12.9-Inch 'iPad Pro' Production Rumored for Q2 2015 Amid Manufacturing Difficulties

[rGiskard]

That. The Mini screen covers something like 70% of the sRGB spectrum, while the screen in the Air comes in around the high 90-somethings. Some people here say that doesn't make a difference to the average person, and they might be right, but if you were to put the Mini and the Air side by side, each showing the same picture, you'd see the difference in contrast.

edit: fancy picture

Image

There you go. Uninformed people still see the difference, they just don't know the reason for it. Instead they'll say the display doesn't "pop" or looks "dull".

Alas, Apple are resolute in their quest to gimp the Mini into EOL.

Edit: here's a comparison to some of the Mini's competitors:

 

[Casiotone]

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE STOP USING THAT TERRIBLE "MOCK-UP."

The 13-inch Air has a 13.1-inch screen. A 12.9-inch screen would not be SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER than a 13.1-inch screen. The "mock-up" is ridiculous. Unless it's actually meant to be an 11-inch Air, the image makes no sense whatsoever.

While the mockup is probably wrong anyway, keep in mind that the Macbook air screen has a 16:9 ratio while the iPads use a 4:3 ratio.

With an equal diagonal, a 4:3 screen will have a greater surface area than a 16:9. That's why the 9.7" iPad actually had a bigger screen than the original 10.1" MS Surface.

 

[rGiskard]

While the mockup is probably wrong anyway, keep in mind that the Macbook air screen has a 16:9 ratio while the iPads use a 4:3 ratio.

With an equal diagonal, a 4:3 screen will have a greater surface area than a 16:9. That's why the 9.7" iPad actually had a bigger screen than the original 10.1" MS Surface.

Yeah, a 12.9" maxiPad would be humongous, but Panasonic and Samsung are already preparing to enter that tablet space (Samsung at 12", Panasonic at 20" inches ).

I think Apple are waiting for an LCD panel of sufficient quality. They can't go to a lower pixel density than the Air, but for now such panels are so new that ramping up to Apple production levels is likely ongoing. Competition will be fierce, though, and I'm not convinced Apple is up to the challenge. Samsung's entry is a 12 inch, 386 ppi beast with 4096x2160 resolution. If Apple can match that, I'll eat an Apple remote!

 

[Xiroteus]

Yeah, a 12.9" maxiPad would be humongous, but Panasonic and Samsung are already preparing to enter that tablet space (Samsung at 12", Panasonic at 20" inches ).

I think Apple are waiting for an LCD panel of sufficient quality. They can't go to a lower pixel density than the Air, but for now such panels are so new that ramping up to Apple production levels is likely ongoing. Competition will be fierce, though, and I'm not convinced Apple is up to the challenge. Samsung's entry is a 12 inch, 386 ppi beast with 4096x2160 resolution. If Apple can match that, I'll eat an Apple remote!

I almost think of that 20" as a really thin portable monitor with an amazing display.

12" tablet with 386ppi....I would like that on a full Windows 8.1 tablet as well.

 

[rGiskard]

I almost think of that 20" as a really thin portable monitor with an amazing display.

12" tablet with 386ppi....I would like that on a full Windows 8.1 tablet as well.

20" tablet could be very useful for artists and engineers, but only if the software is done right. This is a new field just begging for a Steve Jobs approach. Imagine if Jobs were here to do to CAD and graphic arts what he did to desktop publishing. An insanely powerful tablet for drawing, drafting, and noodling. Synced to desktop apps via Continuity.

Current Apple leadership lack the balls to do anything so risky. They will just load the same iOS on the 13" maxiPad as is on the 4" 5S and boast "Can't innovate my ass!". Poor bastards...

 

[name99]

if all it is a bigger iPad I don't see the point. It has to do something more then what the current iPads do.

"The lighter and thinner iPad Air 2 will face strong headwinds in increasing sales in 1Q15, we believe"

Both of these reflect a short-sighted attitude, the assumption that a larger iPad will be used for the same tasks as a smaller iPad.
A more likely scenario is that they will be used as portable displays for professionals who need more area, eg
- lawyers
- engineers looking at blueprints
- doctors

Apart from just the ability to see a larger page, more screen means you can use the "iPad classic" area to display the primary page and all the extra area to provide very rapid navigation --- ways to flip RAPIDLY between multiple pages and multiple documents, which is a real problem right now if you're trying to use an iPad as a SERIOUS EFFICIENT portable library.

A large iPad still offers the convenience of a flat screen without a keyboard getting in the way. It gives more screen space in return for less portability. There are plenty of people for whom that's a good tradeoff.

 

[vomhorizon]

I'm using the SP 3 dock, which cost $199. But it includes a separate mini display port, as well as several USP 3 ports and a gig ethernet port and power adapter. Surprisingly, the pen holder is also nice... coming around to that stylus.

The SP3 supports two external displays, up to 2560x1440. I'm using two 27" ones. Only trick is that I have one plugged directly into the SP3, and the other into the dock. That would be unnecessary, if my displays were step daisy-chained, which my displays don't support... or at least I haven't gotten around to messing with that yet.

So I spent some time on their store website and the one I like costs me around 1600-1700$ once everything is said and done...This is after the device, keyboard case, and the dock..Not sure I would want to spend that on this device as opposed to getting a proper laptop and a proper tablet..I don't use my tablet and feel the need to bring out my laptop..If I am on the tablet I am usually doing things that I can finish on the tablet. Similarly, I am not on my laptop and all of a sudden feel that I need to switch over to the iPad.

 

[PunkRocker]

Where does the "Pro" come from?

 

[FieldingMellish]

90 percent of any buyers for this will not be pros, but those of means and who binge on gear, for express purpose of consuming content like U-Tube videos.

 

[Xiroteus]

20" tablet could be very useful for artists and engineers, but only if the software is done right. This is a new field just begging for a Steve Jobs approach. Imagine if Jobs were here to do to CAD and graphic arts what he did to desktop publishing. An insanely powerful tablet for drawing, drafting, and noodling. Synced to desktop apps via Continuity.

Current Apple leadership lack the balls to do anything so risky. They will just load the same iOS on the 13" maxiPad as is on the 4" 5S and boast "Can't innovate my ass!". Poor bastards...

I imagine an artist would love that 20's screen if it works well. If this is real they could try doing something new and adding some extra real functions people could use.

 

[Kobayagi]

That's pretty significant sales drops forecasted. I guess thinner, faster, better only works for so long until people "get it" and start keeping their tablets instead of upgrading. That, and the hidden code Apple puts in new iOS versions that slows down perfectly good older iPads to the point of being frustratingly slow, causing the owner to spend the money on a new one.

Is there proof of that? I remember when I updates my 1g iPad to iOS 5 it got so slow it was unusable.

 

[Tech198]

bigger is not always better ..

 

[rGiskard]

bigger is not always better ..

That's not what she tells me!

----------

90 percent of any buyers for this will not be pros, but those of means and who binge on gear, for express purpose of consuming content like U-Tube videos.

YouTube? Are you crazy? This is the ultimate pr0n pad!

 

[Keirasplace]

Yeah, a 12.9" maxiPad would be humongous, but Panasonic and Samsung are already preparing to enter that tablet space (Samsung at 12", Panasonic at 20" inches ).

I think Apple are waiting for an LCD panel of sufficient quality. They can't go to a lower pixel density than the Air, but for now such panels are so new that ramping up to Apple production levels is likely ongoing. Competition will be fierce, though, and I'm not convinced Apple is up to the challenge. Samsung's entry is a 12 inch, 386 ppi beast with 4096x2160 resolution. If Apple can match that, I'll eat an Apple remote!

You actually have to be able to drive this screen you know... Apple does care about that though Samsung and LG seemingly do not.

Also, high density usually means more battery usage and lower luminosity (that's what happened to the G3). Also, this is a god damn tablet, I can understand wanting a phone 400 ppi, but a tablet is held 30-50% further away. This means anything above 330ppi is plain idiotic for 99% of users. They should only go there if going there means the 99% don't get their performance significantly impacted, which with current battery tech and GPU is NOT THE CASE.

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That. The Mini screen covers something like 70% of the sRGB spectrum, while the screen in the Air comes in around the high 90-somethings. Some people here say that doesn't make a difference to the average person, and they might be right, but if you were to put the Mini and the Air side by side, each showing the same picture, you'd see the difference in contrast.

edit: fancy picture

Image

For reading text, not much difference. For watching video content, it depends on the source. For most torrents off the net it wouldn't make much difference; their color space is already all messed up. For most people, it would mostly impact looking at photos, making them less vivid in general. If you don't mind this, the Mini II is a very good buy.

 

[macfoxpro]

Really?? What would you use it for that you can't use a macbook air for?

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yeah, bigger screen, split screen, users oh and a keyboard. Wait.. we are talking about a MBA right?

What if I didn't have/want a MacBook Air? With that logic, you would have to ask yourself, why would you use a Mac when you can use a Dell? Why would drive a Corvette when you can drive a Prius, and so on, and on, and on, and on....

 

[rGiskard]

You actually have to be able to drive this screen you know... Apple does care about that though Samsung and LG seemingly do not.

Also, high density usually means more battery usage and lower luminosity (that's what happened to the G3). Also, this is a god damn tablet, I can understand wanting a phone 400 ppi, but a tablet is held 30-50% further away. This means anything above 330ppi is plain idiotic for 99% of users. They should only go there if going there means the 99% don't get their performance significantly impacted, which with current battery tech and GPU is NOT THE CASE.

If it will be used for drawing or CAD design or the like, then fine detail is essential. And even if it is normally held far away from the eyes, often one will peer closer at certain parts of an image to take in greater detail.

You are right, it takes more computing power and electricity to power a high end display. In fact that's the reason Apple didn't even make a tablet until 2010. Technology's bounty is certainly amazing, isn't it?

 

[aloshka]

What if I didn't have/want a MacBook Air? With that logic, you would have to ask yourself, why would you use a Mac when you can use a Dell? Why would drive a Corvette when you can drive a Prius, and so on, and on, and on, and on....

What I'm saying, using your analogy, is that you want a prius. But with a better engine, better body, better handling, so basically a corvette??

 

[Xiroteus]

That's not what she tells me!

----------



YouTube? Are you crazy? This is the ultimate pr0n pad!

Error, flash required?

 

[phrehdd]

The reviews for the Yoga have been pretty bad, so I'm not sure why you'd want it. Might as well go for an old Surface laptop. Probably a better deal.

I have read both good and bad reviews with respect to the Lenevo product. The point is that the uber iPad is kind of behind the curve with technologies that are already out there. We are seeing similar with some facets of cell phones as well. Apple leads then falls behind and later tries to leap frog in the days of yore. Seems they continue to lead from behind for quite a while now.

 

[Keirasplace]

I have read both good and bad reviews with respect to the Lenevo product. The point is that the uber iPad is kind of behind the curve with technologies that are already out there. We are seeing similar with some facets of cell phones as well. Apple leads then falls behind and later tries to leap frog in the days of yore. Seems they continue to lead from behind for quite a while now.

How can lead from behind when none of those products is selling really well. They're not trying to catch race horse there, they're simply waiting for the right moment, right tech, right experience to enter the market with a good product. I suppose the Iphone was also "leading from behind", guess they should continue failing in that exact same way since it gave them 40B in profits a year.

So, if Apple comes out with a Ipad PRO and sells 5-10M of them,they'd suck because they are not the first even they are the first successful at it ?

 

[rowspaxe]

So I spent some time on their store website and the one I like costs me around 1600-1700$ once everything is said and done...This is after the device, keyboard case, and the dock..Not sure I would want to spend that on this device as opposed to getting a proper laptop and a proper tablet..I don't use my tablet and feel the need to bring out my laptop..If I am on the tablet I am usually doing things that I can finish on the tablet. Similarly, I am not on my laptop and all of a sudden feel that I need to switch over to the iPad.

Your not the target demo of this product--you are already well served by a combination of existing products. You repesent 80-85% of the market. But please, get over yourself and read the comments of other posters who want this device or own a surface pro 3. Your comment is akin the mini-air debate: different devices for different use cases

 

[ds2000]

iOS is the touch-enabled operating system for mobile devices.
OS X is the operating system for traditional input devices.

Apple has two successful operating systems that are widely regarded as best-of-breed on both traditional computers and mobile devices. They don't need to do what Microsoft did in desperation to try and grab some marketshare in the mobile space. Features like Handoff and Continuity are delightful answers to the problem of bringing two worlds closer together.

The iPad Pro if it exists is going to run iOS. The question is what power features and experiences can Apple bring to iOS to make larger screen devices more useful?

I completely agree with you, however, some clever people got OS X running on a surface 2 (probably the 3 now as well) and had the touch screen running beautifully. It was of interest to me and did make me consider getting a surface as I could have OS X on a super thin device. Price was what really put me off

 

[vomhorizon]

Your not the target demo of this product--you are already well served by a combination of existing products. You repesent 80-85% of the market. But please, get over yourself and read the comments of other posters who want this device or own a surface pro 3. Your comment is akin the mini-air debate: different devices for different use cases

Did i not make this clear in my earlier post? Not sure whether at those prices the Surface Pro3 is actually a tablet or not especially when it is quite a bit of premium over some extremely capable laptops and tablets. If Apple launches the iPad+ with similar features at a price range of $1000-$2000, not sure whether it can still be called a tablet. I think apple will continue to take enterprise away from the PC to the tablet, rather then come up with a device which combines the functions of the two...Just my opinion...

 

[Casiotone]

Yeah, a 12.9" maxiPad would be humongous, but Panasonic and Samsung are already preparing to enter that tablet space (Samsung at 12", Panasonic at 20" inches ).

I think Apple are waiting for an LCD panel of sufficient quality. They can't go to a lower pixel density than the Air, but for now such panels are so new that ramping up to Apple production levels is likely ongoing. Competition will be fierce, though, and I'm not convinced Apple is up to the challenge. Samsung's entry is a 12 inch, 386 ppi beast with 4096x2160 resolution. If Apple can match that, I'll eat an Apple remote!

Ok so you had to drag me again into one of your screen density debates... I was simply explaining how differences in aspect ratios affected screen area vs. diagonals.

Samsung already released a 12.2" tablet (with a whopping 247 PPI screen that nobody complained about) and in most reviews it's been described as laggy and jittery. But I guess it doesn't matter because they were first!

The "ultra hd" Samsung tablet you linked to is just a prototype straight out of their labs. It hasn't even been announced officially yet. It's just another way for them to give a bragging spec point to those who like to point out that "Apple is behind times".

We don't know how it will perform in real life when it is released (and probably sell in small quantities without being deemed a flop, unlike Apple which has to mass produce them) but looking at how their 247 PPI tablet performed and how they didn't mind releasing it as is I wouldn't be surprised if this new 386 PPI tablet has similar real world performance even with a more powerful CPU/GPU combo.

You seem to be obsessed with proving that a higher screen density has benefits. We get that. I don't remember seeing you mentioning that UI responsiveness is something important, even though it's inversely linked to resolution size and screen density.

I'd rather have a responsive 12" iPad pro at 265 PPI than a 386 PPI tablet with a jittery UI.

I hardly notice the pixels on my 9.7" iPad air 2, and on a 12" screen with a much bigger resolution and screen area I feel they would be even less noticeable, just like the pixels are less noticeable on my iPhone 6 vs. my iPhone 4S even if they have the same PPI, just because they're more screen area and resolution used to draw stuff on screen, and I tend to use it a little further from my eyes.

If Apple releases a 12"+ iPad with the same density as the air 2, it won't be a deal breaker for me.

Yes it would be better if they increased the PPI, but the technology for mass producing a thin, light 4k 12" tablet with a responsive UI and good battery life simply isn't there.

 

[Xiroteus]

If Apple releases a 12"+ iPad with the same density as the air 2, it won't be a deal breaker for me.

Yes it would be better if they increased the PPI, but the technology for mass producing a thin, light 4k 12" tablet with a responsive UI and good battery life simply isn't there.

A higher ppi would be great and all, yet the current resolution is not bad for that screen size. I also would not be surprised if they held off for the iPad Pro 2 like the iPad mini.