In the keynote for the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2015), Apple's software chief Craig Federighi showed off some impressive new multitasking features for iOS 9 like SlideOver and Split View. The whole set is only available on the iPad Air 2 for now, but is that because Apple is finally planning to release an iPad Pro?

Among the bevvy of new features and services Apple touted, the new multitasking abilities iOS 9 gives to the company's current iPad model were some of the most impressive. (For Apple fans, that is: Windows and Samsung Android tablets have already had multi-window support for a while.)

Federighi's demonstration on the iPad Air 2 showed an improved task switcher reminiscent of Android KitKat and Lollipop (not to mention OS X's Spaces), but much more impressive were the Split View and SlideOver features.

With Split View, users can have two open apps active on the same screen at the same time, using four-finger swipes to lock in apps on the screen's dedicated sections. For videos, there's a picture-in-picture mode that hovers an active video on top of other tasks.

SlideOver -- which, along with picture-in-picture, also works on the iPad Air from late 2013 and newer and all iPad mini models -- is also a multitasker's dream. Just swipe from the right side of the screen, a la OS X's Notifications Center, and you've got a mini-pane for Messages, Calendar, and other productivity apps that fit in a narrow vertical. Switching out SlideOver apps is as easy as swiping from the top and tapping.

Here's a peak at the multitasking part of Federighi's presentation, screencapped from the live stream to YouTube by CNET:


First off, these iOS 9 features are a welcome update to the stunted, app-to-app modular design of previous iOS iterations, especially since Apple is playing catch-up to multitasking incumbents Samsung and Microsoft -- and as a challenge to Google, which has enhanced app interactivity and switching, but hasn't so far officially made this kind of multitasking a priority on stock Android.

But while I'd like to see at least an option for these iOS 9 features on every Apple device, they especially make sense in the context of an iPad with a much larger display. I'd say 12-inches or above would be sufficient.

And that happens to be the rumored specs of a product that officially doesn't exist, but has been talked about by the tech blogosphere for years: the iPad Pro.

Add to that the new QuickType keyboard and its trackpad feature -- which instantly gives you access to a computer-style cursor and cut, copy, and paste buttons, and it looks like Apple is gearing up, on the software side, for a piece of iPad hardware that could finally be capable of taking on professional-style netbook duties.

As has been discussed at length over the past few years of iPad Pro rumors, there are good reasons why Apple wouldn't want a 12-inch iPad on the market. It could cannibalize Apple sales of the Macbook Air, for example.

But Apple hasn't been shy about introducing such borderline products before, as evidenced by the iPad mini and later, the iPhone 6 Plus. And since it's got the 6-inch to 9-inch mobile device space amply covered already -- and with the iPad leading the global decline in tablet shipments, according to IDC -- the only untapped market segment left is the tablet/laptop hybrid market, and professionals looking for a multitasking workhorse iPad.

What do you think? Are iOS 9 multitasking features just an attempt to make the most recent iPad models more attractive to a larger market?

Or could it be leading to something (literally) bigger? Let us know in the comments!