Prof_Peabody

Stop the presses!  "Famous Rich Guy Thinks Taxes are Bad!"  "Wealthiest Company in the History of Human Existence, Wants a Tax Break!"  

Has there ever been a billionaire who didn't think the tax laws were bad or outdated?  

Again, I don't think that users actually care about this as long as pencil support is added while we're waiting.  Without pencil support, the next generation of iPads is basically a miss.  At the very least, there wouldn't be a really good reason to upgrade from the previous (current) version without it.  

antkm1 said:

sog35 said:

what about Pencil support?

This Kuo guy is a clown.  I could do his job.

1. say iPhone7 is coming out in Sept - wow what a shocker.
2. say the iPad air 3 won't have force touch. No duh.  The much more expensive iPad Pro does not have force touch, why would the cheaper Air have it.

I agree with most that Pencil support, size of display and speed are the three main differentiators between the iPad and iPad pro.  However, I think we will eventually see some kind of pencil support across the iOS platform.  It's no coincidence that almost all iOS devices correlate to ISO physical paper sizes.  I can see why now that the pencil (and sylii in general) are going to become more popular.  Think of the iPhone 6S+ as the same screen size writing area a Field Notes notebook (or ISO B7).  The iPad Mini, iPad, and iPad Pro correlate to ISO C6, A5, A4 (respectively).  Obviously, these are approximate size correlations and I know Apple has many other factors as to why they choose the sizes they did, but i'd say these are more than just coincidences.  as the Pencil gets more and more support from other iOS devices, I think you'll see a lot more practical applications for pencil support, where drawing and annotating in real-scale to screen will be more crucial.  I know that's a "captain obvious" kind of thing but i can totally see this happening.

I agree.  Having used both (the pencil only briefly), I think it's pretty clear that pencil support is far more important to future iPads than force-touch or 3D touch or whatever they are calling it lately.  I purchased a 6S explicitly because of force-touch and I like it a lot, but it doesn't exactly change the game the way the pencil does.  It's handy for shortcuts but that's about it.  I would have bought the iPad Pro just to goof around with the pencil, but it's $1,400 where I live and that's just too steep for a beta-like device that will be useless in a year or so. 

The thing I find confusing, (and I've yet to see a tech blog tackle the issue), is that both force-touch and pencil support would seem to require new and specific screen technologies with sensors behind the screen.  This raises some obvious questions.  Are they compatible with each other?  Will Apple be able to make a screen that does both or will they have to choose?  If they have to choose between adding force-touch support to iPads, or pencil support to iPads, which will they pick?  

These are both emerging technologies with the iPhone 6s and the iPad Pro being basically "technology demos" of each one.  It's really not clear at all on a hardware level what the possibilities are and which tech is designated for what future devices because no one has (as of yet) actually dived into the hardware behind each and investigated the possibilities.  It's all just mouth flapping at this point.    

canukstorm - old said:

Prof_Peabody said:

ireland said:

sog35 said:

what about Pencil support?

I'd say Pencil support is likely as they'll want to offer upgrade features to woo newer iPad holdouts.

Exactly.  If they don't have 3D touch, it seems likely they won't have pencil support either, and if they don't have either, what's the fucking point of even producing them?  Why would I upgrade my iPad if all it offered was the typical half millimetre thickness difference and the slightly faster processor?  Spring is also far too soon for new case materials rumoured to be debuting on the next iPhone.  

If the iPad Air and the iPad mini don't get some kind of updated 3D Touch and/or pencil support, then there is no reason to have the Spring event at all.  

"then there is no reason to have the Spring event at all."

Don't agree with that.  There's rumors of the next generation Apple Watch (Watch 2) and re-designed laptops (MBA / MBP), and possible introduction of an upgraded 4" iPhone (iPhone 6C).

Sorry, I meant in the context of everyone saying that there will be updated iPads at said event.  

jsmythe00 said:

Guys...it's not IF they can. Apple no doubt already has. They are securing structures for mass production and more advanced testing. 

Most likely they've been looking at this for years and finally said it works  now let's get the backbone together for production yield analysis etc...

I think you are jumping the gun a bit (perhaps even more so than the author).  

Remember that the only actual facts in the article are that Apple has bought the two buildings in question and does research there.  The whole Mirassol/MEMS part is speculation only.  In typical DED fashion he has grafted it all together into an intriguing story, but it remains a story not a fact.  DED has been wrong almost as many times he has been right with this sort of mock-up of facts and possibilities.  

Other outlets are pushing the same story but with a different supposition as to the key technology involved.  

All we really know here for a fact is that Apple is very seriously investigating new display technologies of some type, and that they probably intend to bring display manufacture "in-house" in the near future.  It could be MEMS, it could be Micro-LED, or it could be something else.  

MEMS seems the least likely to me, but then I'm just guessing, just as DED is.