Much has been said lately about the possible output of an iPad Pro with a 12,2-inch screen diagonal and clearly oriented to a type of user that is more important to productivity than to content consumption. A team that supposedly would be aimed at professionals and that would run OS X Yosemite in addition to a version in which we could also see iOS as the central operating system.
On the other hand we find images of what would be the new MacBook Air, smaller in size, with a 12-inch screen and a completely renovated design in which we would see a drastic reduction in thickness and connections, so Apple would use USB type C to output the connectivity of the equipment.
At this point we see how the evolution of both, both the iPad and the MacBook Air would go in opposite directions, that is, while the iPad would become more powerful with insistent rumors about the release of the Pro version (bigger, less portable and more productive), the MacBook Air has gone the other way, the rumors point to a more portable, lighter and reduced version that clearly would be more similar to an iPad with integrated keyboard than to a laptop use, saving the distances of course ... then, what is the point of leaving both at the same time ?.
We have already seen how other companies such as Microsoft stated at the time that their tablet, the Surface Pro was for them the laptop of the future, being able to add different keyboards and integrating x86 processors that run a desktop operating system, clearly oriented to productivity. From here is where I wonder to what extent both devices would be profitable for Apple, given that its objective and type of audience is dangerously close as it has happened with the iPhone 6 Plus and the iPad mini, where the first has monopolized much of the audience of Apple's smallest tablet.
For me, the most sensible option would be to launch a larger iPad Pro, with a more advanced ARM processor and with iOS as the system. In addition to specific characteristics for this device such as the use of different stylus that would bring it even closer to an operating system with more possibilities without as many restrictions as the one we have so far
Anyway, for now all are rumors that if fulfilled it would be necessary to see how users respond to this proposal, perhaps in the end it does not lead to the output of two products different but it may simply be that what was discussed as the future iPad Pro is actually the new MacBook Air and everything stays in one, or vice versa. We'll see.
What will define where the market will go are the prices that are shuffled from one device to another. A Macbook Air comes with USB connections and an integrated keyboard, as well as an operating system that allows more gaming than iOS; But if you have to buy a 12 ″ iPad (of course), you have to buy a keyboard and if you want usb… is it worth it?
The sensible thing is to choose the device that best suits the use that is given and not by the impulse of the portfolio.
What if the new Ipad Pro already comes with a built-in keyboard that could be removed, like those of other brands, and what we have is not two devices but one?
I do not think that Apple adds a physical keyboard to a standard iPad, but it is true that this possible iPad Pro and the lowest-end MacBook Air may be very close in performance and in the end it will be better for the user to buy the lower-priced one . As long as the benefits it offers us are what we need.
Let's see what all this is about 😀