back to article Apple: We could expose our WHOPPING 12 INCH iPad - but it's not real

Apple has reportedly delayed the manufacturing of its much speculated-upon - yet never confirmed - 12.9in iPad. A Bloomberg report cites anonymous sources claiming that the enormo-slab won't emerge from factories until September. Apple was rumored to put the tab into production by June. A shortage of display panels is said to …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Keeping pushing that fantasy out, analysts

    They've been pushing this idea for years, and every time the date when Apple is supposedly going to release it draws near, they make up some reason why "Apple is pushing it back". They can't admit they believed a rumor, which was possibly even planted by Apple to mislead people on the direction it is going, so they keep claiming it has been pushed back again and again. You'd think Apple was the most incompetent company in the world, that with all their money they can't get their hands on a supply of 12.9" display panels until after Christmas! You know, the same size that is used in countless millions of laptops around the world?

    When Apple announced the March 9th event, I saw a couple suggestions the jumbo iPad might be announced. I guess when there was not a single spy photo of it to be found with less than a week to go, they were forced to admit there was no way that was happening so now "oh, it will be next year" is the story.

  2. Rampant Spaniel

    I can understand yield may be an issue with these screens, but the DPI isn't. It's lower than a 1080 5 inch screen. I think one big area holding them back has been chips that can drive that resolution smoothly within the tablet power envelope. We are only just getting to the point where top end mobile chippery can drive a UHD resolution GUI at acceptable framerates. There has been one pseudo sighting of a UHD Tablet running on a snapdragon 810 but we have no idea how goosed the chip was nor the frame rate involved as it was just playing video which ( assuming a hardware supported codec) is usually less demanding than playing a game or even navigating the standard launcher with the transitions Etc. I have noticed that with the same chips even the transition from FHD to QXGA to WQXGA results in a marked drop in performance, the former having half the number of pixels as the latter. Going to UHD doubles the pixels again. It's going to happen, the next tranche of chips can do it, but they are still just starting to arrive at the engineering sample stage.

  3. Phuq Witt

    Mouth, Meet Meal

    "...(missing) even the crucial holiday shopping season..."

    Oh. You mean "Christmas"?

    1. Tom Samplonius

      Re: Mouth, Meet Meal

      "Oh. You mean "Christmas"?"

      In the US, it means the entire period between Thanksgiving and New Year day. Black Friday and Boxing Day are basically consumer orgies in the US, and one of those days is after Christmas.

      1. Fungus Bob

        Re: Mouth, Meet Meal

        "In the US, it means the entire period between T̶h̶a̶n̶k̶s̶g̶i̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ Labor Day and New Year day."

        There, FTFY

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Mouth, Meet Meal

      No, Señor Twitissimo, it's the holiday gift-giving season.

      I don't know if you've noticed, but many of your fellow humans celebrate the end o' year by warmly extending generosity to one another in ways that have nothing whatsoever to do with the quaint story of the birth of one wonderfully radical Jew whose thoughts would inspire others — quite many years after his death — to invent a new religion.

      For many of us, kind sir, "Christmas" is pleasantly and warmly silly — in the best sense of that word — and not a celebration of the birth of a brutally tortured and executed putative son of a fictional sky god. Mulled wine, gift-giving, hugs around the hearth, all good. "Christmas"? No need, no need whatsoever.

      1. werdsmith Silver badge

        Re: Mouth, Meet Meal

        To many of us northern hemispherers, a midwinter festival right in the depths of the short days and log nights cold season is a fine way to brighten things up at that time of year. An event that was going on long before the birth of anybody in the relatively warm middle east. The religion that was later to emerge and hijack the midwinter festival for its own ends is irrelevant.

        Three wise men from Foxconn bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and 12.9 inch tablets notwithstanding.

        1. Sarah Balfour

          Re: Mouth, Meet Meal

          Always makes me smile how almost everyone believes there were 3; I'm no theologian, but I believe the pertinent passage reads summat like this:

          "And then came there men from the East, bearing with them gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh for to honour the new born…"

          NOWHERE does it explicitly state the number of wise men; 'men' obviously implies more than one, but there could have been 2 - there could have been 2,000 - nowhere is the exact number mentioned.

          Number of gifts DOES NOT necessarily equal number of givers, and vice versa.

          Wish Apple would add an advanced symbols keypad - the number of times I've wanted a 'not equal to' sign…

      2. Sarah Balfour

        Re: Mouth, Meet Meal

        You're also forgetting that Xmas is only in December because the Romans already celebrated the (re)birth of the Sun on the 21st and the newly-formed Xian church wanted to capitalise on that. The chance of Jesus ACTUALLY being born in December is between zero and none, especially if you take all the events leading up to his birth and view them historically.

        I don't celebrate Xmas at all - I'm an atheist, why should I…? I also hate people.

  4. William Donelson

    It's a con!

    Come on, don't you all realise that this giant pad is just a stalking horse to keep others (Microsoft) investing into laptop-sized screens without keyboards?

    Holy crap the 9.7" is plenty big, just hold it a few inches closer, which is what "shop staff" do already. And who wants to man- or woman-handle these big things around, anyway?

    Apple are quietly laughing at all the bozos dancing around this idea.

    1. Rafael 1

      The 9.7" is plenty big

      Sorry, I beg to differ. I have a Samsung 12-inch tablet which I use to read comics and technical PDFs (neeeerd!) and the experience is quite different from the one I had with the iPad. Depending on the price and weight I'd go for a 14- or 15-inch one, either Android or iOS.

  5. Hero Protagonist

    Headline fraud

    Both the headline and the subhead imply that Apple have made a statement about the rumors, but the article says nothing of the sort. Clickbait much?

    1. Stuart 22

      Re: Headline fraud

      Nope - the photo was just a way of charming Apple to invite El Reg to the next real launch ... journos need the lunch. Pity as I guess the only alcoholic beverage on offer would be cider.

    2. jai

      Re: Headline fraud

      The Register : ignoring truth and facts since 1994

      although, technically, the headline does say "says firm" but doesn't actaully say if that firm is Apple, or some firm of rumour-mongers like Bloomberg or the WSJ

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Is it bendy?

    At that size it has to be! How else are fangirls going to get it into their handbags?

    1. Gis Bun

      Re: Is it bendy?

      They'll need a bigger purse! I don't think fangurls will mind more shopping!

  7. Gis Bun

    Cost?

    Considering what a 10" iPad costs now, I can imagine the cost of a 12"/13" iPad.

  8. The FunkeyGibbon
    Trollface

    So that's the level of innovation is it?

    A bigger screen? It's like the MHz wars of the 90's all over again.

    Also are Apple really going to copy the Surface3? Because that's just dominating the market...

    1. Frank N. Stein

      Re: So that's the level of innovation is it?

      What would be worse is if Apple adds a snap on or other method of attachable keyboard to that Surface Pro sized device, or makes it some sort of "convertible" device. That would be a punch in the face to the Surface Pro, assuming it actually sells. Thus far, I haven't met anyone who insists that they need a larger screened iPad.

  9. Bucky 2
    Pint

    They like the "display panel" excuse

    It's Apple's version of "Sorry, not my table."

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