First photos of alleged 'iPad Pro 2' surface in China
A pair of photos supposedly snapped by a worker in Apple's Asian supply chain show what appears to be a next-generation iPad bearing an unknown device identification number, suggesting the company is preparing production of a successor model.
The picture set, sent in to AppleInsider by an anonymous tipster on Sunday, is said to originate from within a Chinese supplier currently working on an iPad Pro model scheduled to go into production in late September.
As seen above, the device is identified as model number MH1C2CD/F, a designation not assigned to any current or past iPad models. The identifier does, however, follow Apple's device numbering convention, which applies derivatives of order number ML0G2LL/A -- ML3N2LL/A for cellular models -- to existing 12.9-inch iPad Pro iterations. Because forging a device identifier is a relatively trivial process, AppleInsider cannot vouch for the veracity of the photos and presents the following for purposes of discussion. That being said, Apple is due to bring a 12.9-inch iPad Pro refresh to market sometime this fall.
If the photos are indeed legitimate, they provide a few clues that suggest the pictured unit is a pre-production or prototype device. For example, the tablet is carrying only 12 gigabytes of storage, just enough for loading an operating system and apps for internal testing and hardware debugging. As for the OS itself, the photos reveal a build number corresponding to Apple's latest iOS 10 beta, which was released to developers earlier this month.
Unfortunately, not much else can be gleaned from the provided images. No frame of reference is offered, making it impossible to determine screen size, design or new potential new hardware features with any accuracy.
Rumors regarding a new iPad Pro have been few and far between, though Apple is expected to refresh its tablet lineup after launching the 12.9-inch iPad Pro in September of last year. Like past hardware refresh cycles, the company is anticipated to include a faster processor, likely dubbed A10X, an enhanced camera and True Tone display technology borrowed from the 9.7-inch iPad Pro.
There has been no word on a potential launch timeline, but with production rumored to begin in late September, Apple might announce the next-generation tablet after an anticipated "iPhone 7" debut that same month. That could make for a separate iPad and MacBook event in October or November, as the company is also rumored to launch a revamped MacBook Pro with OLED touchbar in the fourth quarter.
The picture set, sent in to AppleInsider by an anonymous tipster on Sunday, is said to originate from within a Chinese supplier currently working on an iPad Pro model scheduled to go into production in late September.
As seen above, the device is identified as model number MH1C2CD/F, a designation not assigned to any current or past iPad models. The identifier does, however, follow Apple's device numbering convention, which applies derivatives of order number ML0G2LL/A -- ML3N2LL/A for cellular models -- to existing 12.9-inch iPad Pro iterations. Because forging a device identifier is a relatively trivial process, AppleInsider cannot vouch for the veracity of the photos and presents the following for purposes of discussion. That being said, Apple is due to bring a 12.9-inch iPad Pro refresh to market sometime this fall.
If the photos are indeed legitimate, they provide a few clues that suggest the pictured unit is a pre-production or prototype device. For example, the tablet is carrying only 12 gigabytes of storage, just enough for loading an operating system and apps for internal testing and hardware debugging. As for the OS itself, the photos reveal a build number corresponding to Apple's latest iOS 10 beta, which was released to developers earlier this month.
Unfortunately, not much else can be gleaned from the provided images. No frame of reference is offered, making it impossible to determine screen size, design or new potential new hardware features with any accuracy.
Rumors regarding a new iPad Pro have been few and far between, though Apple is expected to refresh its tablet lineup after launching the 12.9-inch iPad Pro in September of last year. Like past hardware refresh cycles, the company is anticipated to include a faster processor, likely dubbed A10X, an enhanced camera and True Tone display technology borrowed from the 9.7-inch iPad Pro.
There has been no word on a potential launch timeline, but with production rumored to begin in late September, Apple might announce the next-generation tablet after an anticipated "iPhone 7" debut that same month. That could make for a separate iPad and MacBook event in October or November, as the company is also rumored to launch a revamped MacBook Pro with OLED touchbar in the fourth quarter.
Comments
Microsoft's amazingly popular tablet made its way into the title! ;-)
They are still struggling to sell more than a million of those things a year.. so 'popular' isn't a word that applies really. Yes, they ship more than that to retailers, but thats not 'sold' units. Retail receipt tracking services show a much different story.
That had a bit of a jump when they went international.. not sure how long that will last..
The biggest limitation of the 12.9" iPad Pro is software (or the lack of it). iOS 10 has pretty much nothing for it, and the little bit of effort third party developers were making came to a full stop once the 9.7" model was released. Heck, even Apple's own stores do not bother to scale fonts up to readable sizes after all this time. If I want to actually read a movie description in the iTS, I have to get my iPhone out since there is only fly crap on the 12.9"screen. I know, iTS is under Cue and thus hopeless, but one can wish...
Is the design boring or are you impatient with ttechnology? The iPad is doing very well IMO in terms of design. You don't like the chamfered edge design. Would you rather it was more slippery? Tell us exactly how you'd improve it beyond pipe dream improvements and maybe then we can then envision along with you. In the real world improvements must be designed and hopefully can be a good idea. Technological improvements yearly add up. Thankfully Apple aren't in the happy of designing things just for newness. Rest assured they'd receive a ton of bad PR if they did more of that.
The children over on MacRumors already won't shut up about new watch straps.
As for a flexible display.... why? Oh. Why? Do you remember using newspapers and how much of a pain in the but that was? I just don't understand the appeal to make something foldable. Sure you could fit it in your pocket, but they you have a giant crease down the middle. The reliability of the display will be diminished and the end user experience wouldn't be any better except for the "oh cool" factor. I guess some people buy things for dumb novelty, but in real world usage I don't think there's an application.
The audio is in fact new, as is the smart connector.