Delay Of 12.9-Inch iPad Due To Common Sense

Earlier this year we first heard of the idea that Apple would create an iPad with a 12.9-inch display. That's absurd, I thought – why on earth would Apple create a tablet larger than their smallest notebook? What possible reason would Apple have for making an iPad with a display larger than the standard iPad/iPad Air size they've got today? Surely they can't be serious?

Today a report from the Wall Street Journal suggests that Apple was originally set to create this 12.9-inch display-having behemoth starting in December. They also suggest that the production of this device has been delayed until further notice due to the "strong demand" Apple is receiving for their iPhone 6 Plus.

Apple has a patent filed for a touchscreen MacBook. They filed for this patent back when Mac met the iPad with OS X Lion and Steve Jobs trashed the idea of a touchscreen on a laptop.

"We've done tons of user testing on this, and it turns out it doesn't work," said Jobs. "Touch surfaces don't want to be vertical."

Imagine an iPad larger than the one you've got in your lap right now. When I reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 – .7-inches smaller than a potential 12.9-inch iPad – I said the following:

But with the good comes the bad – problems you might have had with holding up a tablet with a 9.7-inch or 10.1-inch display in the past are only amplified here. It's difficult to find a place where you're really going to need a tablet this large.

Really – Apple wouldn't risk this.

Again as Steve Jobs said about the touchscreen MacBook – it applies here too: "It gives great demo but after a short period of time, you start to fatigue and after an extended period of time, your arm wants to fall off. It doesn't work, it's ergonomically terrible."

If Apple makes a massive iPad, it'll sell unbelievably well. But people will drop their massive devices, screens will break, and more "gates" will be opened. It won't be a super experience.