Apple Unveils iPad Pro And Apple Pencil

The iPad Pro was unveiled by Apple CEO Tim Cook during an event on Wednesday in San Francisco, California. The latest tablet offering of Apple features a 12.9-inch display screen that requires two hands to use. It is also capable of running two applications side-by-side.

Apple also introduced a smart keyboard that can be used as a cover for the new device. In addition to the thin smart keyboard, the Apple Pencil will also be offered by Apple. The new device is essentially a stylus that enhances precision while working with the tablet.

Cook said the iPad was able to transform the way people create, learn and work in the past five years. He added that the new iPad can be considered as the “most capable iPad” the company created.

The Apple iPad Pro will be launched in November and will have a price tag of $799. On the other hand, the keyboard and pencil will be priced at $169 and $99, respectively.

The introduction of the large-sized tablet of Apple is a part of the latest effort of the company in encouraging interest in the tablet industry, which has experienced a slump recently. Sales of the iPad account for around ten percent of the total sales of the company and is considered as the Achilles heel in its product line. While 10.9 million iPads were sold by the company in three months ending in June, it has actually declined by 18 percent compared to the same period last year. This is the sixth straight time iPad sales have declined.

Tim Cook Unveils iPad Pro - image credit: telegraph.co.uk

The availability of large-sized iPhones and Macs affected sales of the iPad as consumers opted not to replace their tablets. Apple has not offered innovations in technology or radical changes on the tablet for the past few years. The slump in the sales of the iPad is considered as a “speed bump” by the company, which is looking into encouraging sales through new initiatives. For instance, the company announced a partnership with IBM with the aim of increasing sales of the iPad to enterprise users. The release of the iPad Pro may boost demand for the tablet. The increasing demand for devices that can be used as a tablet or a laptop may be beneficial for Apple.

The introduction of the iPad Pro appears to reflect recent trends within the industry. It can be recalled that a new keyboard was announced by Microsoft when it launched the Surface tablet-computer in 2012. A stylus was later unveiled by the company in the following year.

The Apple Pencil goes against the wishes of the co-founder of the company, Steve Jobs. Jobs disapproved the use of a stylus when the first iPhone was announced in 2007. During this time, he said that since no one wants a stylus, they should not use one.

The appeal of the iPad Pro was also enhanced with a 10-hour battery life along with two speakers on each side. The company was able to achieve this by using a “variable” screen that is capable of conserving power whenever images are not displayed on the screen. The A9X chip also allows the new iPad to offer speeds faster than PCs available in the market today.

While the iPad Pro is thicker compared to the current model of the iPad, it has around the same weight as the first iPad.

Posted by George Daniels on Thursday September 10 2015, 12:30 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Technology. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0