Base iPad Pro will have 64GB of storage and “monster” 12.9-inch display that can run 2 full-sized apps side by side; top model prices close to latest MacBooks
iPad Pro: ‘Monster screen’ runs full-sized side-by-side apps, LTE models, keyboard + stylus separate
Context & Ripple Effects
Ahead of launch, the leaked spec sheet frames the iPad Pro as a deliberate step upmarket: a 12.9-inch display sized for two full-sized apps side by side, LTE options, and a top configuration priced near current MacBooks — while the keyboard and stylus are billed as separate purchases, pushing real-world cost further toward laptop territory.
The storage call turns out to be the story's weak point. Within a year Apple raises the base tier across the whole iPad line in its 2016 lineup refresh and drops iPad Pro starting prices, and the 9.7-inch Pro's $599 entry point with just 32GB shows how quickly the 64GB floor aged.
First-order effects
- Buyers eyeing the top configuration face MacBook-adjacent pricing before adding the separately sold keyboard and stylus, so the true productivity setup costs more than the sticker price suggests.
- The 64GB base tier puts the entry model at odds with the large-screen multitasking pitch — two full-sized apps on a 12.9-inch canvas is exactly the workload that consumes local storage fastest.
Second-order effects
- Storage becomes the competitive pressure point: Apple's follow-on moves — raising every tier's base capacity and cutting Pro prices within a year — read as a correction to the configuration choices revealed here.
- Pricing the flagship near MacBooks forces an internal comparison inside Apple's own lineup, pressuring the company to justify the iPad on touch-first software rather than specs alone.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, the iPad line converges structurally with laptops on silicon, connectivity, and price — a trajectory that runs from this 64GB/12.9-inch debut through the 10.5-inch model's 120Hz A10X refresh to M1-powered iPad Pros with Thunderbolt and up to 2TB of storage.
- Accessory unbundling (keyboard and stylus sold apart) establishes attach-rate economics as part of tablet pricing, a structure competitors would have to match to compete at the high end.
The trend: The iPad is climbing from consumption device to laptop-tier productivity hardware, with each generation closing the gap on MacBook-class specs, connectivity, and pricing.