One year ago today, I made a predictions post for what I expected from Apple for the iPad in 2020. Whether you have sources or not (and I definitely have none), you should be willing to keep score if you are going to step out and make them. With that in mind, here’s a look back at how I fared with those predictions.
So Apple’s first of two or three streaming events this fall is in the books and, well, it was pretty uneventful. Other than pricing details for the new Apple Fitness+ and Apple One subscriptions, there really wasn’t anything major revealed today. I can’t remember if anyone predicted the Product RED Watch beforehand, but almost everything else was common knowledge.
However, that doesn’t mean that this event was irrelevant.
First the iPhone 12 was coming in October. Then it was September. Now we have a report form a reliable (if less than likable) source saying that its October again. I guess it comes down to which leaker you trust the most.
I was minding my own business this morning when I checked Facebook and got an interesting iPad-related blast from the past. Thanks to this Memory that showed up today, I was reminded that I was working in Marion, NC on a Building Automation System upgrade on July 9, 2011. I was doing a little work offsite at a local coffee shop when I took the photo above. After over two weeks out of town and 4 days in a row cooped up in my hotel room working on this upgrade, it was time for some new surroundings.
Rumors about Mini-LED iPads have been bouncing around for well over a year. Thanks to the effects of a worldwide pandemic, they have been all over the place in more recent months. First these new devices were coming in 2020 and later they were reported to be delayed until next year. The Mini-LED iPad Pro is still pegged for a 2021 debut. That said, now a report from DigiTimes says that Mini-LED could be back on for late 2020.
Ming-Chi Kuo was back a few days ago, calling for a new “iPad” in the second half of 2020. This report came courtesy of MacRumors. The problem is, we really don’t know which one model he’s talking about yet.
Even though it looks like the enhanced iPad Pro with a Mini-LED screen has been bumped to next year due to the impact of COVID-19, we have fresh rumors of another new Apple tablet coming in 2021. There have already been rumblings about a new iPad Air coming in late Summer or Fall, but according to Ming-Chi Quo, we should also expect a new iPad in the second half of this year. Well, maybe.
While shipments of all tablets, including Apple’s iPads, were down over the first quarter of 2020, Digitimes Research is predicting a big rebound coming up. We should know more about the last three months after Apple announces its earnings later today, but what’s coming up sounds pretty exciting for iPad users and fans.
If you haven’t read Paris Martineau of Wired’s article iPads Are Crucial Health Care Tools in Combating Covid-19, then do yourself a favor and go take a look now. It’s a really insightful piece that shows the major impact that the iPad and other smart devices are having right now and in real-time across US hospitals and healthcare systems.
The iPad officially turned 10 years old yesterday! Hurray! A full decade has now passed and so much has changed with the hardware and software of the iPad and how I use them. It’s natural to look back after a milestone, so now is a good time to do just that. (You can see my previous strolls down memory lane here and here.)
Earlier today I read an article by Tom Warren at The Verge entitled Apple finally admits Microsoft was right about tablets. I wasn’t especially surprised considering that Warren has always been completely MS-centric. He’s a good writer and does his job well, but I he’s not the guy I look to for even-handed reporting.
As a full-time Windows user myself and someone who certainly doesn’t dislike the platform, I still heartily disagree with his take in this article.