iPad Pro release date is expected to happen in the third quarter of the year showing off a hybrid device.

iPad Pro release date is highly anticipated by waiting fans and is speculated to arrive in October. DigiTimes reported that Apple is expected to receive shipments of 80 to 90 million units from a Taiwan-based supplier.

Apple has yet to confirm the existence of the rumoured 12-inch tablet but its launch is more important than ever after Samsung recently unveiled its new line of larger tablets.

Releasing a hybrid-style device could be beneficial for the company in order to provide a solution to the declining PC sales. Apple CEO Tim Cook refuted the idea of uniting devices back in April 2012, saying that fusing devices to make a hybrid will yield to compromising the individual devices.

"I think ... anything can be forced to converge. But the problem is that products are about trade-offs, and you begin to make trade-offs to the point where what you have left at the end of the day doesn't please anyone. You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but those things are probably not going to be pleasing to the user," Cook said.

However, Evercore Partners analyst Patrick Wang said that the forthcoming iPad Pro will put the MacBook Air to rest. Mr Wang said that iPad Pro will pack the next-generation Apple A8 processor inside and will run with both the latest iOS and Mac OS X operating systems. The A8 chipset could have the same 64-bit architecture or may have an octa-core configuration.

DigiTimes also reported that Apple is already in talks with suppliers for the A8 CPU supply for the new range of iOS devices. The report also said that three semiconductor product packaging companies will be handling the A8 supply. Amkor Technology, STATS ChipPac and Advanced Semiconductor Engineering will work hand-in-hand for the supply of the chipset. Production of these A8 chips is said to ramp up its production in the second quarter of this year for the rumoured release date in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, rumours stated that iPad Pro will pack a screen panel with 4K resolution and not with the usual Retina screen display, which is beneficial to a very large screen. However, there were also reports that Apple is currently testing 2K and 4K displays and suggested that the iPad Pro will come in two variants with varying screens. Some reports stated that an iPad Pro with 2K display will be launched in May, while the iPad Pro with 4K screen resolution will arrive in October.