“KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo again hinted that Apple’s iPad Pro will go into commercial production next month or by October,” Alcaraz Research writes for Seeking Alpha. “Kuo also said the 12.9-inch iPad Pro will come with a Force Touch-enabled Stylus.”
“The persistent rumor of a high-end iPad Pro can lead to Apple being forced to use an x86 processor from Intel. Up until now, Adobe, Autodesk, and Apple has yet to find a way on how to recompile full versions of x86-only industry standard software (Photoshop CC , AutoCAD, Final Cut Pro) so they will work on ARM-based processors like Apple’s A8,” Alcaraz Research writes. “Graphic artists will deride a $1,499 Apple iPad Pro that cannot even run Adobe Photoshop CC or Illustrator CC. That is now the predicament of Apple. Without full compatibility with x86/x64 software, a 12.9-inch iPad Pro is just a glorified iPad Air.”
“The majority of creative/design professionals will only give serious thoughts of buying an iPad Pro if it runs native x86 industry standard programs,” Alcaraz Research writes. “The ideal iPad Pro therefore should be a detachable version of the fanless Intel Core-M powered MacBook 2015. It ought to run Mac OS X (not iOS 9), have an stylus and touchscreen support, and a Core i5 processor.”
MacDailyNews Take: Most of this is poppycock. Apple isn’t “forced” to do anything (except, perhaps, to extinguish irrational stock price bonfires before they rage out of control). Anyone who’s used a 64-bit Apple A8X-powered iPad Air 2 with iOS 9 running serious apps understands the tremendous power and capabilities of iPad, unlike Alcaraz Research (which seems to have limited iPad experience, if any). Graphic artists are a small percentage of the potential market for a 12.9-inch iPad Pro. OS X can run on Apple A-series processors and most certainly does in Apple’s labs. Vice versa, Apple likely maintains iOS on Intel versions as well.
Regardless of processor(s) used, this brings to mind a question we asked last October about a theoretical “MacPad” – Anyone in the market for a 12.9-inch device that’s an OS X-powered MacBook when docked with its keyboard base and an iOS-powered iPad when undocked?
Illustration from Apple’s hybrid Mac-iPad patent application
