What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
Inferse is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more
The iPad isn’t quite selling in the numbers it once did, and a touch-enabled MacBook is one way Apple can offset the decline, an IDC expert has opined.
The reason being put forward for such a thought process is that the tablet segment as a whole has lost the growth momentum while there is a new segment that consumers seem to have hooked on to off late, that of hybrid devices. These typically are tablet devices with a detachable keypad such as the Surface Pro 4.
Sure Apple too has the iPad Pro in the fray as well with a detachable keyboard cover though that is being seen as a stop-gap measure at best before Apple comes up with something more substantial like a touch-enabled Mac.
“The way that we tend to view the iPad Pro is that it’s kind of a stopgap solution until they get a Mac line to the point of a touch screen and possibly detachable keyboard,” said Ryan Reith, program director with IDC covering mobile devices while speaking to Brooke Crothers of Forbes.
Shopping ad
- SUPERCHARGED BY M5 — The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 brings next-generation speed and powerful on-device AI to personal, professional, and creative tasks. Featuring all-day battery life and a breathtaking Liquid Retina XDR display with up to 1600 nits peak brightness, it’s pro in every way.*
- HAPPILY EVER FASTER — Along with its faster CPU and unified memory, M5 features a more powerful GPU with a Neural Accelerator built into each core, delivering faster AI performance. So you can blaze through demanding workloads at mind-bending speeds.
- BUILT FOR APPLE INTELLIGENCE — Apple Intelligence is the personal intelligence system that helps you write, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly. With groundbreaking privacy protections, it gives you peace of mind that no one else can access your data — not even Apple.*
- ALL-DAY BATTERY LIFE — MacBook Pro delivers the same exceptional performance whether it’s running on battery or plugged in.
- APPS FLY WITH APPLE SILICON — All your favorites, including Microsoft 365 and Adobe Creative Cloud, run lightning fast in macOS.*
“I think [a touch Mac] is inevitable. There’s nothing from the supply chain or from Apple that supports that right now — I just think it’s inevitable…I don’t know if that’s two years out or what,” Reith added.
Apple reported sales of 16.1 million units of the iPad in the last quarter, which is well below the 21.4 million iPad devices sold during the same period last year. With consumer interest in pure tablet devices on the wane, many argued if a new iPad alone – Apple is believed to be readying the iPad Air 3 for a launch in a mid-March event – can spur growth in the segment all over again.
Shopping ad
- FAST RUNS IN THE FAMILY — The 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro or M5 Max chip brings next-generation speed and powerful on-device AI to personal, professional, and creative tasks. With all-day battery life, double the starting storage,* and a breathtaking Liquid Retina XDR display, it’s pro in every way.*
- BUCKLE UP — Along with a next-generation CPU, faster unified memory, and up to 2x faster SSD storage,* M5 Pro and M5 Max feature a more powerful GPU with a Neural Accelerator built into each core, delivering faster AI performance and on-device training capabilities. So you can blaze through demanding workloads at mind-bending speeds.
- BUILT FOR AI — Apple silicon, and every major component that powers it, is designed to run demanding on-device AI workloads like LLM inference and training. And Apple Intelligence helps you write, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly with groundbreaking privacy protections at every step.*
- ALL-DAY BATTERY LIFE — MacBook Pro delivers the same exceptional performance whether it’s running on battery or plugged in.*
- MACOS RUNS APPS FAST — All your go-to apps run lightning fast in macOS, including built-in apps like FaceTime and Messages. Plus, built-in virus protection and free software updates help keep your Mac running smoothly and securely.
Another reason that the analyst feels Apple should get its act together is the growing popularity of the Surface line of devices. Microsoft has upped the ante with the launch of the Surface Pro 4 hybrid and the Surface Book, with the latter being considered by many to be even better than the 2015 MacBook Pro.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
Another area where the Surface Book enjoys an advantage over the MacBook Pro is that the former can also be operated as a standalone tablet once detached from the keypad unit. The same cannot be achieved with the MacBook Pro even though both are quite evenly matched on performance parameters.
Shopping ad
- SUPERCHARGED BY M5 — The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 brings next-generation speed and powerful on-device AI to personal, professional, and creative tasks. Featuring all-day battery life and a breathtaking Liquid Retina XDR display with up to 1600 nits peak brightness, it’s pro in every way.*
- HAPPILY EVER FASTER — Along with its faster CPU and unified memory, M5 features a more powerful GPU with a Neural Accelerator built into each core, delivering faster AI performance. So you can blaze through demanding workloads at mind-bending speeds.
- BUILT FOR APPLE INTELLIGENCE — Apple Intelligence is the personal intelligence system that helps you write, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly. With groundbreaking privacy protections, it gives you peace of mind that no one else can access your data — not even Apple.*
- ALL-DAY BATTERY LIFE — MacBook Pro delivers the same exceptional performance whether it’s running on battery or plugged in.
- APPS FLY WITH APPLE SILICON — All your favorites, including Microsoft 365 and Adobe Creative Cloud, run lightning fast in macOS.*
Also, in what can be considered a better estimate of the growing clout of Microsoft in the hybrid tablet space is the fact that Microsoft has emerged as the largest seller of tablets taking into account online sales based on data from Oct 2015.
It will be interesting to see if a new improved iPad Air 3 alone can reverse Apple’s fortune in the tablet segment or it has to resort to something more radical.
Quick Recap
Shopping ad
- FAST RUNS IN THE FAMILY — The 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro or M5 Max chip brings next-generation speed and powerful on-device AI to personal, professional, and creative tasks. With all-day battery life, double the starting storage,* and a breathtaking Liquid Retina XDR display, it’s pro in every way.*
- BUCKLE UP — Along with a next-generation CPU, faster unified memory, and up to 2x faster SSD storage,* M5 Pro and M5 Max feature a more powerful GPU with a Neural Accelerator built into each core, delivering faster AI performance and on-device training capabilities. So you can blaze through demanding workloads at mind-bending speeds.
- BUILT FOR AI — Apple silicon, and every major component that powers it, is designed to run demanding on-device AI workloads like LLM inference and training. And Apple Intelligence helps you write, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly with groundbreaking privacy protections at every step.*
- ALL-DAY BATTERY LIFE — MacBook Pro delivers the same exceptional performance whether it’s running on battery or plugged in.*
- MACOS RUNS APPS FAST — All your go-to apps run lightning fast in macOS, including built-in apps like FaceTime and Messages. Plus, built-in virus protection and free software updates help keep your Mac running smoothly and securely.
Shopping ad
- FAST RUNS IN THE FAMILY — The 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro or M5 Max chip brings next-generation speed and powerful on-device AI to personal, professional, and creative tasks. With all-day battery life, double the starting storage,* and a breathtaking Liquid Retina XDR display, it’s pro in every way.*
- BUCKLE UP — Along with a next-generation CPU, faster unified memory, and up to 2x faster SSD storage,* M5 Pro and M5 Max feature a more powerful GPU with a Neural Accelerator built into each core, delivering faster AI performance and on-device training capabilities. So you can blaze through demanding workloads at mind-bending speeds.
- BUILT FOR AI — Apple silicon, and every major component that powers it, is designed to run demanding on-device AI workloads like LLM inference and training. And Apple Intelligence helps you write, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly with groundbreaking privacy protections at every step.*
- ALL-DAY BATTERY LIFE — MacBook Pro delivers the same exceptional performance whether it’s running on battery or plugged in.*
- MACOS RUNS APPS FAST — All your go-to apps run lightning fast in macOS, including built-in apps like FaceTime and Messages. Plus, built-in virus protection and free software updates help keep your Mac running smoothly and securely.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
