Apple is hosting an event on Tuesday in Brooklyn, where the company is expected to announce a new 11-inch iPad Pro and possibly a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro, introducing Face ID and doing away with the home button. The FaceID will allow the users to unlock their iPad just by looking at it, instead of pressing on the home button with a fingerprint sensor. This should allow for a larger display that covers almost the entire face of the iPad.
With the advent of iPhone, iPads and Macs have been consigned to the backseat. Whenever we’re talking about Apple, a majority of the time, it is usually in context with their smartphones. The company was originally incorporated as “Apple Computer Inc” in 1977, only for late Steve Jobs to announce that they’ll be dropping out the ‘computer’ from its name and stick to “Apple Inc” with immediate effect from January 9, 2007, onwards.
In the pre-iPhone era, Apple was exactly that: a computer firm, although in a different league altogether amid the utter dominance of PCs powered by Microsoft Windows. Windows is still dominating the desktop operating system globally, commanding 82.88 percent in the global market share at present, whereas Apple’s MacOS accounts for a mere 12.52 percent.
A few months back, the company posted revenue of $53.27 billion in their quarterly financial results ended June 30, 2018. On analyzing, it was revealed that the iPad accounted for almost 9 percent ($4.74 billion) whereas the Macs pitched in 10 percent ($5.33 billion) – both below iPhone, of course, which had a lion’s share with 56 percent ($29.91 billion) followed second by Apple’s fast-growing services unit with an 18 percent share ($9.55 billion).
Sales of iPad, in the strictest sense, have remained on a steady trajectory since their launch, save for some fluctuations. But a key factor that has kept it strong in the long-run is Apple’s ecosystem: consisting
of the company’s tools that allow seamless connectivity between their devices, has been the crux that has held it all together.
The iPhone might have stolen the spotlight from Apple’s former flagship computer but Macs and iPads still play a key role in its business, with the trillion-dollar market valuation speaking for itself.
The new iPad anticipated to be released at the New York event is inspired by one of the premium X models of iPhones, with an almost-bezel-less display and the removal of the Home button. Analysts have
forecasted updates in the existing iPad including the Face ID facial-recognition system, instead of a thumbprint, and possibly a new way to recharge the device, with USB Type-C port instead of The lightning cable that Apple has been using for the past few years.
It is also expected that Apple might update their MacBook Air line of laptops and the AirPods, the Bluetooth wireless earphones that first went on sale in 2017.