Writing this while holding in the words “I told you so” isn’t easy. But, there you go, I’ve said it anyway. For the past few months the Apple rumor mill’s been spinning like crazy.
One particular rumor I’ve never agreed with is the “iPad 3 is coming this Fall/before the holidays.” I gave my reasons why in a short rant earlier this month (link here).
Apple traditionally has released new devices in a range once every twelve months. Granted, the guys at Cupertino threw a curve ball at us this year with the longer wait for the iPhone 5.
But with the major redesign in software, on both Mac and iOS devices, you can understand the delay in getting hardware out. WSJ however, seems to confirm that the iPad will stick with its current 12 month cycle. We should see its introduction at some point near the beginning of next year.
“Apple Inc. is working with component suppliers and its assembler in Asia for the trial production of its next generation iPad from October, people familiar with the situation say, as it looks to stay ahead of the competition in the fast-growing tablet computer market. The next generation iPad is expected to feature a high resolution display – 2048 by 1536 compared with 1024 by 768 in the iPad 2 – and Apple’s suppliers have already shipped small quantities of components for the sampling of the iPad 3. Suppliers said Apple has placed orders for a 9.7-inch screen device.”
As I stated right at the end of my previous post – mentioned above – I don’t go along with release date rumors unless they are likely or from a good source. This comes direct from WSJ’s main business page, which to me, makes it an almost certain bet.
If Apple can keep the same price point and the same battery life on the next gen iPads I will be mightily impressed, and will be first in line to get one – next March. With a high performance A6 and high resolution display, this is going to be a monster tablet.
