iPad 12.9-inch Model Confirmed, Company Starts Manufacturing Display
The iPad 12.9-inch model could have recently been confirmed in a new report which stated that Apple was already beginning production on the displays that will be used for the device.
One of the company's screen suppliers told The Korea Times that the 12.9-inch retina display to be used for the next-gen model is already being produced in preparation for a 2014 release for this device named the iPad Pro.
"Apple's local first-tier display supplier is now producing a 12.9-inch Retina Display to be used in the new iPad, which will be coming out sometime early next year," said an official at a local Apple supplier in a phone conversation with the publication.
The report also states that this iPad will have a display with close to ultra-high-definition quality which would be bigger and contain many more megapixels that Apple's current 9.7-inch iPad Air.
Reports of a 12.9-inch iPad began surfacing occasionally during the past couple of months with the Wall Street Journal reporting in July that Apple and its suppliers has started testing screens for it. Other rumors pointed to the company releasing this larger device and calling it 'iPad Maxi.'
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo released a report that claimed Apple will not release a larger iPad model next year. Instead, he feels that it will launch a sixth-generation model with 30-40 percent higher pixel density than the current version.
Apple released the iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina earlier this year. The new iPad Pro would expand the iPad family to include three different size options with the larger made to compete with the Ultrabook market.
The iPad Air features a slimmer frame than its predecessors and the iPad mini 2 comes with a higher-resolution display than the original version.
