iPad Pro 10.5 Release Date, News: Apple Might Release New Tablets at an April Event
Sources say that Apple is most likely going to announce a new 10.5-inch iPad Pro and other variants in a dedicated event sometime in April.
Suppliers from Taiwan tipped that Apple has ordered for an earlier production schedule for the new 10.5-inch iPad Pro, aiming to begin this month from an initial May or June start date, according to a report from Digitimes. The adjustment was prompted by a rumored target product release event in early April.
The speculated release of the new iPad Pro products is expected to coincide with the inauguration of the company's soon-to-open Apple Park campus that stretches to as much as 175 acres of land and will house up to 12,000 employees.
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Meanwhile, according to the same Digitimes report, the features of the 10.5-inch iPad Pro are aimed at consumers from the education and business sectors. It was also speculated that there will be an initial one million units of the said product to be produced while another set of 200,000 will follow in the second quarter of 2017.
An earlier report by the Japanese website Mac Otakara last month mentioned that the 10.5-inch iPad Pro is not the only new tablet to be released by Apple. The website claims that Apple is also set to release product refreshes for the 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro plus another new model, the 7.9-inch iPad Pro.
If the orders for the 10.5-inch iPad Pro are relatively on the lower side, Digitimes' sources say that it is not the case for the 9.7-inch variant. Within the first quarter, there are three to four million units of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro refresh that are expected to be shipped within the first quarter.
On the other hand, Apple Insider somehow questions the grounds for the recent speculations that Digitimes has shared. It argues that the publication has "less than stellar" performance in terms of forecasting Apple's plans for upcoming projects.
Apple Insider adds that while employees will start moving to Apple Park this April, the construction of the on-site Steve Jobs Theater, where a product event is most likely going to occur, will not be finished until later this year.
