# When will the iPad Pro emerge?



## bryanc (Jan 16, 2004)

I'm seriously tempted by the iPad, but it just doesn't quite cut it for my needs in it's current incarnation.

But there will inevitably be a next generation iPad that might. The question in my mind is when the next generation will hit the market, and will it be a slightly more powerful system at a slightly lower or similar price (in which case I wouldn't expect it until next summer at the earliest, because it will obviously make the current iPad obsolete), or will it be an iPad Pro (a much more powerful system at a higher price, in which case it may appear soon, as it appeals to a different market than the current iPad).

Fundamentally, I need an iPad that can multitask well and handle graphics-intensive Keynote presentations. The software I need doesn't even exist yet (I need ProfCast for the iPad so I can use it for teaching, and a good notebook application that allows you to import PDFs and use them as the paper so I can use it as a lab notebook), so I really should wait. However, if the net.consensus is that it's going to be a year before the next generation iPad shows up, and there are clearly lots of things I could use an iPad for in the interim, maybe I should get one now, and then get the iPad Pro next year?

What do you think? Will Apple shaft the early adopters again by dropping an iPadPro onto the market before xmas?


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## Flipstar (Nov 7, 2004)

Highly unlikely considering they're already having trouble keeping up with demand.


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## jeepguy (Apr 4, 2008)

2 days after I decide to buy an iPad


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## John Griffin (Jan 4, 2002)

With the next Operating System (iOS4) the iPad should have most of what you are wanting - particularly multitasking. There is talk about a next generation showing up this time next year, but the only thing I have heard is that it will have the Camera Connection/USB interface built in rather than having to buy an overpriced add-on.


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## i-rui (Sep 13, 2006)

i don't see a new model arriving until next year.


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

I agree with the posts so far. I don't see a new iPad coming out until at least a year after the 1st gen release... it would be a really bad PR move on Apple's part to release an upgraded version before then. 

Like you bryanc I really want one... but patience is a virtue.


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## SoyMac (Apr 16, 2005)

Which iPad will you be buying;

- The _iPad Pro_, _iPad Home Premium_, or the _iPad Ultimate_ ?


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## iJayTee (Apr 20, 2010)

Let's see... original iPhone in January '07 followed by the 3G in July '08 and 3Gs in July '09 and 4 in July '10...

iPad in April '10... you figure it out based on that, or wait for the next prototype to be left behind in a bar...

I doubt "Pro" would be the next one's name though... "OLED iPad 3D with 4G"? Nah... too long


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## fjnmusic (Oct 29, 2006)

SoyMac said:


> Which iPad will you be buying;
> 
> - The _iPad Pro_, _iPad Home Premium_, or the _iPad Ultimate_ ?


Is there an iPad Enterprise edition?


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

That's cool... Q and Data!! :clap: :lmao:


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## l84toff (Jul 27, 2008)

Awesome pic. But gray hair? Exactly how old am I getting? I can't picture Brent Spinner in any other role for some reason. I'm sure he's done other stuff.


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## Elemenopee (Apr 20, 2004)

Of course, who can forget Patrick Stewart with the real iPad Enterprise.

YouTube - Star Trek - Picard Has iPad


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

l84toff said:


> I can't picture Brent Spinner in any other role for some reason. I'm sure he's done other stuff.


His best role ever!




+
YouTube Video









ERROR: If you can see this, then YouTube is down or you don't have Flash installed.


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

fjnmusic said:


> Is there an iPad Enterprise edition?


Living to see the technology that only existed on TV come to life: Priceless.  Awesome photo!


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## hayesk (Mar 5, 2000)

Bjornbro said:


> His best role ever!


Before I even clicked, I knew that was what you posted.


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## modsuperstar (Nov 23, 2004)

bryanc said:


> I'm seriously tempted by the iPad, but it just doesn't quite cut it for my needs in it's current incarnation.
> 
> But there will inevitably be a next generation iPad that might. The question in my mind is when the next generation will hit the market, and will it be a slightly more powerful system at a slightly lower or similar price (in which case I wouldn't expect it until next summer at the earliest, because it will obviously make the current iPad obsolete), or will it be an iPad Pro (a much more powerful system at a higher price, in which case it may appear soon, as it appeals to a different market than the current iPad).
> 
> ...


Aside from the multitasking there is nothing that the iPad couldn't viably do right now. Graphic intensive Keynote presentations would be a breeze .


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## andsoitgoes (Jun 4, 2010)

John Griffin said:


> With the next Operating System (iOS4) the iPad should have most of what you are wanting - particularly multitasking. There is talk about a next generation showing up this time next year, but the only thing I have heard is that it will have the Camera Connection/USB interface built in rather than having to buy an overpriced add-on.


I've been doing my research and honestly, I don't think the iPad is going to produce what we need multitasking wise.

I put on Backgrounder the other day and after doing a bit of research, I came to the realization that as amazing as this little device it, there is a major, seriously hampering factor... Memory.

At 256 megs, it's going to be hard pressed to run much in the way of things in the background.

I realize that a program like Backgrounder keeps ever program in the foreground, but I think we're going to be seriously limited in what is possible come iOS 4.0...

And just remember that it's going to require the program accepting the ability to multitask...

Regardless, it'll be interesting but I don't think it will turn this into a device that will solve any needs the OP has


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## l84toff (Jul 27, 2008)

Bjornbro said:


> His best role ever!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That was priceless! I remember seeing the episode (I imagine a decade or 2 ago when I used to watch the show every day), but don't recall seeing Brent in it. Thanks for the clip!!:clap:


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## bryanc (Jan 16, 2004)

Thanks for the input everyone. I think I'll probably wait until 4.0 comes out and give the current iteration a try. If something more capable (and I agree that memory is the primary limitation... ironic that the current iPhone has twice the RAM of the current iPad) comes out next year, I don't think I'll have any difficulty finding a home for a used first gen iPad.

Cheers


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## John Griffin (Jan 4, 2002)

If you want a demonstration of the limitations of the iPad RAM, try using Google Earth for awhile. It won't be long before you get a little love note from the OS informing you that you are running low on memory, and it will invite you to reboot.

I was one of the first adopters of the first 128K Mac and loved it! But when we got the opportunity to double the RAM to a whopping 256K, I jumped at it, and what a difference! The new Mac was then called the "Fat Mac."

It would be nice if Apple would give us the opportunity to take our iPads in and have a genius shove in another 256K memory chip - dreamer that I am...


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

iJayTee said:


> Let's see... original iPhone in January '07 followed by the 3G in July '08 and 3Gs in July '09 and 4 in July '10...


Sorry, got to correct this for you ... original iPhone *announced* in January, but went on sale in July 07 (I know cuz I stood in line for one). All your other dates are correct.


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

bryanc said:


> The question in my mind is when the next generation will hit the market, and will it be a slightly more powerful system at a slightly lower or similar price


Let me just rain on that parade for you right now.

Future iPads will undoubtedly be more powerful, but below $499? Not going to happen (unless the price of the components undergoes a SERIOUS drop).

Apple doesn't sell to, and isn't interested in, price-beats-all type customers.



> What do you think? Will Apple shaft the early adopters again by dropping an iPadPro onto the market before xmas?


Zero chance of this happening.


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## jamesB (Jan 28, 2007)

chas_m said:


> but below $499? Not going to happen .


$499? Chas, your roots are showing.
That's actually $549 for us Canucks.


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## UMMA2DUMMA (May 10, 2010)

iPP gotta have one!!

it better have Blu-Ray Micro Disc reader!!!...

AND

mini HDMI 1.4 Output for 3D!!

or FORGET IT!!!


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## Lawrence (Mar 11, 2003)

bryanc said:


> I'm seriously tempted by the iPad, but it just doesn't quite cut it for my needs in it's current incarnation.
> 
> But there will inevitably be a next generation iPad that might. The question in my mind is when the next generation will hit the market, and will it be a slightly more powerful system at a slightly lower or similar price (in which case I wouldn't expect it until next summer at the earliest, because it will obviously make the current iPad obsolete), or will it be an iPad Pro (a much more powerful system at a higher price, in which case it may appear soon, as it appeals to a different market than the current iPad).
> 
> ...


It will emerge right after the iPad Nano.


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## Lawrence (Mar 11, 2003)

...Course that will be right after Apple does a hostile takeover of HTC,
Then the Android operating system may just be absorbed or go to pot.


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## i-rui (Sep 13, 2006)

John Griffin said:


> If you want a demonstration of the limitations of the iPad RAM, try using Google Earth for awhile. It won't be long before you get a little love note from the OS informing you that you are running low on memory, and it will invite you to reboot.
> 
> I was one of the first adopters of the first 128K Mac and loved it! But when we got the opportunity to double the RAM to a whopping 256K, I jumped at it, and what a difference! The new Mac was then called the "Fat Mac."
> 
> It would be nice if Apple would give us the opportunity to take our iPads in and have a genius shove in another 256K memory chip - dreamer that I am...


i don't understand why apple didn't put 512 or 1gb of ram in the ipad. how much would that have cost them? probably not even $5-10. Yet they would have increased the ipads functionality exponentially.


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## John Griffin (Jan 4, 2002)

i-rui said:


> i don't understand why apple didn't put 512 or 1gb of ram in the ipad. how much would that have cost them? probably not even $5-10. Yet they would have increased the ipads functionality exponentially.


Right. One would think that with the lack of RAM, Apple would at least have the ability to use virtual memory with the free memory in the built-in memory. I for one have a huge reserve of memory in my 64GB iPad that just sits there. Maybe iOS 4 will have it.


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## pcronin (Feb 20, 2005)

dolawren said:


> It will emerge right after the iPad Nano.


Meet the iPad Nano (or iPad mini as I call it  ): iPad mini


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

jamesB said:


> $499? Chas, your roots are showing.
> That's actually $549 for us Canucks.


Dang.

But OTOH, that means Canadians have a little bit of possibility of the price going down to $499CAN. If the loonie stays at par for another year ...


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## Newdeal (Nov 2, 2009)

John Griffin said:


> Right. One would think that with the lack of RAM, Apple would at least have the ability to use virtual memory with the free memory in the built-in memory. I for one have a huge reserve of memory in my 64GB iPad that just sits there. Maybe iOS 4 will have it.


just jailbreak it and enable the virtual memory yourself. Why did apple not put in more ram? Probobly because they want to be able to upgrade it next year and have it be a new feature that will require you to upgrade your ipad so you can do some new feature with the new OS that will only work on the new hardware...just like they do with the iphone. With the amount of room in the ipad they could have done alot of things that they didnt do, there is a ton of extra space in there


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

i-rui said:


> i don't understand why apple didn't put 512 or 1gb of ram in the ipad. how much would that have cost them? probably not even $5-10. Yet they would have increased the ipads functionality exponentially.


Well, I don't presume to speak for their reasoning, but one thought that occurred to me immediately upon reading this question was that if you gave the iPad 1GB of RAM, then all developers would immediately code apps that required it, destroying the iPhone market.

It would be in Apple's interest to start moving to additional RAM only *very slowly* as older models phase out so as to avoid creating a schism of "must own the latest everything" apps versus "old stuff" apps.

I mean for example, my iPhone 2G can run most non-GPS, non-camera apps that are on the App Store. I occasionally run across one that is 3G or higher only, but only rarely.

If I were to hold on to the 2G for much longer, I'd expect that issue to come up more and more often. But I'm very grateful that the iOS versions and most apps continue to work fine with my hardware until it comes a time that I'm willing to consider moving up.


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## iphoneottawa (Apr 21, 2010)

Does iPhone 4 has 1G?


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

The iPhone 4G has 512MB of RAM onboard. This is the highest amount (so far) in any Apple iOS device.

I would imagine next year's iPad will have 512MB as well, but that's next year. And by then, DIY sources will have published how-tos explaining how to break open the original iPad and perform this surgery yourself.


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## used to be jwoodget (Aug 22, 2002)

bryanc, the current form of Keynote for the iPad is very limited and you really need to design a Keynote presentation specifically for the iPad. There are notes on how to import here: Keynote for iPad: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Of course the next iteration will be faster, better, etc. It's odd Apple left out a front-facing camera (given FaceTime) but the form factor, IPS screen, flash memory sizes, etc. probably won't change too much (if at all). I also doubt there will be more input options (these will be cloud based) but better output is likely (VGA is nuts).

We may get a better idea when the new iPod Touches are released. If these are more iPhone4 like, perhaps the next iPad will have a more squarish body. Will it get a retina display? Perhaps, but the iPad (at 1024 x 768) already has similar pixels to the iPhone4 (960 x 640) and this will depend on whether resolution independence is brought to iOS4 (since supporting multiple resolutions for app developers across the iOS devices is a pain).

Given the iPad has only been out for a few months, there are a remarkable number of applications specifically designed for it (the Weather Channel app is stunning). Not so much take-up in apps from science, but they'll come.


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