Let's speculate about the next iPad.

Page 5 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
S

Steelbom

Senior member
Sep 1, 2009
455
22
81
Eug said:
Yeah, hence the 2560x1920 prediction for the 12.1" MaxiPad.

As for the 9.7", I don't think it really makes much sense to take a Retina 9.7" iPad and then update it to make it render internally at 3X 3072x2304, only to downsample it again, when the original 2048x1536 is already decent Retina at 264 ppi.

However, for a 12.1" iPad, downsampling from 3X makes sense, since increasing the final resolution to 2560x1920 brings it to the exact same 264 ppi as the 9.7" iPad. That also simplifies management of their supply sourcing since it's the same panel tech as the 9.7" iPad.
Click to expand...
The issue I see with using 3x on the rumoued 12~ inch iPad is there's no improvement in screen real estate, which should be the whole point of a bigger display.

It may be decent enough, but that doesn't mean Apple won't want to improve it even further. They could render at 3072x2304 and downscale to bring the iPad Air to 326 PPI like the Mini. Or maybe they'll just go all the way and bring it up to 396 PPI. We'll see soon enough.
 
Eug

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,048
1,676
126
Steelbom said:
The issue I see with using 3x on the rumoued 12~ inch iPad is there's no improvement in screen real estate, which should be the whole point of a bigger display.

It may be decent enough, but that doesn't mean Apple won't want to improve it even further. They could render at 3072x2304 and downscale to bring the iPad Air to 326 PPI like the Mini. Or maybe they'll just go all the way and bring it up to 396 PPI. We'll see soon enough.
Click to expand...
Maybe my math is off. I'll have to redo my calcs.

EDIT:

Steelbom was correct to say that 3072x2304 internal at 3x would mean no increase in real estate. Brain fart on my part.

Without actually going through the nitty gritty calculations, I'm thinking it may make more sense to approach this from another direction. You guys tell me if I'm right.

Assuming a near-12" iPad size (not 12.9"), then two possible options I see are:

2560x1920 at 2X
3840x2880 at 3X

What's interesting about this is that 3840x2880 at 11.97" is exactly 401 ppi, which is the pixel density of the iPhone 6 Plus.

Similarly, the 16:9 5.5" iPhone 6 Plus has a screen height of 4.79". A hypothetical 4:3 11.97" MaxiPad would have a screen width of 9.58", which is exactly twice the screen height of the iPhone 6 Plus, which of course makes sense since it's the same ppi and twice the pixels. That means Apple could use the same panel tech for the 12" MaxiPad as they did for the 5.5" iPhone 6 Plus.

OTOH, I still think it's overkill to do this. 264 ppi for a ~12" tablet is perfectly fine. So, I'll stick with 2560x1920 for my prediction.

BTW, as mentioned, either option would mate well with a detachable keyboard. The keyboard would have full-sized keys, and it could also have a decent-sized trackpad. That is impossible with the 9.7" iPads. (It has been done with the 10.6" Surface machines, but that's because those are widescreen, and bigger.)

With such an optional keyboard, this 12" iPad could represent Apple's first iOS hybrid, and maybe this is the new 12" Retina device that rumour sites were predicting. IOW, perhaps the "iPad Pro" and "12-inch Retina MacBook" are actually one and the same.

---

P.S. Can a PowerVR GX6650 even drive a 3840x2880 screen well? If not, then 2560x1920 makes a lot more sense from this perspective too.
 
Last edited:
S

Steelbom

Senior member
Sep 1, 2009
455
22
81
Eug said:
Maybe my math is off. I'll have to redo my calcs.

EDIT:

Steelbom was correct to say that 3072x2304 internal at 3x would mean no increase in real estate. Brain fart on my part.

Without actually going through the nitty gritty calculations, I'm thinking it may make more sense to approach this from another direction. You guys tell me if I'm right.

Assuming a near-12" iPad size (not 12.9"), then two possible options I see are:

2560x1920 at 2X
3840x2880 at 3X

What's interesting about this is that 3840x2880 at 11.97" is exactly 401 ppi, which is the pixel density of the iPhone 6 Plus.

Similarly, the 16:9 5.5" iPhone 6 Plus has a screen height of 4.79". A hypothetical 4:3 11.97" MaxiPad would have a screen width of 9.58", which is exactly twice the screen height of the iPhone 6 Plus, which of course makes sense since it's the same ppi and twice the pixels. That means Apple could use the same panel tech for the 12" MaxiPad as they did for the 5.5" iPhone 6 Plus.

OTOH, I still think it's overkill to do this. 264 ppi for a ~12" tablet is perfectly fine. So, I'll stick with 2560x1920 for my prediction.

BTW, as mentioned, either option would mate well with a detachable keyboard. The keyboard would have full-sized keys, and it could also have a decent-sized trackpad. That is impossible with the 9.7" iPads. (It has been done with the 10.6" Surface machines, but that's because those are widescreen, and bigger.)

With such an optional keyboard, this 12" iPad could represent Apple's first iOS hybrid, and maybe this is the new 12" Retina device that rumour sites were predicting. IOW, perhaps the "iPad Pro" and "12-inch Retina MacBook" are actually one and the same.

---

P.S. Can a PowerVR GS6630 even drive a 3840x2880 screen well? If not, then 2560x1920 makes a lot more sense from this perspective too.
Click to expand...
I think 2560x1920 @2x on a 12 inch iPad would work without issue.

I'm putting my bets on a 3072x2304 Air 2 -- at least internally, and a higher panel resolution (if not 2304p itself.)

Pretty sure it's the GX6650, but in the past Apple has upped pixels four fold and only provided a 50% increase in GPU performance. Going from 2048x2304 to 3072x2304 would only be a bit more than twice as many pixels. I think 3840x2880 would be pushing it...
 
Eug

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,048
1,676
126




screenshot-2014-10-15-13-09-23.png


Photo burst mode for iPad Air 2. No mention of MaxiPad in the various screengrabs.

I tried to download this user guide, but it has since been pulled.
 
Last edited:
M

Mondozei

Golden Member
Jul 7, 2013
1,043
41
86
Anyone found a decent livestream for those of us with non-Apple products(but are thinking about buying one)? I still think Apple's policy is delusional, how can you sell stuff if interested people can't watch your event? (Live, that is).

Either the medialink URL for a videoplayer like VLC or a non-commentary livestream on a website? Thanks!
 
H

HN

Diamond Member
Jan 19, 2001
8,186
4
0
Mondozei said:
Anyone found a decent livestream for those of us with non-Apple products(but are thinking about buying one)? I still think Apple's policy is delusional, how can you sell stuff if interested people can't watch your event? (Live, that is).

Either the medialink URL for a videoplayer like VLC or a non-commentary livestream on a website? Thanks!
Click to expand...

http://p.events-delivery.apple.com....voiubefvpiub10/refs/14pijbnoihjb10_sl_ref.mov

it's about 5-10 minutes behind tho (the stream i mean; the event is going down already; Cook on stage)
 
Pheran

Pheran

Diamond Member
Apr 26, 2001
5,740
35
91
I wonder if the iPad mini will return to a less ridiculous price. Probably not.
 
H

HN

Diamond Member
Jan 19, 2001
8,186
4
0
they're really zipping along here.
apple pay done (American Express, MasterCard and Visa on board; starts monday);
apple watch done (rolling out WatchKit next month. SDK available in November; still no sale date)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom