No MacBooks were revealed during the Apple event last week. Instead, the tech giant unveiled the 9.7-inch iPad Pro and billed it as a portable work device. But many reviewers labeled the tablet as far from being a laptop replacement, which likely will prompt for the accelerated release of both the MacBook Pro and Air 2016.
While the jump from the iPad Air 2 was viewed as significant with Apple tweaking iOS 9.3 for multitasking features and adding Apple Pencil stylus support, Ars Technica is convinced that the smaller iPad Pro is not a compelling upgrade. The same write up recommended that in lieu of getting the new iPad Pro, users can save by buying a Bluetooth keyboard and still enjoy the freshly introduced iOS productivity features.
But the better alternative is sticking to the single and therefore more convenient machine that is the laptop - whether a MacBook or Windows, it doesn't matter.
For its part, Forbes said that the iPad Pro, in any size, bumping off the MacBook will not happen anytime soon. What Apple has managed to achieve is to put together "a part-time laptop," with the device, which is a nice way of saying that it fell short of expectations or as advertised by Apple.
In other words, both the 12.9-inch and 9.7-inch iPad Pro are not cut out for extensive mobile workload that the laptop is engineered for.
Another potential problem for the iPad Pro is the operating system itself. Apple Insider said that even with the adjustments made by Apple, iOS remains inferior compared to OS X or Windows. "While you can load Office on iOS, the suite's much more powerful on Windows - including Surface. Many Windows apps are by necessity scaled back for iOS," the same report said, citing a key advantage found on the Microsoft operating system as a glaring example.
And then the reality of hardware superiority enjoyed by the MacBook or more so by Windows-powered laptops. It might be true that the smaller iPad Pro is the best that the line has produced to date but when pitted against the competition, the problem emerges.
For instance, the 32GB 9.7-inch iPad Pro at $600 seems reasonably priced but when it is seated side by side with a Windows device headlined by a 128GB SSD and a price tag that is a couple of hundreds cheaper, the choice will be easy for most buyers.
And it will only get easier if the option would be any of the existing MacBook models, which are more expensive but have more utilitarian value.
Since the iPad Pro is yet to reach the productivity level of the laptop, it is safe to assume that any of the MacBook Pro and Air 2016 release date will take place real soon. The earliest bet is via the WWDC 2016 this coming June and rumors are rife that Apple will deploy Intel Skylake-powered 13-inch and 15-inch MacBooks that will mirror the build and design of the 12-inch MacBook 2015.