New details on Apple's rumored large-screen iPad have emerged, suggesting a smaller screen than we've been led to believe and a feature that critics have been calling on for years.

According to a new report, the larger iPad (often referred to as the iPad Pro by the press although I suspect it'll be called the iPad Plus) will include a smaller 12.2-inch display which puts it much closer in size to Microsoft's Surface Pro 3. Up to this point, scuttlebutt suggested the slate would ship with a 12.9-inch panel.

What's more, the report claims Apple is adding an additional set of speakers on the opposite end of the device. For the first time, an iPad may ship with true positional stereo audio although from what I can gather, the speakers still appear to be positioned on the edges of the tablet versus front-facing.

The bigger iPad won't be quite as thin as the iPad Air 2 at 6.1mm. Instead, the report claims it'll measure somewhere between the thickness of the iPhone 6 (6.9mm) and the iPhone 6 Plus (7.1mm).

The iPad Plus was originally expected to enter mass production this December but that no longer appears to be the case. Reports from early last month claimed production of the tablet was being put on hold as suppliers continue to struggle to keep up with demand for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.