Five years back, many thought that the iPad was pretty much dead due to the rise of phablet smartphones and tablet PCs. Even this blog wrote an article titled “The iPad Phase Is Almost Over.”
“There is nothing wrong with the iPad. It’s we who have moved on,” the article (sort of) incorrectly stated, noting that the iPad had nothing on the Surface Pro 3, which could be used both as a tablet and a PC. I also talked about the Galaxy Note and the iPhone 6 Plus replacing the iPad. However, the future would prove me wrong.
The iPad currently isn’t the laptop replacement Apple claimes it to be, but it’s still a useful device that consumers still flock to, although maybe not as much as they did 10 years ago. The iPad Pro, especially, operates as a premium drawing pad and media consumption device in a way that the latest Surface Pro or Galaxy Note models can only dream of.
A lot of people still use the iPad. That’s why there is excitement for the 2020 iPad Pro. Here is what we know so far:
- The iPad Pro keyboard might have a trackpad.
- It may have a three-lens camera.
- One of the lenses may be a 3D depth sensor.
- It could have a mini LED screen, which is better than an OLED screen and allows screen to be substantially slimmer.
- It will come in two versions — 12.9-inch and 11-inch.
- Apple could announce the new iPad Pro models at the end of March.
Then, there is the trackpad. I’ve always wished the Type Cover had a trackpad. It feels incomplete without it. While it’s true that the iPad screen is meant to be touched, it still feels like too much of a task to touch the screen every time you want to move the cursor.
I still long for the day when the iPad operates macOS instead of iPadOS, but then that would cut into the sales for Apple’s MacBook series. The mobile processor in the iPad Pro is very good — even comparable to some high-end laptops. But the software still limits the device. Hopefully, the next version of iPadOS can change things for the better.