Yeah, but
They only have to build one probe, not millions.
And quite frankly, you won't catch me touching something called a "maxiPad" that's for the missus!
Apple has delayed plans to tout a fabled 12.9-inch iPad, if you are inclined to believe the latest round of speculation. Analyst house KGI Research (via AppleInsider) said the MaxiPad will be pushed back from the first quarter to the second quarter of 2015. It's claimed Apple's assembly lines and component suppliers have been …
Perhaps the delays are less to do with assembly issues and more to do with complications on the software side. An extra couple of inches to run iOS seems a little unnecessary; however to run OSX it makes perfect sense.
So maybe the fruity types are working night and day to get it to run on ARM architecture, enabling a hybrid iOSX. That strategy worked out beautifully for Microsoft.
>So maybe the fruity types are working night and day to get it to run on ARM architecture, enabling a hybrid iOSX.
It's been done already in its Darwin form: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02/07/mac_osx_on_arm/
If Apple were to try an OSX tablet, it would be for a reason - perhaps by focusing on the productivity software that might benefit from a touch / stylus interface. This might include Apple's own music and video productivity suites, or 3rd-party software such as Photoshop.
>That strategy worked out beautifully for Microsoft.
It could be said that the iPad itself was treading where MS had been before (WinXP Tablet Edition) - suggesting that the devil is in the implementation. Apple haven't made any radical changes to OSX ( a la Windows 'Metro', or MS's war on menus) but instead they have gently introduced some iOS features such as 'pinch to zoom'.
I predict it will be called ... (wait for it) ... the iPadXL.
Nailed on to be the iPad +. Can already see the crappy poster with a picture of a rainbow apple logo close up and the tag line 'we've got something big to show you'.
Then there is weeks of hype about how it will run full OS X and iOS and how it has double the RAM of a standard iPad and a faster ARM processor and a sapphire screen and then the big day will arrive Tim Cook will walk on stage with a beaming smile talking about how this is the perfect tool for business and it will just be the same iPad specs at the minute in a slightly bigger case....
It is always wrong, and will continue to be wrong, but has taken on a life of its own. At least the fabled Apple television set has actually got a few mentions from Jobs and Cook. The larger iPad rumor originated from supply chain rumors almost three years ago!