'iPad Pro' Said to Feature 12.2-Inch Display, 7-mm Thickness, Stereo Speakers at Top and Bottom

[the8thark]

12.9" makes more sense. That's approximately the same diagonal as an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper.

It has to be a ratio of the standard iPad to make developers lives easier. But developers don't have to worry about products that will not exist. Nothing in the real world to develop for.

But in people's imaginations, anything is possible. Even that iMac without a screen people keep wanting.

 

[Rad99004]

Just seems..... odd. I don't know a ton of people begging for a 13" tablet. It will be fairly heavy, and I just can't imagine business or creatives picking this thing up unless it adds additional functionality on the OS level (power user features).

Removable Keyboard, a Stylus, a mouse and trackpad option would be great.

Make it like the Surface 3 but better, lighter, longer battery life and I will buy it.

Or the other option is to make this run OS X and be like a surface tablet and also run IOS apps.

Then again what do I know I always wanted a bigger phone and now I have one.

 

[Piggie]

You have an Amiga 500?

Indeed yes, though it's in a box in the loft/attic at the moment.

The Amiga is 8 Mhz with 512K Ram, and did proper windowed multitasking in 1985.
30 years ago

One day the iPad may get it

 

[gnipgnop]

It has to be a ratio of the standard iPad to make developers lives easier. But developers don't have to worry about products that will not exist. Nothing in the real world to develop for.

But in people's imaginations, anything is possible. Even that iMac without a screen people keep wanting.

Does anyone in the real world think an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper is too big to be useful? Seems like a sweet spot for all kinds of content if the weight is right, and Apple has been quite successful with lightweight devices.

 

[jonnyb098]

I never understood why they never implemented 2 speakers on the top and bottom of current iPads. The accelerometer could switch to the necessary speakers based on device orientation.

 

[iPadCary]

The Amiga is 8 Mhz with 512K Ram, and did proper windowed multitasking in 1985.
30 years ago
One day the iPad may get it

Good point. Such better specs compared to the Amiga, yet it still doesn't multitask ....

 

[Bearxor]

With all the bench marks of the A8X coming in close to MBAs and MBPs of a few years ago, I am convinced Apple is working towards building an ARM-based Mac portable.

Ahhhh... The answer!

Will it just be an iPad or will it run OSX and emulate intel processors fast enough to make old Mac software run on it? I know they could do this, but the real what ion is would Apple do this?

I expect SOME level of x86 compatibility but very basic and slow. The push will be on getting the applications ARM-native ASAP. Apple is sick and tired of relying on someone else to mandate their product schedules... Again. Getting their own processors up and running has to be priority one currently.

 

[chleuasme]

What I really want is a 13" MacBook air with retina display.
Not a 12".
Just a 13" MacBook air with retina display.
Is it so difficult????

Heard about the rMBP13? Apple will gladly make it thinner and lighter, and even increase battery life, as soon as the technology for it, and intel especially for that matter, allows it. The future 14 nm intel chips might allow a trim on rMBPs without losing in performances nor gaining heat. What would be an hypothetical rMBA13 in comparison?

 

[Oracle1729]

Just seems..... odd. I don't know a ton of people begging for a 13" tablet. It will be fairly heavy, and I just can't imagine business or creatives picking this thing up unless it adds additional functionality on the OS level (power user features).

Yeah, comparing this tablet with iOS, which is still painfully cell-phone oriented, to an MBA at a comparable size or even MBP running a full OS, i can't imagine why anyone would go for the iOS device.

 

[Rad99004]

After almost four years my MBP battery still is at 96% of original capacity. Really impressive.

----------



Compete? Do you really think Apple has to compete with a surface???

Yes

 

[IbisDoc]

So why didn't apple release this last month? Seems like their iPad sales are falling flat and this may be the shot in the arm that is needed

You seriously don't know? They didn't want to cannibalize sales of the iPad. They'd rather put some space between the two releases, to maximize the possibility of people buying both. This is Apple.

 

[dannyyankou]

I'm not going to buy one but I'm sure there's a market for people that like really big things.

 

[aaronsullivan]

Chiming in on the Stylus thing: I see only a couple other reasons to make a Pro tablet. It needs to contain things that are NOT for the general user. Stylus fits the bill and the current mishmash of solutions are just very, very poor and embarrassing. (Also a nice differentiator from the MacBooks of small size)

Also, proc with more cores (more space after all), more RAM (though Air 2 doubled it), and specific software support for at least apps running visually side by side (with nice magic and easy sharing going on) and more solid support for keyboard and even trackpad/mouse throughout software.

Doubt we'll get rugged design so I think I covered everything else needed.

please make ios suck less / bring back ios6. all these hardware "improvements" kinda pointless otherwise...

I must have missed something. iOS 8 is fantastically enabling with all sorts of features and iOS 6, while it has old fashioned shiny rounded buttons and skeuomorphic stuff that isn't always bad it is way behind the curve in ability. So you just must want some sort of re-skinning or something? Because wow what a huge backward step that would be. Way too many useful features have been introduced since then. Extensions alone...

 

[gnipgnop]

Good point. Such better specs compared to the Amiga, yet it still doesn't multitask ....

It's obviously not an issue related to technical capability. It's an issue related to user experience. If you say "our tablet can multitask" and then most of the apps don't really provide a good user experience for that function...you've got a problem.

 

[munkydust]

Ill probably buy one. One got a first and third generation and feel the only way is buy another is for a larger screen. Always felt 9.7" was an inch or two too small. Made magazines and comics too hard to read when shrunk to that size.

 

[iPadCary]

SoC computers are Apple's wet dream:
NOTHING upgradable at all, just chuck it in the landfill and buy a new one every two years.

Actually, consumer culture being what it is, I absolutely could get behind that.
"Computers-As-Commodity" would allow me to get my nieces & nephews Christmas gifts every year
that I wouldn't have to care about obselecence.
Just chuck it/hand-it-down, then it's onto this year's model! Suh-weet!

 

[Renzatic]

It's obviously not an issue related to technical capability. It's an issue related to user experience. If you say "our tablet can multitask" and then most of the apps don't really provide a good user experience for that function...you've got a problem.

That's kind of a chicken and egg situation. Like if Apple were to go with an MS style docked apps setup, the app developers would need to alter their UIs so they still work well at different screen percentages. But at the same time, the OS needs to provide that functionality before the developers can add it in.

For a big change like this, Apple will probably have to risk harming the UX for a short period of time. Otherwise, no changes can be made.

 

[gnipgnop]

Chiming in on the Stylus thing: I see only a couple other reasons to make a Pro tablet. It needs to contain things that are NOT for the general user. Stylus fits the bill and the current mishmash of solutions are just very, very poor and embarrassing.

The Bluetooth stylus products for iOS currently have the same level of sensitivity as Wacom tablets, so that isn't a reason. It's a problem that's already been solved. A larger drawing space that is close to the size of an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper? Yes, that's more like it. You don't even have to be an artist to appreciate that size. The general business world is heavily oriented around documents that are right in that same size range. Publishing as well.

 

[Wiesenlooser]

I just want a proper digitizer

 

[coolfactor]

Just seems..... odd. I don't know a ton of people begging for a 13" tablet. It will be fairly heavy, and I just can't imagine business or creatives picking this thing up unless it adds additional functionality on the OS level (power user features).

People are complaining why Apple is striving to figure out how to make thin and light.... well, this is a good reason... to enable the development of a larger display iPad without adding a lot of bulk.

Regarding businesses... don't forget about the IBM alliance. That will be huge for putting iOS devices in big business.

----------

Yeah, comparing this tablet with iOS, which is still painfully cell-phone oriented, to an MBA at a comparable size or even MBP running a full OS, i can't imagine why anyone would go for the iOS device.

I have both an MacBook Air and a MacBook Pro, and I'm much happier with the Air. There's zero difference between the two machines when it comes to functionality. Zero. They both can do exactly the same thing, and I find the Air is slightly faster, even with a slower CPU, because of the SSD instead of a spinning HDD.

 

[frosty001]

I find it odd that this, and the also rumoured rMBA, are real products. I know Apple is happy to cannibalise itself, but both these rumoured devices overlap too much.

Could they be the same device, like a convertible that switches between OSX and iOS depending on how you are using it?

Or the larger iPad really is a business focussed piece of hardware, with the IBM deal in mind. Not something they'll even give much shelf space in the retail stores, much like the Mac Pro.

 

[MacNut]

If they don't name this thing the Max iPad it will be a huge fail.

 

[gnipgnop]

That's kind of a chicken and egg situation. Like if Apple were to go with an MS style docked apps setup, the app developers would need to alter their UIs so they still work well at different screen percentages. But at the same time, the OS needs to provide that functionality before the developers can add it in.

For a big change like this, Apple will probably have to risk harming the UX for a short period of time. Otherwise, no changes can be made.

Apple strikes me as a company that would want multitasking in iOS to really be usable on as many devices as possible, which would mean a wide variety of screen sizes. And think about it...there are probably solutions that would work fine for a 9.7" or 12.9" tablet that are not going to be nearly as functional on 5.5" or smaller screens. That's the real issue, not technical capability.

 

[numlock]

In the iPad forum, there are people clamoring for them, if that translates into consumers wanting one, is another thing.

ok. didnt know that.

how are the other manufacturers big tablets doing?

 

[chleuasme]

For the record, an iPad Plus with a 2560x1920 screen at 264 ppi with the same bezels as the iPad Air would measure about 206mm x 289mm. It would just fit inside an A4 page format.

That looks quite large, for a tablet, but hard to tell without seeing in person such a device.