iOS 12.1 Simulator Supports Virtualized 4K External Displays, Hinting at USB-C Port for iPad Pro

[Sakurambo-kun]

Whatever they do, I just wish they'd hurry up. They've been dragging their heels on iPad releases for years now. It feels like it's heading into Mac territory in the forgotten corner for dead Apple products. All they seem to care about now is the telephone and that damn watch thing.

 

[Abazigal]

A tablet is never going to replace a laptop. Try programming on a touch screen.

iPad Pros are basically toys designed for watching Youtube and web surfing on the couch.

Interestingly enough, people have done just that. Program from their iPad.

https://medium.freecodecamp.org/giving-the-ipad-a-full-time-job-3ae2440e1810

The way I see it, the intent here was never to come up with replacements for existing products, but to use personal technology to come up with alternatives to more powerful computers.

Key word here is "alternative", not "replacement". For example, I use the iPad to complement my classroom teaching not because it was strictly better than my school-issued laptop in every sense of the word, but because it was better at the things I needed it to be better in (and the areas my iPad Pro was lacklustre in turned out not to matter in the grand scheme of things).

In other words, I love my iPad Pro precisely because it didn't try to hard to be a better laptop, which in turn freed it up to shine in its own unique areas. Areas that a conventional laptop suck in. Your argument hinges on the assumption that the laptop was already the best tool for the job for everyone. In reality, it wasn't.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

What's the big deal about adding mouse support? If you can't sleep at night knowing that the iPad can use a mouse, then DON'T USE ONE! For others (like every other feature) it's there for you to use or not.

Every feature the ecosystem has to support can be a much bigger burden than you'd imagine. Apple has always* been about "less is more," and other companies caught on long ago.

Apparently not so true these days. There is so much stupid, ridiculous stuff built into iOS now (that most don't use) and I can't imagine simple mouse support would cause any concern, In modern operating systems, mouse support uses practically ZERO resources.

 

[cgsnipinva]

Even though iPad is still not a replacement of laptop, I don’t have the need to buy a new laptop anymore. The combination iMac and iPad Pro is the best combination to me.

That is my set up --- I use my iMac for heavy duty stuff that I want and need to sit in my home office to do. If I have to be mobile- its my iPad pro - knowing that I can continue work flows on my home machine. its not a full replacement - but Apple is making a mobile OS do more and more on a tablet. Backed by cloud storage -- it can replace 80% of what I need out of a Mac.

 

[smulji]

Those who use iPad as a productive tool understand your point well. Those who don’t don’t.
[doublepost=1537426161][/doublepost]This news hints that Apple has break through in two things: commercializing its MicroLED display and the future progregress of A-series chip.

How does this hint at a breakthrough in commercializing MicroLED Display? My money is on Apple utilizing the Liquid Retina Display for the new iPad Pros coming.

 

[jclardy]

This could be awesome if true. I hope it works both ways though... the iPad would be a fantastic portable monitor.

Yes please, 1000x. iPad Pro 11" (Or whatever, with Face ID) + 12" Macbook would be an awesome mobile setup. Also integrate FaceID support to macOS via the connection so that I can authenticate things on my mac via the iPad's face ID.

I have AirDisplay, which works alright, but it always felt a bit unstable for me, basically that I couldn't rely on it 100%.

 

[the johnmc]

How is it inferior? Seems to be the opposite, especially if you count mechanical stuff like the Lightning connector falling out. It is a bit thicker, though.

The Lightning connector is smaller in two dimensions and is solid. It withstands more abuse. I've managed to accidentally squash a USB-C cable end. It's not as easy to do as with USB-A, but it's easier than Micro-USB. The port takes up less room and doesn't have something flimsy in the middle that can be broken off. Yes, I'm talking extreme cases here, but they are all based on real world usage scenarios. I'm not quite sure what you mean about Lightning connectors falling out. In my experience, they stay more solidly connected than USB-C.

 

[zombierunner]

$100 says it won't go OLED but utilize the Liquid Retina Display on the iPhone XR

That would be rather disappointing

 

[aid]

This could be awesome if true. I hope it works both ways though... the iPad would be a fantastic portable monitor.

You don't need to wait for a new iPad for that: https://www.duetdisplay.com

 

[sven3]

They are going to use it to push low latency video, act as a second screen, and be like a Wacom tablet.

 

[fairuz]

Apparently not so true these days. There is so much stupid, ridiculous stuff built into iOS now (that most don't use) and I can't imagine simple mouse support would cause any concern, In modern operating systems, mouse support uses practically ZERO resources.

It's not about the compute resources but the dev and support, plus users being confused about non-simple products.

And I agree iOS has tons of crap added to it now. That shouldn't be the case either. I accidentally open the iMessage effects menu all the time. Perfect candidate for axing.
[doublepost=1537501955][/doublepost]

Is there a reason why this couldn't be done with a lightning to USB-C cable?

I don't know off the top of my head, but I doubt Lightning has the capability of driving 4K displays.

 

[abn5x]

if they make a native usb-c Astropad alternative, they would definitely canibalize WACOM Cintiqs lol

ps, as well luring more creatives to macOS, as it would be definetely a exclusive feature for apple only ecosystem

 

[Hym tix]

Agreed. Lightning has made my audio recording a pain. So many audio input devices out there do not support ligntning.

My friend, you need to discover this magical dongle called the “lightning to USB camera adapter”. It let’s you use any USB audio interface with iOS. PM me if you need some details.

 

[partsofspeech]

How does this hint at a breakthrough in commercializing MicroLED Display? My money is on Apple utilizing the Liquid Retina Display for the new iPad Pros coming.

Ligid Retina is fine for the moment, and it might be used in the coming iPad Pro. Some point in the near future, Apple will come back to the display market.
[doublepost=1537553277][/doublepost]

My friend, you need to discover this magical dongle called the “lightning to USB camera adapter”. It let’s you use any USB audio interface with iOS. PM me if you need some details.

I did try that dongle. Using it to interface USB headset to record audio, I get muffled output. I don’t know why. Maybe, it does not transfer sufficient current.

 

[andresebr]

If the new iPad ends up getting a usb-c port, do you guys think next year iPhone will follow? If rumors are true, I think that would be the first hardware change on iPad that isn’t on a previously released iPhone (without counting Apple Pencil support for obvious reasons).

 

[AgentAnonymous]

Interestingly enough, people have done just that. Program from their iPad.

https://medium.freecodecamp.org/giving-the-ipad-a-full-time-job-3ae2440e1810

One person did it to simply blog that he did it, and went through great inconvenience to do so.

The way I see it, the intent here was never to come up with replacements for existing products, but to use personal technology to come up with alternatives to more powerful computers.

Key word here is "alternative", not "replacement". For example, I use the iPad to complement my classroom teaching not because it was strictly better than my school-issued laptop in every sense of the word, but because it was better at the things I needed it to be better in (and the areas my iPad Pro was lacklustre in turned out not to matter in the grand scheme of things).

In other words, I love my iPad Pro precisely because it didn't try to hard to be a better laptop, which in turn freed it up to shine in its own unique areas. Areas that a conventional laptop suck in. Your argument hinges on the assumption that the laptop was already the best tool for the job for everyone. In reality, it wasn't.

There is no task that a tablet is better suited for over a laptop though. A tablet is just a slow laptop without a keyboard.
[doublepost=1537584386][/doublepost]

If you can connect your iPad to a 27” external monitor, mouse, and keyboard, it could (potentially) be great for programming.

No you can't. Mobile CPUs with no cooling, running a dumbed down operating system designed for fingers, would be absolutely HORRIBLE for programming or for any real computing task.
[doublepost=1537584538][/doublepost]

AKA: what most people are using their devices for. The MacBook isn't going anywhere, but for the vast majority of people an iPad absolutely can replace a MacBook/laptop.

Even for browsing the web and surfing Youtube, a tablet is inferior. Need to type an email or reply to a comment with anything longer than a sentence? Good luck.

It's a pleasure device and nothing more. Everyone knows it, but owners have a hard time admitting it because they spent money on it.
[doublepost=1537584577][/doublepost]

You haven't really been paying attention lately.

No, you haven't.

 

[Mac 128]

Whilst you're at it, you could maybe look at a USB-C - RCA adapter so you can use your record player

You jest, but THAT dongle exists. What doesn’t is a USB-C to Lightning to allow someone to use their Apple supplied Lightning EarPods on their Mac. Now what sense does that make?

Rest of the industry is going USB-C when replacing their old 3.5mm jacks and plugs.

Yes, but consumers are going BlueTooth. Anyone who needs to plug in a wire for lag issues, or audiophile purposes, likely doesn’t care what kind of adapter they need. And low latency and higher bandwidth wireless is going to eliminate that need in the near future.

 

[julesme]

One person did it to simply blog that he did it, and went through great inconvenience to do so.


There is no task that a tablet is better suited for over a laptop though. A tablet is just a slow laptop without a keyboard.
[doublepost=1537584386][/doublepost]
No you can't. Mobile CPUs with no cooling, running a dumbed down operating system designed for fingers, would be absolutely HORRIBLE for programming or for any real computing task.
[doublepost=1537584538][/doublepost]
Even for browsing the web and surfing Youtube, a tablet is inferior. Need to type an email or reply to a comment with anything longer than a sentence? Good luck.

It's a pleasure device and nothing more. Everyone knows it, but owners have a hard time admitting it because they spent money on it.
[doublepost=1537584577][/doublepost]
No, you haven't.

You need "luck" to type an email on an iPad Pro with the Apple keyboard? Surely you are joking or have never used this setup.

 

[smulji]

One person did it to simply blog that he did it, and went through great inconvenience to do so.


There is no task that a tablet is better suited for over a laptop though. A tablet is just a slow laptop without a keyboard.
[doublepost=1537584386][/doublepost]
No you can't. Mobile CPUs with no cooling, running a dumbed down operating system designed for fingers, would be absolutely HORRIBLE for programming or for any real computing task.
[doublepost=1537584538][/doublepost]
Even for browsing the web and surfing Youtube, a tablet is inferior. Need to type an email or reply to a comment with anything longer than a sentence? Good luck.

It's a pleasure device and nothing more. Everyone knows it, but owners have a hard time admitting it because they spent money on it.
[doublepost=1537584577][/doublepost]
No, you haven't.

"There is no task that a tablet is better suited for over a laptop though. A tablet is just a slow laptop without a keyboard."

Disagree. When Steve Jobs first introduced the iPad in 2010, he said for the iPad to succeed it had to be better than the smartphone & the PC / Mac at 7 key tasks. And it is better at those tasks. Since then, we do know of another task the iPad / tablet is better at => note taking / drawing. So it's better at 8 key tasks.