Reports of larger Apple gadgets are beginning to become more common of late, with a larger 12 or 13-inch iPad becoming one of the more popular stories.
The Wall Street Journal, which usually has a good track record when it comes to insider Apple secrets, believes that the fruity Cupertino company is toying with the idea of a bigger iPad. This device will sport a screen size closer to that of Apple’s smallest MacBook Pro – 12.9 or 13-inches, or so we’re told.
Reports of a larger iPad also came from ET News recently, who dubbed the device the ‘iPad Maxi’. This was back at the end of May, where we were even told that Apple CEO Tim Cook was in talks with supply companies in the Far East to source the screens for the bigger tablet.
WSJ’s sources, which we believe to be close to, if not inside Apple, also confirmed that a new 9.7-inch iPad will launch this year as an upgrade to the iPad 4. The screen size and resolution will remain the same, whilst the device will become thinner and lighter overall thanks to the addition of in-cell touchscreen technology, which Apple already uses in some of its other devices such as the iPhone 5.
There’s also reports of larger iPhone models being tested, with screen sizes of 4.7-inches and even 5.7-inches noted. These sizes line up with the rumour of Apple launching a ‘phablet’ or ‘megaphone’ which has come and gone occasionally over the past few months.
Whilst new Apple gadgets always seem to attract plenty of attention and drum up plenty of excitement, we have to remember that big tech companies will test numerous prototype devices every year, the majority of which will become resigned to a cupboard in the design studio and won’t see the light of day. The iPad Maxi could well become a reality next year and would be a pretty good rival to the Windows Ultrabook platform though, but we’re going to want it to have that Retina display goodness.