iPad Pro Tipped For Q4 2015 Release

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As fans of Apple tablets continue to await the release of the iPad Pro, news has emerged which suggests we can expect its release before the end of 2015. The Taiwanese website DigiTimes has suggested that this long awaited premium tablet will enter production before the end of Q3 2015. The production of the iPad Pro will then enter its mass-market phase in Q4, resulting in a release ahead of the key Christmas marketplace.

KGI Securities report corroborated

This will be excellent news for those intending to purchase the hugely anticipated tablet, and it is also important to emphasize that these reports definitely have credibility. A recent KGI Securities report also suggested that the rumored 12.9-inch tablet would enter mass production in either September or October of this year.

The iPad Pro is another device from Apple that can be filed under ‘extremely poorly kept secrets’! Considering the furore that surrounds any Apple release, it is almost impossible for the consumer electronics giant to keep new product releases to itself. Thus, reports suggesting that Apple was about to unveil a new premium version of the hugely successful tablet series have been circulating for months, If not years.

Although details on the iPad Pro have understandably been a little bit sketchy considering that Apple has neglected to confirm its existence, the overall ethos of the device is generally agreed upon by analysts. The concept behind the iPad Pro is to deliver a tablet computer that represents something of a bridge between Apple’s MacBook range of laptops and it’s more affordable tablet computers.

With this in mind, the iPad Pro is intended to be very much a professional device, and one that can comfortably operate in a corporate environment. The ‘Pro’ monicker that has been afforded this device is very much part of a branding exercise, with the iPad pro seen as a tablet that can deliver to businesses as well as consumers.

iPad Pro to multitask

An important part of the portfolio of features proposed for the iPad Pro is its ability to deliver split-screen multitasking. This has been beyond the capabilities of Apple’s tablet range at the time of writing, but it is thought that a powerful processor and general specification lineup will enable the iPad Pro to deliver this innovation. In short, this Apple tablet is intended to strongly resemble a regular desktop machine, as opposed to being the more fun variety of computer that tablets have generally been considered.

With Apple readying itself for an extremely important final quarter of 2015, reports from Taiwan indicate that the iPad Pro will be produced in large quantities. With a Q4 release likely for this tablet, Apple will produce an estimated 5 million units before the end of the calendar year. It is suggested that mid-November could be a likely release date for this tablet, with the critical supply chain company Foxconn prepared to start supplying components at the time.

According to the Taiwanese source, Sharp will be the main supplier of LCD displays for the iPad Pro, with Foxconn itself providing touch panels. Apple will also rely on Samsung and CPK as secondary suppliers of LCD assemblies and touch modules, as Apple takes a broad-brush approach to the assembly of this important and high-specification device.

The iPad Pro will play a major role for Apple in the performance of the corporation in the remainder of 2015. Although it seems that the consumer electronics giant has earmarked a relatively late release date for the iPad Pro, its performance in the final weeks of 2015 will still play a significant part in Apple’s forthcoming strategy.

iPad Pro fights negative Apple sentiment

This is due to the fact that that California-based company has been forced to endure its first period of negative sentiment for some time recently. Apple’s share price has fallen significantly over the last few weeks, as scepticism has developed regarding the ability of the market-leading corporation to continue to grow its revenue. This had particularly centred on China, an increasingly important marketplace for Apple, which recent research suggests is now the biggest purchaser of iPhone units on a national basis.

Apple is thus looking to get back on track with its financial performance, and an outstanding series of sales figures related to the iPad Pro would certainly help in this aim. Although the iPad has been an essential component of the Apple range over several years, this new professional-focused device can be seen as an entirely new product niche; something that Apple promised to develop when its share price last declined early in 2014.

iPad Pro specs

In terms of the specifications of the device, apart from the fact that analysts are expecting the iPad Pro to feature split-screen multitasking, the specs of the device are very much open to interpretation and speculation. But there has been one explicit clue regarding what we can expect from the iPad Pro when it is released.

A device that is believed to be the iPad Pro was spotted some weeks ago in commercial app analytics data, providing something of an insight into what to expect from this tablet. The data in question suggested that this iPad Pro unit will carry an “iPad6,8” model identifier, and reports also indicated the screen resolution that we can expect from the iPad Pro.

Thus, a 2,048 x 2,732 pixel display has been mooted, ensuring that the iPad Pro would be in the quad HD range. It is notable that this resolution is significantly higher than the one utilized by the iPad Air 2, which relied on a 2,048 x 1,536 pixel display when it was released last year.

With Apple set to unveil its next generation of iPhones at a special event on September 9, there will be hopes among fans of its tablet computers that the iPad Pro could also be announced. But this seems fairly unlikely, as Apple tends to focus on one product release at a time, and is likely to keep the iPad Pro for its own individual events.

Regardless of this, it looks increasingly likely that this hotly anticipated tablet will at least arrive before the year is out.

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