Some say it’s about to take the enterprise by storm

Dec 30, 2014 14:24 GMT  ·  By

With the IBM partnership announced earlier this month, it’s hard not to see the iPad Pro materialize in the coming months. And with all the rumors swirling around that the tablet is entering production, all we’re really asking now is “when?”

According to industry chatter relayed by Asian news outlets this year, Apple has reportedly commissioned production and trial testing of a larger-screen tablet with hopes to counter the moves of Microsoft and Samsung in the enterprise sector. In typical fashion, it’s not letting any details leak out. But we have a hunch it’s coming.

IBM partnership

In addition to the logical reasoning that Apple will want to hit a home run with the business sector ahead of its competitors, there are two clues already pointing to Apple’s plans to deploy such a device.

One of them is the massively underrated partnership with IBM announced just weeks ago, which leading analyst Horace Dediu calls “the biggest tech news of 2014.”

Arming himself with unusually unsophisticated language, Dediu appropriately pointed out last week that “Apple offers assistance and expertise while obtaining access and lubrication for orifice entry [while] IBM offers modularized access to databases through its own APIs and obtains credible client experiences.”

The apps found in the IBM MobileOne suite undoubtedly deserve a 12-inch canvas to run on, and we’re pretty sure Apple will do everything in its power to deliver.

Stylus invention

An interesting patent application published by the USPTO today reveals that Apple has serious plans to reinvent the stylus and make it possible to write on non-specialized screens and surfaces. The stylus would either store all the information digitally on its own memory bank or whisk it away to a remote device, like an iPad, for further use.

The device would be used not only for writing but also for sketching. Artists already put the iPad to great use when it comes to drawing, and we’re sure none of them would mind an extra two inches of canvas to work with. Same goes for those composing music or mixing live sets.

ETA: early 2015 or around the Apple Watch announcement (if not alongside it). The media still can't decide whether to call it iPad Pro or iPad Plus.

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