If rumors were products, Cupertino would already own your living room and the 200mpg car in your garage would have a bitten Apple logo hood ornament. With that in mind, come fresh rumors that the mothership will launch 2K and 4K iPad Pro models in 2014.
International Business Times, a rumor ghetto on par with DigiTimes, is reporting that Apple will launch not one, but two 12.9-inch tablets. A 2K iPad is said to be coming in April 2014 while we can pencil in a 4K iPad for Apple’s traditional October tablet release timeline.
“The 12.9-inch iPad will have improved picture quality,” an anonymous tipster told the Korea Times. “As the Apple partner intends to boost its lineup for displays that have almost ultra high-definition (UHD) quality, the upcoming iPad will provide very clear quality similar to that of UHD.”
Although the Korea Times doesn’t specify which partner, Apple currently sources tablet panels from Sharp, LG and Samsung — the latter two companies are based in Korea.
For what it is worth, Cupertino’s current iPad Air features a 2K (2048 x 1536 with 264ppi) resolution display. Assuming Apple does ship a 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a 2K display, it would deliver a significantly less than Retina quality pixel density.
4K iPad: The Ultimate Tablet
Seem silly? Consider that Apple still sells the non-Retina iPad 2 and non-Retina original iPad mini. Such a large 12.9-inch iPad Pro might be priced and more appropriate, like Apple’s other non-Retina slabs, for education.
Naturally, a 4K iPad Pro would be the Cadillac of Apple’s tablet product lines and be targeted at the art, engineering and architecture verticals.
That said, how much would a 2K or 4K iPad Pro sell for? Given the that 7.9-inch iPad mini sells for $399 and 9.7-inch iPad Air for $499, shouldn’t the 12.9-inch iPad Pro go for $599?
Seems reasonable enough, though Apple isn’t always reasonable…
What’s your take?