Will the Real New iPad Please Stand Up?
by John Harrington, Fiberlink
Earlier this month, I broke down a report from Digitimes that claimed Apple would release the newest member of its tablet family in late March or early April 2012. This news came from Apple’s premier supplier in China, so it seemed real enough to post about. The source went on to say that Apple would cut down on production of the iPad 2 and begin production of the next iPad in January…
This morning, Digitimes churned more from the rumor mill—reporting that not one, but two iPads will be released soon after the new year…and this time with much more specificity on when: at the iWorld conference at the end of January.
What will be different about these two iPads? The report states each will have the traditional 9.7 inch screen (with 1536×2048 resolution) and two LED light bars, with big names such as Sharp, LG, and Samsung (all well-known for their great displays on LCD/Plasma flat-screen television sets) supplying parts to make this possible.
With Samsung’s help, these new tablets will edge the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S in a couple ways—improving on the A5 chip with an A6 chip in both of these tablets plus improving the camera; the high-end tablet will feature a 8-megapixel camera while the other will feature a 5-megapixel camera.
So, today’s report differs from the last report in two ways: Apple will be releasing 2 iPads instead of 1, and they will not make any adjustments to screen size to compete with Amazon’s kindle fire. Each of these new tablets will be out of the price range of the kindle fire, but give reason to drop the price of the iPad 2 enough to steal some fire from Amazon’s smaller tablet.
How accurate do you suspect this report is? If not at all, what do you think is on the horizon for Apple heading into the new year? If you are in the market for a new tablet, are these supposed new features enough to keep you waiting?
about 4 months ago
Apple has NEVER been a company to give you any kind of bang for your buck in ANY product they sell. One only needs to look at the lowly iPod Shuffle and compare it’s features to other MP3 players you can get for around the same price to know rumors of a iPad priced to compete with the Fire are probably false.
about 4 months ago
Right! Apple will continue to produce and sell at high-end segment of their market. But even if they announce just one new iPad–whether it be called the “iPad 2S” or “iPad 3″–it affords them an opportunity to drop the price of the iPad 2 to compete with the kindle fire. See how the two tablets compare feature-wise: http://bit.ly/sHCj0k