In an effort to raise tablet sales, tech giant Apple is working on the iPad Pro - a 12.9-inch device packed with powerful features which will most likely change the tablet playing field in Q4 2015.
"Over the long arc of time the iPad is a great business. I also have visibility obviously of what's in the pipeline and feel very, very good about that," Apple CEO Tim Cook said.
"Our supply side (sources say) it's a go for 2015. 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," Information Handling Services analyst Rhoda Alexander said in an interview.
According to recently leaked information regarding the iPad Pro's specs, it will have a 12.9-inch display with 2K resolution, and a 7mm thin profile. The device is estimated to weigh 700g, and will have an A9 processor and an 11,000 mAh battery. For connectivity, the USB-C and a Lightning connector will be included.
The iPad Pro is also going to have NFC, allowing it to work as a terminal for receiving Apple Pay transactions and to connect it to a pressure-sensitive Bluetooth stylus.
But will the iPad Pro be enough to halt Apple's downhill tablet sales figures?
"We're clearly seeing cannibalization from iPhone and, on the other side, from the Mac. Of course, as I've said before, we've never worried about that. It is what it is. That will play out. At some point it will stabilize. I'm not sure precisely when but I'm pretty confident that it will," Cook said about iPad sales during Apple's recent earnings call.
Apple sold over 12 million iPads in Q1 2015, which is down 23% down from last year's figures. Apple expects a further decline in sales due to the increasing demand for larger smartphones.
"Personally, I don't buy it (the demand for larger smartphones as the reason of sakes decline). As seen by last year's refreshes of both the iPad Air and the iPad mini, the Air remains Apple's focus," said UK journalist and tech writer Luke Dormehl.
"Hopefully a larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro later this year could reverse that decline by further differentiating the iPad and iPhone product lines," he added.
Is the iPad Pro the device that will change the way people see tablets? Hopefully, Apple will be able to revolutionize with this one and finally set it apart from their other devices.
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