It was only on Friday that we pointed out signs at the Worldwide Developers Conference that Apple could be set to release a larger iPad called the iPad Pro – and now there’s even more proof that a 12.9-inch iPad is indeed on the way. App developer Steve Troughton Smith has found that the preview version of iOS 9 that Apple recently released to developers includes an on-screen keyboard designed for a device larger than any of the current iOS devices.
For a user of this preview iOS 9, it is only possible to see this keyboard by using developer tools to make the virtual screen even larger than the 9.7-inch, 2048×1536-pixel display of the iPad Air models. What on earth could Apple be intending this keyboard for? Smith obviously has his own idea, as he has already used the hashtag #ipadproconfirmed in the same tweet in which he revealed his discovery of the keyboard and showed a screenshot of it.
The keyboard has several key differences in its layout to the usual iOS on-screen keyboard, clearly to make good use of its large size. For example, several of the buttons are proportionately bigger, there are new function keys labelled ‘redo’ and ‘tab’, and there is an additional narrow row of keys which can display numbers or symbols. This keyboard could help Apple to effectively market the iPad Pro to businesses that are currently likely to be eyeing up Microsoft’s Surface Pro tablets.
