With the new iPhone models out of the way, the Apple spotlight now focuses on what the company will introduce next in the iPad line. The company is expected to reveal new 9.7 inch models and an updated iPad Mini in the next several months, but there has also been talk about an iPad XL model as well. Leading Taiwanese newspaper United Daily News claims that Quanta Computer is actually working with Apple on the larger iPad model.
Typically, Apple relies on Foxconn and Pegatron to manufacture its tablets and phones, whereas Quanta Computer handles the MacBook Air. The Taiwanese paper reports that Quanta is actually looking to diversify, thus it's possible the company could actually be working on a MacBook Air with a detachable keyboard so that users can use the device as a tablet and a notebook. Maybe it will be marketed as an iPad just because of the detachable keyboard.
As it stands now, Apple provides 11 inch and 13 inch MacBook Air models. Up until now, sources claim that the iPad XL will sport a screen somewhere between 12 inches and 13 inches. Add a super-thin keyboard to that form factor, and what do you have? A possible makeshift MacBook Air. This, of course, is just speculation.
Rumors of a larger iPad form factor first arrived earlier this year, and then surfaced again in July with news that Apple was testing prototypes with 13 inch screens. What's unknown at this point is whether the larger device will sport the same resolution as the 9.7 inch model but will be stretched out across the physical space, or provide a higher ppi. Given that CEO Tim Cook said that 2014 would be a big year for Apple on the devices front, expect to see this iPad XL model next year.
