“It seems there has been a leak, a most incredible one, from a Chinese forum,” Steve Lo reports for M.I.C. Gadget.
“According to the poster on the Chinese forum, there are no volume buttons on the iPad 3,” ,” Lo reports. “Well, you can see from our iPad 3 rear shell (as shown in photo below) that there clearly is volume buttons. Our component is a confirmed rear shell for iPad 3 Wi-Fi + 3G model.”
Lo reports, “So rounding up everything we have seen and heard from our sources, this is what we believe the specs of the new Apple tablet will be:”
• It will have a 9.7 inch 2048×1536 Retina Display.
• Possible quad core A6, but dual core for sure. The processing power is required for the Retina Display.
• A much improved camera, although maybe not be 8MP as production costs are high.
• The unit is about 1-1.5mm thicker depending on your model
• The edges are tapered, we have heard as said previously that the bezel is narrower, and we have confirmed there are volume keys
• LTE has been tested, but the market is limited, so perhaps we will not see anything outside of 3G connectivity.
• The capacity our sources have said will stay the same, at 16GB, 32GB and 64GB respectively.
More info and many more photos the full article here.
Very strange, if true.
Actually, if too look at the photo, it goes from the slight angle. Since the edges of iPad 3 itself are more lean compaing to iPad 2, it might turn out that the thickness is the same.
Otherwise, it does not make a lot of sense to me.
AND maybe the TOP photo is the IPAD3.
In the linked article there is better photo comparison which confirms that the thickness is the same:
A taper from one side to another, on a device meant to be held in portrait, landscape (+/-90 degrees), and “upside down”, is silly. We went through this already with the iPhone 5 rumours.
It’s worse with the iPad, which many prop up to type with an external keyboard. A taper would angle the screen away–not a big deal, but it would look silly from an aesthetics point of view.
Why taper at all? Fill the “extra” space if that’s what it is with extra battery.
“why taper at all?”
So you can pick it up when it is lying on a flat surface. Also the shape of the taper has subtle effect on perception and feel of the object. Try picking up a 9 mm sheet of glass with hard edges from a flat table, and holding it by the edge.
That’s not the taper in question. You’re answering a question I never asked.
The iPad is already tapered at the edges to allow for easy pickup, that’s fine, because the overall thickness is the same across the entire iPad.
The taper on the picture of the (supposed) iPad 3 that overall thickness is more at the bottom and less at the top. Similar to the fake iPhone 5 pictures except reversed.
All of these current rumors could be based on a prototype that got lost. Remember the “iPhone 5,” with a 4-inch screen and a tapered body. That was probably caused by a lost prototype. Case makers were so convinced they made molds and started to sell cases.
If it’s a testing prototype, the design has not been finalized or optimized. So, just wait for the actual announcement (or until one gets lost/stolen at a bar near Cupertino).
TRUE –
but one end is thicker the iPad2 while the other is much thinner then iPad2… does it matter nope.
http://www.electronista.com/articles/12/02/21/google.now.sued.over.blocking.safari.cookies/
1.5mm thicker? That’s worse than I thought. What about the weight, will it be heavier too?
If there’s 1GB of RAM in there and monster battery life, all will be forgiven.
1GB RAM will be a given I think given the retina display. I don’t think you can drive a display of that resolution on a screen that large without a significant amount of RAM behind it.
There is a lot of free space in iPad 2 case already, so if Apple would want to use bigger-size batteries (there are two), they would make them wider/longer, but there is no reason to make them thicker.
And, of course, better screen resolution also has nothing to do with making device thicker (for example, iPhone went from 11 to 9 mm after got 4x resolution upgrade).
Basically, there is no excuse why would iPad 3 be thicker than previous model.
TOTALLY – excellent point…
ONCE APPLE makes a device more weighted on one end – NO ONE will reposition it in their hands… the automatic rotation of the scene becomes a useless feature.
I BELIEVE APPLE will try to keep the BALANCE equal and NOT taper the device.
How about mountain lion? the day the put osx on an iPad…. 😀
Well, that does it – a 1mm increase in thickness is a total deal breaker for me. Screw the retina screen and whatever other improvements it might have.
Why can’t Apple just power the upcoming iPad 3 with a miniature fusion reactor so that it could be kept as thin / thinner than the iPad 2. Jony and the boys are falling down on the job – totally epic FAIL!
Power it from the hot air blowing out of Redmond, endless supply.
Don’t be stupid fusion reactors of this size are totally impractical with existing technology. Personally I think steam power is much under utilised these days and is proven technology.
You’d love the fusion reactor.
You’d hate the annual safety inspections and filing of the regulatory paperwork.
Take your pick. 😉
Good. The iPad 2 is ridiculously thin, and for little tangible benefit.
A little extra meat on it’s bones (provided it’s used for something valuable like battery life or a better camera) would do it good.
Bring on the 8″ iPad mini. It’ll go nicely in my jacket pocket. The iPhone screen is too small so the iPad mini will be my go to device out in the field.
‘Stockboy’, go suck on a beet.
Yeah, we know exactly what you want – whatever Apple is not building. I’d say ‘fsck’ you, but my mama sow raised me to have better manners than that.
Your comments are being ignored. They’re stupid beyond measure.
Really?
Actually, BLN, your comments seem to be ignored by most of the respondents on this blog. With your focus on tech specs, you seem to be well in the MS camp and don’t appreciate usability. Have you taken lessons from Tim the Toolman Taylor?
Tech specs have their place and have a role to play. If you think they don’t you’re more ignorant than I thought. Usability is correlated to tech specs: how fast is your processor, how much memory there is in the system. A lower specced device as a general rule of thumb will suck more than a higher specced device, all things being equal.
Totally agree, Stockboy. The 11.6″ MBA is WAY TOO small, and Apple needs to fill the gap between it and the 13″ model. If Apple doesn’t make a 12.5″ MBA, I moving to a PC ‘ultra book’.
All things being equal, fat people use more soap…
I get you BLN. You had me at your logo.
🙂 🙂 🙂
all will apologize to BLN if ever APPLE does produce a 8″ iPAD.
Quite the contrary! I will not apologize to BLN because I have not refuted the possibility of a smaller iPad in the 7″ to 8″ range. Nor have many others.
Our dispute with BLN are associated with his claims of gloom and doom for Apple if they do not immediately release a larger iPhone and a smaller iPad and his manner of reiterating the same points ad nauseum.
An iPhone with a 4″ display seems quite practical to me and I have written about that on several occasions. Similarly, a 7″ to 8″ variant of the iPad using the specs of the current iPad 2 display (1024 x 768) also seems quite reasonable to me. I believe that both would be quite favorably received, especially if the iPad were in the $349 range.
No, the objections to BLN are primarily because he is puerile and highly annoying. He deserves no apologies.
Yep.
How does the iPad 3 compare to the original model? Is it the same?
Has anybody considered that this might be a Chinese copycat company’s version of the iPad. I highly doubt Apple would make this move, they prefer to go thinner.