Rumor Mill Predictions: Apple (AAPL) iPad Air Pro
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been on a roll in 2014, releasing the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus to widespread commercial success, and announcing the much-hyped Apple Watch, among other products such as the 5K retina iMac. Releasing the iPad Air 2 was a move that was particularly appreciated by the tech crowd and Apple fans alike; it garnered widespread support from unexpected quarters, including a well-known Android fansite.
The most hotly-debated product that Apple has yet to release, or even unveil, has been the Apple iPad Air Pro, also known as the iPad Air Plus in other tech circles. Speculation is rife that it will eventually be released as a sibling to the iPad Air 2 as an increasing amount of devices continue to enjoy sustained amounts of success in this area, including the Surface Pro 3.
The prime concern is that the iPad Air Pro or Plus would effectively compete directly with the Apple MacBook Air, which comes in 11 and 13-inch variants. As the iPad Air Pro is rumored to be between 12.2 and 12.9 inches, it would effectively cannibalize the sale of Apple products with a similar price tag, something that the Cupertino-based company would not be too enthusiastic about.
That being said, Apple has reportedly considered launching such a device for some time now, and the iPad Air Pro (or Plus) makes absolute sense from a product's standpoint. This is due to the success enjoyed by Microsoft in the larger tablet segment coupled with the fact that Apple is now trying to push the iPad to business users, citing productivity as one of its most significant aspects for newer customers. The fact that Apple is going to gain a very small increase in the tablet market share going into 2015 is another reason which might goad the hardware giant into action.
The device is expected to launch in the September/October launch window, alongside the rumored Apple iPhone 6S and 6 Plus, and will mark a fresh high in terms of hardware for an iOS device. It is expected to sport a Retina HD display with a 4K resolution (or an extremely high-end display comparable) with the Apple MacBook Pro's pixels per inch (PPI) on offer. It is also expected to have an A9X+ processor, a more powerful variant of the A9 which will be found Apple iPhone 6S and the Apple iPad Air 3's A9X. Connectivity will be as per standards, with thunderbolt coupled with USB 3.0 on-the-go (OTG) support coupled with 4G LTE and Wi-Fi standard 802.11 AC. Rumors speculate that it will be thinner than or as thin as the iPad Air 3 offered to consumers simultaneously. A more discrete addition would be of a stylus, the first of its kind, directly produced by Apple for its consumers including graphic artists and writers amongst others which will allow them to push the iPad Air Pro as a separate product with its own niche category.
Sporting iOS 9, the largest break for the product will be that it offers true multitasking with 4GB of RAM, something that most tech sites claim will not be sported by the iPad Mini product line, due to hardware restrictions. This is deemed necessary going forward, simply because of the fact that competing tablets from Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android and Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Window-powered devices already offer "true" multitasking with multiple apps being allowed to run side-by-side.
Battery life is a prime concern, as tablets get larger and people depend on them more heavily. To maintain a standard nine hours of battery life with the larger screen in tow, Apple would need a battery that packs significant power. Estimates run greater than 30 WHr for the device. Due to potential conflicts between their product lines, there would not be an OS X variant of the iPad Air Pro, but iOS 9 would effectively remove much of the hardware gap between the two platforms (OS X & iOS). Adding to the list would be a slightly reduced bezel to appease some of Apple fans coupled with a 13-megapixel back-camera, coupled with a 5-megapixel front camera, allowing much more visual fidelity for those who require it from their devices, eliminating the need for separate cameras. Camera flash might also be discretely added to this model.
There is a general consensus on the expected model starting at 16GB with a starting price point of $799 for the base model without LTE. While most find it expensive, they agree that it would have to price in the fact that it competes directly with the MacBook Air in terms of the target market. Models could offer as much as 256GB in terms of internal storage, coupled with 3G or 4G LTE connectivity for consumers who would like to conduct their business or work on the go. An optional Apple keyboard to match the iPad Air Pro is also a hot topic when considering the model.
The Apple iPad Pro becomes an increasingly obvious transition for Apple primarily due to negligible projected growth in its tablet sector, coupled with successes enjoyed by other manufacturers in the high-end tablet market. It is more of a reactionary product release than a new concept for the company, but promises to be exciting as a product for developers and users alike. A larger battery, a higher resolution screen, and industry-standard hardware is almost a given for the device, as are all existing hardware solutions such as Touch ID for users. However, an interesting aspect of the device launch would be to see how Apple handles the thin gap between iOS and OS X with the launch of devices that grow increasingly close to each another in terms of functionality and performance. This comes in the light of an increasingly impressive spec sheet being rumored for the Surface Pro 4, which launches in mid-2014. While the product will undoubtedly enjoy significant commercial success, the fact that it might already disrupt Apple product lines and their market share is potentially the reason why it has yet to see the light of day.
~Kris M.
Posted by: Just Murray <krismurray@gmail.com>
| Reply via web post | • | Reply to sender | • | Reply to group | • | Start a New Topic | • | Messages in this topic (1) |
