I know, some might say “dude, again a post about
Apple?” – Yes! As it happens, Apple will be releasing
new iPad Pros eventhough they were not shown on
the Apple Event earlier this month…

Some tweets and screenshots show that Apple is indeed trying to make the iPad Pro still a competitor to the Microsoft Suface Go.

Also in iOS12.1 Beta you see some odd code:

An Indicator that Apple IS going to release the next-gen iPad Pro in Fall this year? Most likely. And it goes even further:

While older models imulated in the iOS UI simulator do only show up to 1920×1080 as external display resolution, because a higher resultion via Apple’s own HMI-Lightning adaptor is simply not possible, it seems that the next-gen iPad Pro might change even here. One might ask, why one would need an iPad as an external display, as there are cheaper solutions around (like hooking a plain monitor to the MacBook (Pro) or iMac (Pro). The iPad however would then server multiple purposes. Either as a smart external display, or as an ultra-portable computer device.

The following screenshot to the left clearly shows a 4K mode which is solely available using Thunderbolt or USB-C. So it might happen that the new iPad Pro will have an USB-C port instead of the usual Lightning port. This would mean that you would profit from way faster transfer speeds but it would also mean that you cannot use a wide variety of battery packs anymore for recharging your iPad Pro in case your companion runs out of power.

All this has advantages and disadvantages. But what thrills me most is the fact that FaceID will most likely work in Landscape AND Portrait mode. This would mean that any speculation of a Smart Connector being placed on the bottom side of the iPad (when in Portrait mode) might become obsolete (and honestly, who is using his iPad in Portrait mode when using an external keyboard or even a keyboard case?)

So whatever comes now, let’s see what Apple will cough up in the following weeks but if the device looks like the following rendering, then… *habba habba* – this might be one freaking cool iPad you’d wanna have again!

Note: These are only concept renderings and the final product might still differ from the final result!