Apple's 12.9-inch iPad May Extend iPad

According to rumors, Apple is working on a new large iPad, according to the Wall Street Journal, suppliers are preparing to begin production in the second half of this year. This deadline has already been rescheduled, since the initial launch was planned for the first half of the year, but due to the fact that Apple has not yet recognized the existence of this device, such changes in the timing do not surprise anyone. And the potential technical characteristics of the new device, on which, according to WSJ, Apple is working on, and which can (or cannot) be implemented in the final design, are surprising.

According to the report, Apple plans to enable USB 3.0 for faster data transfer between the large iPad and computers, external drives and other devices, and is also considering adding additional USB I / O ports for the Lightning port that is already on the current iPhone model and iPad. Technologies that can reduce battery charging time are also considered. Moreover, as reported, all these potential characteristics are only considered as possible, and may remain on the sidelines and not enter the final product.

Currently, charging your iPad Air from zero to full charge is about four hours if you charge it using the included charger. It is logical to assume that a larger device with a 12.9-inch screen can boast a more powerful battery, partly because it will have additional surface area for this, and partly because a larger screen with the same pixel density will likely require more energy to provide the same battery life as on existing iPad models. Improving the speed of charging the battery will help reduce the duration of the network connection needed to fully charge the battery.

Faster input / output and additional inputs indicate that the new iPad may have a different purpose - Apple offered to equip this device for enterprise customers and professional users, and if they really plan to follow this direction, it will make sense to provide means of connecting such devices like mouse and keyboard. USB 3.0 on this kind of device is also more important than on existing iPhone and iPad models, as binding to a computer is becoming less and less important for most ordinary users of mobile devices. For users who are more business-oriented or are constantly working with large files (creative workers, for example), this type of connection is more justified.

Similar to rumors of a stylus previously developed for the larger iPad, many will ignore the new features offered, as they completely go beyond the current development trend of iPad and iOS devices. Earlier, Apple completely denied the external ports, and, in fact, according to another rumor, this time about the 12-inch MacBook Air, the company reduces the number of inputs / outputs on this device to one, which suggests that the company has an absolutely opposite approach to industrial aesthetics. Despite a good reason to be skeptical about the iPad Pro with its range of ports, their complete exclusion seems premature, given the latest trends in the company.

In general, the existence of a larger iPad is already a rather complicated scenario, which not many will understand, given the modern set of Apple products and the niche that a 12.9-inch tablet can occupy. And the Apple Watch is another example of the case when not everyone understood the value of Apple's plans. One can argue that today it’s quite difficult to trace the direction of Apple’s activity, since, despite the fact that the solutions still look confident and, in my opinion, ultimately lead to greater success, the main changes that have occurred in recent years will complicate the forecasting. future steps.

In general, while the growing number of ports on the iPad with a diagonal of 12.9 inches does not look like an “Apple move,” it can become the foundation from which new ideas for creative and commercial purposes will be based. Based on Apple’s ongoing focus on creative iOS and Mac apps and its partnership with IBM, we can conclude that both of these markets are becoming increasingly desirable for Silicon Valley.