Apple iPad Pro announced

[fjtorres]

From NBC News:

http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/gadgets/...w-ipad-n424221

The tablet features a 12.9-inch screen, which is much bigger than the iPad Air 2, which has a screen that measures "only" 9.7 inches. The iPad Pro's screen features 5.6 million pixels, which is more pixels than are packed into the Retina display on the 15-inch MacBook Pro.

Apple is releasing a few accessories to go along with the new iPad Pro, including a stylus called the Apple Pencil and a soft keyboard called the Smart Keyboard.

The new tablet is 1.8 times faster than the iPad Air 2, thanks to its A9X processor, according to Apple. The company also claimed that the iPad Pro can last 10 hours on a single charge.

The iPad Pro has a supersized price to go along with its giant screen: $799 for 32 gigabytes of storage. It will become available in November in silver, gold, and space gray.

Add the max level of memory, 128 gigabytes, and LTE connectivity and the price jumps to $1079, which is actually more expensive than the starting price for the MacBook Air.

[fjtorres]

ZDNET analysis:
http://www.zdnet.com/article/apple-l...tag=TREc64629f

Apple on Wednesday outlined its iPad Pro, a 12.9-inch tablet that's primarily aimed at corporations that have already bet on the iPhone and iOS. However, Apple execs also made a prosumer case too and argued that the iPad Pro is desktop class.

The iPad Pro addresses a hole in Apple's enterprise line-up---increasingly popular 2-in-1 devices.

Phil Schiller, Apple's marketing chief, said the iPad Pro, has a 12.9 inch diagonal screen. "It's as wide as iPad Air is tall," said Schiller, who also outlined a physical keyboard. In many respects, the iPad Pro looks a lot like the Surface. Apple did introduce a stylus that it calls Apple Pencil. Nevertheless, the resemblance to the Surface is obvious.

What remains to be seen is whether Apple's iPad Pro will take sales from the MacBook within companies. Apple has formed partnerships with Cisco and IBM to create differentiated iOS apps in companies. A large screen iPad would be able to show off those applications better.

Another wild card for the iPad Pro is how much consumer appeal the device will have. Strategically, the iPad Pro is important since Apple is increasingly dependent on the iPhone for the bulk of its revenue.

A few pictures, too.

[fjtorres]

Zdnet also had this earlier this week:

http://www.zdnet.com/article/i-dont-...n-os-x-tablet/

So I don't see the need for an iPad any more -- regular, mini, or pro -- but what I do carry around with me is my MacBook Pro, so if Apple were to come out with an OS X tablet, I'd be all over it.

In fact, Apple has all the pieces in place to come out with an OS X tablet. Take one new MacBook, pry out the keyboard and duct tape the display to the body and there you have it, an OS X-powered MacBook tablet.

OK, I'm sure Apple would do things a little more elegantly than that, but the innovation crammed inside Apple's current MacBook looks eerily similar to that of a tablet.

Look at what Apple's MacBook brings to the table. A super-thin 12-inch retina-display panel, a tiny logic board featuring a fanless Intel Core M "Broadwell" processor drawing only 5 watts, terraced batteries that allows every nook and cranny to be filled with power, and a single USB-C port that handles power and connectivity.

Even the 29W USB-C power adapter is not much bigger than the one for the iPad. And it even features a detachable cord.

Just remove the physical keyboard and add a touchscreen display and "BOOM!" you have a tablet.

It'll be interesting to see how the corporate types respond to the iPad Pro vs Macbook question.

[HarryT]

A small correction; the iPad Pro isn't "released", it's simply announced. It's released in November.

[HarryT]

Anyone know if the stylus will work on all iPads, or just on the Pro?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by HarryT

A small correction; the iPad Pro isn't "released", it's simply announced. It's released in November.

I won't be offended if you correct the title.

[HarryT]

Changed .

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Anyone know if the stylus will work on all iPads, or just on the Pro?

Apparently iPad Pro only:

http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/table...date-confirmed

Apple Pencil is a white digital stylus that follows Apple’s typical minimalist design, with a digitiser in the tip and a Lightning connector on the other end. It should last ‘for hours’ on a single charge, but when you’re out of power you can plug the Pencil into the iPad Pro’s Lightning port to draw some extra juice from your tablet.

Again, the Apple Pencil is an entirely optional accessory, but it's easy to see graphic designers, artists and other media professionals will be keen to pick one up. It should cost $90 in the US, meaning UK customers can expect to pay around £75 when it arrives in November.

Although the rumours had suggested the iPad Pro would have a 4K resolution display, that turned out not to be the case. The 4:3 panel instead has a 2,742x2048 display, with a variable refresh rate to save energy when the screen isn’t showing any moving images.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/9/928...e-release-date

When you're using the Pencil, the iPad Pro increases the amount of scanning on the surface of the display to improve accuracy. The Apple Pencil has sensitivity sensors so you can press lightly for brief strokes or harder for wider strokes. Apple claims it feels like a true writing or drawing instrument.

It sounds like they're using light pen technology. So without variable scanning it won't work as well (maybe at all?).

No eraser or trigger buttons.

[HarryT]

Many thanks - that's what I expected would be the case.

Originally Posted by HarryT

Many thanks - that's what I expected would be the case.

They made sure to mention at least twice that it was for iPad Pro only. I watched the entire presentation this morning, rather than relying on 3rd party websites with questionable reporting. I was actually impressed with the Pro's ability to draw at a single pixel level. But I don't think it is really worth $799 for the lowest model plus another $99 for the stylus.

The phone lived up to their "S" tradition of being "Slight" improvements of the 6 models. The other non-Pro iPads were barely mentioned, so no great improvements there either. Not much in new A Watch stuff either.

The new Apple TV has some pretty good improvements including Siri control and a much better remote. But I rarely use my current Apple TV, so no big deal for me.

[AkiraReader]

I'm in. Reading PDFs on this thing will be wonderful (at least until the backlight starts straining my eyes).

[HarryT]

Do you have a problem reading PDFs on the current iPad? I have an iPad Air 2 and find it superb for PDFs. I can read a full screen A4/Letter PDF without having to zoom or scroll.

[HappyMartin]

It's a curious device. Not sure I would have a use for it. It wouldn't replace my laptop as I can't tether a camera to it and wifi is still way too slow for commercial applications with large MP cameras. No way to profile or calibrate the display either at the moment. No storage space to speak of either. I need at least a TB for a big shoot. Perhaps one day. The convenience would be wonderful.

I'm sure a lot of people will find it useful.

[AkiraReader]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Do you have a problem reading PDFs on the current iPad? I have an iPad Air 2 and find it superb for PDFs. I can read a full screen A4/Letter PDF without having to zoom or scroll.

Some of my tech PDFs have graphics with absurdly small fonts. And of course bigger is better. 😀

[jocampo]

I wonder how it works or potentially could work on my IT related books and PDFs. This may be too heavy?