iPad Pro 64GB Cellular iPad Pro Display Model?

[Yebubbleman]

Am at my local Apple Store, playing with a cellular model iPad Pro and I noticed the following when I checked the settings app on it. Strange, no? I always figured that there was only one cellular model of iPad Pro and that said model was a 128GB model. Frankly, I think cellular on this would be unnecessary in most cases, but this seems interesting. I wonder if people would buy it if it was a normal marketed thing,

 

[temna]

Probably just a 128gb with a recovery partition. And I would only buy the cellular model to track a stolen unit and for remote access to computers (a large part of my job) when I'm away from wifi..

 

[bniu]

If you look closer, the capacity is 65.8GB, which is greater than 64GB. Apple's iPhone display models also show something like a capacity of 33.4GB or so. Apple has special images installed onto their demo phones.

 

[The Game 161]

It's 128GB it just has a bunch of stuff on it

 

[Brookzy]

Love that it's on 5%... I wonder how often the display units shut down because the chargers can't keep up!

 

[iOSUser7]

At iPhone 6 launch, I've seen a 32GB one at an Apple Store and was always wondering how it could exist but thanks to you guys now I understand it's just a partition.

 

[Yebubbleman]

For those of you insistent on the fact that it's a recovery partition, the questions I then have are (a) what tools are they using to make a hidden partition, (b) what purpose does such a partition serve (seeing as restoring an iOS device with a specific set of policies and apps installed is pretty easy WITHOUT such a partition, and (c) why the hell would Apple NOT make such tools available en masse to enterprise customers who would surely go nuts over such a feature?

Probably just a 128gb with a recovery partition. And I would only buy the cellular model to track a stolen unit and for remote access to computers (a large part of my job) when I'm away from wifi..

The use of the cellular model in this case was helpful as they only sell one model with one size. Therefore if the capacity isn't close to 128GB, it is much more highlighting of an anomaly. But yeah, I'm with you on that; I have cellular on an iPad mini, and have had it on 9.7" iPads in the past. Cellular on the iPad Pro seems like something that won't be necessary for the vast majority of use cases.

If you look closer, the capacity is 65.8GB, which is greater than 64GB. Apple's iPhone display models also show something like a capacity of 33.4GB or so. Apple has special images installed onto their demo phones.

I know they have special images installed on all of their demo iOS devices. This also explains why one would have difficulty in most cases updating iOS on those devices using over-the-air updates. However, it doesn't make sense that they'd just have a partition that doesn't do anything necessary and otherwise limit the space when part of the selling point of THAT iPad is the 128GB capacity.

It's 128GB it just has a bunch of stuff on it

If it had a bunch of stuff on it, the number that would be changed, in theory, should be the space consumed, not the total capacity.

 

[Brookzy]

(b) what purpose does such a partition serve (seeing as restoring an iOS device with a specific set of policies and apps installed is pretty easy WITHOUT such a partition.

Regarding the same debate but about iPhones, BGR says:

In reality, Apple is displaying 64GB iPhone models in stores, which have two distinct partitions that allow retail store staff to quickly perform a system restore, while keeping demo content on those devices.

A bit vague, but I do remember reading a while ago that the display Macs are effectively restored every evening. This being because they have all sorts of people messing about with them - taking photos, changing the homepage, the wallpaper, and all sorts of other stuff that must be deleted and reset - and I suppose it is possible that iPhones are similarly restored, and the partition contains the data and other required mechanics for the device to restore itself without requiring a connection to iTunes, or having to download the content every day.

It might not be possible to delete content and essentially reset the device using existing enterprise policies except by not allowing settings and content to be altered in the first place. But it is important that the display models behave like the product the customer will buy, rather than stooping to big box retailer-style software lockdowns whereby the customer can't even try out the software.