Apple’s upcoming 9.7-inch iPad Pro is not only a tablet that consumers are looking forward to getting their hands on, but also one that Apple believes could potentially reignite the dwindling passion that has recently seeped out of the tablet market. Early speculation suggested that the hardware could be ultimately comparable to the existing 12.9-inch iPad Pro in terms of functionality, but it’s now being suggested that there could be one key difference other than form factor; the camera sensor that ships with the tablet.
The current 12.9-inch iPad Pro – which has been fairly successfully marketed at and adopted by the education and business markets – ships with a fairly capable 8-megapixel camera sensor. Given the current iPad Pro’s target demographic, and the fact that it’s a fairly substantial offering in terms of size and form factor, it’s probably accepted internally at Apple that not a huge percentage of owners will regularly use it for photography purposes. As pointed out by 9to5Mac, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro appears to be a different ball game, and will speculatively ship with an improved 12-megapixel sensor, akin to the camera of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, with 4K video recording capabilities.
Apple will likely accept that the iPad’s main use case is unlikely to be snapping photographs while out and about. Consumers generally have a more portable iPhone, or a digital and dedicated camera for that type of activity. However, given the fact that the upcoming iPad Pro contains a smaller form factor, consumers are likely to be a lot more inclined and susceptible to just pulling it out and shooting images and videos with it, hence the improved camera experience. With that in mind, we’re still hoping that we don’t see a new breed of people utilizing an iPad as their main photography device going forward.
Like the majority of recent iPad models, the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro will also include forward-facing FaceTime HD camera for exceptional selfies and of course FaceTime calling as well. Additional rumored specifications for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro include an Apple A9X processor, integrated display tech that works in conjunction with the Apple Pencil, a four speaker system, and a Smart Connector that will support Apple’s new and improved Smart Keyboard cover. We just have to wait until March 21 to see if it gets introduced alongside the iPhone SE.
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