Cromwell Schubarth reports for The Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal, “Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner wrote Thursday morning that the new version of the tablet will also come with the company’s ‘retina’ display.”
“‘Current iPad builds are up sequentially in (the current quarter) thanks to the February launch of a new iPad with double the screen resolution of the current model. Several sources have confirmed the timing of this launch and there do not appear to be any significant technical hurdles remaining,’ Gardner wrote. Gardner wrote that build rates for the current quarter are in the 12 million to 13 million range,” Schubarth reports.
Read more in the full article here.
Related article:
Samsung to beat Apple to market with Retina-resolution tablet in February, says source – December 9, 2011
My first thought is that people don’t obsess about the next generation iPad as much as they obsess about the next generation iPhone.
However, I’ve been obsessing about the next generation iPad. February? Great!
Logically, does that mean I’m not a person?
Im with you. However, I never understood a product launch in February. First, you miss the November/December ramp up to the holidays which add millions of units sold as gifts. Second, you piss those people off with a new model a month later. It seems summer and fall are optimum. But then again, every quarter is optimum for Apple.
I think this one is possibly going to be an “iPad Pro” that is offered in addition to the existing model.
Profesional users (doctors, pilots, scientists, engineers) would gladly pay double the price ($1000+) for the retina display, but I cant see how the general public would value it that much (and make no mistake, these super hi res displays are likely going to be far more expensive and also require more horsepower (CPU & GPU) to drive them.
Considering the huge numbers of professional users that are embracing the iPad makes making an “iPad Pro” in addition to the regular iPad (even at double the price) seem reasonable.
Apple wants a major product release each quarter. In the Past the iPhone came out in the Summer, the iPods came out in the Fall and the computers were sprinkled out at different times. The Spring release of the iPad gives Apple that Q1 big release.
It probably also has to do with scheduling with Apple’s manufacturing partners. They need to spread the re-tooling times for the new products out over the year AND wait for the SOTA parts in the iPhone to drop in price enough to be put in the non-subsidized iPods and iPads.
I think people obsess about it plenty. It’s sold faster than any iPhone.
Apple may as not even bring out a new model if the screen resolution isn’t increased. Hopefully, the 3rd gen model will also have better cameras and processor, too.
Additionally important to me is whether or not the iPad 3 is going to be significantly lighter. I do a lot of reading on it at night and would like a lighter version. I work out a lot and have very strong arms but my hands get tired holding it up as I lie down and read in bed. Anybody hear any rumors about a lighter version?