UPDATED 10:35 EDT / MARCH 07 2012

Conflicting Expectations for Apple’s iPad 3 Reveal

Everybody’s been making a huge fuss about the upcoming iPad 3. Starting with the moniker, people have been debating whether it’ll be called iPad 3 or iPad HD. Whatever it is, we’re sure that the iPad is the only tablet that’s ever been so successful, since it set the trend.  Nothing else has come close, not the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Kindle Fire or Barnes & Noble’s Nook.

Rumor has it that the new iPad will be like the 4S to the iPhone. That means no insanely significant technology upgrades, well not until 2013 because only then will there be major component price falls, downsizing and power management improvement.

The display appears to be the highlight of the new iPad, doubling the existing 1024×768 pixel resolution to 2048×1538 pixels, which will qualify it as a Retina Display. However, it may have an impact on how existing applications will be displayed, as already explained by Rene Ritchjie at iMore a year back.

“If Apple pixel-doubles iPad 2 [or in this case iPad 3] to a 2048 x 1536, existing apps will just use 4 new pixels for each 1 old pixel but remain the same physical size and still look just fine. Anything else [for resolution] and a bit of a mess ensues.”

The processor will likely be a little better than its existing A5 dual core CPU, so quad-core’s going to be a bit too much for the iPad 3.  There would be no LTE either, as it has only been used by a small group so far. Apple is likely to wait for the LTE market to mature before Cupertino embeds it into their products, opting for faster 3G technologies instead.

An updated iOS could also be revealed today, as well as Siri for the iPad. It may be a bit too early, but Apple may give us faster Wi-Fi performance as well, with an 802.11ac to complement an array of optional 11n features.  The storage cap will still be 64 gigabytes, but it’ll be evened out with the iCloud where you can store your virtual stuff.  Moreover, some people say the iPad may be a bit thicker this time around, but the majority don’t really think this will be a major change.

As to the price, it’s unlikely that there would be any significant changes. That being said, there would be no price increases or cuts for other models.

All in all, people have different expectations for the new iPad. Some are already disappointed in its potential, though no one’s even seen the device.  Stay tuned.


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