Apple Introduces New ‘iPad’ Model with 9.7” Display and A9 Chip Starting at $329

By Federico Viticci

Following a 5-hour downtime of its online store this morning, Apple announced a new base model of the 9.7” iPad.

Starting at $329 for the 32 GB Wi-Fi version and simply called ‘iPad’, the new device appears to be a lower-cost replacement for the iPad Air line as the company’s iPad lineup now includes iPad mini 4, the new ‘iPad’, and the iPad Pro in existing 9.7” and 12.9” configurations. Neither iPad Pro model received any update this morning. The iPad mini 4, on the other hand, now offers more capacity for the same price: the 128 GB Wi-Fi model is now priced at $399, while the 128 GB Wi-Fi + Cellular is available at $529.

John Gruber on the 2017 iPad Lineup →

Linked By Federico Viticci

John Gruber on what may be coming next in terms of iPad refreshes:

What doesn’t make sense to me is a new 10.5-inch model. The idea makes sense — keeping the physical footprint of the current 9.7-inch models but reducing the bezels and putting in a bigger display. The ideal form factor for iPads and iPhones is just a screen, like the phones in Rian Johnson’s Looper — reducing the size of bezels and moving toward edge-to-edge displays is inevitable. Even the pixel density math works out for a 10.5-inch display.

What doesn’t make sense to me is the timing. I don’t see how an iPad with an exciting new design could debut alongside updated versions of the existing 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch iPads. Who would buy the updated 9.7-inch iPad Pro with the traditional bezels if there’s a 10.5-inch model without bezels? No one.

If Apple is going to position both the second-gen 12.9” and 9.7” iPad Pros as the high-end models, I don’t see where a simultaneous release of a drastically different 10.5” iPad Pro would fit. But if the second-gen iPad Pros (with the current form factors) move to the low end of the lineup, that means the 10.5” iPad Pro could introduce an edge-to-edge design with no Home button before the iPhone gets such treatment (supposedly) later this year.

That idea always seemed odd to me. Traditionally, the iPad doesn’t get major hardware changes before the iPhone. The iPad hardware tends to follow the iPhone. True Tone and the four-speaker system were iPad Pro-first features, but they weren’t fundamental platform changes such as Touch ID or Retina. Both of those came to the iPhone first. (I won’t even count the Smart Connector here.) An edge-to-edge design with no Home button is a major platform shift – particularly if it includes new developer APIs, which would have to launch in the Spring before iOS 11 if the rumor of an imminent iPad Pro 10.5” is to be believed. At this point, I find that somewhat hard to believe.

Instead, I think spec-bumps across the entire iPad lineup would make more sense in the short term. I can see Apple bringing consistency to the product line (True Tone, USB 3 speeds, and fast charging for every iPad Pro model) and adding faster CPUs/more RAM for powerful iPad-only features coming with iOS 11. I’m curious to see if Apple will revive the iPad mini by making a 7.9” iPad Pro and if iPad accessories will receive substantial improvements at all (it’d be nice to get an upgraded Smart Cover or a Pencil with superior battery life).

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Workflow’s New File and Ulysses Actions

By Federico Viticci

In a seemingly minor 1.7.2 update released over the weekend, the Workflow team brought a few notable file-based changes to the app.

Workflow’s existing support for cloud storage services has been expanded and all file actions have been unified under a single ‘Files’ category. You can now choose files from iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or Box within the same action UI, and there are also updated actions to create folders, delete files, and get links to files. Now you don’t have to switch between different actions for iCloud Drive and Dropbox – there’s only one type of File action, and you simply pick a service.

Interestingly, this means that Workflow can now generate shareable links for iCloud Drive files too; here’s an example of a workflow to choose a file from the iCloud Drive document provider and copy its public link to the clipboard. (Under the hood, Workflow appears to be using the Mail Drop APIs for uploads. These links aren’t pretty, but they work.)

There’s also a noteworthy change for Ulysses users. Workflow now allows you to easily extract details from Ulysses sheets using their ID. After giving Workflow permission to access your Ulysses library (which, unfortunately, still has to be done using a glorified x-callback-url method), you’ll be able to chain Workflow and Ulysses to, say, get the Markdown contents of a document, extract its notes, or copy its title to the clipboard. The new ‘Get Ulysses Sheet-Get Details of Ulysses Sheet’ combo makes Ulysses automation much easier and faster.

If you work with files in Workflow on a daily basis, and especially if you’re an iCloud Drive user, you’ll want to check out the new actions and rethink some of your existing workflows. You can get the latest version of Workflow here.

Astra

By Federico Viticci

Federico

Over a year ago, I imported an Amazon Echo from the U.S. and set it up in our apartment (we live in Rome, and the Echo hasn’t officially launched in Italy yet, but the device is perfectly usable – we just had to buy a wall plug adapter). I thought the Echo was going...

Member Requests

By Federico Viticci

Question: I have seen you have covered how to create a PDF for each link selected in the Club MacStories archive and save it into Dropbox. I was wondering if there is a way to create a similar workflow except to add a Todoist task that would attach the PDF as a note. I don’t...

Sharing Multiple Files at Once from DEVONthink

By Federico Viticci

Federico

Among the various shortcomings of iOS compared to the Mac, one that I frequently mention on MacStories and Relay FM is the inability to share multiple files at once with extensions and document providers. Apple’s own iOS apps, such as Mail and iCloud Drive, can’t move multiple documents at once between apps; iOS itself...

Canvas, Episode 31: Note-Taking with Apple Pencil →

Linked By Federico Viticci

This week Fraser and Federico take their Apple Pencils in hand and share some notes on taking notes with the iPad Pro.

We’ve covered some excellent Pencil-based note-taking apps for iPad on this week’s Canvas, and also explained why the Pencil is a must-have accessory for iPad Pro owners. You can listen here.

Connected, Episode 133: The Italian Word for Spoon →

Linked By Federico Viticci

Apple has a new ad, Casey has an iMac, Ticci watches TV and everyone has workflows.

On today’s Connected, we covered a lot of the automations we’ve created with Workflow, as well as some custom workflows I’ve built for MacStories. You can listen here.

Member Requests

By Federico Viticci

Question: I love building workflows and feel very comfortable in using Workflow and integrating it with other iOS apps via URL schemes. To me the next obvious place to grow is via web APIs. I’ve had minimal success with a couple but I was wondering if you could recommend some web API that is to...