It has been previously reported that the next iPhones of the American tech giant would come out on September 9 during Apple’s annual iPhone launching event. It has been said that the upcoming iPhones – the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus – shall also be launched with at least two other devices from the Cupertino-based tech company.
These devices are the Apple Watch 2 and the 2016 Apple MacBook Pro, which have been rumored first to both come out during the company’s “Let Us Loop You In” event in March, and then again during the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June this year. In both major Apple events, the two devices were not launched.
The latest rumors about Apple’s upcoming September event is that a fourth important device from Apple shall be joining the fray and it is going to be the iPad Pro 2.
It can be recalled that the first iPad Pro was launched in September last year along with the latest iPhones – the iPhone 6S and the iPhone 6S Plus – but it was only in November of the same year that the combination laptop-tablet was officially released to the retail markets.
However, just like what happened to the Apple Watch 2 and the 2016 Apple MacBook Pro which did not come out in two past events, it is best to take the information about the inclusion of the Apple iPad Pro 2 on the September launching event with a pinch of salt
A variation in size
When the Apple iPad Pro came out to the market, it was the biggest iPad ever as it featured a 12.9-inch screen.
Reports now have it that when the iPad Pro 2 comes out, it shall only be featuring a 10.5-inch screen, which means that it would have a smaller display that is approximately 2.4 inches less, diagonally that is, than its predecessor, reports the Christian Times.
In addition, there are also speculations saying that the Apple iPad Pro 2 might be officially called as the iPad Pro 2016.
It shall feature an A10X 10nm processor, which would make it again the best in its class because it is far better than the A9X chipset that was used in older iPad models.
There are also reports saying that the iPad Pro 2 shall also have a companion tablet and it is going to be called as the iPad Pro Mini.
It could be recalled that Apple has already released smaller versions of its previous iPad lines and it referred to the devices as the iPad mini. The gadget actually has undergone three major refreshes, the last of which was the iPad mini 4 launched alongside the iPad Pro last year.
According to reports, the iPad Pro Mini may also put an end to the iPad mini line of Apple. Instead of the iPad mini 5, the iPad Pro Mini shall take its place.
A surprising product offering
There are skeptics who are saying that there will be no launching of the iPad Pro 2 in the September event because it was only lately that the device and the iPad Pro Mini made it to the rumor mills, cites the Macworld of UK.
It is possible that the speculations were merely based on assumptions since the Apple iPad Pro shall be officially making its one-year market cycle in November this year.
Apple has also released in March the iPad Pro 9.7-inch and releasing another iPad Pro this year with a rumored screen size of 10.5 inches would be counter-productive because the new device would likely eat up on the market of the previous device, which has yet to complete its one-year market cycle.
Incidentally, there has been a study that indicates that people do not update their iPads as often as they do on their iPhones, while only 6% of the respondents say that they get a new iPad every year.
Ming-Chi Kuo, a market analyst, and a reputable Apple information source, has published a report making predictions about Apple’s moves over the next couple of years.
Interestingly, Ming-Chi Kuo is cautious in his iPad sales predictions, cutting a previous estimate of 45 to 50 million for the year to 35 to 40 million, partly because of a lack of new products in the near term.