Apple’s iPad 3 Release To Come in March Alongside iPad 2 Price Drop?
An iPad 3 with “a full HD display” will arrive in March, according to a new report from Digitimes, who cites industry sources in Taiwan. According to Digitimes, Apple will launch the iPad 3 in the coming months of 2012, with it’s primary new feature being the retina display:
The iPad 3 will come with a QXGA (1,536×2,048 pixels) display and longer battery life although its other hardware specifications may not be so amazing as expected, said the sources.
Digitimes also mentions that the existing iPad 2 will likely see a price drop $100 to about $399 in order to better compete with other tablet offerings:
Apple will take the advantage of the iPad 3 launch to slash the price of its iPad 2 to US$399, the sources claimed.
Much of this is in line with the rumors from last November regarding the iPad 3, although Digitimes then goes off the deep-end and suggests that an “iPad 4” will be released in October of 2012, an unlikely scenario.
I think the next iPad will be called iPad 2S since it will share the exact same enclosure as before, but have better CPU, HD display, and Siri.
Apple tends to only rename the iPad, iPhone, and iPod when there is a new case enclosure. This is more of an incremental hardware update than a redesign, think a better iPad 2, not a true iPad next generation.
I think this makes a lot of sense, and reflects the iPhone’s history of the previous generation becoming the “bargain” model. A very effective way for Apple to compete on price without sacrificing profit.
iPad 2 16GB: $399
iPad 2S 16GB: 499
Look at the iPhone line for inspiration. Maybe even an 8GB iPad, but that would be lame.