It looks like the iPad 3 release date has been delayed until 2012. If you’re waiting for it, you probably shouldn’t hold your breath. Apple fans have hoped the new device would be released this year, but according to the Wall Street Journal the new iPad 3 hasn’t even hit the trial production phase.

The new device is expected to have a high-resolution “retina display” akin to the one that shipped with the iPhone 4 last year. The iPad 3’s screen resolution will be 2048×1536, an improvement over the 1024×768 display that shipped with the iPad 2. The screen is the same size of previous iPads, which should quiet any speculation about Apple producing a smaller tablet.  The new tablet is also expected to be thinner and lighter.

Apple is planning to hold the first trials of the new production version of the iPad in October and hopes to market the new device “in early 2012,” reported the Wall Street Journal. The iPad 3 should present a 9.7-inch screen with a resolution of 2048 by 1536 pixels, compared with 1024 by 768 pixels of iPad 2. According to one of Apple’s suppliers, quoted by the newspaper, the American group commissioned pieces for “about 1.5 million units in the fourth quarter.”

Moreover, Apple is reportedly working with suppliers and manufacturers in China and Taiwan to begin trial production of its next-generation iPad from October, having already placed orders for 1.5 million units in the fourth quarter, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing industry sources.

In related news Boy Genius reported, citing “high-level AT&T sources,” that an AT&T Vice President has confirmed to several employees that the iPhone 5 is slated to launch in early October. This is in line with what most of the latest reports have said although the actual announcement may still come sometime in September.