Apple Inc. is in the process developing new features for the iPad to cater to professional users, along with new Mac laptops and desktops, among them, a new iPad with faster display technology that allows for smoother on-screen zooming, scrolling and panning.
According to Bloomberg, the upcoming features covers the software upgrades for the iPad such as a wider operating-system support for Apple's stylus accessory while the hardware upgrade will include faster display technology that allows for smoother zooming, panning and scrolling.
In addition to the new Macs, Apple is working on a new standalone monitor to connect to its computers.
After exiting the monitor business earlier this year with the discontinuation of the 27-inch Thunderbolt display, Apple aims at collaborating with LG Electronics Inc. on a new monitor with a high-resolution "5K" screen for the refreshed Mac hardware line. The 5K standalone monitor will come alongside MacBook Air laptop and new versions of the iMac desktop, in addition to a thinner MacBook Pro laptop.
Apple currently sells an iMac with a built-in 5K panel, which is over seven times as many pixels as standard 1080p displays.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously said Apple will release a 10.5-inch iPad Pro model next year alongside a "low-cost" 9.7-inch iPad model and a 12.9-inch iPad Pro 2. The future of the iPad mini remains uncertain, but it is presumable that Apple could end the 7.9-inch tablet due to lack of Apple Pencil support and relatively close proximity in size to 5.5-inch Plus-sized iPhones.
While iPad unit sales have declined year-over-year for nine straight quarters, the company saw its iPad revenue grow slightly for the first time in 10 quarters in July, and these improvements could help Apple continue that trend, Macrumors reported. New features aimed at higher-paying professional customers could keep this trend going, while the goal of the Mac updates is to keep the line's sales numbers stable even as sales of rival personal computers continue falling.
Apple is reportedly planning to introduce the new software features in a subsequent iOS 10 update in the first half of 2017, but may decide to hold back on the improvements until iOS 11 is released later in the year. The company has not updated any Macs, besides the 12-inch MacBook, since last year.
Watch a video of the new iPad Pro features here: