Yes, the iPad 3 is coming. But when? Persistent rumors say as early as this autumn, perhaps in conjunction with the launch of Apple's next-generation iPhone.
Whatever its launch date, the iPad 3 is expected to be a humdinger of a tablet with a killer display that puts the iPad 2 to shame. A recent report from Taiwan's Economic Daily claims the next-gen iPad's resolution will be five to six times higher than that of the iPad 2.
If that seems unlikely, a January 2011 report from Digitimes says the iPad 3 will have a screen resolution of 2048 by 1536 pixels -- four times that of the iPad 2's 1024 by 768. Research firm IDC at the time was hearing similar reports from its sources as well.
October Surprise?
A fall 2011 debut for the iPad 3 seems premature, however, for several reasons.
First, the iPad 2 is selling like crazy. Apple may ship between 12 to 14 million tablets this quarter (3Q) -- up from 7 to 9 million units in 2Q. It's also stockpiling iPad 2 components to reduce the risk of component shortages, Digitimes reports. Rather than winding down iPad 2 production, Apple appears to be ramping it up.
Second, Apple owns the tablet market. The competition may be improving, but it's unclear how alternative tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Hewlett-Packard TouchPad will do in the consumer market. And with the Apple App Store featuring more than 100,000 apps optimized for the iPad, it's hard to imagine tablet shoppers would opt for slate running, say, Android, WebOS, or another non-Apple OS.
Third, it's very un-Apple. Cupertino, as you know, doesn't rush products to market. It's taking its time with its iPhone 4 successor, even though Android phones with larger displays and arguably better cameras keep arriving on a regular basis.
Not So Fast
The iPad 2 starting selling in March. Why would Apple want to hurt sales of its hugely successful second-gen tablet by launching the iPad 3 just seven months later?
True, an iPad 3 with a vastly improved display would send a statement to the competition: Apple still rules the tablet space, suckas. But the taunt could easily wait until next year. A more likely scenario is that Apple will market the iPad 2 like crazy during the upcoming holiday shopping season, and then introduce the much-improved iPad 3 in early 2012.
In fact, some industry watchers have been saying as much for a few weeks now.
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Comments received
Mackly said on Mon, 04 Jul 2011
I think we will see an iPad with a high resolution display this year but it will be a more expensive model than the iPad2, possibly with a faster CPU, better camera and more flash storage. As a result the two iPad models will have parallel production runs.
The new iPad will be not so much an iPad3 but an "iPad2 HD" or an "iPad2 Pro". Apple will also take the opportunity to switch its annual release date for new iPads to September, in line with iPods and iPhones. The current iPad2 will become the base model and may drop in price but will carry through to September next year in an extended 18 month production run.
Mark Hattersley said on Mon, 04 Jul 2011
I think the opposite. My thoughts are that Apple wants some space between iPhone and iPad launch as they were too close in 2010 (and shortages meant that people were still queuing up for iPads while Apple was trying to launch the iPhone 4).
So you'll see an iPhone launch later this year and then the iPad 3 next spring. It makes more sense to move the iPhone later to line up with the iPod launch.
But you never really know with Apple.
MadAxeManUK said on Mon, 04 Jul 2011
NO, NO, NO!
iPhone 5 will be this autumn.
iPad 3 will be next Spring, Apple have not had a Christmas season with this model yet, and the competition, thus far, have not been good enough to Force them out of their established release strategy.
"resolution will be five to six times higher than that of the iPad 2". What! A 6100 pixel wide display on a 10 inch tablet, ridiculous!
You guys need to work on your Maths. From Wiki "The display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed." So resolution is a LINEAR measurement. Thus, 2048 by 1536 pixels is TWICE that of the iPad 2's 1024 by 768, NOT FOUR times.
I agree that a 'retina' display (with 2x resolutions) is the next logical step, anything more is just pushing pixels for nothing more than one-up-manship, and Apple don't tend to play that game.
(>|<)
grumpygiraffe said on Mon, 04 Jul 2011
I do recall Steve Jobs stating quite clearly that the current iPad screen is the minimum size that they're willing to use and that they fully intend to go bigger...much bigger! This could be what they're doing here...or of course It might not ever happen! You never quite know...
Either way I have some thinking to do as I was intending to get the new iPhone when it's finally released, but now I'm considering keeping my basic little Nokia and swap my iPad 1 for a 3G iPad (whether that be iteration 2, 3 or a bigger 'Pro' version).
SteffLars said on Mon, 04 Jul 2011
I am delaying the acquisition of an ebook as much as I possibly can. Reading books and PDFs on the touch is possible ....but not optimal. I am only waiting for a hires iPad. There are limits to the number of gadgets I want around. Unfortunately I have to agree with some here that I see the iPad HD later rather than sooner if iPad 2 sales really are that strong. Several production lines side by side would be unlikely, if I have to judge by the past. I so want a hires ipad!
Anaxagoras said on Tue, 05 Jul 2011
I think an iPhone 5 later this year is very likely given the antenna problems/embarrassment of the iPhone 4. Hence the rumours of a 'not much different' iPhone 5 in September. (Not much different = exactly the same, apart from a vastly improved antenna!).
The only argument I can see for an iPad 3 this year is that Apple has overestimated the competition and thought it would have to work harder to maintain its lead in the market. Spring 2012 seems more likely - unless Apple's plan is to annihilate the competition totally prior to Christmas!
ari-boy said on Tue, 05 Jul 2011
I can't help feeling we'll see a "Pro" version of the iPad at some point with higher specs so that the 'iPad family' can appeal to different users at different price points. There's so many conflicting rumours though, it's hard to fathom out what's going to happen this autumn!!
I agree with Mark that it makes alot of sense to bring the iPhone product cycle into line with the iPods – unless of course they want to get away from an 'annual' product release policy?
In short I think we'll get the iPhone with the next iPods this year and the iPad sometime early next year as before (for now!)
Out of all the rumours and comments on the iPhone and iPad I'd most like to see Apple ditch the numbers after the product names. iMacs, etc aren't referred to as iMac44, etc so let's just ditch it!!
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