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iPad PRO - Is it time ?

O

OSMac

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 14, 2010
1,456
8
Any market for a iPad PRO model ?

Say it adds:
+ Retina Display
+ 128/256 GB Storage options
+ 2 GB Ram
+ Faster WAN and wireless speeds

Given the demand and inflated prices people
are willing to pay for a standard model
could a $1200 Pro model succeed ?
 
There are already 18 different models of iPad. We don't need a bunch more.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
OSMac said:
Any market for a iPad PRO model ?

Say it adds:
+ Retina Display
+ 128/256 GB Storage options
+ 2 GB Ram
+ Faster WAN and wireless speeds

Given the demand and inflated prices people
are willing to pay for a standard model
could a $1200 Pro model succeed ?
Click to expand...

What are you even proposing? What does "is it time?" mean? Corny. If you're suggesting new model to be released now, that ain't happenin. What you described is basically an iPad 3 or more likely 4.
 
OSMac said:
Any market for a iPad PRO model ?

Say it adds:
+ Retina Display
+ 128/256 GB Storage options
+ 2 GB Ram
+ Faster WAN and wireless speeds

Given the demand and inflated prices people
are willing to pay for a standard model
could a $1200 Pro model succeed ?
Click to expand...

hi, have you seen this?

insert image of macbook, macbook pro, macbook air, etc.
 
OSMac said:
Any market for a iPad PRO model ?

Say it adds:
+ Retina Display
+ 128/256 GB Storage options
+ 2 GB Ram
+ Faster WAN and wireless speeds

Given the demand and inflated prices people
are willing to pay for a standard model
could a $1200 Pro model succeed ?
Click to expand...

You just described a MB Air
 
To be honest, I don't think Apple really knows what it has yet with the iPad. They know people love it, and they know people buy it, but I think it's tough to choose any direction or way to"pro-ify" it yet.

What I would love to see, and would pay $1200 for, is an iPad 2 that can run both iOS and OSX, utilizing the atrix concept. So when I'm on the go, it's the standard mobile os geared towards touch being the main method of interaction, but when i plug it into a special keyboard dock, I have the option to switch to the full OSX and use it just like a MacBook air. I

It doesn't seem that hard to pull off. A slight redesign (placing the docking slot at the bottom of the iPad in horizontal mode)...I don't know anything about the hardware comparability with the OSX software, so I can't speak to any redesigns there.

Bump iPad 3 to 32, 64, and 128 pro, with the 32 and 64 dropping to the 16/32 price levels and the 128 pro with the aforementioned features costing $1099.
 
OSMac said:
Any market for a iPad PRO model ?

Say it adds:
+ Retina Display
+ 128/256 GB Storage options
+ 2 GB Ram
+ Faster WAN and wireless speeds

Given the demand and inflated prices people
are willing to pay for a standard model
could a $1200 Pro model succeed ?
Click to expand...



1) No, the time for this is 2012 or 2013
2) The prices are inflated because DEMAND outstrips SUPPLY. People are demanding the current model, so there is no need for Apple to bump the specs. Say they cam out with a $1200 model, demand would push it to much higher is supplies were still outstripped (Econ 101).
 
Cutwolf said:
To be honest, I don't think Apple really knows what it has yet with the iPad. They know people love it, and they know people buy it, but I think it's tough to choose any direction or way to"pro-ify" it yet.

What I would love to see, and would pay $1200 for, is an iPad 2 that can run both iOS and OSX, utilizing the atrix concept. So when I'm on the go, it's the standard mobile os geared towards touch being the main method of interaction, but when i plug it into a special keyboard dock, I have the option to switch to the full OSX and use it just like a MacBook air. I

It doesn't seem that hard to pull off. A slight redesign (placing the docking slot at the bottom of the iPad in horizontal mode)...I don't know anything about the hardware comparability with the OSX software, so I can't speak to any redesigns there.

Bump iPad 3 to 32, 64, and 128 pro, with the 32 and 64 dropping to the 16/32 price levels and the 128 pro with the aforementioned features costing $1099.
Click to expand...

Apple is not a single-product company. Every iPad owner would love to have what you describe just as every Apple owner wanted a Mac Mini for $299. Apple won't duplicate functionality of a higher-priced popular item in one that's priced less. Apple exploits openings in the market; it doesn't compete with itself.

To offer a tablet with the features of a notebook, notebook sales would have to be in rapid decline and we're nowhere near that point yet.
 
The original iPad is already pretty darn fast. iPad 2 has some good speed improvements.

Honestly I think what people are feeling they are lacking with the iPad in general is more added "oomph" to the OS.

I'm more hopeful that iOS 5 leaps ahead of the current iOS adding a few key elements that makes android a popular choice, but still very apple-essque.

For starters, as others have mentioned... a live home screen of sorts - whether it be widget friendly or not - would be a nice addition to quickly seeing your favorite feeds, weather, calendar, notes, etc.

Despite all that, I still think iOS is the best out there currently in terms of stability and usability. I also feel like the iPad as a whole is just so fluid compared to say the Xoom which I've tried out.
 
Honestly, I can see an iPad 2 Retina this year. $1000-$1200 for identical iPad 2 features, BUT with a Retina Display.
 
poloponies said:
Apple is not a single-product company. Every iPad owner would love to have what you describe just as every Apple owner wanted a Mac Mini for $299. Apple won't duplicate functionality of a higher-priced popular item in one that's priced less. Apple exploits openings in the market; it doesn't compete with itself.

To offer a tablet with the features of a notebook, notebook sales would have to be in rapid decline and we're nowhere near that point yet.
Click to expand...

I could see Apple discontinuing the air and basically merging the idea with the iPad. It won't happen for the iPad 3, of course, but in a few iterations, I bet that's where they trend.
 
Cutwolf said:
To be honest, I don't think Apple really knows what it has yet with the iPad. They know people love it, and they know people buy it, but I think it's tough to choose any direction or way to"pro-ify" it yet.

What I would love to see, and would pay $1200 for, is an iPad 2 that can run both iOS and OSX, utilizing the atrix concept. So when I'm on the go, it's the standard mobile os geared towards touch being the main method of interaction, but when i plug it into a special keyboard dock, I have the option to switch to the full OSX and use it just like a MacBook air. I

It doesn't seem that hard to pull off. A slight redesign (placing the docking slot at the bottom of the iPad in horizontal mode)...I don't know anything about the hardware comparability with the OSX software, so I can't speak to any redesigns there.

Bump iPad 3 to 32, 64, and 128 pro, with the 32 and 64 dropping to the 16/32 price levels and the 128 pro with the aforementioned features costing $1099.
Click to expand...

I agree. I'd also like to see it come with both CDMA and GSM 3G (or maybe 4G by then) for the "Pro" model.
 
At the moment, no. But your question begs another: where is the iPad going?

If you look at iMovie and Garageband—and the stellar reviews they've received—it's clear that the touch interface is ideal for quite a bit of creative work. Not the iPad itself, mind you, but the touch interface.

There's no reason why Apple can't more seriously leverage the iPad as an ancillary input and control device to complement a desktop computer. Really, what would it take to make the iPad function as a control surface for a MacPro running Logic or Final Cut? There are already 3rd party apps that do some of this, but what would it look like if Apple put their full force behind such efforts?

For one, I think you'd need faster transfers. Thunderbolt will help, but AFAIK it would also take faster data controllers and flash memory. Surely a retina display would help.

So in that respect, yes, there is room for an iPad pro, but I don't think Apple is set just yet to push it in this direction. FWIW, I also see an opportunity for a larger, non-mobile touch screen interface for explicitly this purpose of complementing desktop professional creative endeavors. An iPad Grande? :D:p Who knows when or if Apple would do this.
 
But being as that Apple is defining iOS devices as "Post-PC", don't you think their direction is to get users further away from their computer, rather than closer?

However, I do like the idea of iPads serving as support devices for desktop work.
 
Cutwolf said:
I could see Apple discontinuing the air and basically merging the idea with the iPad. It won't happen for the iPad 3, of course, but in a few iterations, I bet that's where they trend.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. The Air is overpriced and too underpowered to make sense. You're paying for the thinness, and to be honest, it's not THAT much thinner than the 13" MBPro - which is a much more powerful computer.

An 11" iPad that can run iOS and Mac OS (non touch) when keyboard-docked would be an amazing product. When Apple released the new Air, Jobs said "What if a MBAir and an iPad hooked up?" and then proceeded to show us the same MBAir we already knew with flash memory. Big deal...

The product mentioned above would be the true "offspring" of a MBAir and iPad.
 
Last edited:
I want my iPad Pro to be pretty much a tablet version of the MacBook Air -- where I can put files in folders, copy files on/off via USB devices, and to have more memory and storage. I'd have no problem paying as much for that as I'd pay for the equivalent Air -- we're just trading keyboard for touch-screen.
 
Manatee said:
I want my iPad Pro to be pretty much a tablet version of the MacBook Air -- where I can put files in folders, copy files on/off via USB devices, and to have more memory and storage. I'd have no problem paying as much for that as I'd pay for the equivalent Air -- we're just trading keyboard for touch-screen.
Click to expand...

Unrelated, what is the point of you owning a 13" AND 15" MBP + a 13" MBA? I don't get that:confused:
 
Manatee said:
I want my iPad Pro to be pretty much a tablet version of the MacBook Air -- where I can put files in folders, copy files on/off via USB devices, and to have more memory and storage. I'd have no problem paying as much for that as I'd pay for the equivalent Air -- we're just trading keyboard for touch-screen.
Click to expand...

Sounds like more of an Air Tab than a iPad Pro ?

Key with the iPad Pro is to keep iOS and enhance the specs most importantly the display.

Probably a market for both , but it seems for now touch OSX is not planned.
 
OSMac said:
Sounds like more of an Air Tab than a iPad Pro ?

Key with the iPad Pro is to keep iOS and enhance the specs most importantly the display.

Probably a market for both , but it seems for now touch OSX is not planned.
Click to expand...

Yep. That's what I'd really want. A tablet mac or PC that finally has a touch optimized OS and good form factor and battery life--aka something that doesn't suck like the tablet/slate PCs of the past.

I don't need more speed or storage on an iPad as it has plenty of both for what I use it for--web, e-mail, news apps, pdfs, photos etc.

What I really want is a tablet with a more full OS that I can do more real work on and take on business trips in place of my laptop etc.
 
PatriotInvasion said:
Unrelated, what is the point of you owning a 13" AND 15" MBP + a 13" MBA? I don't get that:confused:
Click to expand...
Good catch... I need to update. I gave the 13" MBP to a friend in NYC when I got the new Air. The 15" MBP is sort of my "desktop" at home -- always open and running. The Air is my "commuter computer".
 
OSMac said:
Sounds like more of an Air Tab than a iPad Pro ?

Key with the iPad Pro is to keep iOS and enhance the specs most importantly the display.

Probably a market for both , but it seems for now touch OSX is not planned.
Click to expand...
True, it really needs to be iOS to use the iPad apps. It's just that the one thing I find most frustrating about iOS is the lack of control over my data files. I want to be able to put a .docx file in one place on the iPad and open it it with whichever "office" app I choose. The concept of storing a separate copy of the data file with each app makes me nuts. If it weren't possible with just about every other OS in existence, I'd concede that it's impossible, but...
 
I've always felt this would be a decent idea. I'd be willing to pay extra for a pro edition with such features. I can't help but feel that Steve Jobs and other Apple execs are walking around with souped up disguised versions of iPads and iPhones themselves (this theory might be ridiculous but I'd probably be tempted to have a special engineered version made if I were Steve).
 
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