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The next iteration of iPad Pros: A10 A10X, new keyboard and pencil and a fall 2016 Release?

2016 or 2017 release for Ipad Pro 2?

  • Late 2016

    Votes: 28 25.5%

  • Early 2017

    Votes: 82 74.5%
  • Total voters
    110
F

Fuzzball84

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Apr 19, 2015
2,825
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Wanting to upgrade from my Air 2 but after reading reviews and playing with 12.9 inch pro in the store I feel like waiting until fall before upgrading to an iPad Pro. Primarily because of a new processor release with the next iPhone.. it would make sense to update CPU in the Pro at same time each year.

Things I think could be coming later this year are

Upgrade to A10 processors
Refinements to Keyboard (Backlight? Id love that)
Apple pencil redesign? new materials? more like a regular pen?

What happens to the regular iPads? we are left with a mini so the 9.7 inch pro is all we get at this size or do they update the air next time also?
 
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My guess is that we'll see new non-pro iPads this fall, and then Pros in early 2017. The non-pros won't use the X processors. Just the same as those in iPhones, maybe slightly higher clocked.
 
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Maybe an iPad mini (and possibly a 12.9 update), but I'm guessing no new "Air" or "Pro" 9.7 in the fall. I think the Air line is done.
 
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Arline said:
My guess is that we'll see new non-pro iPads this fall, and then Pros in early 2017. The non-pros won't use the X processors. Just the same as those in iPhones, maybe slightly higher clocked.
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Ditto

I think they will call the non-pro iPads just "iPad" like the iMac (two screen sizes) and the new MacBook (retina)
 
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It's not like the new Pro completely blows the specs of the Air 2 away. How much could they improve upon the next Air or 9.7 " just iPad" model before it becomes nearly identical to the Pro?
 
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JohnnyGo said:
Ditto

I think they will call the non-pro iPads just "iPad" like the iMac (two screen sizes) and the new MacBook (retina)
Click to expand...

Yeah I agree. That will clear up the confusion as well.
[doublepost=1459222400][/doublepost]
CE3 said:
It's not like the new Pro completely blows the specs of the Air 2 away. How much could they improve upon the next Air or 9.7 " just iPad" model before it becomes nearly identical to the Pro?
Click to expand...

Normal display, normal speakers, no pencil support, no Smart Keyboard support.
 
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Arline said:
Yeah I agree. That will clear up the confusion as well.
[doublepost=1459222400][/doublepost]

Normal display, normal speakers, no pencil support, no Smart Keyboard support.
Click to expand...

I guess we'll see. To me, that sounds like the most boring iPad release ever. ETA: but I love your avatar :)
 
Last edited:
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I think the Air line is gone. It can't be better than the pro line and would have to start with a $400 price tag. I think the Air 2 will live on until the next iPad announcement and then the iPad Pro will take its spot. I also really doubt they announce a new iPad Pro 9.7 this year and potentially not even next year. Just my best guess.
 
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Ghost31 said:
Me after I just bought an iPad Pro a few months ago "there's no way Apple is gonna release another iPad in just a few months"
Click to expand...
No, I feel like this is different. The 9.7" Pro and 12.9" Pro are two different things. It's not like yours is suddenly outdated. If they released a new 12.9" Pro just now then I would say you have a point.

I expect Apple could update the 12.9" this fall but I doubt they will update the 9.7" one.
 
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CE3 said:
I guess we'll see. To me, that sounds like the most boring iPad release ever.
Click to expand...
I think that is part of the strategy... Or have you ever been blown away by the iMac 21" performance or features ?
iPad line-up with 7.9" and 9.7" with iPhone internals and price competitive with other tablets in the market. Media consumption, game playing, POS system, education tablets.

iPad Pro to deliver meaningful path for PC replacement strategy, Apple's Post PC vision.
 
sflomenb said:
No, I feel like this is different. The 9.7" Pro and 12.9" Pro are two different things. It's not like yours is suddenly outdated. If they released a new 12.9" Pro just now then I would say you have a point.

I expect Apple could update the 12.9" this fall but I doubt they will update the 9.7" one.
Click to expand...
Dude I don't even know why they releases the smaller pro now. That last keynote was just strange. Why not just wait until the fall when they're going to have their usual iPad keynote anyway? Release it then. And why update us on Apple Watch bands? And to tell us about 9.3? It's like a keynote devoted to minor news releases
 
Arline said:
My guess is that we'll see new non-pro iPads this fall, and then Pros in early 2017. The non-pros won't use the X processors. Just the same as those in iPhones, maybe slightly higher clocked.
Click to expand...

I think this will be odd tho, they won't want to sell iPad pros a generation behind the regular iPads. From a marketing perspective it doesn't look great. The Pros trailing the iPhone and regular iPads, having last years processors?
[doublepost=1459223778][/doublepost]
Ghost31 said:
Dude I don't even know why they releases the smaller pro now. That last keynote was just strange. Why not just wait until the fall when they're going to have their usual iPad keynote anyway? Release it then. And why update us on Apple Watch bands? And to tell us about 9.3? It's like a keynote devoted to minor news releases
Click to expand...

It was first time I watched a keynote and compared to what I read about previous years releases it was really boring.. I was hoping to be surprised but it was just not exciting at all. Releasing the iPad pro 9.7 6 months after the larger version is just really weird. I am convinced what they released was the air 3 or a hastily upgraded version.
 
Fuzzball84 said:
I think this will be odd tho, they won't want to sell iPad pros a generation behind the regular iPads. From a marketing perspective it doesn't look great. The Pros trailing the iPhone and regular iPads, having last years processors?
Click to expand...
They won't be though - it will be the non pros trailing the pros - the Air 3 will likely get an A9 or A9X processor, just as the iPad Pro gets A10X.
 
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oldmacs said:
They won't be though - it will be the non pros trailing the pros - the Air 3 will likely get an A9 or A9X processor, just as the iPad Pro gets A10X.
Click to expand...

But this will be going the way of the mini, always getting older tech. I liked it when Apples lineup was more simple, why not just have one iPad at various sizes and people can buy the pencil etc if they want that feature. Things are getting so fragmented. When I bought the first iPad it was such a nice experience, my options being storage and whether i wanted cellular data. Now I go in the store and its just a mess of various devices with so much overlap that it makes choosing so much harder. I bet most people don't care if it has pro written on it, they just want a great tablet. Why not just make a great tablet and sell the older versions at a discount. No air, no pro just Ipad with small, medium and large versions lol

The biggest upgrade they can make this year is reducing fragmentation and staggered releases like the iPad Pro 9.7 and 12.9
 
I doubt there will be a new Apple pencil for many years to come, ditto for the iPad keyboards. Apple tends not to update accessories very often.

As far as new 9.7" Pro this fall, definitely not happening. Apple seems to be favoring longer release cycles now that the pace of innovation has slowed. Maybe within 1 year we'll get better graphics, processor, some camera improvements... the "usual" upgrades. Maybe they'll make us wait 18-24 months like they seem to be doing with the Air 2.

If they do update the Air 2 this fall, which would mark its 2 year anniversary, it probably wouldn't be a huge update either. Maybe they'll change capacities to 32, 128, 256 like the rest of the iPads (and I am guessing iPhones in the fall) seem to be getting and bump up the processor and/or graphics slightly. Perhaps a new front iSight camera or something, camera upgrades seem to be a "go to" area to upgrade.

What they WONT do for Air "3": they will definitely not make it 4 speaker, add Pencil support, or provide a better LCD/display tech. Those are the "pro" features.

For Apple, the power isn't the differentiating factor as much as it is the Pencil support and better screen tech, so I wouldn't discount better processing power entirely. Though honestly, is anyone out there saying "Damn these iPad Air 2's would be awesome if they were just a little faster"? I don't think so.
 
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Fuzzball84 said:
But this will be going the way of the mini, always getting older tech. I liked it when Apples lineup was more simple, why not just have one iPad at various sizes and people can buy the pencil etc if they want that feature. Things are getting so fragmented. When I bought the first iPad it was such a nice experience, my options being storage and whether i wanted cellular data. Now I go in the store and its just a mess of various devices with so much overlap that it makes choosing so much harder. I bet most people don't care if it has pro written on it, they just want a great tablet. Why not just make a great tablet and sell the older versions at a discount. No air, no pro just Ipad with small, medium and large versions lol

The biggest upgrade they can make this year is reducing fragmentation and staggered releases like the iPad Pro 9.7 and 12.9
Click to expand...

I think its a rubbish idea, just one I see apple going with. Had Apple not made up the 'pro' branding, the Pro 9.7 would have just been the Air 3 at the usual air price.

I personally think that every year all the iPads should get the same level of Ram and similar levels of performance from the same gen chips (obviously with under clocking for the smaller models in terms of heat and battery concerns).

The only differences between the Pro and the Air should be the speakers, keyboard connector and apple pencil support. I would think it would be fair for the Air to be sold at the old price again if this happened. They would obviously sell an older Mini for a lower price point as well.
 
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