For those not the least bit interested in Apple’s release cycles, I can only imagine a purchase made in the Apple Store late last year would be considered pretty ‘current’.
The Roon team’s reasonings aside, “OpenGL ES 3.0 support” is a pretty random one in my book. As a non-developer, I’d never even heard of it. In any case I would much rather have a slower, slightly more clunky remote, than be faced with a decision as to whether to leave Roon, continue to use it with a laptop (which we hate doing), or buy more kit.
This was of course my own fault for jumping in and convincing my family of Roon on the basis of the iPad remote before it actually came out. I look a bit silly now - ‘yes the remote’s finally out but we can’t use it because we need to buy new iPads first’…
Anyway, I won’t add any more to the debate - I’ll just sit grumpily tonight with my laptop playing music, while reading all the reports of how great the iPad app is
Great dissapointment. I saw the app when at the office and rushed home only to verified that it was not compatible with iPad mini 1 . So i will cancel my subscription cause the final bill to use ROON was increasing
I will go for an Auralic Mini with Linn Kazoo … at least I will retain the 2 “oo” in the name
Its never fun to find yourself with stranded hardware. We have three iPads that don’t come up to spec. I was able to pick up a Mini 3 on a daily special deal quite cheaply and Roon looks great on the smaller screen. I find the Mini size very convenient on the couch but prefer watching video on a larger tablet.
The forthcoming release of new models might see some pretty good deals on Mini 3, which was only a minor upgrade from the Mini 2. If dealers are holding stock they need to shift then they may offer one off style discounts. There may also be scope to pick up a second hand Mini 2/3 or Air 2 as those who must have the latest sell their current tablets.
I understand there is still a good second hand market for old tablets which might also ease the upgrade pain.
Take a look at Danny’s post above about our iOS hardware requirements, and understand this was not an easy decision for us. Ultimately, this was a requirement if we were to deliver an experience that meets the high standards we set for Roon.
To be clear, supported iPads include iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 2, and iPad Mini 3. As @andybob and others have mentioned, with new iPads right around the corner there are an increasing number of great deals out there for the supported models, for those that are inclined.
Apologies again for any confusion, and thanks again for the feedback everyone!
The iPad pro they will be announcing on Sept 9 (allegedly) won’t hit the streets until December. Just keep this in mind. I am not seeing iPad Air2 going down in price quite yet.
I just received a mint condition preowned iPad air 2 64 GB from Cowboom.com (best buy’s outlet) for $300 shipped free to North Carolina. Works fantastic as Roon remote. Super fast and looks great. Look for deals on refurb, clean preowned or open box iPad Air and Air 2s. Good site to watch is dealnews.com. This helped ease the pain of my iPad 4 not be supported. I sold it for $300 so not out anything. Always a deal out there and as others have said there will be more good deals popping up.
