iPad air 2 is coming: is the gravedigger of notebooks coming?

Recently, there have been media reports that according to news from the production line, Apple's next-generation tablet computers, iPad Air 2 and iPad Pro, will be released this month and will be available next year, with screen sizes set at 12 inches and 12.9 inches.

Swordsman doesn't care about the release date of the next generation iPad. For Apple, it is a very mature product line, and upgrading it once a year is a very normal event, so there is no need to make a fuss.

What is surprising is that the screen size of iPad Air 2 is set at 12 inches and 12.9 inches, which is a huge difference from the 9.7 inches and 10.1 inches that have been released!

What exactly is Apple going to do with the next iPad?

Of course, Apple is not the first manufacturer to expand the size of a tablet screen to 12 inches. Careful readers may have remembered that the screen size of the Surface Pro 3 launched by Microsoft not long ago is also exactly 12 inches!

Of course, this is more than just a coincidence.

Microsoft's strategic product Surface has been misunderstood

What kind of electronic product is Microsoft's Surface?

In the eyes of many users, Surface is a tablet computer, and users' disapproval of Surface is also reflected in the mismatch between the positioning of tablet computers and their prices. The first generation of Surface is about the same size as iPad, and it also uses ARM chips, but the price is much higher than iPad, so it is not surprising that the market is not satisfactory.

Despite the poor market performance, Microsoft's determination to make Surface has not changed. From the first generation of ARM chips, to the second generation of ARM and Intel dual versions, to the third generation using all Intel chips, what does this change indicate?

The screen size of the same Surface has changed from 10 inches in the first generation to 12 inches in the third generation. What does this indicate?

If the first generation of Surface could still reveal that Microsoft was making tablet computers, then by the third generation, it can be clearly confirmed that Microsoft's Surface is not a tablet computer at all. What Microsoft wants to make is a mobile computing device between a tablet computer and a laptop computer. In other words, Microsoft wants to develop tablet computers into the commercial field, which can also be understood as Microsoft's mobile improvement of laptop computers!

It seems that Microsoft's Surface has been completely misunderstood!

Tablet computers will advance into the notebook market

The laptop screens we use today are roughly 13 inches and 14 inches. The Surface pro 3 has a 12-inch screen. From the numbers, the laptop screen is a little bigger. But in fact, because the Surface uses a 3:2 screen ratio and a resolution of 2160x1440, in actual use, the display area of ​​the Surface pro 3 screen is larger than that of a 13-inch laptop with a 16:9 aspect ratio!

The new generation of Surface is completely aimed at improving laptops.

For a long time, due to the lack of progress of PC manufacturers, the problem of laptop portability has not been solved. Although Intel has been continuously promoting a series of lightweight products such as ultrabooks and two-in-ones, PC manufacturers are not motivated enough due to the interests of their original production lines. This has resulted in the fact that although the concept of ultrabooks has been out for three or four years, we are still using heavy machines weighing more than 3 kilograms.

Similarly, although the emergence of tablet computers has improved the burden on users to a certain extent, after several years of market development and actual use, tablet computers represented by the iPad have only met individual needs of users such as entertainment and reading. In the commercial market, tablet computers have been unable to expand due to inherent input and screen defects.

As a result, Microsoft and Apple both set their sights on the 12-inch size that is between laptops and tablets, and both parties also regarded thinness and lightness as the core appeal. With the lightness of a tablet and the performance of a laptop, they provide users with a mobile computing center that can subvert traditional notebook products!

The 12-inch iPad Air 2 will kill the laptop

If the upcoming iPad Air Pro is as rumored, it will use 12-inch and 12.9-inch screens. According to the current iPad screen ratio, it will be a 4:3 screen, which is very similar to the 13-inch Mac Book Air, but lighter (should be less than 800 grams) and has a larger actual usable area than mainstream notebooks on the market. If the input problem is solved, its market impact on notebooks will be enormous.

For current notebook users, weight and battery life are the most pressing issues to be addressed, but unenterprising PC manufacturers have not thought about resolving them. Although each company has launched some ultrabooks or all-in-one products to meet the needs of the users, they are still far from meeting the requirements of users.

In fact, Intel has also seen this user pain point, which can be seen in the recently released Core M, which does not require a fan and can be 7.5 mm thick in reference design. It can be said that users' demand for mobility of computing devices has become a pain point for the entire PC industry.

According to normal product thinking, in addition to the changes on the screen, the new generation of iPad may also launch a full-size or nearly full-size keyboard like Surface. At the same time, there may be two versions, ARM and Intel. The ARM chip version will be compatible with iOS, and the Intel version will be compatible with Mac OS. In this way, the tablet computer will have the functions of a laptop computer and adapt to the usage environment of a laptop computer.

Another issue is the price. Taking the Chinese market as an example, the current price of a 10-inch 128G iPad Air is close to 5,000 yuan. According to Apple's usual style, the new iPad Air Pro 128G should be the starting version, so the price of the new iPad should not be much different from it.

Coincidentally, the price of Microsoft Surface Pro 3 is also around 5,000 yuan, which is more than just a coincidence.

Just imagine, a new product that is less than half the weight of a laptop, but has a larger display area and higher resolution than a laptop, and has processing performance that can fully meet your work needs, and is stylish and easy to carry is placed in front of you. Will you still choose a laptop?

Since PC manufacturers are not enterprising and have no intention to provide users with better products, they don’t need to improve their products this time. Apple and Microsoft have taken action, and the gravediggers of notebooks have arrived.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.