Apple's iPad 3 will include a higher-resolution display, faster processor and bigger battery, according to the latest rumors.
Apples iPad
franchise might dominate the tablet market, but it nonetheless faces some
significant threats in 2012.
Chief among
them: Windows 8 on tablets, which could arrive sometime late in the year.
Microsoft and its hardware partners will surely devote considerable marketing
muscle to the upcoming operating system, creating the sort of united front that
has thus far eluded the various Android manufacturers who flooded the tablet
ecosystem with tablets in 2011.
What will
Apple do to counter those threats and maintain its considerable market lead?
Release a new iPad, of course.
According to a
much-circulated
AllThingsD
report, the company will unveil that next-generation tablet in early March, at
a high-profile event in San Francisco. No word yet on a street date for the
iPad 3 (assuming thats what its called), noted the Feb. 9 report, which
relied on the ever-popular unnamed sources.
Apple
traditionally keeps details of its upcoming products a closely guarded secret.
However, based on reports over the past few months, its safe to assume the
iPad 3 will include at least a few of the following features:
High-Resolution Screen: This
is the most persistent rumor, reinforced by
AllThingsD,
which notes that the iPad 3 could feature a 2048x1536 Retina Displayor
something close to it. Such a screen would be one of the most high-profile
ways Apple could advance the iPad in a way that stands out from the
competition.
A Faster Processor:
In a Feb. 1 posting, the
Boy Genius
Report suggested the iPad 3 will feature an upgraded, proprietary A6
processor. That information came from an unnamed source, which provided the
blog with
screenshots
of output from an iPad 3 using a development and debug tool called iBoot.
AllThingsD also alluded to a much
faster chip paired with an improved graphics processing unit.
Camera and Battery: The
Repair
Labs Blog recently posted images of what it called the back housing of
the iPad 3, which in turn suggests Apples next tablet will include a bigger
battery and perhaps a different camera.
The presence
of other featuressuch as Siri, Apples digital personal assistant which
debuted with the iPhone 4Sis more open to conjecture. But based on the iPads
sales history (Apple sold 15.43 million units in the last quarter alone), its
not hard to surmise that the next edition in the franchise will sell
well.
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