New iPad Prices – And What's With The Name?

The Register has reported on prices for the various models of iPad announced yesterday, with availability from 16^th March. Before we get into that though, what's with the name? Apple keeps referring to it as the "new iPad", while pictures of the back of it just show "iPad".

This means that the three generations have the name iPad, IPad 2 & iPad. Is it just me, but is there something not quite right about this? Successive generations of a product are supposed to progress in naming, such as iPad 3, or go in a different direction such as the rumoured iPad HD, which would have been really cool. No, going full circle and naming your latest product the same as your first one is frankly, retarded. Imagine trying to google for either first gen or third gen machine or search for it on eBay etc. The confusion is going to be rife and so will the scams from private sellers. No doubt, the stupid name won't stop the fanbois buying it in droves, however.

Now, on to the prices:

Wi-Fi only iPads

• £399 for the 16GB model
• £479 for the 32GB model
• £559 for the 64GB model

iPads Wi-Fi + US-flavoured 4G

• £499 for the 16GB model
• £579 for the 32GB model
• £659 for the 64GB model

Note that the 4G model is only 3G in the UK, as explained here.

So, those prices in summary: it starts off reassuringly expensive and goes up from there, just like any Apple product.