We may be able to interact with the next iPad in an entirely new way
According to 9to5Mac's Mark Gurman, who in recent days has steadily reported information about Apple's plans for its huge event, a large-screened iPad called the "iPad Pro" will also be sold with a new Apple-made stylus.
Gurman reports the bigger iPad will come with a stylus, which will allow people to draw and use design apps on the new iPad in ways that were previously impossible. The iPad will respond differently depending on how hard you press the stylus on the iPad, according to Gurman, perhaps using Apple's Force Touch technology that's already on the Apple Watch, the newest MacBook, and reportedly the next-generation iPhones.
Rumors that Apple has been working on a stylus have persisted for months, and there are third-party companies that make such devices already. But Gurman cites a source who said that Apple's new accessory will "not look like a traditional" stylus.
When Apple cofounder Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone in 2007, he famously mocked the idea of using a stylus as an input method on a smartphone.
"Who wants a stylus?" Jobs asked the crowd. "You have to get them and put them away and you lose them and yuck. Nobody wants a stylus, so let's not use a stylus."
The New York Times's Kate Benner and Brian X. Chen reported Friday that Apple is also working on a keyboard for the new iPad.
The way we interact with iPads has gone largely unchanged since the device's debut in 2010. Tablets are great for consuming media like watching Netflix and reading the news, but they aren't very good for actually getting work done. An iPad with a pressure-sensitive stylus and keyboard - and a display built with Apple's Force Touch technology - would allow for new ways to work and create.
This was the selling point of Microsoft's Surface Pro 3, a tablet that's meant to be used with a stylus and keyboard. Microsoft's tagline for it is "a tablet that can replace your laptop."
If Apple unveils a new iPad, it will come at a time when the company needs to ignite tablet sales. Apple still sells millions of iPads each quarter, but sales have lagged in recent years. Inexpensive Android tablets have flooded the market, and people don't upgrade their iPads as frequently as they upgrade their phones.
Bloomberg reported more than a year ago that Apple was working on an iPad with a 12.9-inch screen. The iPad Air 2, the current iPad, has a 9.7-inch screen.
Here's a chart showing iPad sales over the last five years, courtesy of BI Intelligence:
