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Apple Predicted to Launch Optional Stylus Accessory Alongside 12.9-Inch 'iPad Pro'

I like the pen that I got with my SP3, but to be honest, with the iPad, there's a lot of hate with the stylus.

Unlike the SP3, the iPad with existing styluses, seems to be a basic blunt object, no better then the finger, hopefully it will be better when they roll it out
 
I laughed so hard when I saw this in light of Jobs dismissing the stylus so badly, but it's ok I've been laughing this entire time with my Note series phones and Surface series tablet/laptops.

I don't want to judge Jobs too harshly though, a good CEO would not be afraid to admit his mistakes and move forward. I firmly believe Jobs would have allowed an iPhone phablet on his watch, and also a stylus, it only makes sense. I find it amusing how many on here either take the stance that Jobs dismissal was adamant and would last forever, he was a much smarter CEO than that.

I'm curious though to see if the 12" ipad will just be an oversized iPhone like the current iPads are, or if they will truly innovate (cough copy cough) and have multi window support, true multitasking, stylus support, etc etc.
 
NewtonPippin said:
Sigh... Steve is rolling over in his grave :(
Click to expand...

I have to agree. Only the other day I watched a bit of the original iPhone release and he heavily mocked the stylus.

Apple are hunting for sales and mass acceptance rather than going in their own direction. The larger screened iPhones are proof of that.
 
NewtonPippin said:
Sigh... Steve is rolling over in his grave :(
Click to expand...

The patent is from 2010.

What is it with you people?!

A Mac doesn't require or ship with a stylus, but a Wacom pen is much better for, say, animating.

An iPad with a stylus acceasory would allow more use cases like this. Drawing with your finger in snapchat is fine but I'd hate to try and do any serious art that way.

This does not turn the iPad or the iPhone into a PDA from 2006 which requires a stylus for such basic things as adding an appointment to your calendar.
 
Tiger8 said:
Funny, everyone was laughing at Microsoft when they included the Stylus with the Surface Pro, and now it seems Apple is following suit.

I know I know, 'Apple does it better',,, 'now is the time, it was too early two years ago', etc.. but you have to give them credit that they were on to something with the idea of 'productive tablet' rather than a media consumption device.
Click to expand...

Who is everyone?

This is a no brainer. Apple only has 20+ smart pen patents going back well before Microsoft Surface existed. If Apple launched a larger iPad without one I'd really question their judgement. A stylus and split screen multitasking (perhaps in iOS 9?) are a given for this product.
 
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The option to use a stylus is clearly in demand with the success of other products (Surface Pro 3, Galaxy Note 4, etc). Support as an optional feature is reasonable, and a 12.9" screen gives enough room to use it well. Just imagine a photoshop app that lets you draw on the iPad and have it register on your computer in the full Photoshop program.
 
So will it double up as a tablet and Stylus I can use with my Mac? All over it if it does...
 
spinedoc77 said:
I'm curious though to see if the 12" ipad will just be an oversized iPhone like the current iPads are, or if they will truly innovate (cough copy cough) and have multi window support, true multitasking, stylus support, etc etc.
Click to expand...

You mean copy Mac OS X? Surely you don't think Apple has to look outside of their own software to know what multi-window support is, do you? :rolleyes:

Freyqq said:
The option to use a stylus is clearly in demand with the success of other products (Surface Pro 3, Galaxy Note 4, etc). Support as an optional feature is reasonable, and a 12.9" screen gives enough room to use it well. Just imagine a photoshop app that lets you draw on the iPad and have it register on your computer in the full Photoshop program.
Click to expand...

If the iPad Pro is even more powerful than the Air 2, a lot of "desktop" type Photoshop tasks should be doable right on the tablet.

The comparison to the Surface isn't being fully stated. Part of the "power" of the Surface Pro is supposed to be running desktop x86 type apps - those things either require a mouse and keyboard or they require a stylus to be accurate enough pointing at things never intended for fingers.
 
Mildredop said:
I have to agree. Only the other day I watched a bit of the original iPhone release and he heavily mocked the stylus.

Apple are hunting for sales and mass acceptance rather than going in their own direction. The larger screened iPhones are proof of that.
Click to expand...

Yes, because many PDAs require a stylus to do anything. Check email or add a calendar appointment? Update a contact? That's what he was mocking when he introduced the iPhone.

Not someone using a Wacom like pen on a tablet. A Wacom pen is a great tool on the Mac, and releasing one for iPad that allows artists (as an example) to draw more accurately is not the same as releasing a crappy PDA.

Also, in response to your iPhone 6 comment: as Steve Jobs himself said 'if the market tells us we're making the wrong choices we listen to the market ... We're just people trying to run this company'.

The market said it wanted more screen space over one-handed use. Why isn't Apple allowed to respond? Because 4 years ago Steve Jobs thought a 3.5 inch screen was best, that means we're never allowed a bigger one?

Lastly, the iPhone 4 design was not thought up in 2010 and released: they had been working on it since before the first iPhone was launched. How do we know how old the iphone 6 designs are? That Apple wasn't working on them since, say, 2010, to see what the market did so they could respond accordingly?

The iPhone 6 might not even be anti-Jobs, and even if it is, so what? His decisions from 2011 or eairler aren't nedessarilly relevant in 2014/15. And like people said... He would say and idea is ***** one day then the next say it was brilliant.
 
spinedoc77 said:
I laughed so hard when I saw this in light of Jobs dismissing the stylus so badly, but it's ok I've been laughing this entire time with my Note series phones and Surface series tablet/laptops.
Click to expand...

Jobs dismissed the stylus as the primary navigation/input tool on the device. That's different than having it for special use cases like note talking or for artists/graphic designers.

Of course there's also the fact that Steve a jobs wasn't always right and the executige team under Apple does what it thinks is right not what they think Steve would have done. :)
 
Will they ever realize?

NewtonPippin said:
Sigh... Steve is rolling over in his grave :(
Click to expand...

Steve Jobs said whatever people needed to hear at the time and he always reserved the right to change his mind. As far as the stylus is concerned, considering the source of this article the whole things sounds like typical crack smoking analyst talk. Since we don't see overwhelming demand for such a product in terms of third-party products I think without a compelling use case that Apple has designed we can safely assume that this rumor will be like the physical keyboard rumor.
 
Maybe I'll hold off on buying a Cintiq until I see what happens with this. I've been thinking about upgrading from my Intuous 4 but there might be a way of using something like this if useful software is available.
 
Lennholm said:
So, "they blew it".
Click to expand...
We've yet to see if they "blew it" or if they "blow it out of the water".

The one thing I'd want to see is a better way to attach the stylus to the tablet when it's not in use. The SP3 has a magnet, but not a very strong one, and the stylus is too easy to dislodge. If Apple introduces an active stylus, then losing it will be a big deal.
 
The stylus Jobs was referring to was for a phone.


A stylus for an 'iPad Pro' type device quite clearly isn't the same thing.
 
What Steve Jobs said was true for most people and most situations, especially with a phone. But do certain people in certain fields doing certain tasks stand to gain from using a stylus with an iPad? Absolutely.

If Apple were to introduce their own, it'd make sense to do so with a larger iPad. Nothing about this screams crazy to me, and it doesn't seem at all contradictory to Jobs' original thoughts on the matter either.
 
Apple must be really feeling the pressure of the Surface Pro but they can't dare respond to it. If they were to introduce an iPad Pro that ran OS X they would create MANY happy customers. That would of course cause major cannibalization as there would be no reason to buy an iPad or a Mac Air and it would surely bite into sales of the Macbook Pro.

Unlike when Steve ran things and wanted to innovate first, Apple only wants to make money now and want to market yet another device that "almost" does everything. They would rather have their customers buy 3-4 of their products than just 2. It's an interesting financial business move that is going to hurt them in the long run.

Hopefully they catch themselves before it's to late. At the very least, we can thanks them for forcing MS to innovate again and offer a full featured product that people actually want and will fully use.
 
Enough of the tired "If you see a stylus, they blew it" argument.

I'm an artist (a.k.a. "I draw stuff"). I've been an iPad owner since day 1. Ever since I took on it as a hobby after a long hiatus, I naturally gravitated towards the idea of drawing on an iPad. At first, the Styli that came out were absolutely terrible, essentially felt fabric that had no pressure sensitivity or responsiveness.. It wasn't until Adonit came out with the Jot that improved the quality of stylus drawing back in 2011 with the Jot. Adonit and others like Pogo and even Wacom came out with Bluetooth Styli later on. As I own a Cintiq 13HD it's a vastly superior drawing experience, but I wouldn't call the Styli for iPads totally inferior. Apps like Procreate and its bluetooth stylus integration are getting closer to matching desktop performance. Still, palm rejection and accuracy remain major issues with iPad Styli and major issues remain with the new iPad Air 2.

If apple someday introduces a solution for stylus, I hope it comes out as a intelligent, thoughtful way that not only enhances the experience of artists, but others as well. Sure, companies like Samsung have styli already, but does it really make a difference? The Microsoft Surface Pro 3 uses a different pen technology from it's predecessor, using n-trig with instead of the superior wacom digitizer. I'd rather own a Cintiq Companion instead.

It's only a matter of time when Apple gets into this stylus game.
 
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