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The iPad Pro
The last time we did this, it has to be said, we were pretty close. This time we are two months sooner than we were last time and whilst there is a lot of time for Apple to change things, the basics are certainly here.
The iPad Pro is a definite.
According to our source deep in Apple, the announcement date will be at WWDC 2014 but possibly likely to slide in distribution to the late summer or even perhaps to the 'October iPad Period'. The only reason that Apple may keep to a early part of summer release could be the 'back to school' market who would be perhaps very likely candidates for this machine.
Imagine a Macbook Air meeting an iPad Air and thats the iPad Pro. Slightly thicker than an iPad Version One but with a more minimalistic bezel.
The unifying 64-Bit architecture of the last three iOS based devices has opened the door for a single development strategy that allows for unified backend programming to be simply altered to allow front end interaction. The beginning of that 'interaction' will be in Summer 2014.
The iPad Pro will carry the ability to run both OS X and iOS Applications. There will be access to both of the Apple App Stores on the device and where touch interaction is available, even with OS X programmes, then the iPad Pro will cater for that. Expect an OS X SDK update including lots of touch capabilities at WWDC next year. If you don't like the idea, then the iPad Pro will also support mouse inputs
The screen is currently being touted at 12.9 inches and the casing should be slightly thicker than an iPad Version One. Not a lot is certain on weight yet and with 5 months of hard development time before production runs begin, that would likely to change but the word from our source is a lot lighter than the 13" Macbook Air
What wont change is the entry level memory. Its a 256GB SSD. There was no certainty on upgrades or availability of 512GB or higher but our source felt that this was 'likely'
So, at the moment, thats all we have. We'll keep you posted as there is more.
Ewen
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Ewen Rankin