“I was confused during Apple’s introduction of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which has a display so large, it can nearly fit two iPad Air 2s side by side. The Pro’s focus on drawing seems highly specialized. And despite some other productivity features, the iPad Pro doesn’t seem to have a natural audience,” Glenn Fleishman writes for Macworld. “Yes, it has amazing specs, but can a bigger, pencil- and keyboard-compatible iPad really be the answer to Apple’s stalled tablet sales?”
“But don’t get too caught up on what the iPad Pro is now, because it’s also a pilot fish: Apple is testing the waters for future tablet directions, all while paving the way for an ARM-based laptop running OS X,” Fleishman writes. “We can be sure that OS X is running on prototype ARM-based hardware somewhere at One or Two Infinite Loop. While Intel ticks away at producing faster and more efficient processors, Apple focuses on controlling its own destiny. It’s been this way since the return of Steve Jobs, and slowly reducing the need for Intel processors would be a reasonable path.”
“Please note that in last week’s keynote, Phil Schiller discussed iPad performance in a way Apple has previously avoided. The new tablet has a 64-bit chip that offers ‘desktop-class performance,'” Fleishman writes. “Why praise the Pro in this context if it isn’t a test to see whether the market is waiting for something that combines attributes of a laptop and a tabl et without the drawbacks of either? …Apple doesn’t have to converge entirely. It can have two distinct, parallel, and separately useful general computer operating systems with their own strengths, meeting just in the middle without ever touching.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple could converge without converging:
As 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?
Apple’s A10-powered MacPad runs OS X when the Smart Connector is docked to a base which could contain a physical keyboard, additional port(s) (USB-C), storage, a trackpad, etc. and runs iOS when undocked as an iPad.
SEE ALSO:
I don’t want an iPad Pro, I want an OS X tablet – September 3, 2015
MacPad: Apple’s 12.9-inch MacBook/iPad may offer OS X and iOS operating systems, rumors claim – October 7, 2014
Apple’s ‘iPad Pro’ a larger model, or a laptop/tablet ‘MacPad’ hybrid? – April 16, 2014
MacPad? Apple patent application reveals hybrid MacBook+iPad details – April 4, 2013
Apple’s big secret: The iOS MacBook? – March 22, 2013