Next iPad Pro
So far I have only heard some wild speculation on the next iPad Pro. Some say it will be out in March 2022 and have the M2 chip, 16GB of RAM, an OLED screen, and be sold in 11, 13, and 15 inch sizes. At the other extreme others claim it won't appear until 2023, and then there will be no changes other than a spec bump.
Any thoughts/speculation/wish lists about the next iPad Pro? At this point I suspect it's too early to have any hard facts.
Any thoughts/speculation/wish lists about the next iPad Pro? At this point I suspect it's too early to have any hard facts.
Comments
Both sizes probably won't see an update with an M2 until Fall of 2022, which I think is fine. The biggest issues with iPad Pros remain software. It needs an overlapping app view UI, needs more robust multitasking, extended external display support, and open up to more classes of apps, like VM apps, access to the Unix subsystem. It's a tremendously long list of software features for them to implement. I think they should continue to refine the software keyboard too: custom key layouts, use the accelerometer and microphones for key input detection, a virtual trackpad, etc.
My hardware wishlist:
1. Smart Connector needs to transport USB3.x protocol, or TB. So, at least 2 more leads, if not 9 in total?
2. 2 TB/USBC ports
3. Since there is nothing that can be done with the camera bump, I'd like a bumper case or a back-only magnetic cover
4. Recessed power and volume buttons
5. Lithium-Iron-Phosphate batteries
The hardware is in really good shape. The just need to add more features to the OS. OLED or microLED displays will come, but that's probably 2024 at the earliest.
I do agree that it's iPadOS that's holding them back. I seriously thought about getting an M1 this year, but while the latest iPadOS does add some nice features, it really doesn't allow us to take advantage of the system. Allowing us to extend the desktop to a second screen rather than mirroring would be huge. Multitasking is better now, but still not true multi window like on a Mac, though tbh I doubt we will ever see that on an iPad.
I've speculated elsewhere that Apple should release a compatibility app for the iPad Pro. It would be for professionals who want to run Mac Apps on the iPad, (meaning expensive, and the specs to run it would be high). You would start this shell, within it would be a minimal Mac environment. Touch would be disabled, you'd have to use a keyboard and mouse. You would be able to run top end Mac Applications including VMs within this window.
One question though: I've not heard of Lithium-Iron-Phosphate batteries. What's the advantage for use in a device like the iPP.
Multiwindow, infinite backgrounding, Unix access, and extended display support will go a long long ways for people. If enough people use it for more complicated workflows, Mac apps will be translated. Apple just doesn't want to add those features yet.
LFP batteries have much longer lifetimes, but isn't as energy dense as Lithium with cobalt-nickel chemistries, and are little more complicated to manage. They aren't a fire risk like nickel-cobalt chemistries are.
So devices with them will be a heavier, but the battery will last 10 years, a very long time, and aren't a fire risk. Tesla will be moving to LFP batteries for most of their vehicles next year. They are advertised as million mile batteries. Currently, the batteries inside Apple devices last about 3 to 4 years, and they really need to be replaced. LFP chemistries will last 6, 7, 8 years. There are other battery chemistries that will last longer too. There are lots of trades in battery tech. LFP looks like it is reaching critical mass for production across multiple markets, so it may get cheap enough to be in consumer electronics soon.