Rumors of a new, supersized iPad were bolstered recently with the reported leak of a mold supposedly used in the manufacturing of the new tablet. The device will reportedly have a 12.2-inch screen and stereo speakers, and could be released before summer.
Reports of a new, larger-sized iPad have been swirling for months now, and new images of a reported mold used to create the device have been leaked out of China, on Chinese website Weibo, where supposedly the mold is being used for production of the new tablet in Apple's Foxconn factory. The mold shows a design which appears similar to the rounded appearance of the current iPad Air 2, and an approximate 12.2-inch screen size. It also appears to have slots for stereo speakers as well, along with similar button placement to the current iPad.
It's no secret that iPad sales have plateaued, and apparently Apple is attempting to create new interest in tablets by increasing their size. A recent study showed that consumers who now own the larger iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus use their tablets significantly less. The reasoning is generally because the difference in screen size of the phones vs. tablets has now shrunk, especially with the introduction of the 7.9-inch iPad Mini, which is only a few inches larger in screen size than the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus.
A study by makers of the Pocket app found that the larger the iPhone used, the less the owner used their tablet. "The bigger your phone's screen, the more time you'll spend reading and watching on it," the researchers stated. "In fact, the bigger your phone's screen, the more you'll read and watch as a whole." Pocket is a service for saving web articles for a later read on your mobile device.
Estimates from the picture anticipate a tablet, which is 12.2 inches in height, 8.7 inches wide and 0.27 inches deep (305.3mm x 220.8 mm x 7mm), as opposed to the current iPad Air 2, which measures 9.4 inches by 6.7 inches by 0.24 inches (240mm x 169.5mm x 6.1mm). The name of the tablet has been rumored to be either the iPad Air Plus or the iPad Pro, taking its lead from the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro, which has a similar 12.2-inch screen size.
