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iPad Pro What does Apple do for an IPad Pro in 2020

Alaxlmartin

Alaxlmartin

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 20, 2018
314
124
Option 1:
Better Cameras
Spec Bump
Spring

Option 2:
Miini LED
with the other 2 in October

Option 3:
Nothing or something else (state in comments)
 
Alaxlmartin said:
Kuo says Micro LED is coming in October

Why should a current owner upgrade without it being MicroLED if that is the release?
Click to expand...

I mean, Kuo has a better track record than me, so I do encourage believing him over me, but here's my take:

Micro-LED still isn't ready for the kind of scale of deployment the iPad would require. Maybe October, sure, but I think Apple would want to refresh the Pro in March honestly. Perhaps two refresh in one year but that also seems low-probability to me.

Why a current owner should upgrade; Well, if you have the latest pro right now, you shouldn't. Same way you probably shouldn't upgrade from Apple Watch Series 4 to 5 or every single time a new Mac comes out. An upgrade for a product segment that has reached relative stability isn't about enticing people already on the latest platform to go to the brand new one. Some will, sure, but it's more often about giving extra reason for people with 2 or 3 generation old hardware to jump to the newer one.
 
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The rumor is for mini-LED, not micro. Kuo singled out the 12.9” in that note; I sure hope the 11” keeps feature parity and upgrade timeline with the bigger one.

For next gen I could see a beefed up chassis, maybe no difference in outward appearance but reinforced more internally, stronger aluminum or something.
 
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EssModelsRule said:
The rumor is for mini-LED, not micro. Kuo singled out the 12.9” in that note; I sure hope the 11” keeps feature parity and upgrade timeline with the bigger one.

For next gen I could see a beefed up chassis, maybe no difference in outward appearance but reinforced more internally, stronger aluminum or something.
Click to expand...


For me it is the new LED or no buy
 
casperes1996 said:
I mean, Kuo has a better track record than me, so I do encourage believing him over me, but here's my take:

Micro-LED still isn't ready for the kind of scale of deployment the iPad would require. Maybe October, sure, but I think Apple would want to refresh the Pro in March honestly. Perhaps two refresh in one year but that also seems low-probability to me.

Why a current owner should upgrade; Well, if you have the latest pro right now, you shouldn't. Same way you probably shouldn't upgrade from Apple Watch Series 4 to 5 or every single time a new Mac comes out. An upgrade for a product segment that has reached relative stability isn't about enticing people already on the latest platform to go to the brand new one. Some will, sure, but it's more often about giving extra reason for people with 2 or 3 generation old hardware to jump to the newer one.
Click to expand...

I think I read the rumor actually was the 11 inch pro will get updated in March with a conventional LCD screen and other specs while the 12.9 gets updated in October with the micro-LED screen but who knows.
 
It won’t be a spec bump. If we are looking at new iphone styles next year then we are looking at new iPad styles too. Whilst I hope to see a March release I think we may see an October release. If they were going to spec bump then that was the October just gone which never materialised. We won’t 2 releases within a few months of each other.
 
Last edited:
Apple should just go with Option 1 in early 2020, followed by the Mini-LED intro in late 2020. Don’t wait 2 years for an update.

And they really should introduce the mini-LED screens for both 12.9” and 11”, rather than just the 12.9”, as reported earlier.
 
if mini led is coming in October then surely we won't see any upgrade til then either? as would be nuts to upgrade the 11 inch in march then 12.9 in October?
 
AutomaticApple said:
It'd be ridiculous if Apple has waited two years to simply just release an iPad Pro with a spec bump. I'm going with option 1.
Click to expand...

A camera bump doesn’t strike me as a very exciting improvement for a tablet though. It will likely have at least 1 new hardware feature to serve as a selling point. Can’t think of any at the moment though.
 
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Yeah nobody cares about camera on an iPad. Only 1 in 1000 (dumb) tourist you occasionally see taking pics with an iPad. I wish Apple focused on other things for next iPad Pro release.
 
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delta0 said:
It won’t be a spec bump. If we are looking at new iphone styles next year then we are looking at new iPad styles too. Whilst I hope to see a March release I think we may see an October release. If they were going to spec bump then that was the October just gone which never materialised. We won’t 2 releases within a few months of each other.
Click to expand...
No we aren't. The iPad just went through it's biggest redesign in the history of the device. iPhone features always come to the iPad 1 year later. Apple is not redesigning them, they will get a small spec bump with the possibility of a new display and that's it. Apple didn't invest all that time, money, and R&D only to refresh the iPad Pros design again within 18 months. iPhones now get significant changes every 3 years, why would the iPads be the exception to Apple's design rules.
 
bpeeps said:
No we aren't. The iPad just went through it's biggest redesign in the history of the device. iPhone features always come to the iPad 1 year later. Apple is not redesigning them, they will get a small spec bump with the possibility of a new display and that's it. Apple didn't invest all that time, money, and R&D only to refresh the iPad Pros design again within 18 months. iPhones now get significant changes every 3 years, why would the iPads be the exception to Apple's design rules.
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A 2 year cycle is also unusual
 
iPad is pretty good as it is but it can always use a faster processor and more RAM. 2-year cycle is unusual. As iPhone has OLED, miniLED can be introduced in the spring for iPads without impacting on iPhone sells. Market is probably not ready for a larger iPad.
 
delta0 said:
A 2 year cycle is also unusual
Click to expand...
The Mac is already on a 2-year cycle for some products.

If Apple doesn't think they have enough features to justify an iPad Pro update, they just might string it out to 2 years. It's not like it's facing any real competition in the mobile tablet front, and I don't mind waiting a little longer and getting the A14X chip over the A13X.

Though I suspect Apple might just slap on a new processor, camera and screen and call it a day.
 
The weakest aspect of the iPad is the writing surface. The pencil is really great, but we are still writing on a slippery glass surface. The biggest improvement Apple could make would be to make the experience of writing on an iPad more like writing on paper.
 
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