“When it comes to the tablet market, there’s the iPad and there’s everybody else,” Jason Cross writes for Macworld. “Apple dominates the market, especially in the premium price range.”
“Apple has been kept things fresh with new models like the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and new technologies like Apple Pencil and ProMotion,” Cross writes. “But the fundamental design of the iPad hasn’t changed much in years. That could all change in 2018, as Apple gives use the first holistic new iPad design in a very long time.”
“KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who regularly leaks upcoming Apple device details based on conversations with Apple’s suppliers, believes that at least one model of iPad in 2018 will take its cues from the iPhone X,” Cross writes. “While the iPhone X has an OLED display, the new iPad is expected to keep its LCD. There are no 120Hz mobile OLED panels yet and Apple will want to keep the ProMotion feature. And besides, an OLED display that large would be quite expensive.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Will the Home button begin to go the way of the dodo on iPad, too?
After a month with iPhone X, we certainly hope so!
I currently own a 10.5 inch 256 GB cellular iPad Pro. If the iPad Pro is redesigned to incorporate Face ID, I will immediately upgrade. I find using it and the new navigation gestures on my iPhone X simply delightful.
I look forward to a refreshed 12.9” iPad with a faster processor, thinner bezel and a version 2 Pencil with better friction on the iPad surface.
I finally broke down and bought the iPhone X (mainly because the Apple Store near me at the time had the space gray/256GB in stock and I could walk out the door with it).
Comments:
1. Still too big (upgraded from an SE which is the perfect one-handed size [and I have *big* hands]). It’s a two-hand experience or fumble around with one hand. Obviously, this doesn’t apply to the iPad, which is definitely two hands.
2. Although I’ve gotten used to not using the home button, I still prefer having it (bezel and all). I would miss it terribly if it were taken away from the iPad. While bezel-to-bezel screen might make sense on the iPhone (to get the thing to fit in my pocket, unlike my old 6+ which didn’t), I just don’t see the need on an iPad Pro. Saving a few millimeters in size just isn’t that important on an iPad which is going to be large, anyway.
3. Face ID works amazingly well. Touch ID worked great on my iPhones; I’ve never been happy with it on the iPad (whatever the problem, probably size of the whole instrument, it has never worked as flawlessly as on the iPhone). I would welcome Face ID on the iPad, particularly if it worked in landscape as well as portrait orientation.
4. The camera on the iPhone X is amazing. This is the first iPhone I’ve ever had where I’ve set aside my point-and-shoot (Panasonic Lumix 100) and just used my iPhone for snapshots. The optics still aren’t quite there (can’t beat the 10x optical zoom of the Lumix) but the benefits of the better lens doesn’t justify packing the Lumix anymore. Of course, for *real* pictures I still pack up my Canon with about 25 pounds of “L” lenses (8-15, 16-35, 24-70, 50 f1.2, 100 macro, 70-200, and a 70-300 DO) if I’m going to shoot “real” pictures. No phone compares to a decent DSLR system (and doubtful that a phone camera ever will) but the iPhone X camera has definitely gotten to the point where it’s not worth carrying around a (decent) point and shoot anymore. I have never used the camera on my iPad Pro for anything other than FaceTime calls. If AR/VR becomes real, I could see using the camera on an iPad for that, but otherwise I see no point in an advanced camera on an iPad. YMMV.
5. 90% of my iPad Pro usage is media consumption. I am very happy with the original iPad Pro that I own. I certainly wouldn’t buy one for the faster processor (I want faster processors on my Mac, but I don’t do the kind of heavy lifting on my iPad that I do on my Macs).
6. I would buy a new iPad if it had an OLED display. That was the main reason for my getting the iPhone X. It truly is an amazing display. Just as I upgraded from the iPad 2 to the iPad 3 to get the retina display (then the iPad Pro to get the larger display), I’d upgrade my original iPad Pro to get an OLED display (as long as it was in the 12″ range). To me, the display would be the main thing that would cause me to give up my current iPad Pro and immediately upgrade. There might be some other must-have feature that comes along, but there’s nothing on the iPhone X other than the display that would cause me to immediately upgrade if that feature appeared on an iPad tomorrow (including Face ID).
With respect to the iPhone X, I sure wish they made a smaller version (somewhere between the iPhone SE and the X). I really miss easy one-handed navigation, I miss having the on-off button at the top of the phone (where it belongs), I miss it fitting effortlessly in my pocket (even with a case), and I wish the X was a little thicker (get rid of the camera bump, add more battery, and make it easier to hold; FWIW, I did get an Apple silicon case which gives me two out of three of those, at the expense of making it a little less pocketable). If an SE form-factor unit appeared with the other features of the X, I’d sell my X in an instant and switch to that phone.
Wow! These rumors are great. I am so hyped. I just can’t wait. Tell me more, please. I am trembling with anticipation. Do you think realease a of iPad will coincide with HomePod and new Mac Pros? Don’t leave me hanging, I gots to know.
All those other great products are still out there, waiting for you.
If the new iPad Pro 2018 has near full screen display, then potentially the 12.9” display could be increased to near 14” without increasing size of the device which would be useful for using split screen. Face ID would be nice, but only if it can be used in any orientation
I completely agree! I would love to have an almost all screen iPad, and with the Apple Pencil would be fantastic!
I think, Jonathan, you make a good point about the possibility of a near full screen display on the current 12.9 inch iPad Pro in 2018. And I would gladly pay extra to have that new more full screen, then comparable to the screen size of a MacBook Pro 15,” be an OLED Screen.
I just love writing about Apple vapor ware. In my imagination, it’s so much better than what Apple actually releases.