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

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  • Reply 80 of 129
    xixoxixo Posts: 451member
    Ah, another "let's take things out of context" type. Welcome to the block list.

    He was being sarcastic.

    FWIW I hate trackpads and prefer mice. Trackpads make my hand ache, mice don't.

    The Magic Mouse sucks (for me) because every one I've owned has become hypersensitive over time and causes the cursor / arrow to go flailing all over the screen.

    I am most productive with an IR mouse / scrollwheel.

    Finally, there's no reason iOS cannot work with a mouse. Give the people what they want.

    I realize you think you are the epitome of an apple product user and your opinion is law, but some would beg to differ.
  • Reply 82 of 129
    ericthehalfbeeericthehalfbee Posts: 4,489member
    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."

    Actually we DO know what Jobs meant. The problem is people like you taking that same stupid single quote out of context and ignoring all the others.

    For example, in the Isaacson biography Jobs makes a bunch of comments about using a stylus. He says things like "God gave us ten styluses" while waving his fingers or "I want to make a tablet and it can't have a keyboard or stylus."

    Pretty damn clear he wanted you to have a device that could be operated by anyone using your fingers and no additional hardware.
  • Reply 83 of 129
    palegolaspalegolas Posts: 1,362member
    jameskatt2 wrote: »
    A bluetooth stylus is SILLY. Why would Apple want to make things more complicated?

    It's for artists, content creators, video, desktop publishing, precision input. A core professional Apple user base. If they wanna take the iPad to a full fledged platform it need precision input imo. Also, with the speed of USB-C it could work as a tablet for the Mac.even the precision of Wacom's Cintiq is not 100% precise. So there's definitely room for improvement in this field.
  • Reply 84 of 129
    rayzrayz Posts: 814member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post





    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.



    If you're not willing to mess around with the MFI program then you could be making substandard cables that could damage the iPad/iPhone or (in the worst cases) the user. The MFI program not only brings in revenue for Apple, it guarantees a higher level of quality than just leaving the vendors to make the cheapest cables they can. Apple has never felt the need to chase every market; likewise they have never felt the need to chase every cable vendor. 

     

    And I'm not sure where this resistance to the MFI program is coming from. I can walk into any shop and find a whole wall full of devices and cables that support lightning. And if lightning was about to dropped then I'm not sure that Apple would have extended the program to allow vendors to build ports into their products.

     

    I'm not sure how the capabilities of USB-C match up to Lightning, but I can see one area where Lightning has it beat:

     

     

     

    Size.

     

    Given Apple's obsession with thinning their kit down to the width of a razor blade, I'm sure they wouldn't be too keen on making the phone and the tablet thicker just to support USB-C. 

     

    And the other thing I've been wondering about: USB-C goes at the other end of the cable doesn't it? It looks to me as though Apple will be supporting both.

  • Reply 85 of 129
    crossladcrosslad Posts: 527member
    Buy a MacBook. iOS isn't designed for a mouse, and if we're honest, a mouse is a horrible input device.

    Just because it does not suit you doesn't mean that it doesn't suit everyone. I would love to be able to connect a Bluetooth mouse to my iPad for using the iWork Apps. Android has supported this for a long time and windows phones will be supporting this when Windows 10 is released. I really think Apple should introduce mouse/touchpad support soon.
  • Reply 86 of 129
    crossladcrosslad Posts: 527member
    appex wrote: »
    Apple should make a real tablet computer (Mac tablet). iOS is a toy not fully compatible with Mac.

    I agree. When the iPad was released, solid state drives capable of running a full OS were not available or too expensive to install in an iPad. Now Apple has shown you can install a full is on an SSD drive like in the MacBook. Put one if these in an iPad and give us the true iPad pro.
  • Reply 87 of 129
    foljsfoljs Posts: 390member

    Originally Posted by jameskatt2 View Post

     

    Quote:


    A bluetooth stylus is SILLY. Why would Apple want to make things more complicated?


     

    Because for one it would be optional to use, and second it makes several taks (like writing and painting and photo editing etc) LESS complicated and more precize.

     

    Did you miss the fact that there's a HUGE industry and demand for styluses for the iPad, including models from major names like Adobe and Wacom? (and Paper, etc).

     

    Quote:


    You would have to keep the stylus charged also.


     

    Yeah, just like battery operated mice and keyboards Apple sells. So?



     

    Quote:


    And USB 3.0 peripherals like hard drives will interfere with the stylus

     



     

    I won't even presume to understand what BS you mean here...

     

    Quote:


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

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


     

    Both Force Touch and NFC are totally different technologies, unrelated to the core functionality of a stylus.

     

    Even more importantly, you haven't understood that this is supposed to be a "pro" iPad, and that for several prosumer hobbyists and professionals and some industries a stylus is necessary tool (of which now they buy third-party if they use the iPad). 



    Let's put it this way: until you educate yourself more, there's ZERO NEED for your opinion in this forum.

  • Reply 88 of 129
    foljsfoljs Posts: 390member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by EricTheHalfBee View Post





    Actually we DO know what Jobs meant. The problem is people like you taking that same stupid single quote out of context and ignoring all the others.



    For example, in the Isaacson biography Jobs makes a bunch of comments about using a stylus. He says things like "God gave us ten styluses" while waving his fingers or "I want to make a tablet and it can't have a keyboard or stylus."



    Pretty damn clear he wanted you to have a device that could be operated by anyone using your fingers and no additional hardware.

     

    He also said they would never go into the books industry because "nobody reads". And then iBooks.

     

    He said many things and changed his mind lots of times.

     

    But let's get this straight:

     

    First, other people make the decisions now.

     

    Second, he meant we wouldn't make a tablet with a stylus as a primary input device. Not that he's opposed to stylyses generally, for places were it makes sense. Similarly, the iPad has support for bluetooth keyboard input, and yet he wouldn't make an iPad with a keyboard (a la Blackberry either).



    Oh, and something you probably miss, misinformed as you are: iOS has added additional support for stylus like devices a few versions ago. Not just using one (that's the easy part, could do it in the first version too), but explicity adding support to enable better functionality (like the variable touch sizing API), palm rejection etc.



    And Apple has several patents for a new stylus device:

    http://www.iphonehacks.com/2012/12/apple-working-on-a-better-stylus.html

     

  • Reply 89 of 129
    I'm skeptical about the NFC. Bluetooth 4 pairing is already pretty simple. The benefit of NFC for pairing is going to be small, not enough reason for adding extra hardware and legacy protocol junk. Also given typical NFC antenna sizes and that you need inductive coupling, using NFC for communication with the stylus, is going to be problematic.
  • Reply 90 of 129
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    vrf wrote: »
    I disagree. This is the very type of niche device that Apple would pursue. It would return them to their roots as the computer choice for the creative professional.

    They're not that company anymore.
  • Reply 91 of 129
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    Actually we DO know what Jobs meant. The problem is people like you taking that same stupid single quote out of context and ignoring all the others.

    For example, in the Isaacson biography Jobs makes a bunch of comments about using a stylus. He says things like "God gave us ten styluses" while waving his fingers or "I want to make a tablet and it can't have a keyboard or stylus."

    Pretty damn clear he wanted you to have a device that could be operated by anyone using your fingers and no additional hardware.

    Thanks for adding even more proof that he was against having a stylus. I hope you're not a lawyer.
  • Reply 92 of 129
    rmm21rmm21 Posts: 29member
    Wish Apple would make an OS-X tablet in this size range sooner rather than much later. Best of both worlds here and now.
  • Reply 93 of 129
    aplnubaplnub Posts: 2,605member
    If Apple really wants to make the USB-C an industry standard, stick it on every iOS device you can. Then you have your industry standard after they sell 100 million units. This is the easiest way to force the adoption of the port.

    Will USB-C fit the current iPhone 6? No clue.
  • Reply 94 of 129
    aplnubaplnub Posts: 2,605member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mr O View Post

     



    I hope not.

     

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




    I disagree. I almost always have to have two windows going to complete whatever project I am working on. Writing, CAD, Keynotes, you name it.

  • Reply 95 of 129
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    ronstark wrote: »
    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. The biggest issues will be connectivity and memory. If it has limited access and non-expandable memory it mightn't get placement as it would with great native software, ability to connect several working together in a creative ring and store large files.

    Unless an iPad Pro was much larger people who already use a Cintiq would keep the Cintiq.
  • Reply 96 of 129
    photodenkphotodenk Posts: 37member

    Apple needs to be careful about overextending itself into making products they don't specialize in. One of the accomplishments of Jobs when he returned to Apple was cutting out products they shouldn't be making (e.g printers). Force touch could be great technology to pair with a stylus but the better move would be for Apple to team up with the likes of Wacom who specialize in graphics hardware to make more compatible products much like they encourage and feature developers to show off OS changes. Apple can bill a larger iPad as great for graphics work and create hardware with greater compatibility potential but that doesn't mean they need to make all of the hardware for that to happen well. They're not going to succeed in making their own Cintiq. Let Wacom or another hardware company do that. Different artists use their own preferred stylus to draw on an iPad anyway. They might want to stick with what they know. 

  • Reply 97 of 129
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post





    Unless an iPad Pro was much larger people who already use a Cintiq would keep the Cintiq.

    The Cintiq 13HD would weigh close to twice as much and have a fat cable permanently attached.

    There will be plenty of people who would love to change to the iPad.

  • Reply 98 of 129
    knowitallknowitall Posts: 1,648member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post





    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.

    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.

    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.



    I agree, RAM is what's holding it back.

  • Reply 99 of 129
    satchmosatchmo Posts: 2,699member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post





    Thanks for adding even more proof that he was against having a stylus. I hope you're not a lawyer.

     

    The question is, how does what Jobs said have any relevance to what Apple does today?

     

    You can get all sentimental and philosophical about vision. But as others have remarked, that was in 2007. New technology allow products to evolve to best address changing user needs.

     

    So you can argue till the cows come home about what Jobs was speaking to.

    But it's irrelevant. It's Tim Cook's Apple now.

  • Reply 100 of 129
    peteopeteo Posts: 402member
    Really hope the stylus rumor is true. I've tried allot of the smart stylus's out there and over all the suck compared to the ones on other platforms that have the digitizer over the screen like surface pro. Also with apple doing it means most productivity apps will add support. Hope it comes to all ipads.
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