Rumor: Sharp, Foxconn tabbed to supply parts for 4M-5M 'iPad Pro' units this fall

Posted:
in iPad edited August 2015
The smoke surrounding Apple's long-rumored jumbo iPad is beginning to thicken, as whispers out of Asia suggest that the company has chosen Japanese firm Sharp and Taiwanese collaborator Foxconn to build and assemble touch modules for as many as 5 million 'iPad Pro' units.

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Sharp will reportedly be responsible for manufacturing the displays themselves, while Foxconn will handle touch module fabrication, lamination, and module assembly. According to Digitimes, mass production will ramp up going into the fall, with shipments of 4 million to 5 million units expected by the end of the calendar year.

It's worth noting that while the publication is often accurate when it comes to supply chain movements, its predictions have a somewhat lower success rate with regard to release dates and other consumer-facing schedules.

Little is known about the iPad Pro, though the consensus among industry watchers revolves around a 12.9-inch iPad with a high-resolution display and some variety of stylus to enable more precise control. KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted earlier this week that the new stylus would bring its own version of Force Touch, enabling pressure-sensitive input for the bigger tablet.

A device believed to be the iPad Pro has also been spotted in commercial app analytics data. That device --?which carries an as-yet-unseen "iPad6,8" model identifier --?reports a 2,048-pixel-by-2,732-pixel display, compared to the 2,048-pixel-by-1,536-pixel unit found on the iPad Air 2.

Apple is likely to unveil its next-generation iPhones on at an event on Sept. 9, though it's unclear whether new iPads will be included in that announcement. Apple has historically revealed new tablets in October, a move it could replicate this year if the iPad Pro is ready for release.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 31
    seankillseankill Posts: 566member

    Probably going to get one if the battery life is better than 12 hours and a stylus is included.

  • Reply 2 of 31
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Seankill View Post

     

    Probably going to get one if the battery life is better than 12 hours and a stylus is included.


     

    Stylus will likely not be included, but an option. It is definitely something that not everybody will want and there's no need to saddle the retail price with another $49 or $79 or $99 to cover the stylus.

  • Reply 3 of 31
    There will be many consumers that get this for the larger screen size. The stylus if it actually works well will also drive consumer hobby type business.

    Should really appeal to small and medium business.

    The real question I have will be how much will this "Pro" device appeal to professionals and the overall impact in the enterprise.
  • Reply 4 of 31
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mike1 View Post

     

     

    Stylus will likely not be included, but an option. It is definitely something that not everybody will want and there's no need to saddle the retail price with another $49 or $79 or $99 to cover the stylus.




    included or optional extra, i hope its performance is an order of magnitude better than the awful third part devices currently available. preferably much quicker (no perceptible lag) precise (nice to be able to join one line to another without constantly zooming in)

    i have faith the apple stylus will be integrated properly, just like the apple watch integration was a massive step improvement over the pebbles etc..

  • Reply 5 of 31
    Going to be called iPad [B]Plus[/B]
  • Reply 6 of 31
    roakeroake Posts: 809member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Right_said_fred View Post

     
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mike1 View Post

     

     

    Stylus will likely not be included, but an option. It is definitely something that not everybody will want and there's no need to saddle the retail price with another $49 or $79 or $99 to cover the stylus.




    included or optional extra, i hope its performance is an order of magnitude better than the awful third part devices currently available. preferably much quicker (no perceptible lag) precise (nice to be able to join one line to another without constantly zooming in)

    i have faith the apple stylus will be integrated properly, just like the apple watch integration was a massive step improvement over the pebbles etc..




    I have yet to find a stylus where I can actually write with any detail, as one could with a pencil or pen.  Most seem designed to emulate a three-year-old ham-fisting an oversized crayon.  Hopefully, Apple's solution will be flexible and accurate in this regard.  I have no doubt that there will be zero lag with Apple's solution.

  • Reply 7 of 31

    I would upgrade one if its like $100 more than regular ipad, even though my current ipad is not being used at all.  If they charge a lot more, I think Surface Pro 3(at $700) is a much better value than this thing, and can handle anything you throw at it.  It needs to have an ability to do everything a Linux Os supports at the very least, for it to be worth 900+ for me, which would be very cool as I can have a device that has all the games and productivity tools.

  • Reply 8 of 31
    I for one am excited for this product. Biggest complaint I have with the iPad is that it is too small for many applications...
    Waiting anxiously
  • Reply 9 of 31
    damonfdamonf Posts: 229member
    Just wondering about the semantics in the storyline:

    "The smoke surrounding Apple's long-rumored jumbo iPad is beginning to thicken, as whispers out of Asia suggest that the company has chosen Japanese firm Sharp and Taiwanese collaborator Foxconn to build and assemble touch modules for as many as 5 million 'iPad Pro' units."

    Isn't the smoke actually clearing, rather than thickening, if we are finding out more about the iPad Pro supply chain?
  • Reply 10 of 31
    damonf wrote: »
    Just wondering about the semantics in the storyline:

    "The smoke surrounding Apple's long-rumored jumbo iPad is beginning to thicken, as whispers out of Asia suggest that the company has chosen Japanese firm Sharp and Taiwanese collaborator Foxconn to build and assemble touch modules for as many as 5 million 'iPad Pro' units."

    Isn't the smoke actually clearing, rather than thickening, if we are finding out more about the iPad Pro supply chain?

    The authors here pen some strange sentences occasionally and tend to get metaphors confused.
  • Reply 11 of 31
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    damonf wrote: »
    Just wondering about the semantics in the storyline:

    "The smoke surrounding Apple's long-rumored jumbo iPad is beginning to thicken, as whispers out of Asia suggest that the company has chosen Japanese firm Sharp and Taiwanese collaborator Foxconn to build and assemble touch modules for as many as 5 million 'iPad Pro' units."

    Isn't the smoke actually clearing, rather than thickening, if we are finding out more about the iPad Pro supply chain?

    That was my first thought, too, but on the other hand, and as witnessed already by this thread, the more we learn the less we seem to know. People's wishes and hopes will as usual go far beyond what we can realistically expect. Together with wild expectations and demands will come predictions of doom and despair as well as proclamations of iPad hallelujah, so I think you could just as easily argue that the more we learn the less we apparently know. (We as in the general public, that is). ;)
  • Reply 12 of 31
    I am afraid it will be just a large ipad. like that other article said, something along the lines of 'evolutionary, not revolutionary'...I love my ipads bigtime and, for me, I could definately benefit from the screen real estate, but it probably just be another ipad with dinky "evolutionary" perks over previous generations. Could Apple give us a Macbook Pro tablet (meaning full-on processing balls and i/o that a professional expects)? Who knows what they will bequeth to us from high above in their ivory tower...they are too busy worrying about subscription music (and soon to be tv) services, wearables, and curated everything because they know where our tastes lie.

    As a musician, I have recently future-proofed myself by switching to Ableton Live after using Logic for the better portion of almost 20 years. Maybe down the road when Windows gets it together (which they seem to be taking very serious roads to do so for pro audio/music production...not quite there yet)...I will spring for a bitchin' Surface Pro that allows me to take my software-based studio ANYWHERE I go...and be able to transfer to colaborators with removable media instead of having to rely on the alpha-omerga that is the cloud.

    Lets just see if somewhere down the road in the near future Apple really pulls the '...one more thing' out on us...because as it seems at the present, Apple is slowly eroding the long time loyalty and hardcore base that have been the professional creative types that have been itsmost ardent supporters.
  • Reply 13 of 31
    indyfxindyfx Posts: 321member

    Mmmm... Let me see

    Float lots uf unsubstantiated stories featuring "non-facts" reported like facts from "sources" about a new supercool device 

    Then slam Apple this fall for not selling more high end iPads, and proclaim them -DOOOMED!-

    Buy in when you force the stock down

    Come out early fall and say  that the sources have changed their minds and it was just a new notebook screen back

    High end iPad sales soar

    Sell as stock rebounds...

     

    Not saying this is true in this particular instance (though it seems likely) but this is the scenario that is repeated over and over...

     

    Begin

        Spin

        Rinse

    Repeat 

  • Reply 14 of 31

    I second what a lot of people are saying about a stylus. It would also be awesome if this synced over bluetooth and acted as a slave/wacom pad to mac computer! That said, it better have some serious chops of it's own in terms of productivity b/c I'm sure it'll have a serious price :P 

  • Reply 15 of 31
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Roake View Post

     
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Right_said_fred View Post

     
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mike1 View Post

     

     

    Stylus will likely not be included, but an option. It is definitely something that not everybody will want and there's no need to saddle the retail price with another $49 or $79 or $99 to cover the stylus.




    included or optional extra, i hope its performance is an order of magnitude better than the awful third part devices currently available. preferably much quicker (no perceptible lag) precise (nice to be able to join one line to another without constantly zooming in)

    i have faith the apple stylus will be integrated properly, just like the apple watch integration was a massive step improvement over the pebbles etc..




    I have yet to find a stylus where I can actually write with any detail, as one could with a pencil or pen.  Most seem designed to emulate a three-year-old ham-fisting an oversized crayon.  Hopefully, Apple's solution will be flexible and accurate in this regard.  I have no doubt that there will be zero lag with Apple's solution.


    Have you tried any of the Note series of phones or tablets? They use Wacom digitizers and the stylus experience is pretty great. Far better than what I have tried on the iPad. 

     

    I hope Apple uses a Wacom digitizer (or at least something as good of their own making) for this new iPad. Toss in a bluetooth keyboard (which many people already have) and mirror to a larger monitor. That might be pure heaven for artists to be able to work portable and at their desk with very little friction.

  • Reply 16 of 31
    mr omr o Posts: 1,046member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by joelharrison View Post



    Going to be called iPad Plus



    iPad +      ? pen

     

    ;)

  • Reply 17 of 31
    512ke512ke Posts: 782member

    What's pro about any iPad? Pro means OS X. 

     

    Must be iPad plus or something. Bring on the maxi pad jokes?

  • Reply 18 of 31
    mike1 wrote: »
    Stylus will likely not be included, but an option. It is definitely something that not everybody will want and there's no need to saddle the retail price with another $49 or $79 or $99 to cover the stylus.

    You can get styluses and keyboards to work with any existing iPad, but pro-Windows trolls keep repeating the narrative that Apple needs to sell these accessories before the trolls will consider the iPad "suitable for work". To which I ask: why does it have to be an Apple branded accessory? The same trolls complain about the AppleTV "not having a keyboard" when in fact, you can pair any Bluetooth keyboard with AppleTV.
  • Reply 19 of 31
    512ke wrote: »
    What's pro about any iPad? Pro means OS X. 

    Must be iPad plus or something. Bring on the maxi pad jokes?

    AppleInsider keeps calling it that. I don't know why either. It's not that you can't use an iPad for serious work (the iPad = toy meme again), but that Apple hasn't officially revealed the name of a product that they haven't unveiled (duh, right?). The rumor mill seems to have given it that name. Who started it is a mystery. The reasoning is even more mysterious: it's not like Apple to simply name large screen models "Pro". The 27" iMac isn't called iMac Pro. Or the iPhone 6 Plus isn't called iPhone Pro.
  • Reply 20 of 31
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,053member
    romanmar wrote: »
    I would upgrade one if its like $100 more than regular ipad, even though my current ipad is not being used at all.  If they charge a lot more, I think Surface Pro 3(at $700) is a much better value than this thing, and can handle anything you throw at it.  It needs to have an ability to do everything a Linux Os supports at the very least, for it to be worth 900+ for me, which would be very cool as I can have a device that has all the games and productivity tools.
    in that case, just get POS Zen Pad, it fit your price and needs. Apple target the professionals and enterprises with unique apps and also ecosystem. SF? Lol a hybrid device which is not optimized for eith task: tablet or laptop.
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