Mike Peterson
Display analyst Ross Young has walked back rumors of a 14.1-inch iPad Pro, stating that the supersized tablet would be a lower-tier iPad model without ProMotion or a mini LED display.
Initially, Young and his Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) firm said that the new tablet would be an iPad Pro model with a 14.1-inch display and an M2 chip. Upon further discussions with his supply chain sources, Young has updated that prediction.
In a tweet to Super Followers, the analyst says that the device won't have mini LED backlighting after all and will instead rely on regular LED edge lighting. Similarly, he says the device isn't likely to have ProMotion.
Despite the fact that the iPad will be missing some Pro-level features, Young still says it's coming. Citing panel and LED suppliers, the analyst says that the 14.1-inch tablet could arrive in the first quarter of 2023.
As far as why the device will lack iPad Pro features, Young explains that 14-inch panels won't be much different in pricing from 10-inch panels in 2022. That could lead to a lower possible price point — something that wouldn't be feasible with mini LED backlighting.
The timeline of the 14.1-inch iPad arriving in 2023 actually lines up with current iPad Pro predictions. According to Bloomberg, Apple is still planning on refreshing the 11-inch iPad Pro and 12.9-inch iPad Pro in the fall
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
12 Comments
This would be utterly pointless. The advantages of a larger iPad Pro are numerous to so many artists and content creators.
Please be wrong. 🙏
It is the touchscreen MacOS tablet/laptop we saw in an earlier post with the removable dock like the old Transformer series from Asus.
Detachable keyboard tablets are heavy. They are not clunky tablets, and they are not good laptops, with poor balance.
there are reasons those attempts by the wintel crowd were not successful.
as for this rumour, if there is any truth to a bigger iPad at all, weight is going to be a problem as it is. Full integration with a physical keyboard instead of the current iPad solution would be horrible.
I think it is possible a lower spec big iPad is possible, but the way Apple ticks is bigger devices are premium products at a premium price.
Oh the humanity.
Maybe they're experimenting with something akin to the Echo Show 15. A wall mounted hub for hosting apps like Home, some sort of shared family bulletin/status/schedules/whiteboard kind of thing plus media player, photos, FaceTime, weather, etc., kind of stuff.
Here's the thing, Apple's iPad Pros have shown us that Apple can get quite decent sound from an iPad form factor device, so maybe this is the HomePod Video I've been asking for? Wasn't there an embedded reference to a new HomePod version discovered recently?
I'd like nothing less than to see a HomePod Video that resembles the hideous "Tablet on a Stump" that Amazon and Facebook have already done. If Apple can get good sound from of a nearly flat device - and one that uses HomePod minis as satellite speakers - I think they will be on to something rather interesting. Having a real home for the Home hub in a permanently mounted display device would be awesome as well.