“Apple’s new iPad Pro finally has an official launch date,” Lance Whitney reports for CNET. “The tablet will go on sale Wednesday on Apple’s website and will hit the shelves at Apple stores, authorized retailers and some wireless carriers later in the week in more than 40 countries, Apple said Monday.”
“Tablet sales have been in the doldrums for months on end as consumers have turned their attention and dollars toward large-screened smartphones. At the same time, Apple’s share of the tablet market has been dwindling,” Whitney reports. “Last quarter, iPad sales fell 20 percent from the same period a year earlier to 9.9 million units, the seventh quarter in a row that sales have fallen from the prior year and have failed to meet analyst estimates.”
“The iPad Pro is the company’s attempt to try something new and appeal to an audience that wants to do more than watch videos and play games. Apple wants consumers and business users to see the iPad Pro, which features a A9X 64-bit processor, as an alternative to a high-powered laptop,” Whitney reports. “Apple also offers an Apple Pencil pressure-sensitive stylus, an accessory clearly geared toward artists and graphic designers who need to deftly control the images they draw on the screen. A new Smart Keyboard specifically made for the iPad Pro acts as both a cover and full-sized physical keyboard, transforming the tablet into a laptop.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: When people can use iPads to do what they currently do with their MacBooks at least as efficiently, that’s when iPad sales will increase. Perhaps the iPad Pro with iOS 9 and/or the Apple Keyboard will finally achieve that inflection point. We’d hoped to see it before now, but regardless, we’ll soon see how iPad Pro performs. We can’t wait to try it out! Otherwise, Apple’s next-gen MacBook will replace the 11-inch MacBook Air units in our Crumplers.
SEE ALSO:
Apple’s 12.9-inch iPad Pro: Order online November 11th; arrives in stores later this week – November 9, 2015
