I fully admit myself that Im kind of embedded in the Apple Ecosystem... but I do also have Microsoft surface devices too.. but I think I'll have one foot in Apple devices and one in Microsoft for a long time... they each do different things I need.
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Kuo: Larger 12.9-inch iPad Air Coming Early 2024 Amid Lineup Refresh
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Excellent idea with the SD Card slot and MagSafe. One more thing: add a basic IP rating to the Pro so people feel comfortable using it out in the field, that's one major way the iPad Pro can differ from the Mac.
Having an IP rating would be a huge bonus... especially since some people use iPads out in the field, or in restaurants etc where that would be a piece of mind and there would be less need for a bulky case.
I think its about time Apple let us have the option of expandable storage... everyone else has it... Samsung, Nintendo, Microsoft... well overdue.
MagSafe would be neat too... although I know iPads are usually most often used unplugged.. so can see this ad maybe least likely.
if the iPad 14" was going to 'share' component panels with the MBP 14" maybe. But the rumors are that Apple is looking to use an OLED technology that is more expensive than the OLED that Samsung uses in their 14" Ultra tablets.
While I do expect Apple to crank the price of the 13" dual layer OLED iPad Pro higher , Apple also likely knows the higher the price goes the fewer they will sell. They do need volume over time to bring the prices down so they can distribute it to other major parts of the product line up. Even more so if Apple is also cranking up the camera component bill-of-materials costs for this new iPad Pro also. ( Additionally, I suspect Apple is going to be pushing this new iPad Pro as an "all in one" shoot, edit, post-process video shooting tool.... so better cameras would cover more "shoot" requirements. )
For a first version, probably not. By the time the MBP 14" gets '2nd generation' dual layer panel would be a better chance of them merging. The larger the iPad screen size the more problems it gets into if no other product anywhere is using the tech.
To get to "Air" status , they would need to substantively drop the price also. The current Air has a M1, the Pro has a M2 . Costs is major contributing factor there. Look at the rumors for the SE4 ... Take the iPhone 14 and scale back the camera package bill of materials to push the costs lower (which 'allows' Apple to deliver a lower end user cost).
This really even close to that situation. Apple's 90's approach was trying to drift into selling "everything to everybody" in a effort to catch up to the dominating Windows PC market. There was some mania that Apple had to get a market share that Dell/Compaq/IBM had ( ~20% ) to survive at scale with the exploding PC growth market.
iPad is not even close to having to play "catch up" with any other players in the tablet space. Samsung has 'wet dreams' about selling as much S9 Ultra+ as Apple sells iPad Pros. Most of Apple's iPad line up is more defensive of share they already have and expansion of the overall market, rather than some position of weakness.
iPad sales went close for flat for a couple of years and have got back on a growth path again. That is in part because Apple is trying to fill an increasingly wider variety of needs/requirements rather than just sell a single "Model T" to the same group of people.
The other hugely mismatch analogy is the inertia that 100's of millions of iPhone users have. The skills to operate the iPad. So there is natural user 'flow' from iPhone to iPad . The 90's vintage Mac has no 'partner'/synergy product like that at all. The "throw everything at the wall in hopes it sticks' was an attempt to get folks to move off Windows ( or in a few uses cases off Unix workstations). None of those really successfully increased sales to hit break even.
There is zero indication that expanding the iPad line up is coming at a cost of profitability. In fact probably pushing things up since higher selling iPads are consuming 'old' SoCs out of the iPhone and Mac product lines. So Apple can recoupe even higher return on investment on the expensive SoC package development costs. (***)
The 90's problem was not too many models. It was too many models that didn't make money. Getting into a 'race to the bottom' on commodity PC parts component costs didn't really help. The iPad isn't chasing the Amazon Fire and super discount Android tablets with the additional models. Or the lowest budget possible Chromebooks.
Apple goes as low as selling their years old chassis and SoC will take them and they stop from going any lower. (same thing they do on the iPhone side for many years that Jobs was around too. )
Jobs cut the shotgun approach to Mac products to cut costs to Apple. Apple couldn't afford to do that. It was driving them broke continuing to 'fight the PC wars' . The PC war was basically over. Apple just needed to carve out a more selective products where a smaller set of set all made money ( no 'loss leaders' just to grab share. No ' match the checkbox features' of everything on the Windows PC side. ) ]
Apple isn't broke. the iPad is not loosing money at all. Not even close. Apple took the larger A__X SoC development costs off just the iPad and distributed them over millions more Macs at much higher average selling prices. The iPad lie up doesn't have its own unique SoC anymore. It is 'hand me downs' from either side of the larger product line up now.
(***) P.S. Apple did lost of things backwards to drive wider acceptance and production of PowerPC support chips and main packages across more systems. The efforts to launch a 'clone' market were badly executed. Apple kept using their on I/O chips and firmware as a dongle to limit adoption. This was a another major reason Apple had to retreat to fewer products using a relatively more limited PPC line up.
In the current set up of development and "hand me downs", the strategy hiccups are at the highest end of the Mac desktop line up. Not the iPad.
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At the moment, I have a 2020 12.9” iPad pro. I’d welcome the addition of a similar sized iPad air. I do like the big screen but am unwilling to pay €1500 for its replacement. Anyway, I usually replace iPads on a 5-year-cycle.
Will definitely get the new iPad Air over the iPad Pro if the screen size are the same. ProMotion and mini-LED are nice to have but I can say goodbye to those, however I like the four speaker setup on the iPad Pro.
While I don't see great interest in a lot of the iPad range you just can't compare refurbished, used or whatever with new stuff.
Not that I don't see value in the refurbished offers but a lot of people only buy new and the lineup has to consider that.
And a Taptic Engine ... absolutely no idea why they haven't included one in iPads since the TE was a thing.
The Taptic Engine is just a small linear actuator that generates “bumps” that propagate across the device. That’s okay for a relatively small device like an iPhone, but on an iPad the dissipation across the device would be greater and would likely make it feel more uneven, or you’d need multiple actuators spread across the device that are precisely synchronized. It’s probably difficult to make it work well.
Another step closer to Mac OS and iPad OS being combined with having a bigger and bigger screen. I feel like once they figure out how to seamlessly switch between the interfaces depending on the input you're using, they'll get there. I mean they could just have it connect a keyboard Mac OS/Detach keyboard iPad OS, but I feel like they'll do a bit more.
Main issue is using Mac OS apps via iPad interface as they won't really be made for it. But Apple already went as far as letting us use iOS apps that don't work well on a Mac already, so I suppose that wouldn't matter too much (honestly less so).
Main issue is using Mac OS apps via iPad interface as they won't really be made for it. But Apple already went as far as letting us use iOS apps that don't work well on a Mac already, so I suppose that wouldn't matter too much (honestly less so).
No mention of the supposed larger 14” iPad Pros then, as if somehow the internet would forget.
Or maybe it is working, can’t remember if there was a 15” rumor too 🤔
Or maybe it is working, can’t remember if there was a 15” rumor too 🤔
Intel 21.5" --> Mn 24" iMac
Thunderbolt Display 27" ---> XDR 32"
MBA 13" ---> MBA 15"
MBp 15" ---> MBP 16"
The Mac side isn't sticking to the same old historical sizes either. The iPad Pro going from 12.9" to 13" isn't moving as much as the Mac folks are. The gap really isn't closing here. M1, M2, and M3 all limited to same number of displays. That isn't moving either.
macOS and iPadOS probably are not going to merge at the GUI level. By unit volume, the iPad is largely NOT the iPad Air and up products. Apple quite unlikely to go to a 'all M-series' SoC iPad line up. The M series is likely a fail in the $250-450 product space. Leveraging old iPhone "hand me downs" is always going to be far more ccost effective. It is a smaller package (i.e., cheaper to make) , that works on a smaller RAM and storage footprint. Period.
At the OS kernel and device driver level... yeah there is a merge, but they were the same Mach Kernel baseline all along. Don't want them to drift far apart in the first place. ( just like HFS and iPhone-HFS being merged into APFS. That didn't get you one OS did it? Nope. )
If Apple is adding a 12.9" iPad Air model, then I see the Pro models going up in price by $200. So you have the following;
iPad - $399
iPad Air (10.9" / 12.9") - $599 / $799
iPad Pro (11" / 13") - $999 / $1,199
There is also a 19 inch iPad rumor making the rounds.
That thing is going to be awesome. It just needs a keyboard and trackpad. Honestly they should just fuse the keyboard and trackpad to the display.
iPad Pro at 1300 would make sense. Then add Magic Keyboard and Pencil.
You got the whole package. Easy way to get a MacBook on the cheap.
Knock on wood. That will be dependent on the level of developer excitement around Vision Pro. I remember when iPhone first appeared, the developer excitement with respect to creating apps for it was through the roof. Vision Pro will need that level of excitement for it have a healthy app ecosystem in just 4 years. Especially for a product that won't initially sell in large numbers.
If that's your only use case, buy a Galaxy Tab S6 Lite for $200 (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WZ13CBS).
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Haha! Exactly… Samsung make some great tablets if you don’t need anything apple specific and just want watch YouTube or read some ebooks now and again. Samsung make really decent display panels, and some of their cheaper options are really good value for such use.
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Agreed.
All the fanboys will argue with you, but every product Apple has been releasing seems like a cash grab rather than actually realizing their lineups are going stale.
Instead of giving people what they want, they are milking the existing lineups as much as possible. In addition, they discontinue their best accessories in an effort to maximize profit and streamline manufacturing (airport routers, leather cases, MagSafe accessories , etc)
None of the items on roadmap seem to be inspired. Even their VR headset, looks trash.
Apple have been pretty boring for a while… yes their devices are great, and perform really well… but its been a long time since i was excited about anything apple. Probably the last big thing for me was apple watch. Vision pro might be the next big thing..
Depends if they can bring the cost down.
And pray tell, just who are these “people””. A few people clamouring for macOS on the iPad does not constitute a legitimate user base.