Apple, Microsoft and Samsung will launch big tablet computers this year, knocking out the PC

IS it time to replace your old home computer? You’re in luck as Apple, Microsoft and Samsung are set to unveil new big-screen tablet computers.

Apple introduced the iPad Pro, measuring 12.9 inches, and a pressure-sensitive stylus called Apple Pencil. PHOTO: STEPHEN LAM/GETTY IMAGES

THE future for tablets is big, in a very literal way.

The world’s biggest technology companies are poised to launch the world’s biggest tablet computers this year, with Apple, Microsoft and Samsung lining up to best the others on screen size.

Microsoft joined the race last week, revealing new 12.3 inch and 13.5 inch tablets to launch next month.

New book, new page ... a new laptop titled the Microsoft Surface Book. Picture: Andrew Burton/Getty Images

They will join Apple’s 12.9 inch iPad Pro tablet computer, with accompanying stylus and keyboard, and potentially a record-breaking tablet from Samsung, the Galaxy View, rumoured to feature an 18.5 inch display.

While such machines may have once been considered outlandish, industry experts say the big-screen devices are simply meeting consumer demand for all-in-one devices which can serve as a laptop and a tablet in one.

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Software giant Microsoft, whose Surface ignited the big tablet trend in 2012, revealed its latest professional tablet computer and its first convertible laptop in New York last week.

The Surface Pro 4 will feature a larger screen and a 30 per cent speed boost on its predecessor, as well as a 50 per cent speed boost on Apple’s MacBook Air, plus an improved stylus and keyboard with bigger glass trackpad and a fingerprint scanner. It will be priced from $1349.

“We have competitors, you might have noticed,” Microsoft Surface creator Panos Panay says. “They’re chasing us.”

Coming soon ... New Microsoft Surface Pro 4 tablet computers on display in New York. Picture: Andrew Burton/Getty Images

Microsoft surprised the audience with its laptop announcement, however. The Surface Book is a hybrid laptop that consists of a 13.5-inch tablet body attached to a keyboard with a “dynamic fulcrum hinge” that can be moved up to 360 degrees.

The company promises it is the “thinnest and lightest Intel Core i7 PC” and is twice as powerful as Apple’s MacBook Pro. The Surface Book will cost $2299 when it launches on November 12.

But Apple, whose chief executive Tim Cook once likened hybrid computers to the convergence of “a toaster and a refrigerator,” will deliver its own answer to the Surface next month.

The iPad Pro will feature, in Apple’s words, “an epic 12.9-inch Retina Display” redesigned to work with a stylus, named the Pencil, and a fabric, folding Smart Keyboard.

Apple’s big tablet will be “the most advanced and powerful iPad we have ever made,” worldwide marketing senior vice-president Phil Schiller says, and is designed to be used for productivity tasks and even “advanced 3D design”.

Tablet or laptop ... Microsoft corporate vice-president Panos Panay introduces the Microsoft Surface Pro 4. Picture: Andrew Burton/Getty Images

It will use a 64-bit A9X chip but some specifications, and a price, have yet to be released.

Samsung also has a big tablet up its sizeable sleeve this year.

Revealed in a video at the IFA technology show in Berlin, portions of the Galaxy View were shown with the tag line, “Think big. Then, think bigger.”

A leak from GFKBenchmark has since revealed the View may feature a record-breaking 18.5 inch touchscreen, as well as an octa-core chip and 5700mAh battery.

Despite its potentially incredible size, noted technology pundit Evan Blass verified the rumoured specifications as correct.

Telsyte managing director Foad Fadaghi says the big tablets are coming in response to “a groundswell of support for all-in-one devices and larger form factors” and the companies are simply meeting consumer demand.

Many Australians will swap conventional laptop computers for these hybrid tablet devices, Fadaghi says, as a way of buying two machines in one, and upgrading their current ageing machines.

Fresh keyboard ... The new Microsoft Surface Pro 4. Picture: Andrew Burton/Getty Images

“We are in the middle of a PC upgrade cycle,” he says. “We have a lot of older computers in Australia as people have been busy toying with tablets and big phones, and they are due to upgrade their computers this year.

“In many instances, they will be interested in something that functions like a tablet as well, that they can use like their smartphone. Consumers won’t consider these anything other than replacements for their computers.”

Fadaghi says the new devices are likely to inspire a second wave of tablet purchases, as consumers are drawn to their faster operation, longer battery life and improved software.