10.5″ iPad Pro may sport 2,224×1,668 screen with same density as 9.7″ iPads

Rhoda Alexander, IHS Markit’s director in charge of tablets and PCs, shared some interesting observations with Forbes over the weekend regarding Apple’s rumored new bezel-less iPad Pro model which, according to other analysts, would house a display measuring 10.5 inches inside a body the same size as 9.7-inch iPads.

According to Rhoda, the new iPad Pro model should have a 2,224-by-1,668 display with the same pixel density as 9.7-inch iPads. For context, Apple’s 12.9-inch iPad Pro has a 2,732-by-2,048 Retina display at 264 pixels per inch and its 9.7-inch counterpart has a 2,048-by-1,536 screen, also at 264 pixels per inch.

She agreed that a lot skinnier side bezels would allow this rumored new iPad Pro model to pack in a 10.5-inch screen into the same body as current 9.7-inch iPads. She expects the new tablet to arrive in the March-April timeframe.

Apple is said to be holding a media event in March to unveil new tablets, iPhone 7 in Red and a 128-gigabye edition of iPhone SE. Supply chain sources told DigiTimes that Apple will announce four new tablets but added that the 10.5 and 12.9-inch models won’t start hipping before May or June.

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“If the new iPad shrinks the bezel and keeps the outside dimensions the same, then the display aspect ratio will increase from the current 1.33 to as high as 1.50,” added Raymond Soneira, a display expert and president of DisplayMate Technologies.

“The screen area would then increase by up to 31 percent. However, with no bezel at all the screen diagonal would then be 11.2 inches for the same outside dimensions as the current iPad 9.7 (with rounded corners),” he explained.

On the other hand, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo think the new iPad Pro would have the same 2,732×2,048 resolution as the current 12.9-inch iPad Pro, with the same pixel density as the iPad mini 4 at 326 pixels per inch.


A 9.7-inch iPad Pro with a 10.5-inch piece of paper overlaid, via Dan Provost.

At that resolution, the width of the new 10.5-inch iPad Pro model would be the same height as iPad mini, theoretically allowing the device to show two full-sized windows side-by-side in iOS’s Split View multitasking mode.

Are you excited about the rumored 10.5-inch iPad Pro?

Source: Forbes