Should Apple Allow You To Exchange Your iPad?

With the recent release of the new 4th generation iPad just 7 months after the last release, many 3rd generation iPad owners are a little angry. 7 months is pretty fast, even by today’s standards.

I would imagine that the biggest complaint among iPad users is that if they had known about a 4th generation iPad they would have most likely waited before making a purchase. This brings forth a good question, should the 3rd generation iPad have been released at all?

Yes, the retina display is amazing but overall the 3rd generation iPad doesn’t seem to cut it as a major improvement over the iPad 2. Perhaps if Apple had waited and included the new A6X processor in the 3rd generation then maybe we would feel a little better about our purchase.

It would seem that Apple wanted to update the iPad with it’s new Lightning connector in order to allow the iPad to fit in with the rest of the line up and decided that something else needs to be added in order to allow it to be considered as an actual upgrade, hence the A6X. After all, it would kind of stand out when it came time to pick out accessories and a significant performance boost will definitely be appealing. Also, we should consider the timing of this update. Apple seems to have moved from a “scattered” release of products to a single, multi-product release that lines up just before the holidays.

The question that comes to mind here is should Apple allow you to exchange your iPad 3 for a 4th generation version? Now, I am not talking about those of us who bought one 6 months ago but rather those who purchased an iPad within the last month. The good news is that if you feel frustrated by this unexpected release of the iPad 4, you’re not alone. There is significant buzz going around about the possibility of Apple having some stores exchange your iPad 3 for an iPad 4 of you have recently purchased and iPad, which would be a very cool move on Apple’s part. However, just because we think that Apple should do the exchange doesn’t mean they have to though and I’m not so sure about how this would affect consumer opinion of the company over an update of one product in a large line up.

The bottom line here is that when we decide to shop for technology, we should always assume it’s already out of date. I go through this every time I buy a new electronic device. I always have that thought in the back of my head that says, “They are going to release a new version of this next month, I just know it!”. Even if Apple doesn’t offer up an exchange or if you bought yours too long ago, you can always sell it. There is a huge demand for iPads and iPhones out there and those people don’t care if it’s not the latest or greatest, they just want a good deal on a solid product.