It’s Official: A New iPad is Coming
February 29, 2012
On Tuesday, Apple mailed out the invites for their next big event.
At 10AM PST, on Wednesday, March 7th, at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Apple will make an announcement that is sure to change the tablet computing landscape. Based on the invitation, it seems apparent that the heir to the iPad throne is about to be revealed. While it would be easy to guess that this device will be called the “iPad 3,” Apple has long been known for marching to the beat of their own highly unpredictable drummer, and the iPad line of products is still fairly young and limber; we wouldn’t be surprised to see an iPad 3, an iPad 2S, an iPad HD, or even multiple new tablets that take the brand in multiple directions at once.
So what do we know? Thanks to the secrecy of Apple’s corporate culture, not a whole lot. But really, isn’t that part of what makes these events so thrilling?!
The main focus of Apple’s official preview image is a vibrant, high-definition screen, giving credence to theory that Apple’s Retina Display technology has finally be thrown into the iPad mix. Even if they can’t quite deliver that level of pixel-packed clarity (a Retina Display would hold 4x the resolution of the iPad 2 in the same 9.7-inch diagonal screen), there’s no doubt that the screen will be a big step up. Goodbye 1024 x 768, hello 2048 x 1536?
To push out full-screen graphics and video to that higher resolution display, it’s a given that Apple will have to introduce a faster processor with their new tablet. Compared to the original iPad’s single-core A4 processor, the iPad 2 brought us the dual-core A5 processor, delivering “up to nine times the graphics performance of the first-generation iPad,” according to Apple. While it’d be easy to assume that a quad-core A6 processor will follow, late breaking rumors claim to have spotted a fine-tuned dual-core “A5X” processor in the wild. Considering the lack of compelling competition that Apple faces in the tablet market, there’s little need for them to push too far too fast and dwarf their own previous efforts. But it’s reasonable to believe that they’ve been working on both new processors; we may see a more expensive quad-core iPad designed specifically for a market of “professionals” along-side a more affordable dual-core, consumer-focused (or even smaller form-factor) counterpart.
While it’ll definitely be faster, we don’t expect the new flagship iPad to change much in terms of size and shape. However, if a report from the Wall Street Journal is to be believed, new iPads will need to make room for built-in 4G LTE technology for use on Verizon and AT&T’s networks. Including this hardware is rumored to result in a slightly thicker body for Apple’s tablet, compared to it’s 3G uncle, and supposed photos of a tear-drop shaped iPad have only further fueled this hypothesis.
But wait, there’s more (speculation)!
With a great big processor and a 4G connection, Siri may finally bring her smooth robotic tones to Apple’s tablet lineup. Though talking to your iPad seems at odds with, well, touching it, it’d be hard to understand why Apple would leave such a highly touted iPhone feature as Siri out at this point.
Similarly, there seems no need not to introduce a better camera (say… like the one in the iPhone 4S) to the new iPad, erasing the memory of Apple’s oddly lackluster performance in this area up until now.
And while we’re at it, why not keep the new software coming… with Microsoft Office Tablet Edition! It has been a while since we’ve seen Bill Gates drop in on an Apple Keynote; his presence could be a fitting tribute to his shared history with the late Steve Jobs.
And the biggest question that still looms: When does it come out?
In the past, newly announced iPads have been available within one week of their first glimpsing, so expect the “iPad 3” to hit store shelves (and my coffee table) by mid-March, if not sooner.
Alexei Bochenek is a lifelong tech nerd & film buff based in Los Angeles. When he’s not playing with his phone, it’s because the movie has started. Shhhhh!
