Apple to Launch Trio of iPad Pros in Spring 2017, Including 7.9-Inch Mini Model

[iMerik]

The Pro line should come with the Apple Pencil. I know it's for PROfessionals, but I think if you're going to give children an iPad that it should include the pencil to encourage them to draw and be creative. So that makes me think the iPad Mini Pro is perfect, but if they up the price $100 and charge you $99 for the Pencil, it becomes a hard pill to swallow.

 

[nia820]

Let's hope they don't remove the headphone jack.

 

[loekf]

Yes, it looks like MacRumors crack staff apparently didn't bother to read the article.

Exactly, reading is difficult.

So again, according to this Japanese website, 2017 lineup:

7.9"
10.1" (no more 9.7")
12.9"

All "pro" models. For my part they just go back to "iPad". Anyways, hope there's still 6-7 months of life in my Air 2. Last night, it acted funny, so had to do a full restore.

It seems weird to me that you drop the headphone jack on iPhones, but keep on using it on iPads.

 

[Dydegu]

Nice to see an iPad 'mini pro' but I can't help but worry about apple's increasingly fragmented product line. Not that I want to be a proponent of the 'Jobs would be turning in his grave' attitude, but his vision of a more streamlined, simplified range of products is starting to become lost

Dude, what?

• Now = iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad Mini
• Future = iPad Pro

They're literally simplifying the lineup to a single product, but just offering it in three sizes. It's streamlined AND good for the consumer because you have more to choose from, but get a similar experience with all three.

 

[DoctaSfink]

Hmm, I'm pretty sure iOS is a real operating system. Unless we're all imagining it when we use iPhones and iPads?

Nope. It's imaginary.

 

[Glassed Silver]

Wow, are they making these decisions so it becomes harder to parody and mock them?

It's hard to exaggerate their decisions in comedy when the jokes are all real!

Dude, what?

• Now = iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad Mini
• Future = iPad Pro

They're literally simplifying the lineup to a single product, but just offering it in three sizes. It's streamlined AND good for the consumer because you have more to choose from, but get a similar experience with all three.

Just drop the Pro monicker and it becomes even simpler... Oh wait, no you don't want to do that, the 100 bucks markup has to come from somewhere...

Glassed Silver:mac

 

[isanka]

That would be a great new, as i'm looking to change mine.

 

[manu chao]

Frustrating, I agree, but not necessarily unjustified. After all, a larger iPhone would have more room for better specs (and vice versa). So the iPhone SE might not have force touch because there simply isn't room for it.

The iPhone SE doesn't have force touch because the whole front assembly (or if you want the whole outer shell which includes the front assembly) is being reused from the iPhone 5s: same display, same touch digitiser, same front facing camera, same TouchID sensor. And the reason they reused it was to keep costs down (development & manufacturing).

No excuse for the iPads though. The 9.7" iPad Pro shouldn't have come with just 2 gb of ram for its price.

And given that the 12.9" iPad has a display that has 75% more pixels than the 9.7" iPad, it should have probably roughly 50% more RAM. Thus if the 9.7" iPad 'needs' 3 GB, the 12.9" iPad 'needs' at least 4 GB. And if the 12.9" iPad has 4 GB of RAM than the 9.7" iPad should also have 4 GB, otherwise it would be crippled. And if the 9.7" iPad has 4 GB of RAM the 12.9" iPad 'needs' 6 GB of RAM ...

 

[Jsameds]

Do people really think three sizes, three capacities and a 4G option on each is really that complicated a lineup? Really?

 

[ahostmadsen]

Is there some error with the article? It states 3 models, yet alternates between the 10:1" and 12.9" models.

Which is which now? It makes sense to standardise between 7.9, 9.7 and 12.9" models. Else, 10.1" is too close to 9.7" to make much of a difference where tablets are concerned.

Yes, the article doesn't really make sense. It says new 10.1" model, but then discusses the 12.9" model.

 

[Nozuka]

It seems weird to me that you drop the headphone jack on iPhones, but keep on using it on iPads.

Not really. The IPads are much bigger, so there is plenty of room for it. They also don't really need a bigger battery.

 

[Donka]

Please put 4GB RAM in all Pro devices going forward. Only thing that will convince me to upgrade at this time, save for a better camera and pencil support on the mini.

 

[pika2000]

iPad mini with pencil support! Yes. I can then upgrade my mini 2.

 

[TechZeke]

This has become an huge farce. The iPads sales right now are equal to the 2011 ones when only the iPad 2 was sold. Just drop the "Pro" moniker, keep 3 models, one for each form factor, and charge down-to-earth prices. Also USB-C with host functionality.

Apple adding the Pro moniker was simply to:
-Increase the price.
-Market the iPad as a productivity machine that could replace your laptop
-Differentiate features like the Apple Pencil (Which is by far the best stylus)
-Increase the price.

I have to disagree.

A streamlined product line made sense when Apple had limited resources and couldn't afford to engage on too many fronts. So it was better off focusing all its resources on making one great product than 2 mediocre ones.

Apple today is a lot richer, has a lot more resources at its disposal, and serves a way wider clientele. I don't think Apple can cater to so diverse a customer base with just 1 or 2 iPad variants.

3 variants of iPhones and iPads sound about right.

I like having 3 variants, but Apple's current naming scheme overall is a mess.

iPad mini
iPad Air 2
iPad Pro 9.7
iPad Pro 12.9

I don't see any point in the Pro moniker, especially since the iPad Pro 9.7 is essentially an iPad Air 3. It just needs to be:
iPad 7.9
iPad 9.7
iPad 12.9

All at cheaper prices, true tone display, and Apple Pencil support.

Apple has really turned all these monikers into a fustercluck. This goes for iPads, iPhones, and Macs.

 

[manu chao]

Just drop the Pro monicker and it becomes even simpler... Oh wait, no you don't want to do that, the 100 bucks markup has to come from somewhere...

How do you differentiate the current generation from the previous one? You can add a digit (or increase the digit) but at some point that becomes unwieldy. Thus you add another moniker that also allows you to highlight what you want to emphasise. Thus we had two generations of iPads with the 'Air' moniker. Now we have our first generation with the 'Pro' moniker.

 

[TurboPGT!]

1. Add 'Pro' to the name
2. Add $100 to the price
3. Add additional features that justify a measly hundred dollars to everyone in the actual market for the device.
4. Profit?

Fixed that for you, since you had such a hard time with it.

 

[TechZeke]

How do you differentiate the current generation from the previous one? You can add a digit (or increase the digit) but at some point that becomes unwieldy. Thus you add another moniker that also allows you to highlight what you want to emphasise. Thus we had two generations of iPads with the 'Air' moniker. Now we have our first generation with the 'Pro' moniker.

The monikers need to be dropped altogether. What's after the iPad Pro 2? iPad Pro Ultra Supreme 9.7" starting at $999?

 

[manu chao]

I like having 3 variants, but Apple's current naming scheme overall is a mess.

iPad mini
iPad Air 2
iPad Pro 9.7
iPad Pro 12.9

Except that this is not what you see when you go to Apple's website and its iPad section:

iPad mini 2
iPad mini 4
iPad Air 2
iPad Pro (9.7 & 12.9")

I don't see any point in the Pro moniker, especially since the iPad Pro 9.7 is essentially an iPad Air 3. It just needs to be:
iPad 7.9
iPad 9.7
iPad 12.9

Well, and how in that line-up do you differentiate between the current and the previous year model? Selling the previous model at a lower price has been Apple's MO for almost its complete iOS lineup for almost all the history and appears to have been a pretty good model (very few people complain about it and Apple is sticking to it, so it must be working out fine for them as well).

 

[Ds6778]

We all know Tim Cooks Apple only cares about profit. If they could name it iPad Pro Plus and charge an extra 150$ they would.

 

[rGiskard]

I believe the rumor on the 10.5" iPad to replace the 9.7". They bump it up to the 12.9 incher's 2732 x 2048 for 326ppi @ 10.5 inches. It's going to rock.

7.9 and 12.9 inchers remain the same display size.

All the newest models are called "pro" with "pro" pricing. Older models are just "ipad" and sold at the typical iPad price, they include 7.9" and 9.7" models, but no 12.9" mode.

Apple will wonder why "Pro" sales lag, "but it's a PRO model, what's wrong with people? Why won't they buy the PRO iPads?"

 

[jimbobb24]

I have an iPad mini I use at work, and if they discontinue it I will need to find something else with similar form factor. Ugh. Also, instead of Pro models why not just make all the iPads GREAT AGAIN!

 

[Marx55]

iPad? I rather get a full computer (Mac).

 

[manu chao]

The monikers need to be dropped altogether. What's after the iPad Pro 2? iPad Pro Ultra Supreme 9.7" starting at $999?

You cannot drop the monikers altogether if you want to sell two generations of the same iPad size in parallel. There needs to be an identifier that a customer can recognise. Also, the 'Air' moniker didn't increase the price, there is no quid pro quo that says a change of moniker has to be accompanied with a price increase.

 

[BornAgainMac]

Apple doesn't seem to be very serious about the iPad. It seemed like the tech has peaked.

 

[TechZeke]

Except that this is not what you see when you go to Apple's website and its iPad section:

iPad mini 2
iPad mini 4
iPad Air 2
iPad Pro (9.7 & 12.9")

Forgot about the mini 2. So its an even worse fustercluck than I thought.

Well, and how in that line-up do you differentiate between the current and the previous year model? Selling the previous model at a lower price has been Apple's MO for almost its complete iOS lineup for almost all the history and appears to have been a pretty good model (very few people complain about it and Apple is sticking to it, so it must be working out fine for them as well).

Like I said in a previous post, using generic monikers like "Pro" and "Air" to differentiate previous generations won't work for long. What's next generation after the Pro? iPad Pro Ultra Supreme?

Eventually Apple is going to have to stop using monikers. I'm not sure why Apple can't use the Mac or iPod approach, where each iPad can be differentiate by year, month, or generation.

You cannot drop the monikers altogether if you want to sell two generations of the same iPad size in parallel. There needs to be an identifier that a customer can recognise. Also, the 'Air' moniker didn't increase the price, there is no quid pro quo that says a change of moniker has to be accompanied with a price increase.

Again, what other generic moniker will Apple continue to use after "Pro" to differentiate the generation after the current? Numbers work at least, because you can be consistent.

Also, adding a moniker like "Pro" has almost always meant an increase in price.

EDIT: It'd be one thing if Apple were using the monikers like Macs, where the moniker simply denotes where the performance level/type in the line. However, The current naming scheme would be like calling the 2015 MacBook Pro "MacBook Air" and 2016 MacBook Pro "MacBook Pro"