Apple widened its iPad lineup earlier this week by adding a 128GB version of the iPad with Retina Display. By further differentiating this top-end iPad from the rest of the tablet family, Apple has raised an interesting question for fans.
Could this possibly lead to a different category altogether – an “iPad Pro” that has features closer to laptops than the original iPad? Clearly, the 128GB iPad provides close to what some ultrabooks have today with solid state drives (SSDs).
In releasing the new iPad, Apple had said that “enterprises, educators and artists have even more reasons to use iPad for all their business and personal needs.”
If the marketing is to be believed, the target group is the same creative professionals that the company aims for with its current Macbook Air thin-and-light laptop.
Interestingly, the iPad now comes with 16GB, 32GB, 64GB and 128GB flavours, which overlap with the Macbook Air’s 64GB, 128GB and 256GB.
In terms of storage, certainly the lighter iPad is not inferior. The question is whether tasks done with programs on the Macbook – and rival Windows-based laptops – can be carried out as smoothly on the iPad.
Certainly, Apple is not the only one who thinks the two devices – tablet and laptop – will become more similar.
Microsoft’s Windows 8 machines launched last year promise the convenience of touch-based interfaces and power of a traditional laptop running Windows programs.
