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iPad Pro How do you feel about the iPad "Pro 9.7" rumor?

Q

Quicklite

macrumors regular
Original poster
To me - I'll always think of 9.7 as the iPad - not Air, not the Pro; just the right iPad size.

Imo changing the Air 9.7 into Pro feels too marketing dept driven. Then again it fits into the MB Air and MB Pro dvide. What do you think?
 
If true, the naming is too confusing. I don't like it.

I've been thinking that instead of having Air, Pro and mini, they should just be called "iPad" and differentiated by their sizes, just as we have MacBook Pro 13 and 15 inch, MacBook Air 11 and 13 inch, iMac 21 (or was it 24?) and 27 inch.
 
I don't know, I can't really understand what Apple is trying to do here as far as branding. I think it's good to bring some of the cool features from the Pro to the Air and make screen size the key differentiator, but the "Pro" branding is confusing if they both share it. I think the Pro overall would have been much better received if it were the "iPad Plus" and they launched an Air 3 and Plus model together which both supported Pencil, had similar RAM, speakers, etc. if this were their plan all along.

The Pro really is just a bigger iPad, but Apple should have known a lot of the rumors had people expecting something a little different - like Surface maybe. I think my branding idea would have framed the Pro better.

In any case, I love my Pro and I'm not really interested in 9.7" anymore. I think it's great for people who are though, regardless of the stupid branding.
 
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My hope is that the Mini/Air get renamed to just "iPad". Then you'll have a choice between a more "consumer-level" 8"/10" iPad with a generation old processor, or a 10"/13" iPad Pro with the latest AX processor and support for the Pencil and smart connector.

Once the MacBook Air dies, it'd create a pretty nice product matrix for tablets and laptops that hearkens back a bit to the old slide Jobs showed with Pro/Consumer on one axis, and Desktop/Laptop on the other, only the laptop is now the desktop and the tablet is the laptop.
 
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Hey guys, so is the Ipad pro 9.7 coming out on March 21? I just placed an order on Amazon for the ipad pro 12.9" and now i'm going out of my mind. Should I wait or buy the 12.9" ipad pro?
 
squirrelonfire said:
Hey guys, so is the Ipad pro 9.7 coming out on March 21? I just placed an order on Amazon for the ipad pro 12.9" and now i'm going out of my mind. Should I wait or buy the 12.9" ipad pro?
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Not really my place to answer - but what do you hope to achieve by owning the 12.9 device? Better things are always around the corner - if you need the Pro now - get it. If you could wait, do you lose anything by waiting? 🙂
 
VforVelveta said:
My hope is that the Mini/Air get renamed to just "iPad". Then you'll have a choice between a more "consumer-level" 8"/10" iPad with a generation old processor, or a 10"/13" iPad Pro with the latest AX processor and support for the Pencil and smart connector.
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This is actually not a bad way to go, IMO. If the Air 3 really is "bring the features from the Pro to the 9.7" model", then it is a bit weird to call it the "Air" and "Pro" when the only difference is screen size. So I can understand why Apple would look at sharing the same name between the two.

VforVelveta said:
Once the MacBook Air dies, it'd create a pretty nice product matrix for tablets and laptops that hearkens back a bit to the old slide Jobs showed with Pro/Consumer on one axis, and Desktop/Laptop on the other, only the laptop is now the desktop and the tablet is the laptop.
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+1 on this as well. It's not even a question of if the Air gets stopped, but when. It was ~2.5 years between the time the Air was first launched, and the MacBook getting its last refresh/spec bump. And another 20 months before it was discontinued. I suspect this new MacBook will take a similar amount of time.
 
Personally, I think the iPad Pro 9.7 rumor is just that a rumor. My gut tells me they go back to "The New iPad" name.

What bothers me is the camera. Able to shoot 4K video yet doesn't have a 4K screen??? Just like the iPhone 6s seems a little silly.
 
Name aside, I would have bought the !2.9" Pro over the 9.7" Pro were they both available at the same time. The size is partly what attracted me to the iPP as a laptop-replacement (speed, RAM, battery life and Pencil being the others).

The split screen feature on the 12.9" iPad Pro gives me essentially two near-real-size 9.7" iPads side-by-side. That alone is a killer feature for me.
 
xraydoc said:
Name aside, I would have bought the !2.9" Pro over the 9.7" Pro were they both available at the same time. The size is partly what attracted me to the iPP as a laptop-replacement (speed, RAM, battery life and Pencil being the others).

The split screen feature on the 12.9" iPad Pro gives me essentially two near-real-size 9.7" iPads side-by-side. That alone is a killer feature for me.
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I would have done the same. I have the air 2 through work and was easily able to decide that it wouldn't cut it with the pencil. The larger screen is brilliant and the more I use this iPad the more I love it [use drawing apps]
 
Don't care about the names as long as the price tiers remain the same as for the Air 2. I'm in the market for a new 9,7" model, as my iPad 3 is nearly unusable as anything more than a document reader.
 
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I think having 2 iPad Pros of varying screen sizes just makes it too confusing, naming wise.

My guess is that we will probably see the following line-up
iPad mini - 2gb ram, A8 processor
iPad - 3gb ram, A9 processor
iPad Pro - 4gb ram, A9X processor

I think the issue is that there is nothing "Pro" about the iPad beyond specs. As it stands, there aren't any apps which come anywhere close to taxing the specs of the iPad Pro, because people are still developing for the iPad Air and even iPad 2. Maybe give us Final Cut Pro or Xcode for the iPad, or a way to natively produce podcasts, then we will talk.
 
I like the idea of there being a 9.7 inch iPad to match the iPad pro in specs, but I know it will cost a lot more, which is a shame - Apple used to be able to put the latest specs into the iPad Air, without there having to be a more expensive model.
 
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I don't care about the name at all - I think it's great too if some of the "Pro" features move down to the Air. I wouldn't have gotten it over the iPP given the screen size had they both been available however, the 12.9 is just awesome for me.
 
I was thinking about writing a reply to this topic using my MacBook Pro and my Magic Mouse Pro, but then a friend called me on my iPhone Pro asking me about my new iPad Pro. I said it's great, especially with the Apple Keyboard Pro and the Pencil Pro.

Wait, did he say "cool story, pro" to me?
 
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pgolik said:
Don't care about the names as long as the price tiers remain the same as for the Air 2. I'm in the market for a new 9,7" model, as my iPad 3 is nearly unusable as anything more than a document reader.
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Unlikely to get the pencil support and still have the same price as before.

If you don't care about the pencil, then consider the Air2.
 
Abazigal said:
I think the issue is that there is nothing "Pro" about the iPad beyond specs.
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What exactly is it that makes a MacBook Pro a "pro" device beyond that of a MacBook Air or MacBook? Isn't it just the specs? In the past the only major difference has been that the MacBook Pro had more powerful graphics and a more powerful processor. Isn't that also true for the iPad Pro compared to the other iPads?

iPad-Pro-Gfxbench-OpenGL.jpg
 
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Quicklite said:
To me - I'll always think of 9.7 as the iPad - not Air, not the Pro; just the right iPad size.

Imo changing the Air 9.7 into Pro feels too marketing dept driven. Then again it fits into the MB Air and MB Pro dvide. What do you think?
Click to expand...

It will only make sense if they maintain two iPads at the 9.7" size. The Pro for those of us that want the keyboard and the Apple Pencil, and the Air for those of us that are fine using lesser knock-off accessories for those tasks and/or don't care about those accessories at all. Otherwise, it really kills the neatness of mini (7.9"), Air (9.7"), Pro (12.9"), while also implying that the primary thing that makes the iPad Pro a "Pro" is compatibility with those accessories rather than the larger canvas size, which would also further contribute to a marketing mess.

The only solution I see would be to either keep calling it an iPad Air, in which case, call it the iPad Air 3 or *shudders* "The New iPad Air" or to release both a 9.7" iPad Pro and the iPad Air 3 with the differentiating factors being the compatibility with the pencil and the keyboard. Of course, they could rebrand the "iPad mini 4" as the 7.9" iPad Air, but frankly, given the differences in processors between the iPad mini and the iPad Air as well as the iPad mini's decline in attention from Apple, news articles that speak of the decline of the mini tablets at large, as well as previous rumors that suggested that the iPad mini 4 would be the final generation, I have a feeling that this won't happen.

In short, naming the next 9.7" iPad "iPad Pro" is a marketing clusterf*ck.
 
Eric5273 said:
What exactly is it that makes a MacBook Pro a "pro" device beyond that of a MacBook Air or MacBook? Isn't it just the specs? In the past the only major difference has been that the MacBook Pro had more powerful graphics and a more powerful processor.
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For those that cared, the screen quality is another reason to step up to the Pro. IPS panel vs TN. Better color reproduction and glass rather than plastic front covering over the panel as well.

But yes, it usually boils down to specs, but certain specs can lead to certain designs that are aimed at different markets.
 
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I don't really care what the name is as long as Apple does something new with it.
If it does have the 4 speaker design as has been suggested, I suppose it's possible it could be part of the Pro line up, but I don't see the point unless it can match the current iPad Pro. As things are looking this might be the case.
 
bufffilm said:
Unlikely to get the pencil support and still have the same price as before.

If you don't care about the pencil, then consider the Air2.
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I don't care much about the pencil, but I do care about performance - I'd like to enjoy my next iPad for a few years. Air 2 is a very capable device now, but in a year or two? The iPhone 6s is already faster than the Air 2, and it has some features I'd like to see in an iPad - like the improved TouchID, and the insanely fast memory controller. Right now I'd consider the Air 2 only at a significantly reduced price, and it rarely happens with European Apple retailers.
 
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