Apple Reportedly Targeting Late Q3 2014 for 12.9-Inch 'iPad Pro' Launch

[melendezest]

Is there anyone who is really looking at the full size iPad and saying "Man, if this thing was only 30% bigger and more uncomfortable to use for extended periods..."

I'm guessing not. Anyone thought that a HiDPI 12" panel might be headed for MacBook Air?

Bigger? YES. Uncomfortable? No. But I don't think an iPad that big is meant to be held for extended periods. It would better serve as a touch-based, laptop replacement. Larger visible area when typing, better apps for music control (mixers, sound enhancement, etc), and perhaps even an artist tool.

I would definitely consider one.

 

[2bikes]

Please no... This will simply be a dumb move. Just like having 4"+ phone is.

Just like when you were dissing the Verizon iPhone?

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I don't understand how a bigger screen along bridges any gap between a tablet and laptop. Ultimately the difference between those two devices is the OS. A 12" iPad is still and iPad, albeit heavier and more awkward to hold (Google people's impressions of handling Samsung's new big tablet).

Maybe if it was some sort of hybrid OS, but I'm thinking that just isn't Apple's style. I guess we'll have to see if this mythical beast become reality and in what form. But right now a 12" iPad seems great for graphic artists, architects, and engineers, but not sure who else.

 

[Krazy Bill]

Enough of this nonsense. A big-assed iPad with iOS for enterprise users. It's like putting a Honda Civic engine in a Lamborghini. If Apple thinks size is the only reason they haven't gone beyond the kiddie market then somebody there needs to hit the road.

 

[Bare]

Please no... This will simply be a dumb move. Just like having 4"+ phone is.

Pretty sure there is a market for 4+" phones, considering that's pretty much all new Android phones in the last three years. Similarly, there is a market for tablets larger than 9.7".

 

[M-O]

Jony,
A little correction for that last email. I meant "iPhone". Make a larger "iPhone". I hope you haven't started yet.

Tim

 

[WrQth]

Earlier reports suggested the 12.9-inch iPad Pro could be a hybrid device that would appeal to enterprise customers looking for a machine that bridges the gap between tablet and notebook.

How does a larger screen make it more appealing to an enterprise unless they do something about the OS that allows it to function more like a standard PC OS like OSX. If only Microsoft would finally release Office for iPad but they won't do that because it would take away sales of the Surface.

 

[Cyloncat]

If integration is the goal, then the target is more likely something like a Surface Pro, not some random assemblage of parts from Samsung.

Integration meaning touch, OS X apps as well as iOS apps, keyboard (probably detachable), ports, and a decent stylus.

 

[MachineShedFred]

This is the only way this product would work for enterprise, and I say this while working as an engineer for the end-user computing engineering team inside of a Fortune-25 enterprise:

1. Start with the concept of the Lenovo ThinkPad Helix.
2. Ditch the guts of the hardware and replace it with MacBook Air parts.
3. Ditch anything related to Windows 8 and replace it with Mavericks.
4. Put in a software service that shows you iOS 7 when you undock from the keyboard and trackpad.
5. Make the device as manageable as Mac OS X (e.g. loading arbitrary LaunchDaemons that are not restricted to what's available through MDM), but retain the MDM profile functionality that already exists in Mac OS X. This one step checks practically all the boxes enterprise is actually looking for.
6. Give iOS apps the ability to pair a mouse, so you can do enterprise-y things like Citrix and RDP, which are a massive PITA on current iOS offerings.
7. Price it like a MacBook Air.

Done. You have a ready-made device that Enterprise would LOVE. Extra points if you implement enterprise hardware features like Intel's vPro management.

 

[robjulo]

There is nothing "pro" or "enterprise" about iOS. Software dumbed down so that grandmothers don't get confused isn't going to cut it for "pro" users.

Can I save an attachment to a folder instead of a sandbox or Reply All and add an attachment to an email yet?

 

[techwhiz]

Sorry but I will believe it when I see it. Hasn't the iWatch been targeted for Q3 launch for the last 2-3 years?

Exactly.
These people post crap about stuff they might want.

They have no idea about marketing or manufacturing.
Stupid product.

 

[mediotanque]

I remember reading Tim Cook teasing a number of "new product categories" for 2014. With CES just over, Apple is probably going to take its time. I for one think the keynotes will be very close to one another, following the usual timeframe

–iPhone 6, new iPods (?): September 2014
–iPad Mini 3, iPad Air 2, iPad Pro: October 2014
–iWatch: November 2014, in order for it to hit the shelves by the shopping season

This is going to be a very, VERY big year for Apple

And new macs in June

 

[Renzatic]

But right now a 12" iPad seems great for graphic artists, architects, and engineers, but not sure who else.

That's all it needs to be good for. It's a product designed to appeal to a specific market that wants a larger screened, more capable iPad to use for more work intensive projects. Want to digital paint, work on a document, jot down music on a sheet, look at schematics, do a bit of coding? Pick the Pro. For everyone else, they've got the Air and the Mini to choose from.

 

[IvanX]

OSX on iPad Pro, iOS8 on refreshed Air and Mini. You heard it here first folks!

 

[Windlasher]

Please no... This will simply be a dumb move. Just like having 4"+ phone is.

If they can pack enough power into it all people would need is a USB keyboard and mouse and people will buy it instead of laptops which might actually be cool.

 

[Redbeard25]

 

[gotluck]

Please no... This will simply be a dumb move. Just like having 4"+ phone is.

Hah! It's foolish for apple not to make a larger option for iPhone.

I wonder how the software will differ. Will it be osx style or iOS. I can't see iOS being robust enough. Maybe they will break down some of the gardens wall, I can dream.

 

[Windlasher]

There is nothing "pro" or "enterprise" about iOS. Software dumbed down so that grandmothers don't get confused isn't going to cut it for "pro" users.

Can I save an attachment to a folder instead of a sandbox or Reply All and add an attachment to an email yet?

Think Chromebook. It might work.

 

[notjustjay]

Just put Mac OSX on it or forget about it. It'll be useless running iOS when the air does just fine.

Same thing with a larger iPhone. What's the point if it isn't anything other than a bigger screen?

Well, the rest of the world has gone in that direction. Surface, Surface Pro, a variety of convertible tablets from Lenovo, HP, Dell, ... Windows clearly wants to be a desktop OS *and* a portable tablet OS.

Apple tends to wait on the sidelines while everyone else throws stuff at the wall to see what sticks. All the while, Apple publicly scoffs at whatever the industry is talking about ("netbooks? we wouldn't know how to build one that's not junk") and eventually releases something that is similar, but not quite, what everyone else was doing. Instead of a netbook, Apple released the MacBook Air, and basically stopped the race to the bottom -- now everyone is racing to build the thinnest, lightest, and most powerful ultrabooks.

So this new rumored tablet could be Apple's response to the likes of Surface Pro. Personally I think it could well run OS X. We're at a point now where desktop-class processors don't need bulk and eat battery life nearly so much anymore.

Plus I maintain that OS X has quietly been on a path toward touchscreen-readiness (witness Launchpad and all the recent talk about full-screen modes for popular apps like iPhoto).

 

[t76turbo]

Is there anyone who is really looking at the full size iPad and saying "Man, if this thing was only 30% bigger and more uncomfortable to use for extended periods..."

I'm guessing not. Anyone thought that a HiDPI 12" panel might be headed for MacBook Air?

Yep..... Me.

Those of us with enough money to have one of each are definitely looking forward to the ipad pro. Sorry you are not.

I have always believed in having the right tool for a given job. If they were eliminating the current ipad sizes I would agree with you. But that has never even been rumored. So chill.

 

[TallManNY]

Yeah, huge.. All the same products with small spec bumps. And the same trick they have been doing for years, stretch the screen a bit more and call it revolutionary.

Oh and that watch I don't really care about.

Come on, you don't even know what the watch will do. I'm with you that I can't think of anything that I need an iWatch to do. But I also didn't think of the iPhone. This watch thing might turn out to be really neat.

 

[organerito]

Please no... This will simply be a dumb move. Just like having 4"+ phone is.

Apple, please don't listen to him. He doesn't know what a professional musician wants.
This iPad would be a great music sheet reader!
That would be the first device I would buy on release day!

 

[CausticPuppy]

I predict it'll have a super-duper-powerful A7X or A8 processor (approaching current dual-core Macbook Pro performance) along with that newfangled "keyboard cover" with built-in displays that Apple patented before Microsoft introduced their version.

 

[mactactic]

No File System = Fail

I'm so tired of my handicapped iPad is it really that hard to add a usable file system.

 

[TXCherokee]

Think outside your own world folks.

I think, no wait know, that there is a demand for this. There are several industries that use the iPad now for it's portability but want more screen real estate, specifically to be able to split the screen (which will also take a small addition in iOS 8).

Just a few:

1 - Doctors and nurses
2 - Building Inspectors
3 - Architects
4 - DJs

I'm sure there are many more, but these are the ones I have personal knowledge of.

Just because you are not in the market, doesn't mean there isn't one. And in this case it's a VERY LARGE market.