12.9-Inch iPad Pro With Mini-LED Display Rumored to Launch in First Quarter of 2021

[Falhófnir]

I really don’t. I think Appoe was very specific from a marketing standpoint that the M1 is the Mac family of chips which includes some items iPads don’t need (extra USB modules, memory modules, etc).

I think the iPad will get the A14X, however I think tear downs and performance tests will show that they are very similar chipsets

Depends on if the economy of scale makes it less worthwhile to develop an A14X which is largely the same as the M1, or indeed if the iPad Pro is to gain more Mac-like features which will leverage the extra features of the M1 (Thunderbolt, RAM options). Particularly if the Pro line is reduced down to just the 12.9" as these rumours keep insinuating. I'd call it maybe 60:40 in favour of A14X.

For anyone still confused:
LCD < miniLED < OLED < microLED

Really no, even a regular LCD has some characteristics that are better than OLED (full RGB sub pixels; no requirement for PWM dimming; on average better off angle viewing and better colour accuracy). OLED is only really better for black levels and HDR content (high contrast). mini LED is meant to close the gap, giving you all the benefits of LCD while improving on black levels and contrast. I'd say that makes it equal to or better than OLED, while micro LED is the holy grail of screen tech, but still a long way off.

 

[ericwn]

Bring it Apple!

 

[4jasontv]

put in on you lap... and there you go

I don’t have a lap when walking.

 

[AnthonyHarris]

It will be interesting to see how Apple justifies the price of the iPad Pro, especially compared to the M1 Macs. I have been waiting for the updated iPad Pro, to replace my 2018 12.9”, but the performance, especially the battery life that the M1‘s offer is swaying the direction I’m leaning now. I figure I can keep my current iPad Pro, get a new MBA, and have the benefits both offer. Assuming I’m going to be traveling again in 2021, the added battery life to the MBA is super appealing, as is the overall performance.

Apple don't need to justify the price of the iPad Pro against the new M1 Macs in most cases. They are very different products with very different feature sets, and I imagine that many people (including myself) own a Mac and an iPad of sorts.

I bought the 11 inch Pro to use for drawing and on the go photo editing and it's fantastic not to have to drag my 16 inch MacBook out with me.

Seems that the 12.9 inch defenders have not woken up after Christmas...

As an 12.9 user, I can say that 11 inch is not "the perfect size". Most of the 12.9 users need the extra canvas size for work. Last time I looked the 13 inch MB Air/pro could not be used together with a pencil.

It is curious that only the 12.9 is mentioned and not the 11 inch. It can simply be that 12.9 users gladly pay for better display, need better colour accuracy or that gains such as less weight is more pronounced with larger iPads.

The reason Apple released two sizes of the iPad Pro was so that people had a choice. For your use case (as a teacher?) I can understand why 12.9 inches is great for you, but for me, the 11 inch is absolutely fine for what I want it for.

I was coming from a second generation iPad mini, and I didn't wan't something excessively large. I had already used my boyfriends 12.9 inch machine and decided it was too big for me personally.

 

[ericwn]

I would love an iPad Mini Pro, mLED or OLED. I would be very happy.

They’d probably charge Air 4 money for such a device but that’ll be ok with me.

 

[ericwn]

It's too big. At that size, a macbook air would be a better value. Please give us another mini or 9" iPad Pro.

It’s in existence already and I doubt that its owners want or need a notebook/ laptop in the same size.

Price wise, we are comparing the most expensive tablet with their most entry level Mac portable.

 

[ericwn]

Still another rumor that doesn’t mention the 11” Pro, which makes me suspicious. Will they pull another separate launch of 12.9” model (like they did for the 1st gen) and then launch the 11” Pro with mini-LED in the fall? Curious about this. The 11” Pro is far too popular to drop.

Not sure we can conclude which iPad models are more or less popular outside of our own likings - the sales numbers are not really published anywhere.

 

[ericwn]

So some users buy the Mini LED version. Then, they realize some shortcomings. Then, Apple releases the OLED version claiming that it is better and have some shortcomings taken care of. Some of these users will buy the OLED version and on and on for Apple to earn more profits.

Constant product improvements based on what’s available at the desired price point from the sounds of it.

 

[ericwn]

The video quality on an iPad is truly awful. Pictures look great, but video is awful.

Sounds like you’ll buy the new one from the article then maybe.

 

[ericwn]

Students and artists would much prefer a big display on iPad Pro because exams are usually in Legal paper size and notes are usually in Letter paper size. Then you factor in side by side display of the textbook, and the notes, and then the Picture in Picture display of a zoom call or something like that.

Doubt students are the target audience and paper sizes differ worldwide as do exam formats.

 

[Baymowe335]

I just want an iPad I can use with one hand.

It’s called an iPhone.

 

[ericwn]

Even with my new M1 Mac Mini, my iPad Pro is still my favorite computer I have ever owned. I look forward to a new M1 iPad Pro with hopefuly more functionality on the software side later this year. Touch and pencil support, along with better cameras are modern computing inputs that are hard to give up on. A M1 MacBook still feels like a downgrade.

M represents Mac CPUs.

 

[subjonas]

That’s called an iPhone.

It’s called an iPhone.

If it was bigger and could operate as a secondary device to another (smaller) iPhone, sure, but those are the problems for me.

I can’t speak for the OP, but I like the smallest possible phone when I’m out and the biggest possible handheld device that can double as my phone when I’m home (via continuity). Right now I have an iPad mini but it’s too wide to hold like a phone comfortably (by about an inch) and too wide and tall to put in my lounge pants pockets comfortably so I have to carry it by hand around the house. Awhile back I tried using an iPhone plus as my large device at home, but besides being a bit smaller than I wanted it to be (it could have been an inch wider and still comfortable to grasp), the bigger issue was that it wasn’t designed to be a secondary device like the iPad. I couldn’t make outgoing calls/texts, and most other continuity features didn’t work, so I’d end up carrying both my small and big phone around the house. That got old quick. Also I missed landscape orientation lock and slide over.
(Oh and switching out the SIM card is not really a solution for multiple reasons, the most pertinent one being that my carrier doesn’t use them.)

Call it an iPad mini mini or an iPod touch max max, but unfortunately no such Apple device exists to fill my (and maybe OP’s) little niche use, and probably won’t in any foreseeable future. ☹️

 

[ericwn]

But I think we have to keep in mind that future software may show those differences. When Final Cut Pro or other Pro Apps come to the iPad - those differences will likely be much more apparent.

Fair point but we have been telling that ever since the Pro line started in 2015.

 

[jmgregory1]

Apple don't need to justify the price of the iPad Pro against the new M1 Macs in most cases. They are very different products with very different feature sets, and I imagine that many people (including myself) own a Mac and an iPad of sorts.

I bought the 11 inch Pro to use for drawing and on the go photo editing and it's fantastic not to have to drag my 16 inch MacBook out with me.

The reason Apple released two sizes of the iPad Pro was so that people had a choice. For your use case (as a teacher?) I can understand why 12.9 inches is great for you, but for me, the 11 inch is absolutely fine for what I want it for.

I was coming from a second generation iPad mini, and I didn't wan't something excessively large. I had already used my boyfriends 12.9 inch machine and decided it was too big for me personally.

People make comparisons all the time. It happened when they launched the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro, given the total cost for both iPad Pro and keyboard was in the MBP price, albeit offering better performance and other uses (Pencil, touch tablet and LTE capable). But now with the M1 MacBook Air and Pro, you get the same kind of performance and far better battery life. My point was more about what Apple will push / market as differentiation between the devices. They’ve put so much into showing how you can use an iPad, Pro or otherwise, as a laptop alternative, I’m not sure they can go back to focusing on touch interface.

As I noted, I’m a current iPad Pro user (my primary work device and what I’m writing this reply on), and have considered it one of the best devices I’ve ever owned. If Apple can get the new iPad Pro to go 15-18 hours on a charge, I’ll upgrade to it. I’m likely going to pick up a new M1 MBA too, though, in the interim and retire my now ancient feeling 15” 2013 rMBP with its 4 hour battery life...

 

[cmaier]

M represents Mac CPUs.

M is just a name.

The same die (or the same die but with some minor changes) could easily appear in an iPad.

 

[ericwn]

I probably missed this, but is there any reason or speculation as to why the 11" iPad Pro isn't also making this jump? Since moving to USB-C and FaceID, those two have been like Bananas in Pajamas (in terms of feature parity). Like, are we assuming that the Air will finally cannibalize it? Or is it that the 12.9" Pro will make this jump and the 11" will make it at the refresh that follows but that both will receive the same SoC upgrades? I know that none of us know for sure, but I can't be the only one asking this (and there can't just be nothing out there of prominent note mentioning this question).

Yes the iPad forum has kept itself busy with speculation based on the rumor that the 12.9 may get an upgrade but the 11 may not. Head there for more guesswork.

 

[ericwn]

They told us years ago Retina screen is the best.

At that time. Time has a tendency though for not standing still.

 

[ericwn]

I take my iPad Pro 11 out with me if I’m going to do some photograph. It’s nice to be able to see shots just after the fact and retake if needed.

I think it would be a much better device if they just simply improved the file system, but I would take an iPad like device running MacOS in a heartbeat.

They could call it the iMac Air Pro mini and iMac Air Pro Max. lol

A portable device named iMac? I’m not holding my breath.

 

[futurist101]

The reason Apple released two sizes of the iPad Pro was so that people had a choice. For your use case (as a teacher?) I can understand why 12.9 inches is great for you, but for me, the 11 inch is absolutely fine for what I want it for.

Apple had no issue angering a large segment of users (like me) who preferred a smaller phone when they moved to the larger iPhone sizes. It took more than 2 years for them to eventually offer users like me an alternative with the SE (March 2016). In the interim, I begrudgingly upgraded to an iPhone 7 Plus (for battery life) and learned to live with the gigantic size. I'm actually hoping it dies so I will be forced to purchase the new iPhone Mini but the bugger keeps ticking and the size is less of an issue since I work from home 😂

It's just a guess, but I don't think there is a large enough user base of 11 inch IPP users that would give Apple any pause about eliminating the offering now that the new iPad Air offers nearly all of the same features at a significant discount.

 

[ericwn]

M is just a name.

The same die (or the same die but with some minor changes) could easily appear in an iPad.

Many things could potentially happen. The M chips seemed to have additional capabilities that A chips don’t require hence my assumption that M will be specific to the Mac platform.

 

[4jasontv]

It’s called an iPhone.

Maybe five years ago.

 

[smulji]

M is for Mac. A is for iOS. iPad won’t get Thunderbolt or the extra PCIe lanes of the M1. It’ll probably be clocked lower too and have 6gb ram (8 might be possible) also probably have 6 or 7 gpu cores instead of 8.

Never say never. There was a report about a week or so ago, that starting in 2022, the iPad Pro will be getting the M-series SoC's that go in Macs. With that might come support for TB / USB4.

TSMC lands first 3nm contract from Apple, could put M-series chip in iPads | iMore

 

[smulji]

I’m not sure the 11” Pro is all that popular, let alone far too popular to drop, though you may well be right. Maybe it’s not getting the miniLED display so there’s just no chatter. It could be a simple refresh of the 2020 with a new SoC.

But now that the Air is much closer to the Pro, I wouldn’t be all that surprised if they did drop the 11” Pro. I guess the question is whether there’s room for both in the lineup.

At 256GB it’s $749 vs. $899 for the Air vs the Pro; that’s really not much price difference. The difference in features is also minimal (but rather nice!).

It would definitely disappoint some 11” iPad Pro users who want a new one if it were discontinued, but a fair percentage would buy the Air; that’s already happening. Others will move up to the 12.9” to keep the feature set.

12.9-Inch iPad Pro With Mini-LED Display Rumored to Launch in First Quarter of 2021

The 11” is the perfect size but I hope they keep the pro variant of it. The $150 extra for more Ram, better Graphics, FaceID, better sound, better mics, more storage options, faster display tech, etc is so worth it and important for me. The 12.9 is way to big and the 4:3 aspect ratio is not...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[AnthonyHarris]

A portable device named iMac? I’m not holding my breath.

Me neither, but I do wonder what they'd call such a device...