iPad Pro "enhanced" PCization: further transformation

iPad Pro has not had a "dazzling" update for a long time: the appearance design has not changed much since the 2018 model, except for a few more lenses; the core specifications are still making steady progress, with a more powerful processor and a better screen; After the scheduling, iPadOS did not bring more major updates.

Reflected in daily use, the status of iPad Pro in users’ lives and work has not changed. Jason Snell, an Apple product enthusiast and editor-in-chief of Six Colors, recently announced in an article that he had "given up the dream of traveling with just an iPad" and returned to completing a lot of work on his MacBook.

The iPad Pro is still the best and most powerful tablet on the planet, but it definitely needs a new round of change, maybe even a revolution.

Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman mentioned in the latest report that Apple is making major changes to the iPad Pro product line for the first time in five years. One is around the screen, and the other is around Magic. Keyboard. As for the most critical software part, although it is not mentioned, I believe it should be the meaning of the title.

Gurman also got some details. For example, next year Apple will release a 13-inch iPad Pro with a slightly larger screen, using OLED instead of Mini-LED. In addition, the new Magic Keyboard will make "iPad Pro look more like a laptop" and also increase the trackpad area.

The current iPad Pro Magic Keyboard, picture/Apple

screen It is not surprising. There have been multiple news channels earlier that the screen of iPad Pro will change from Mini-LED to OLED, and the large-size version will be slightly enlarged to 13 inches, and the screen will make the iPad Pro look more like a laptop. Magic Keyboard may be the focus of Apple's major overhaul of its product line. More likely, it is also a new starting point for tablet computers.

More like a laptop, the only way for the iPad

There is no doubt that the tablet computer is the Smartphones and laptops offer a new device, but the problem with tablets is here too.

Smartphones and laptops have covered most people’s needs in life, entertainment, work, etc. Therefore, tablets also seem a bit “tasteless”. When watching In addition to videos, many people are confused about the positioning and use of tablets, complaining about them as "iQiyi/Bilibili/Netflix player".

But in the final analysis, the initial and ultimate goal of tablet computers is to replace most laptops, just like minicomputers replaced most mainframes in the PC era. Based on the user experience, most of the needs and tasks carried by the latter are realized, thereby realizing the transition of the PC generation.

2010 iPad conference, photo/Apple

Still remember the history When Steve Jobs released the first-generation iPad, he said that the iPad was a "computing device for the post-PC era." Apple later had a very famous slogan - "Why should your next computer be a computer?" In fact, this continues layer meaning.

However, how to allow most laptop users to migrate their usage scenarios to tablets has always been an unsolved problem. Apple’s thinking in the past few years has been “ Get closer to the PC". At the 2018 WWDC conference, Apple Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi told Apple developers that iOS and macOS would not merge.

As a result, at WWDC a year later, Craig announced iPadOS, which is independent from iOS.

##WWDC18, Picture/Apple

iPadOS is obviously Apple’s version of the iPad A strong proof of "getting closer to the PC" is that more and more desktop APIs and designs have made iPadOS gradually closer to the MacBook and farther away from the iPhone in terms of user experience. But the iPad is ultimately meant to replace laptops rather than become them. Front stage scheduling is a typical representative. Although there are mixed reviews, what is certain is that Apple hopes to change the multi-tasking design of the iPad to take over the more complex and flexible multi-tasking usage scenarios that users originally used on PCs.

In a nutshell, Apple’s thinking determines that the iPad, especially the iPad Pro series, will become more and more sophisticated, from hardware to software, at least in the next few years. Like a laptop.

At the end of last year, The Information reported that Apple was developing a 16-inch iPad Pro. I don’t know if this news is accurate, but with Apple’s thinking, I wouldn’t be surprised if they launched this 16-inch iPad Pro.

iPads and tablets cannot remain unchanged

In early August, IDC announced several latest market reports According to the report, the declines in the smartphone and PC markets have narrowed significantly, but at the same time, global tablet market shipments fell 29.9% to 28.3 million units in the second quarter of 2023.

Global tablet market, picture/IDC

The report shows that among the top five tablet computer manufacturers in the world, except Xiaomi, all experienced double-digit declines. Apple held 37% of the global market share, shipping more than 10.5 million units, but it also fell 16.8% year-on-year, or 2.1 million units less. In fact, Xiaomi's growth is largely due to the low base in the same period last year. The only products on sale are the newly updated Xiaomi Mi Pad 5 series.

But the important thing is not the decline in one quarter. Looking over time, we will find that the peak of tablet computers has ended after 2013 and 2014. Even against the backdrop of a surge in demand caused by the global epidemic, tablet shipments in a single quarter have always remained at 4,000. Around 10,000 units, there has been no breakthrough.

##Tablet shipments in the 13 years since iPad was launched, Figure/Statcounter

Looking at Apple again, the iPad still accounted for 19.9% ​​of Apple's annual revenue in 2013. By the second quarter of 2023, the iPad will account for only 7% of Apple's total revenue. In other words, at least in terms of revenue, the iPad is no longer that important to Apple.

Whether it is shipments or revenue, the ultimate reflection is that consumers have not paid more and more attention to and relied on tablet computers in the past ten years. Tablets may be said to be computing devices in the post-PC era, but they have obviously not replaced laptops as the most mainstream computing device in the post-PC era. The software ecosystem is still the aspect that users complain about the most today.

Even the iPad is now in a rather embarrassing situation: sales growth has stagnated, resulting in software manufacturers being unwilling to invest too much in development and adaptation costs. More broadly, of computing device users continue not to consider iPad due to factors such as software ecology, which in turn continues to affect market size.

In short, Apple needs more changes.

Hardware is on the one hand, the iPad needs more attractive upgrades, such as OLED’s higher contrast, thinness, battery life and other advantages, but the more important thing is the software level . On the Internet, it is rare to see criticism of iPad hardware. Instead, a large part of the criticism is focused on the software level. Sometimes it is because the system has too few open interfaces, sometimes it is the lack of software in some fields, and sometimes it is the lack of software in some fields. It is lower usage efficiency.

But perhaps the most fatal criticism of the iPad is that the same thing can be done better and faster on a MacBook or iPhone.

Frankly speaking, we don’t know how Apple will change the current situation faced by the iPad, but in any case, starting from the iPad Pro, Apple must start to change.

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