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iPad Pro to Ship in November, Will Cost $799 & Up

ipad maxiApple’s new larger tablet made its first public appearance on Wednesday, and as you can see in the image at right it is even bigger than we were expecting.

Just kidding.

The iPad Pro has the expected 12.9″ screen. It’s going to cost a minimum of $799 (for Wifi/32GB) with prices going as high as $1,079 for the model with 128GB storage and 3G/4G.

The new iPad Pro features the rumored Apple A9X CPU, and if the performance lives up to the specs this will be a heck of a processor. Apple is boasting that it has up to 1.8 times the speed of an Apple A8X chip and twice the memory bandwidth, and Apple says graphics performance has also been improved two-fold.

And given the resolution of the screen, it’s really going to need that extra power.

The iPad Pro’s 12.9″ screen sports an impressive resolution of 2,732 x 2,048 pixels. It backs that screen up with 4 stereo speakers, an 8MP camera, and a Touch ID fingerprint sensor.

ipad maxi

Apple is promising that the tablet’s battery will get 10 hours of runtime, which is not bad considering the screen, CPU, and the tablet’s weight (about one and a half pounds).

They’re also launching an optional $99 stylus (the Apple Pen, from Apple) and a custom keyboard case. That stylus will support Force Touch, the pressure sensitive touchscreen tech we’ve heard rumors about, and it will give you the ability to force-choke Captain Needa to death with only a gesture.

According to the description, the case will feature a fabric-style keyboard, and not the chiclet-style keys found elsewhere. It will retail for $169.

ipad maxi

And before I forget, the iPad Pro will be running iOS 9 (or more likely, iOS 9.1). The new OS is due out on 16 September – next Wednesday, in fact.

The iPad Pro will pack in several custom features by the time it ships in November, including the ability to run two full iOS apps side by side.

lead image via Twitter

 

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Comments


The Commons September 9, 2015 um 4:19 pm

I believe it was claimed on stage that the iPad Pro would be faster than 80% of all portable PCs (laptops, convertibles, tablets, etc.).

I wonder if the retina MacBook is included in that 80%.

Nate Hoffelder September 9, 2015 um 4:25 pm

The new Macbook One is almost certainly slower, yes.


Rob Siders September 9, 2015 um 8:53 pm

A big chunk of the remaining 20 percent of laptops can be had, with more storage and keyboard included, for less than the price of the entry level Pro plus stylus and keyboard cover. Meanwhile, tablet sales keep shrinking.


vicente September 10, 2015 um 2:18 am

It is important to remember that it weights 723gr. Elderlys will find it difficult to hold it with one hand and interact with the other one.

Nate Hoffelder September 10, 2015 um 7:13 am

Everyone will find it difficult to hold with one hand. It’s both too large (making it difficult to balance) and too thin (making it hard to grip by the edge).

I giggled when I saw the product sots of someone holding it in one hand. That is simply not possible. The closest anyone will come is holding the iPad Pro with one arm, but even that runs a high chance of ending badly.


Mackay Bell September 10, 2015 um 3:00 am

In the long run, shrinking tablet sales probably has been good for Apple, since it took the oxygen out of the market for it’s serious competitors (Apple always made most of the profits in tablets anyway). It’s difficult for Sony and Samsung to keep throwing serious money into tablet R&D if the market is "shrinking." Even deep pocketed Amazon is now focusing on the super cheap tablet market, giving up on competing directly with Apple for high end.

Short term, Apple’s tablet sales are likely to grow substantially in the next quarter. Long term, the introduction of the iPad Pro provides it with a great way to monetize R&D, investing in the best technology for it’s expensive pro version, and then letting it float down to the cheaper consumer versions. It also spurs software designers to write high end software for creators and business people, and that software will likely also be available for cheaper consumer iPads (which will keep getting more powerful).

Add into all this Apple’s embrace of business service providers like IBM, and, for Apple at least, there could be a huge turnaround in the tablet market beginning this quarter.

But yes, the iPad pro is unlikely to be popular with old people that want to hold it in one hand and interact with the other. They are better off buying a 6′ Amazon tablet and using the rest of the money to water their lawn.


Rob Siders September 10, 2015 um 10:09 am

I think there are too many things wrong with it for many people to be attracted to it. The price, as always, is a factor. But 32GB—heck, 128GB—isn’t that much for video content creators, and possibly even photogs, as well. That means they’re needing to connect to external storage, whether its a drive or a networked appliance. And if that’s the case, why wouldn’t they just use the machine they likely already have? No mouse is also an issue for a lot of content creators. To be honest, I think Apple’s still trying to find its way post-Jobs and think that’s the right thing to do. Maybe we just have to get used to singles and doubles instead of home runs.


vicente September 11, 2015 um 3:25 am

I suppose an Ipad Air 3 is not in project because Apple had released one Ipad a year until now.


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