Apple rumors are often interesting, frequently fictional or completely made up, and occasionally accurate – and sometimes so absolutely outlandish that you can’t help but laugh. Following a rumor earlier today about Apple’s non-existent plans to double the number of pixels in the iPhone 5S Retina display, yet another insane rumor claims that Apple is also developing a new iPad with a 12.9-inch display.
A 12.9-inch display. 12.9. Inch. Display. You might say it would be the “next big thing” to happen to the iPad. Except it’s not. Because it will never happen. The rumor comes at a time when the iPad mini is already cannibalizing sales of Apple’s full-size iPad, making the very idea of an even larger model nothing short of absurd.
To start, what would Apple’s target market be for such a device? People that want an iPad they can only comfortably hold for 10 minutes? People who want an iPad larger than many medium pizzas? People who hate laptops so much that they’d rather clumsily fumble with a “portable” touch-enabled coffee table than even bother with a more sensible device? I don’t think so. Not to mention that for the price Apple would have to charge for such a device, you could likely pick up an entry-level Retina MacBook Pro.
Update: As our commenters have rightly pointed out, I may have been too swift to judgement on the idea of a larger iPad. While I still find the rumor highly unlikely, especially considering the source, the subject might merit a bit more discussion. So, let’s put the matter to a vote! Would you be interested in an even larger version of the iPad? Sound off in the poll at the bottom of the page – and feel free to expand or qualify your answers by sounding off in the comments!
The rumor comes through a Korean site, ETNews.com (via UnwiredView – who also reported on the “super Retina” iPhone), who has a track record about as lengthy and accurate as a bedtime story told by a nervous cocaine addict. And the release date? Apparently sometime in early 2014. Not later this year, when Apple is expected to refresh the current iPad lineup.
So, the timing is off, the target market for such a device is smaller than any market the iPad is currently targeted to, and the source of the claim is a small site with no discernible track record screaming for attention anywhere they can get it, and no noted analyst, pundit, or mainstream news source has even so much as hinted at the idea.
Sounds real likely, right? Of course! And Bill Gates will give you $10,000 cash if you like someone’s chain letter Facebook post! I don’t know what sickens me more: the fact that this rumor was conjured up, or the fact that dozens of sites have already covered it as “news”!
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