Why Hope Springs Eternal For Apple To Introduce An iPad Pro In 2017

Those of us who spend their time and brain power trying to discern when Apple is going to release a new product will find satisfaction in the fact that the company really did release a new iPad in March.

The fact that Apple didn’t release a new iPad Pro is only slightly disappointing. Instead Apple introduced a replacement for the very old iPad Air 2.

Putting our prognostication into perspective, however, is the fact that we guessed wrong on the name, despite our valiant efforts. . While the new iPad is indeed an upgrade, it’s not called the iPad Air 3. Instead it’s just an iPad with no other name.

New iPad Pro

That doesn’t mean there won’t be a new iPad Pro, however, because there certainly will be. It just didn’t come out in March. There are, however, rumors that the new Pro will come out in April. Or maybe May. Or possibly June. Or potentially September.

The new iPad is a nice if not massive upgrade. On the other hand, Apple did something that is exceedingly rare for the company. It reduced the price significantly over what it was charging for its predecessor. The new iPad starts at $329.00.

This 2017 version of the iPad is noticeably faster than its predecessor, and the screen is brighter. It’s powered by an A9 processor with an embedded M9 motion coprocessor.

The minimum configuration now includes 32 GB of storage, a smart upgrade from the paltry 16 GB of its predecessors. You can also buy a 128 GB version, and the iPad is also available with cellular radios in addition to WiFi.

New radios

The new radios will support very high speed LTE, up to 150 megabits per second. The WiFi radios will support speeds up to 866 mbps. Unlike previous iPads, this one supports WiFi Calling.

But when I took the new version out of its box, the feel was, well, routine. The new version of the iPad is exactly the same size and weight of the old one. When you turn the tablet on it has the same screen resolution. But things are better inside, and this time the iPad will support Apple Pay.

However, as nice as the new iPad is, it’s not the iPad Pro. Predicting when Apple will introduce the long-expected update to the Pro line has been an ongoing effort for Apple observers, and so far there’s been pretty thin evidence.

But there are some signs that the next iPad Pro may be about to show up, perhaps before the end of April. Analyst Rhoda Alexander from IHS Markit is reporting that Apple’s supply chain is gearing up for the much-anticipated 10.5-inch iPad Pro.

Originally published on eWeek

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