iPad Plus with 12.9inch screen set to launch later this year
27.02.2015 14:31
Apple is set to launch a giant iPad called the iPad Plus this year to take on the rising challenge from Microsoft's surface and Android tablets, it has been claimed.
The firm is also hoping the larger screen will help it differentiate the iPad from the big screen iPhone 6 Plus.
The big screen tablet is believed to be planned for release towards the end of the year.
Rhoda Alexander, an analyst at market researcher IHS, said the pans were already well advanced.
'Our supply side (sources say) it's a go for 2015,' Alexander told FoxNews.com.
'The release timing is fuzzy, It may not appear until Q4 (fourth quarter) with the other iPad updates.
'We are, however, getting input from both the component and [product] side that this is a real product, and part of their 2015 building plan.'
Apple CEO Tim Cook, in the company's most recent earnings conference call in January, talked about the iPad's future.
'Over the long arc of time the iPad is a great business,' he said.
'I also have visibility obviously of what's in the pipeline and feel very, very good about that.'
Earlier this month a pose on Chinese networking site Weibo leaked what it claimed were the specs for the device.
Apparently, the tablet will feature a 12.9-inch display with 2K resolution, and a 7mm thin profile.
The leak also said the tablet is supposed to weigh 700g and pack a large 11,000 mAh battery, significantly bigger than the iPad Air 2's 7,340 mAh battery.
Late last year a leaked design for a case revealed more details of Apple's much rumoured iPad tablet.
According to French blog nowhereelse.fr, the case is from a 'reliable source' which has previously given them advance details of Apple's product, which the firm is notoriously secretive about.
It 'would be equipped with a screen measuring from 12.2 to 12.9 inches diagonally,' it says.
The tablet is also expected to have four speakers, and could even featur two charging ports allowing it to remain plugged in when in either portrait of landscape mode.
It comes weeks after an image was leaked that appeared to be a mould for the device.
The photo was reportedly taken at Apple manufacturer Foxconn's factory in China and is said to measure approximately 12 inches high by 8.7 inches wide.
It follows a leaked sketch from last week that claimed to show one corner of the so-called megapad, iPad Pro or iPad Air Plus.
The latest image was posted on Chinese social network Weibo.
If the rumours are true, the iPad Pro would be significantly larger than the current iPad Air 2.
Experts have estimated that the mould would produce a tablet that measures 12 inches in height, 8.7 inches wide and 0.27 inches deep (305.3mm x 220.8 mm x 7mm).
By comparison, the iPad Air 2 is 9.4 inches by 6.7 inches by 0.24 inches (240mm x 169.5mm x 6.1mm).
(dailymail.co.uk)
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