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Report: Schematics of 12.2-inch ‘iPad Air Plus’ rumored for April-June launch, iPad Mini 4 upgrade details

Mac-Fan-12-inch-iPad

Japanese magazine Mac Fan has published what it claims are drawings for the much rumored upcoming 12-inch iPad (via Macotakara).

The report in Mac Fan, which refers to the 12-inch iPad as the iPad Air Plus, claims that the new iPad will include a 12.2-inch display, new A9 processor, four speakers to offer stereo sound in any orientation, and arrive sometime between April and June of next year.

Latest rumors for the device claimed iPad Pro would sport a smaller 12.2-inch display and a profile of 7mm, which lines up with the drawings published in the latest Mac Fan issue today. Several reports have pointed to a yet to be announced iPad that will reportedly include a display measuring somewhere in the neighborhood of 12-inches, however reports have claimed various sizes ranging from 12 inches to 12.9 inches.

Bloomberg and others reported that Apple was planning on releasing the device sometime in early 2015, while a recent report from The Wall Street Journal claimed Apple had postponed mass production of the larger iPad from December 2014 into next year as suppliers struggled to meet demand for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launch. The latest rumors from the supply chain point to delays that will see mass production of the larger iPad start sometime in Q1 or Q2 of next year.

We can’t verify if the drawings published by Mac Fan are legit, but it’s worth noting the publication published drawings with accurate dimensions for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus before their launch. The translated report also seems to claim that Apple will introduce an iPad mini 4 with a design that takes after iPad Air 2 to replace previous generations.

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Comments

  1. michaelg379 - 9 years ago

    It appears to have pretty large bezels on the sides…

    Hopefully it’ll feature split screen multitasking

    • Rich Davis (@RichDavis9) - 9 years ago

      I think Split Screen will be in iOS9, apparently Apple’s been working on split screen for the iPad, they just didn’t roll it out yet. I don’t know if it will be an iOS 8.x feature enhancement, but who knows, Apple could do that if they wanted to.

      • michaelg379 - 9 years ago

        I agree with you that it’ll probably be an iOS 9 feature but maybe it could be released exclusively on the iPad Air Plus first and then for iPhones and other iPads alongside iOS 9 release

      • taoprophet420 - 9 years ago

        iOS 8.3

    • patstar5 - 9 years ago

      And windows 8 has had this since 2012! I can easily split screen apps on my windows tablet. I think Microsoft surface can do 4 apps at once.
      I don’t see the point of a bigger iPad it it will just run iOS and not os x. Probably cost as much as a surface or Mac anyways

      • bb1111116 - 9 years ago

        I believe the larger iPad would be for tablets in the enterprise.
        iPads have the largest tablet marketshare in the enterprise sector.

      • michaelg379 - 9 years ago

        I do agree with you – I have a Dell Venue tablet from school and using multiple apps at a time is nice – Samsung has had for a few years too

      • PMZanetti - 9 years ago

        No it doesn’t have “THIS” because it’s not an iPad, it’s not iOS, and it’s not good at all.

        I have two pieces of paper that both say App on them, and they’ve been next to each other since 2007. I’ve had “THIS” since 2007!

        That’s what I hear when people like you spew incoherence onto the screen.

      • Albert Davis - 9 years ago

        What I hear PMZ is people like you getting butt-hurt over something someone says. Grow up. It’s just a company who doesn’t care about YOU… and your incessant defense is just disgusting.

    • rettun1 - 9 years ago

      They do look pretty big. I guess with a Device that size/weight, they want to be sure people are getting a good grip on it wiithououut oving the screen. And on the plus side, the battery life in this thing will be great. I wonder what resolution we are talking here…

  2. robertsm76 - 9 years ago

    if that timeline is correct can will assume that Apple hold an event for the watch and this ‘iPAd pro’ together?

    • You can’t assume but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. That way at WWDC there will be developer sessions for Apple Watch and iPad Air Plus.

      • lagax - 9 years ago

        What sessions would be specific to iPad Air Plus? Auto layout does everything for split screen multitasking, everything else seems the same for the Plus until now.

  3. I really hope this ships with support for an active digitizer pen. They don’t have to include the pen in the box if they are afraid of over complicating the experience for consumers. This simple addition would drive sales in many professional areas that are currently stuck with Windows tablets.

    • standardpull - 9 years ago

      You can buy a digitizer pen for under $5 today. And they work extremely well with all iPads and iPhones. Do it!

  4. Silence Dogood - 9 years ago

    Who wants a “Plus” size iPad?!? It’s too large for one handed use. You can’t put it in your pocket. And I bet it bends!!! (end sarcasm)

  5. Donald Duvall - 9 years ago

    ARM ain’t gonna cut it in the productive tablet/hybrid market. These guys better figure out a way to get iOS and OS X to play nice together or they’re never going to catch up.

  6. Unless the iPad mini re-reaches feature parity, I won’t touch the thing. The speakers were fd on the mini retina and should have been recalled. Apple just doesn’t care about the mini anymore.

  7. Mahesh Mohan - 9 years ago

    iPad Air Plus? I would actually like to see an “iPad Pro” that comes with a keyboard. Something like a competitor to Surface and something that can be dubbed as an iOS Laptop.

  8. Aaron Tuleja - 9 years ago

    I just hope it runs the full Mac OS and not iOS. The whole point of a larger tablet is that it can function as a laptop and a tablet. I don’t need a bigger iPad. I would like it to be a Macbook tab or something like that where you can really put good software on it. I have a work supplied Surface Pro 3, which is a great device, but I would love to have something similar from Apple.

  9. matthewr1990 - 9 years ago

    Large iPad would be fantastic. I use mine for all sorts including a TV display in the back of the car for my daughter and Netflix in bed. A bigger screen helps me there. I’m a simple user but like the power for when I’m doing my word documents and picture/movie editing.

  10. Realitista (@Realitista) - 9 years ago

    Honestly I don’t even want a windows tablet at 12″ that can run real software. Why would I want a 12″ iOS device?

  11. presslee - 9 years ago

    the word on the street is a taller 12 inch 2730 x 1536 16:9 “retina 3k”
    we need steve back now!

  12. nwdrift - 9 years ago

    The approach shouldn’t really be about size… it should be about the operating system.

    Unless they do some sort of fusion of OSX and iOS, it’s just going to be a bigger ipad… nothing else.

    I sold my ipad because it doesn’t do anything that my iphone 6 plus can’t do… and I bought a surface pro 3.. why? because it’s a full operating system

    ———-

    IMO, here is what should happen (not a prediction, because we all know hasn’t had the balls to do such a big change in a while) :

    OSXi <– Yes, OSX finally went to OS 'eleven', branding it with a lower-case "I" because of the fusion of iOS and OSX, touch apps with full operating system

    MacPad <– First device to run OSXi, no it's not called an iPad Pro because "i" devices only run iOS. "Mac" devices run OSX

    hurry up , some of us feel like you're late to the game

Author

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jordan Kahn

Jordan writes about all things Apple as Senior Editor of 9to5Mac, & contributes to 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, & Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s Logic Pros series.