What can we expect from the iPad range in 2017? Noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that Apple has three new iOS-powered tablets lined up for release in 2017; an update to the 12.9 inch iPad Pro, a price-conscious 9.7 inch model, and the previously rumored educational model with a screen of just over ten inches on the diagonal.

The 12.9 inch model will be an update to the larger screened iPad Pro originally launched in November 2015. That model brought with it Apple's first stylus and targeted graphical designers and creatives. The larger form factor coupled with Apple's detachable keyboard offered many people the option of a lightweight laptop-like tablet system.

No doubt 2017's updated model will retain these capabilities and increase the processing power and graphical capability to maintain the attractiveness of the model to creatives, thanks to the inclusion of the A10X system-on-chip.

By shipping a new 9.7 inch model with an older system-on-chip (Kuo suggests the A9), Apple continues to service the lower end of the market where iPads tend to be bought as secondary machines or computing devices for younger members of the family. Price matters here, and with no subsidies to support the iPad, a higher price point cannot be disguised.

The final model in Kuo's breakdown is an iPad just over the ten-inch mark. I believe this to be a model targeted towards the educational market. Although it is expected to have a larger screen, a reduction of size around the bezels will keep the footprint similar to that of the 9.7 inch model.

Apple still plays a commanding role in the tablet space, the legions of Android tablets may outnumber the iOS powered devices but Apple leads the individual market. IDC reports around twenty-six percent of the market belong to Apple (with Samsung in second place on eighteen percent). The iPad models suggested here would keep Apple ahead of the competition, but nothing feels especially new or ground-breaking.

Source: Forbes