Apple's 12.9" iPad will feature Bluetooth stylus, Force Touch, NFC & more, source says

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  • Reply 41 of 129
    ericthehalfbeeericthehalfbee Posts: 4,484member
    Wait, but Jobs, in 2007, said the finger was the best stylus in the world. They can't possibly renege on what was said eight years in the tech industry.

    Not sure why people didn't get the sarcasm here. Seems obvious things Jobs said were applicable at the time he said them.

    jameskatt2 wrote: »
    A bluetooth stylus is SILLY. Why would Apple want to make things more complicated? You would have to keep the stylus charged also. And USB 3.0 peripherals like hard drives will interfere with the stylus.

    With Force Touch, there is ZERO NEED for a bluetooth stylus.
    With NFC, there is ZERO NEED for a bluetooth stylus.

    Force Touch doesn't have hundreds of levels of pressure like many stylii have. And artists like pressure sensitivity to control things like brush stroke.

    agramonte wrote: »
    It is called a cintiq

    I think Wacom would be very worried about an iPad Pro with a proper stylus. The Cintiq 13HD only has a 1080P screen (the iPad will probably be 3072x2048 to handle 2 existing 2048x1536 iPad screens at once). The Cintiq doesn't really run an OS or Apps and is basically a glorified input device. It weighs a whopping 1.2kg. And sells for $799.

    Apple could easily hit the $799 target price. Current iPad is $499. So an extra $100 for the larger screen, another $100 for the stylus and $100 for the new processor and extra RAM. Same price as the Cintuq, lighter weight, better build quality, ability to work standalone and run other software for the same price.
  • Reply 43 of 129
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by macinthe408 View Post



    It's obvious you read my first sentence and never got to the second. My point is that Apple is very well entitled to change their collective minds based on the swift currents of the tech industry.



    I totally get Apple potentially releasing a stylus, given Force Touch's release and functionality.

     

    So your comment was sarcastic? In that case, I withdraw my criticism of your comment. I do suggest however, that in the future, you should make your sarcasm more extreme, so that it's easier to detect on the internet.

  • Reply 44 of 129
    theothergeofftheothergeoff Posts: 2,081member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by macinthe408 View Post



    Wait, but Jobs, in 2007, said the finger was the best stylus in the world. They can't possibly renege on what was said eight years in the tech industry.



    [removed... this subthread has been adequately abused....]

  • Reply 45 of 129
    rp2011rp2011 Posts: 159member
    It cold be nice for artists and people who use the iPad as their primary media streaming device.

    The ability to add a keyboard/mouse and ability to process more powerful pro software such as full blown photoshop, illustrator and pro sound and video, then it would become an indispensable artists tool.

    Let's see what they deliver.
  • Reply 46 of 129
    satchmosatchmo Posts: 2,699member
    Current BT solutions have been workarounds given the iPad's capacitive screen.

    A digitizer would be nice but frankly as long as Apple's implementation of a stylus is on par with Wacom's Cintiq or even Surface 3 Pro, I don't care if it's Bluetooth or force touch.
  • Reply 47 of 129
    laytechlaytech Posts: 334member
    Wait, but Jobs, in 2007, said the finger was the best stylus in the world. They can't possibly renege on what was said eight years in the tech industry.

    Is that true... Stylis feels very 1990's but I guess we can't escape the fine control it offers. Who knows are they going to "reinvent" the styles?
  • Reply 48 of 129
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    magman1979 wrote: »
    I highly doubt Apple will dump the Lightning connector, as it's a gateway to a multitude of accessories that are shareable amongst all the iOS devices.
    I think it is highly probably that they will dump Lightening. Lightening is a proprietary port and as such materially impacts the sales potential of the iPad lineup. The lack of a standard and open port is a huge problem for wider implementation of the iPad in more traditional touch screen locations.
    This one part already makes me cast serious doubt on the validity of these claims, and as always, it's from a source "close to Apple", so someone could actually be talking out of their posterior and there'd be no way to verify this.
    Well this is true. However I'm confident that something is happening with the iPad line up. A technology shakeup like moving to USB-C, along with the easy ability to load drivers, could spur a dramatic increase in alternative uses for iPad. IPads would make for fantastic interfaces to electronic products nstrumentation for example.
    I suppose this was inevitable, as we're past the release of the ?WATCH, and there's still not much known about the upcoming iPhone, so they had to start spewing rumours on something!

    I can see the iPhone and iPad moving apart technology wise. The screen size and higher performance will lead to an adaptation of iOS.
  • Reply 49 of 129
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member

    There's another reason to believe that "dump the Lightning connector" is probably unlikely in the near future: it's part of the MFi program.<span style="line-height:1.4em;"> </span>

    MiFi is exactly why they should want to delete Lightening. It limits implementation of iPad to those people willing to screw around with the MiFi program and as such that critically limits who will develop external devices suitable for use with iPad.

    Dumping MiFi would dramatically reduce the resistance to the development of custom drivers for USB-C hardware. The elimination of MiFi means that we don't have to have special Apple only external hardware which effectively lowers the cost of said external hardware. It reduces risk substantially for hardware developer that will never have the volume to justify investment in MiFi.
  • Reply 50 of 129
    leeroyleeroy Posts: 27member
    It seems like this would be a competitor to Wacom Cintiq. The size isn't good for normal iPad type use but would be great as a drawing tablet. This would obviously be targeted at the design industry (about time we got some loving). I've tried using current iPads for this but it's not much more than a novelty, the precision and screen size aren't ideal.
    I sent Tim Cook an email a couple years ago saying that a larger iPad with stylus as a Cintiq replacement would be perfect. It would have its own apps but can also tether to your Mac for use with Photoshop and illustrator etc.
  • Reply 51 of 129
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    knowitall wrote: »
    That would be nice, but the biggest issue of the iPad is iOS in its current form.
    IOS is constantly evolving so I doubt that it will remain in its current form long just as it has continued to morph with each major release.
    It would be nice to be able to actually use the thing without its current artificial chains and be (for example) able to use it to compile a thing or two (XCode would be a bonus) and have a Unix shell to do some actual work.
    I'm not sure local development of full apps would ever be supported by Apple. I could see however an on board programming environment designed to off up some of those scripting capabilities you want. It won't be a "shell" but rather a Swift environment tailored for that use.

    The big problem here is how do you get around the app container design that makes getting to documents so difficult. The reality is iOS has a critical design flaw with respect to the way documents are stored making it difficult currently to support scripting well. At least from the document manipulation stand point.
    (For those who think that's unrealistic: the A8 processor has more power than my current iMac and that device has more than enough power to run Xcode and anything else I can think of.)

    This I agree with, people really don't understand just how powerful the "A" series processors are. The thing that hold back complex apps like XCode isn't processor power but the implemented RAM in these machines. RAM that can be easily increased. I suspect that Apple would need at least 4 GB of RAM in an iOad just to implement well a stripped down XCode like app. The need for lots of RAM also applies to making apps themselves scriptable.

    In a nut shell iOS needs more RAM to deliver some of the features often expressed as desired.
  • Reply 52 of 129
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    jungmark wrote: »
    Don't be a troll. Note Sammy had a billion different phone connectivity ports in the last 10 years.

    Apple isn't replacing lightning anytime soon.

    USB-C makes a lot of sense on the iPad. It makes the platform more computer like and hopefully open. IPhone can stay with lightening but iPads must move to more standard and open hardware.
  • Reply 53 of 129
    bigpicsbigpics Posts: 1,397member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TheItalianDude View Post



    I wouldn't buy the iPad pro the reason is that apple will probably aim this at businesses and charge a ridiculous amount of money for it ....

     

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ronstark View Post



    This will be a great boon to artists and animators. Disney wants this tech for sure. The pressure sensitive stylus is a huge attraction to artists of all kinds....

     

    Having "Pro" in the (possible) name is likely a clue, y'think....??



    It does seem inherently a bit of nichey product.... ....but a niche that could be nicely profitable, fairly large and perennial.  



    Artists, animators, photographers sure.... ....but also in health care settings, all kinds of business settings (retail checkout via Apple Pay/NFC, wholesale, manufacturing, real estate sales, etc., etc.  where some of all of the hypothesized feature set could be useful in various ways.



    And many new possibilities for the Enterprise apps that Apple and IBM are jointly rolling out.

  • Reply 54 of 129
    ranywranyw Posts: 2member
    Let them blow me away by making this a dual boot machine, so you can boot into Mac OS or iOS !!!!!
  • Reply 55 of 129
    alandailalandail Posts: 755member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mr O View Post

     



    I hope not.

     

    It is proven that multitasking has a detrimental effect on productivity.


     

    I think you are talking about a person multitasking, not a computer multitasking.  There are many situations where not having multiple windows open on my mac would kill my productivity.  Having multiple windows open on the screen at once, either within the same app or multiple apps provides far greater productivity than having to switch between them to accomplish the same task.

     

    iPad sales have been dropping, Apple needs to find a way to make it more powerful.  By powerful I don't mean faster CPU, I mean the power to do more things that desktop and notebook computers are still used for.  It needs to be more than just a bigger iPhone if they want sales to start growing again.  

     

    A big iPhone was great back in the day when iPhones displays were small.  But since I got my iPhone 6 Plus I don't use my iPad nearly as much as I used to.  Typically if I need more then my phone to do something, I need to use my Mac.  A larger screen iPad is only going to do so much for sales unless they also give the iPad more functionality.   It needs to do more than be an iPhone with a larger screen for people who have an iPhone with a large screen.  

  • Reply 56 of 129
    evilutionevilution Posts: 1,399member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by macinthe408 View Post



    Wait, but Jobs, in 2007, said the finger was the best stylus in the world. They can't possibly renege on what was said eight years in the tech industry.



    200 years ago, the best way to travel was by horse. Things change.

  • Reply 57 of 129
    lord amhranlord amhran Posts: 902member

    Steve/Apple said a lot of things they later adopted. Bigger screens on iPhones. Video on iPods etc. This would be just another. I'm not sure why people make a big deal about this or take it out of context.

  • Reply 58 of 129
    michael scripmichael scrip Posts: 1,916member
    Wait, but Jobs, in 2007, said the finger was the best stylus in the world. They can't possibly renege on what was said eight years in the tech industry.

    Steve Jobs meant that you didn't NEED a stylus to operate the iPhone. It was designed to work with your finger as the primary input method.

    In contrast... other smartphones of the day depended heavily on the stylus. Just look at those tiny icons and menus:

    1000

    If Apple offered a stylus for the iPad Pro it would be for specific tasks like drawing... not for the primary operation of the iPad Pro.

    You could theoretically use the iPad Pro and never touch a stylus.

    But good luck using a Palm Treo without a stylus.
  • Reply 59 of 129
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    Steve Jobs meant that you didn't NEED a stylus to operate the iPhone. It was designed to work with your finger as the primary input method.

    Don't flatter yourself thinking you know what Steve Jobs meant. He's not here to clarify it, so they must be taken at face value. Btw pertaining the iPad he said "If you see a stylus they blew it."
  • Reply 60 of 129
    michael scripmichael scrip Posts: 1,916member
    dasanman69 wrote: »
    Don't flatter yourself thinking you know what Steve Jobs meant. He's not here to clarify it, so they must be taken at face value. Btw pertaining the iPad he said "If you see a stylus they blew it."

    I've been using an iPad without a stylus for years. Apple designed it to work that way... agree?

    Now... if Apple added a stylus for drawing... that would be an extra feature... not an essential method of input.

    In contrast... Windows Tablet Edition pretty much required a stylus to do any sort of screen-input. And those were the tablets Steve was referring to.

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