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New iPad Pro With Faster Display and Wider Support for Apple Pencil to Launch Next Year
Apple is planning new hardware and software features for iPad that cater to professional users, according to Bloomberg, including a new iPad with faster display technology that allows for smoother on-screen zooming, panning, and scrolling.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously said Apple will release a 10.5-inch iPad Pro model next year alongside a 12.9-inch iPad Pro 2 and a "low-cost" 9.7-inch iPad model. The fate of the iPad mini remains uncertain, but it is presumable that Apple could discontinue the 7.9-inch tablet due to its lack of Apple Pencil support and relatively close proximity in size to 5.5-inch Plus-sized iPhones.
The new hardware will be completed by wider iOS support for the Apple Pencil, the report adds. Apple is reportedly planning to introduce the new software features in a subsequent iOS 10 update in the first half of 2017, but may decide to hold back on the improvements until iOS 11 is released later in the year.
Apple has considered allowing users to annotate objects in many applications across the whole operating system, including in Mail, the Safari web browser, and iMessage, similar to what Samsung Electronics Co. offers on its Note smartphones, the person said. Currently, Apple only supports Pencil functionality in specifically developed apps.Apple saw its iPad revenue grow slightly for the first time in 10 quarters in July, and these improvements could help the company continue that trend.
Related Roundup: iPad Pro
Tags: bloomberg.com, Apple Pencil
Buyer's Guide: 10.5" iPad Pro (Caution), 12.9" iPad Pro (Neutral)
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22 months ago
People still buy iPads???
No, people still own older iPads. That work great and are waiting for a real good excuse to upgrade.
22 months ago
I'd really love to see newly updated iPad Mini's too. Though I'm not going to hold my breath for one at this point. :(
22 months ago
Apple should be working on a way of building the pencil into the iPad body thus making it standard. Who wants to keep tabs on another accessory that could be forgotten?
22 months ago
I'd really love to see newly updated iPad Mini's too. Though I'm not going to hold my breath for one at this point. :(
I don't get Apple. They devote the entire 2012 event to an outdated Mini (no retina which I can understand, but the A5 instead of the A6 for no real reason). Then they match Air and Mini 2 in 2013. They do NOTHING except add Touch ID for the 3 and now the 4 sits all alone with a special version of the A8.Did the market for the Mini suddenly diminish? I find it hard to believe that large phones obliterated that audience.
22 months ago
Why to waste this beautiful device by putting the terrible phone OS on it???
22 months ago
To those analysts who keep saying a 5.5" iPhone can substitute for an 8" Mini? Please just shut up, you don't know what you're talking about. A hatchback isn't a substitute for a pickup.
I also question their prediction that if Apple offer a 10.5" iPad they will EOL the 7.9" Mini, which would leave a gaping hole in their mobile device lineup from 5.5" to 10.5" while introducing a clusterfck from 9.7" to 12.9".
The more sensible and likely course is for Apple to EOL the 9.7" iPad Pro. But that's the most popular one, you say? Indeed, but it must go to make way for progress! Consider the current lineup (area and ppi calculated with this groovy website ('https://www.sven.de/dpi/')):
A nice separation of iDevice sizes with consistently high pixel density on all but the top end. All with a bigger iPad but no new resolution to which developers must adapt their apps. The only remaining question is whether Apple also jack the price of this 9.7" Pro replacement. No, wait, the question is how much do Apple jack the price of this Air 2 replacement? If the 9.7" Pro takes the current place of the Air 2 then figure the 10.5" Pro will start at $700 or even $750 for the first year or two, then drop to $700 for a sneaky permanent increase of $100 on the midrange iPad. If Apple sell a 10.5" 325 ppi iPad for $600 I'd question who kidnapped Tim Cook and replaced him with a clone.
About that iPad Mini - do Apple continue to use it as a dumping ground for obsolete SOC inventory and give it the runt of their litter of iPad displays? Or do they finally take it seriously by dropping in a current SOC and the same display tech as the larger iPads, all at a more serious price?
I also question their prediction that if Apple offer a 10.5" iPad they will EOL the 7.9" Mini, which would leave a gaping hole in their mobile device lineup from 5.5" to 10.5" while introducing a clusterfck from 9.7" to 12.9".
The more sensible and likely course is for Apple to EOL the 9.7" iPad Pro. But that's the most popular one, you say? Indeed, but it must go to make way for progress! Consider the current lineup (area and ppi calculated with this groovy website ('https://www.sven.de/dpi/')):
A nice separation of iDevice sizes with consistently high pixel density on all but the top end. All with a bigger iPad but no new resolution to which developers must adapt their apps. The only remaining question is whether Apple also jack the price of this 9.7" Pro replacement. No, wait, the question is how much do Apple jack the price of this Air 2 replacement? If the 9.7" Pro takes the current place of the Air 2 then figure the 10.5" Pro will start at $700 or even $750 for the first year or two, then drop to $700 for a sneaky permanent increase of $100 on the midrange iPad. If Apple sell a 10.5" 325 ppi iPad for $600 I'd question who kidnapped Tim Cook and replaced him with a clone.
About that iPad Mini - do Apple continue to use it as a dumping ground for obsolete SOC inventory and give it the runt of their litter of iPad displays? Or do they finally take it seriously by dropping in a current SOC and the same display tech as the larger iPads, all at a more serious price?
22 months ago
Give it a pencil and a larger screen and now its a "Pro"? Am I missing something? Drop the Pro name unless it can run Pro apps like Final Cut Pro X, Logic Pro X, etc. iPad Pro, haha! Get outta here with that BS
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