Along with announcing next major updates to iOS, macOS, and the watchOS, Apple is also rumored to unveil a brand new 10.5-inch iPad Pro variant. Now a new report from DigiTimes suggests that the production for a tablet has ramped up suggesting a launch is on the horizon.
While the news outlet did not explicitly mention the 10.5-inch iPad Pro to be launched at WWDC, the report, however, does claim that the tablet shipments during July are expected to increase to 600,000 from the existing 500,000 units. This will push the Apple tablet shipments above the five million units in 2017.
Over the past few years, the Cupertino company has not released any hardware during its Worldwide Developers Conference. So, it’s highly unlikely that the company will announce a 10.5-inch iPad Pro during WWDC 2017. However, a bezel-free iPad Pro launch alongside the upcoming iPhone 8 in September this year will be plausible.
The report also states that the company will be revising its 12.9-inch iPad Pro this year.However, the unveiling timeframe of this revision remains unclear due to its unclear mass production cycle. It’s likely that the company will be launching this 12.9-inch iPad Pro revision after the launch of iPhone 8 later this year.
Recently, Apple launched a budget 9.7-inch iPad. The demand for this new device is expected to pick up the pace from the end of second quarter and hit the peak in the third quarter. The purpose of this budget iPad appears to be the phasing out of iPad mini as quickly as possible.
Despite Apple paying much attention to its iPad lineup, analysts expect further decline in the overall iPad shipments compared to the last year.