NEW YORK: With the aim to beat the rising demand of Microsoft and Android tablets in the market, the American IT giant, Apple, is going to launch a huge iPad called the iPad Plus later this year.
The firm is also hoping the larger screen will help it differentiate the iPad from the big screen iPhone 6 Plus. It is also believed to include an all-new Bluetooth stylus accessory with pressure sensitivity, and a new pressure sensitive screen.
A person familiar with Apple’s future product plans has revealed that the company is in fact working on an all-new iPad with a larger 12.9-inch display, according to AppleInsider. This person said that Apple is expected to include an NFC radio within the new 12.9-inch iPad. While tap-to-pay functionality in an iPad is unlikely, the inclusion of NFC could allow for an ‘iPad Pro’ to serve as a payment receiving terminal for Apple Pay.
The inclusion of NFC could also allow for simplified pairing with accessories, such as the new stylus said to be in the works. The source also indicated that the jumbo-sized iPad will sport a new touchscreen with improved touch latency.
Apple’s next-generation iPhone, referred to colloquially as the ‘iPhone 6s,’ will also feature the Force Touch input that is currently available on the Apple Watch and latest MacBooks, it is believed.
The iPad Pro is also expected to have a USB-C input, though they didn’t indicate whether it would be a new, second port option, or if USB-C would replace the Lightning connector found on current iPads. Cases based on allegedly leaked ‘iPad Pro’ designs
The big screen tablet is believed to be planned for release towards the end of the year. Rhoda Alexander, an analyst at market researcher IHS, said the pans were already well advanced. ‘Our supply side (sources say) it’s a go for 2015,’ Alexander told FoxNews.com. ‘The release timing is fuzzy, It may not appear until Q4 (fourth quarter) with the other iPad updates.
‘We are, however, getting input from both the component and [product] side that this is a real product, and part of their 2015 building plan.’
Apple CEO Tim Cook, in the company’s most recent earnings conference call in January, talked about the iPad’s future. ‘Over the long arc of time the iPad is a great business,’ he said. ‘I also have visibility obviously of what’s in the pipeline and feel very, very good about that.’
Earlier this month a pose on Chinese networking site Weibo leaked what it claimed were the specs for the device. Apparently, the tablet will feature a 12.9-inch display with 2K resolution, and a 7mm thin profile.
The leak also said the tablet is supposed to weigh 700g and pack a large 11,000 mAh battery, significantly bigger than the iPad Air 2’s 7,340 mAh battery. Late last year a leaked design for a case revealed more details of Apple’s much rumoured iPad tablet.
According to French blog nowhereelse.fr, the case is from a ‘reliable source’ which has previously given them advance details of Apple’s product, which the firm is notoriously secretive about.
It ‘would be equipped with a screen measuring from 12.2 to 12.9 inches diagonally,’ it says.
The tablet is also expected to have four speakers, and could even feature two charging ports allowing it to remain plugged in when in either portrait of landscape mode. It comes weeks after an image was leaked that appeared to be a mould for the device.
The photo was reportedly taken at Apple manufacturer Foxconn’s factory in China and is said to measure approximately 12 inches high by 8.7 inches wide. It follows a leaked sketch from last week that claimed to show one corner of the so-called megapad, iPad Pro or iPad Air Plus.
The latest image was posted on Chinese social network Weibo. If the rumours are true, the iPad Pro would be significantly larger than the current iPad Air 2.
Experts have estimated that the mould would produce a tablet that measures 12 inches in height, 8.7 inches wide and 0.27 inches deep (305.3mm x 220.8 mm x 7mm). By comparison, the iPad Air 2 is 9.4 inches by 6.7 inches by 0.24 inches (240mm x 169.5mm x 6.1mm).
The iPad Air 2 has a 9.7-inch display, while the iPad Pro is rumoured to have a 12.2-inch screen. This would put the Pro on par with Samsung’s 12.2-inch Galaxy Note Pro, which launched in February.
Last week’s leaked sketch, also reportedly taken by an employee who works at Foxconn seemed to show a grille that will also boast four speakers for stereo sound.
The image was released by French website Nowhere Else, which has previously leaked details from unannounced smartphones and Apple gadgets which proved to be true, citing a Foxconn source.
The source said that initial testing for the iPad Air Plus was stopped in the summer and Apple’s suppliers will soon start mass production of the tablet. The sketch suggests that the tablet will look similar to the iPad Air 2 in design, with rounded corners and the same standby button, rear camera, microphone and volume buttons placement.
However, seemingly confirming rumours that the larger tablet will offer stereo sound, there appears to be a speaker grill on the top of the shell. Japanese magazine Mac Fan claimed in December that the iPad Air Plus will also feature a much faster A9 processor and is set to launch between April and June.
Bloomberg and other publications reported that Apple was planning on releasing the device sometime in early 2015, while a recent report from The Wall Street Journal said the Californian firm had postponed mass production of the larger iPad from December 2014 into next year as suppliers struggled to meet demand for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launch.
These designs showed the gadget as just 7mm thick, but the size of the screen is uncertain, with rumours suggesting measurements between 12 inches and 12.9 inches. The first suggestion of a supersized tablet came just weeks after claims that the large screen size of the iPhone 6 Plus was impacting on iPad usage.
The release of Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus means there is now only a 2.4-inch difference between the size of the phablet’s screen, and the display on its iPad mini. Analysis has revealed that as phones become larger, more people are using them for watching videos or reading – making their tablets almost redundant.