Apple Planning Thicker Bezel-Free 10.5" iPad Pro With 9.7" Footprint and No Home Button [Updated]

[Abazigal]

Thats lovely, meanwhile the sales of the iPad are sinking like a stone.

Only because sales of the iPad were so high to begin with. We are talking about a brand new product market, so the first few years of sales will paint a distorted picture as everybody who wants one will get one.

After that, we are now in the replacement cycle. I have been getting a new iPad every 2 years as I use it for work and value the added specs and functionality. Normal consumers who use it primarily for consumption would likely use it till it dies before upgrading, which can be 4-5 years in between.

What we are seeing is simply the sales of iPads tending towards the new normal. I don't think there is anything to be alarmed about.

 

[Rob_2811]

Only because sales of the iPad were so high to begin with. We are talking about a brand new product market, so the first few years of sales will paint a distorted picture as everybody who wants one will get one.

After that, we are now in the replacement cycle. I have been getting a new iPad every 2 years as I use it for work and value the added specs and functionality. Normal consumers who use it primarily for consumption would likely use it till it dies before upgrading, which can be 4-5 years in between.

What we are seeing is simply the sales of iPads tending towards the new normal. I don't think there is anything to be alarmed about.

There is no guarantee that those people will ever upgrade, particularly when they get round to looking for a new device and realise that Apple has priced some of their newer iPads at the same level as some of the Macbooks.

If its tending toward the new normal then it isn't a very big market. Certainly not one Apple are going to see any growth out of.

 

[dampfnudel]

No Home Button and probably no headphone jack, and the already removed the lock/unlock Switch. What will they remove next?

Maybe the lightning port once they figure out the type of wireless charging they want to implement. I thought they would change it to USB-C either next year or in 2018, but now I'm not so sure there will even be one.

 

[doelcm82]

There is no guarantee that those people will ever upgrade, particularly when they get round to looking for a new device and realise that Apple has priced some of their newer iPads at the same level as some of the Macbooks.

If its tending toward the new normal then it isn't a very big market. Certainly not one Apple are going to see any growth out of.

There is no guarantee of anything. Some of those people will lose their arms in freak accidents with farm equipment.

After four decades of never owning an iPad, I gave the first one a try. Now I can't imagine living without one. For light web browsing and email, light gaming, ebooks, viewing videos and photos, and many other tasks, I prefer using a slate-style computer even if my laptop is handy. And with the interconnectedness of the Apple ecosystem, I expect I will continue to use iPads versus any of the competitors.

In my household, we just added three of them in the past week. Two were ones we already owned, but we just replaced shattered screens, and one is a new iPad Mini. We're a bit saturated right now (five working iPads), so I'm not in the market for one for a while, but we'll likely buy more in the future.

I'm interested in the improvements to the line, because even if I don't need the next release, maybe I'll need one from the release after that, or the one after that.
[doublepost=1480401680][/doublepost]

No Home Button and probably no headphone jack, and the already removed the lock/unlock Switch. What will they remove next?

Maybe the lightning port once they figure out the type of wireless charging they want to implement. I thought they would change it to USB-C either next year or in 2018, but now I'm not so sure there will even be one.

I think this is plausible. Bezels are not necessary (they were unfortunately necessary in the beginning, but so was a hand crank to start your car at one time). Physical buttons are not necessary. Ports are not necessary. All that's necessary in a slate computer is

• a screen (without a screen you're not talking about a slate computer)
• processing
• input
• power to run it all

 

[Analog Kid]

There is no guarantee that those people will ever upgrade, particularly when they get round to looking for a new device and realise that Apple has priced some of their newer iPads at the same level as some of the Macbooks.

If its tending toward the new normal then it isn't a very big market. Certainly not one Apple are going to see any growth out of.

There is no guarantee of anything. Some of those people will lose their arms in freak accidents with farm equipment.

After four decades of never owning an iPad, I gave the first one a try. Now I can't imagine living without one. For light web browsing and email, light gaming, ebooks, viewing videos and photos, and many other tasks, I prefer using a slate-style computer even if my laptop is handy. And with the interconnectedness of the Apple ecosystem, I expect I will continue to use iPads versus any of the competitors.

In my household, we just added three of them in the past week. Two were ones we already owned, but we just replaced shattered screens, and one is a new iPad Mini. We're a bit saturated right now (five working iPads), so I'm not in the market for one for a while, but we'll likely buy more in the future.

I'm interested in the improvements to the line, because even if I don't need the next release, maybe I'll need one from the release after that, or the one after that.
[doublepost=1480401680][/doublepost]


I think this is plausible. Bezels are not necessary (they were unfortunately necessary in the beginning, but so was a hand crank to start your car at one time). Physical buttons are not necessary. Ports are not necessary. All that's necessary in a slate computer is

• a screen (without a screen you're not talking about a slate computer)
• processing
• input
• power to run it all

I think the iPad market just matured very quickly-- in part because it got a head start piggy backing on the iPhone technology. I'm with @dolecm82 here-- I can't imagine living without one, but I also don't see a need to upgrade very often. For what I use it for, the current hardware is pretty much good enough. So my expectation is that the market isn't going away, but probably won't be growing much either. It's hit the saturation point that we see in the Mac market and will probably see in the iPhone market if most of the 2017 iPhone rumors turn out to be true...

As for bezels, I'm not sure I'm ready to say they're not necessary. What's not in your list is "a grip". I hand hold my iPad almost exclusively, and with no bezel there's no place to put my hands that won't interfere with content.

 

[doelcm82]

As for bezels, I'm not sure I'm ready to say they're not necessary. What's not in your list is "a grip". I hand hold my iPad almost exclusively, and with no bezel there's no place to put my hands that won't interfere with content.

"A grip" is a YMMV feature. A computer monitor needs a bezel because some people like to put post-it notes along the edge of their monitor. Without a bezel the monitor is useless for those people.

I'm sure there are people who absolutely need a bezel to hold a tablet computer. You may be one of them. That doesn't make the bezel an essential part of the tablet. Many people may hold their tablets a certain way because it has a bezel. But when the tablet is resting on its kickstand (another YMMV feature), the bezel doesn't perform any function except a place to stick post-it notes.

 

[Mainsail]

Almost everyone that I know uses some kind of case with their iPad. It is going to be a challenge to create a case that holds the iPad securely without a bezel for grip. It will certainly limit the design and utility of folio cases.

I know some folks don't use cases, but for others, the case really enhances the iPad's usefulness. My wife uses a folio case that allows her to prop the iPad on her lap or table. She reads tons of books this way. If she had to hold a tablet for extended periods, she would not own an iPad.

 

[Michael Goff]

Some of us actually like that the iPad runs a mobile operating system and have been able to get meaningful work done precisely because it runs iOS, not despite it.

You could have a more specialized version of iOS and it still be iOS. After all, tvOS looks nothing like iOS, acts little like it, but is still basically iOS underneath.
[doublepost=1480409339][/doublepost]

"A grip" is a YMMV feature. A computer monitor needs a bezel because some people like to put post-it notes along the edge of their monitor. Without a bezel the monitor is useless for those people.

I'm sure there are people who absolutely need a bezel to hold a tablet computer. You may be one of them. That doesn't make the bezel an essential part of the tablet. Many people may hold their tablets a certain way because it has a bezel. But when the tablet is resting on its kickstand (another YMMV feature), the bezel doesn't perform any function except a place to stick post-it notes.

Are you honestly saying that holding a tablet, a mobile device, is a YMMV feature?

 

[ilian92]

Because the home button fails on 9/10 Apple devices. It's so much better to accidentally 'tap' the screen wrong.

Did you make that up? Ive never had a home button fail and ive had more than a dozen apple products so far.

Of course you have a source for that claim, right? Post it up.

It's funny how no one gets the sarcasm.

What the last guy said...

 

[Shearwater]

Evidently the 10.9" has to be thicker to accommodate the full range of emojis that the " Innovation Team" have been working on!!

 

[doelcm82]

Are you honestly saying that holding a tablet, a mobile device, is a YMMV feature?

I'm honestly saying holding it by the bezel is a YMMV feature.

 

[otternonsense]

That's an iPad I would buy. If it also came with macOS or at least a "Pro" version of iOS, I'd preorder right after the announcement.

 

[kristoffer4]

I wonder if Touch ID will work with this technology or if Touch ID will be relocated to somewhere else on the ipad.

 

[oldmacs]

Literally all I want is a 9.7 Inch pro with whatever the latest GPU/RAM/CPU specs are for beginning of next year.

 

[satchmo]

The challenge has always been what is an iPad other than a larger iPod touch?
The Apple Pencil and iPad Pro added an extra dimension which certainly helped differentiate it from a Macbook.

Moving forward, my guess is the iPad will play a big role in Apple's augmented reality push.

I can imagine some type of integration with HomeKit. Hold up your iPad to an appliance and it's programmable settings show up on your screen.

 

[DCIFRTHS]

makes sense... they are testing stuff that will be on the next iPhone, before releasing the next phone.

.

Agreed. This was my first thought when reading the original article.
[doublepost=1480427687][/doublepost]

websites will continue to be made worse and worse. Your statement used to hold true for an iPad 2. But now it struggles with the web. Eventually the Air 2 will barely handle loading Mac Rumors, just like thanks to recent ad garbage, my Air 1 has a hard time with this site.

I have an iPad 2, and it is almost useless. The OS software advances have crippled the CPU / GPU computing power. I hate using it.

 

[thewebb]

Man, if you seriously care about the 0.2mm thinness changes that Apple has been making lately (which SACRIFICE performance and battery life!) then you're the problem! Consumers like you are the reason Apple has been making products that aren't up to par!

I never said what I prefer, just that you can't speak for everyone. I like a good compromise between thinness and battery life and I think the iPad Pro is at a sweet spot.

 

[cmaier]

You could have a more specialized version of iOS and it still be iOS. After all, tvOS looks nothing like iOS, acts little like it, but is still basically iOS underneath.
[doublepost=1480409339][/doublepost]

Are you honestly saying that holding a tablet, a mobile device, is a YMMV feature?

I assume he's saying needing a bezel to hold it is. I don't ever touch the front of the iPad while holding it, for example. It rests on my left pinky, with my index, middle, and ring fingers behind he iPad, and my thumb in front to type, or on the left edge when reading.

Or, when more stability is needed, pinky on bottom, thumb on left edge, and other fingers on right edge.

 

[melendezest]

These comparisons are as old as Windows 3.1. Older, really. Once Windows copped the WSYWIG UI (in direct response to Apple), people would complain about Apple being, by comparison, 1) too expensive, and 2) ridiculous because of the closed system that didn't allow other manufacturers to (legally) install MacOS on their hardware, and 3) restrictive, because you couldn't just swap out random parts into your Mac. People were apoplectic a decade ago when Steve Jobs introduced an iPhone with no physical keyboard, no stylus, no user-serviceable battery, and no data expansion slots. Seriously. This didn't start in 2012.

I agree, this didn't start in 2012.

What did start in 2012 was Apple's regression.

I remember coming to the Mac in 2001, and from that time until 2012 I saw Apple make great strides in making their machines more user-friendly and field-repairable, and thus widening their appeal and their installed base. But around the time the Macbook Air came out, they began going niche again and sealing the machines back up.

So again, this is an observation, not a complaint. Yes, I would prefer Apple to continue to offer machines in the "Pro" category that fit a wider definition than creative Pros.

But I'm not going to cry if they don't, I'll just shop somewhere else, because Apple stopped catering to my tastes.

And by that I mean stopped producing machines I want.

 

[RichTeer]

Why does everyone care so much about the tiny bump? Especially the way they smoothed it over on the iPhone 7. Certainly I'd like a bit more battery life, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'd need to make the iPhone as thick as the camera module to achieve it.

Speaking for myself, I find the camera bump an unaesthetic blight. Given how Jony strives for simplicity and perfection, I think the camera bump is strangely at odds with those criteria. Just make the body thick enough so the camera lens will flush with the phone's back, and use the additional space for a larger battery.

Form should follow function, not vice versa.

 

[melendezest]

I think phrasings like this get to the heart of the lunacy. Using the term like this doesn't even make sense.

What lunacy? The only lunacy here is people "whining" (I'll use the popular term here) about people who are trying to point out any "disagreement" they may have with Apple's design, marketing, and product choices and want to analyze the situation. I mean, I get it, you love Apple. But we're trying to discuss why (some) people find their so-called "Pro" products fall short of that designation.

That is really what is at the heart of the issue: Apple calling their obviously consumer-oriented devices "Pro".

 

[Rob_2811]

There is no guarantee of anything. Some of those people will lose their arms in freak accidents with farm equipment.

After four decades of never owning an iPad, I gave the first one a try. Now I can't imagine living without one. For light web browsing and email, light gaming, ebooks, viewing videos and photos, and many other tasks, I prefer using a slate-style computer even if my laptop is handy. And with the interconnectedness of the Apple ecosystem, I expect I will continue to use iPads versus any of the competitors.

In my household, we just added three of them in the past week. Two were ones we already owned, but we just replaced shattered screens, and one is a new iPad Mini. We're a bit saturated right now (five working iPads), so I'm not in the market for one for a while, but we'll likely buy more in the future.

I'm interested in the improvements to the line, because even if I don't need the next release, maybe I'll need one from the release after that, or the one after that.
[doublepost=1480401680][/doublepost]


I think this is plausible. Bezels are not necessary (they were unfortunately necessary in the beginning, but so was a hand crank to start your car at one time). Physical buttons are not necessary. Ports are not necessary. All that's necessary in a slate computer is

• a screen (without a screen you're not talking about a slate computer)
• processing
• input
• power to run it all

I think the iPad market just matured very quickly-- in part because it got a head start piggy backing on the iPhone technology. I'm with @dolecm82 here-- I can't imagine living without one, but I also don't see a need to upgrade very often. For what I use it for, the current hardware is pretty much good enough. So my expectation is that the market isn't going away, but probably won't be growing much either. It's hit the saturation point that we see in the Mac market and will probably see in the iPhone market if most of the 2017 iPhone rumors turn out to be true...

As for bezels, I'm not sure I'm ready to say they're not necessary. What's not in your list is "a grip". I hand hold my iPad almost exclusively, and with no bezel there's no place to put my hands that won't interfere with content.

Yes you're right no guarantees anywhere, although you have to think if you keep doing the same things you're likely to get the same results.

There really isn't anyway of saying this that doesn't sound rude but the response every time somebody suggests that the iPad market is nosediving (which it is) is to come up with some anecdotal example of how they/their wife/their kids/ their dog love the iPad. It makes no difference whatsoever, grains of sand on the beach. I'm sure there were people who loved the Newton but the market is headed the way its heading regardless.

The numbers don't lie.

 

[Yebubbleman]

I personally like the size of my iPad Mini. It is small enough to carry around easily and provides enough workspace for basic word processing (I own a detachable keyboard for it), e-reading, and other software I use. I would be highly disappointed (and buy an Android tablet) if Apple were to kill this form factor.

Don't get me wrong. I love the ever-loving hell out of the iPad mini form factor and I will be quite sad to see it go. But, it just doesn't seem to fit with their trajectory and they seem to be showing it a steadily declining amount of love at a steadily decelerated rate.

I love it, I just don't see it sticking around.

 

[Val-kyrie]

Don't get me wrong. I love the ever-loving hell out of the iPad mini form factor and I will be quite sad to see it go. But, it just doesn't seem to fit with their trajectory and they seem to be showing it a steadily declining amount of love at a steadily decelerated rate.

I love it, I just don't see it sticking around.

You are probably right. It seems I am increasingly outside of Apple's trajectory

 

[melendezest]

You are probably right. It seems I am increasingly outside of Apple's trajectory

Me too. I started feeling that way back in 2012, but now I am WAY outside of it. I just don't see me buying anything they currently make.

It's a bit frustrating really, because their products really are top-notch.

As far as the iPad is concerned, I would love an iPad 12" as a daily driver. But I need to be able to expand a device (SD would work), and have filesystem access and mouse support if I'm going to pay laptop or 2-in-1 money.