Where does the tablet end and the computer begin? The question may seem silly, but it is raised by the latest rumors around Apple. As the media tells us The Informationthe brand would indeed think of marketing, in the more or less near future, an iPad with a diagonal screen of 16 inches.
The iPad comes to tickle the MacBooks
Until now, Apple has never exceeded 13 inches diagonally on its iPads. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro series is already approaching the screen diagonals that can be found on some ultrabooks, but the manufacturer would like to go even further, blurring the border between iPad and Mac even more. “A 16-inch iPad would likely be for creative professionals, such as graphic artists and designers, who prefer a larger screen” details The information.
This is not the first time that iPads with larger diagonal screens have been mentioned. In June 2021, the always very well informed Mark Gurmann already mentioned the existence of an iPad XXL which could arrive “within a few years at best“. More recently, it was analyst Ross Young who predicted the arrival of a 14.1-inch iPad in 2023. It could therefore be that Apple is planning a duo of iPad Pro 14 and 16 inches soon.
An iPad XXL, what for?
In doing so, Apple would directly compete with its MacBooks, since iPads and Apple computers are now equipped with the same Apple Silicon chips (M1 or M2). Only small problem, the software is still not up to par. The iPad Pro, especially the latest models with M2 chips, are overflowing with a power that iPad OS does not yet know how to take advantage of. Some video editing or photo editing applications can be demanding, but the iPad Pro still has too much to offer.
Stage Manager, the functionality supposed to transform the iPad into a mini-computer thanks to the possibility of juggling between several floating windows, is far from being the announced revolution. The tool is still full of bugs and problems of all kinds, while the final version of iPad OS has just been released. As it stands, it’s hard to see what a giant iPad would bring if the software experience remains hopelessly limited to the improved single-tasking currently enabled by iPad OS.
The hardware is there, the power too, but the software is still the weak point to truly transform the iPad into a work machine worthy of the name. Let’s hope that Apple will correct this before marketing new iPads with even larger diagonals.