We enjoy being thorough here at Moneysupermarket.com. When we get something between our teeth we don’t let go. So this weekend, whilst everyone was doing hilarious things at their office Christmas parties – like pulling down their pants and sitting on the photocopier – we were busy scouring the internet, eyeballing any and every iPad 3 rumour that walked our way.
The iPad has quickly become something of a core product for Apple (terrible pun intended). But the iPad 2 hasn’t long been released… isn’t the prospect of a third model a bit premature? Apple is a company that knows how to market its products to a global audience. They’re the masters of maximising their products’ sales potential through combining sleek design, fabulous technology and, well, just making you want to own whatever it is they’re selling as soon as you possibly can, God-damn it…
As eyebrow-raising as we find them, some iPad 3 rumours are terribly persistent and aren’t willing to fade away like Patrick Swayze at the end of Ghost. So, we’ve collaborated five of our favourite iPad 3 rumours and given them a likelihood rating out of five. Agree with us? Let us know in the comments section below.
5: RELEASE DATE: First quarter, 2012
Imagine the scene. You sit there with a tablet-shaped present on your lap on Christmas Day and fill your pants with excitement – it’s an iPad 2, just what you’ve always wanted!! So, after waiting for the January sales to die down, you wander into your local Apple store to pick up some accessories… only to see a large, imposing iPad 3 sneering down at you from the shelves.
Think we’re joking? As well as choosing February for dramatic effect in our tale of woe, that’s one of the hottest release dates doing the rounds at the moment. The indication is it’ll be released some time in Spring 2012, don’t you know. In fact, the Los Angeles Times has gone as far as quoting senior research analysts who say that sales of the iPad 2 are still expected to soar over the next couple of months, despite the looming presence of a more technologically-advanced bigger brother.
Likelihood rating: 3/5 – There’s usually no smoke without fire, and the internet has chafed itself into a right storm over this one. We’re holding our breath though, because a prototype version hasn’t mysteriously turned up in a public toilet yet…
4: Its bum will look big in this
Image: http://bit.ly/tPwb1t
The Huffington post is adamant that the iPad 3 will be bigger than Arianna Huffington’s nostrils. Well, certainly bigger than the iPad 2, at least… The reason? Brand new hardware which will bulk out the iPad 3 a wee bit, but will make it more attractive than ever for when you’re playing Angry Birds and uploading pictures of your nan into FatBooth. The Huffington Post says the new hardware will ‘increase the display resolution from 1,024-by-768 pixels to 2,048-by-1,536’, making it one cool looking customer if indeed true.
The Huffington Post’s sources, it’ll only be approximately 0.7mm thicker. You can cope with that, surely? It’ll still fit perfectly well into your man bag, yes?
Likelihood rating: 4/5 – Apple isn’t afraid of making tough design decisions when it needs to. Whether they’re the right ones or not though are open to debate (we’re thinking of the God-awful ‘hockey puck’ USB mouse for the iMac at the time of writing). If it delivers a better customer experience and improves on earlier models, then Apple will fit it in somehow, all for a few millimetres more.
3: It’ll be the ultimate high definition tablet experience
So, it may be thicker. But this will likely be the reason why – gadget website T3 believes that the bigger 2048 x 1536 display will provide the ultimate HD tablet experience, boasting a gorgeous 264 pixels per inch (PPI). Perfect for blowing away prostitutes in Grand Theft Auto III.
So, what’s fuelling these rumours? Well, as T3 point out, an unnamed covert operator at Apple spilled the beans to CNET a few months ago, with the web’s premier gadget gurus saying ‘the 9.7-inch touchscreen displays, which are to boast 264 pixels per inch, are to enter production in November in an attempt to meet the high quantity demands of Apple’s fanatical following.’ It doesn’t stop there – apparently the screens are to be manufactured by HD heavyweights Samsung and LG, you lucky Apple fans you!
Likelihood rating: 5/5 – We’re throwing all of our weight behind this rumour. A fully-HD iPad that’ll truly blow the visual socks off its competitors will be a real coup for Apple, and make the tablet’s third coming all that more special. And, don’t forget, the iPhone 4/4S is home to gorgeous, brand-spanking new retina displays.
2: It’ll house a great, dirty A6 processor
Both PCWorld and TechRadar touch on the possibility of the iPad 3 having a brand new A6 processor lodged deep in its belly. The advantages are obvious – it’ll be quicker, be better at multi-functionality and last far longer than rival tablets. PCWorld highlights Apple’s previous form when including new processors in its previous iPad models, so why break a habit of a lifetime, is their reasoning. TechRadar go some way to tickling the taste buds too, saying that it will ‘surely be a quad-core ARM-based processor. Quad-core designs are imminent from all ARM partners.’
Likelihood rating: 4/5 – Sure, why not? If Apple does indeed want to add a marvellous HD gloss to the iPad 3, then surely they’ll push the boat out and give it a big, fat, meaty processor too?
1: It’ll be… transparent?!
Image: http://bit.ly/c6NUhx
So speculate BostInno, anyway. We’ve already pointed out that Apple is daring when it comes to making design choices, but we think this one will be a step too far, even for a company that’s made its fair share of mistakes in the past (*COUGH* Bandai Pippin *COUGH…).
Likelihood rating 1/5 – Nah. Pull the other one.
