by this development:

@SteveStreza, meanwhile, makes a sharp observation:

Vaknin compares the pain to what Android users have to endure:

And @thomleonard is probably worse off than anyone else:

Perhaps he'll have some luck getting his iPad exchanged.

CNET's Donna Tam contributed to this story.

Updated at 1:15 p.m. PT: to include information on a possible iPad exchange.