iLounge has issued a report with information from a “reliable source” regarding Apple’s iPad, iPhone, and MacBook Pro plans for 2012. Specifically, they claim all three product lines will be seeing major redesigns.
First off, the report claims that the new iPad will has a planned launch for March of 2012, and will be slightly thicker than the iPad 2 due to the incorporation of dual light bars to accommodate the higher-resolution display that is expected to be built into the new device. Specifically, they claim the new iPad will be .7mm thicker than the iPad 2. The iPad 2 design is 8.8mm, so this new design would be about 8% thicker than the current model, but still thinner than the original.
Next up, the report notes that the next-generation iPhone will not look like the teardrop-ed design mockups we saw circulating ahead of the iPhone 4S introduction. That said, the report claims that the new iPhone will have a four-inch screen and be 8mm longer than the current form-factor. They also claim that the device will be introduced this summer.
Lastly, the report claims that the MacBook Pro will see the much-rumored overhaul in 2012. The product line will reportedly be redesigned, and take on a much thinner more MacBook Air-like form factor. Besides, there have been other reports that a 15-inch ultra thin notebook is prepared for mass productions.
I don’t buy the claim that iPad 3 will be thicker. Apple designs their products with enough foresight to know what concessions to make and when to make them. They only go forward and not backward.
Again, no on the four-inch iPhone screen. It would cause problems for developers who would now have to accommodate two different screen sizes (three or four sizes if you include the current iPad and the hypothetical iPad with a “Retina” display). I can’t see this happening either.
As for the thinner MacBook Pro, this seems to be the only part of the report that agrees with other circulating rumors. However, the March timeframe seems off to me. If the reports are true, and the iPad 3 is released in March or April, an all new MacBook Pro redesign would seem to crowd that introduction out. In other words, both the iPad and MacBook Pro lines are so popular, that introducing new redesigns of each, at the same time, to my mind, would lessen the impact of each announcement. Splitting the public’s attention if you will.
I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating– 2012 is shaping up to be one hell of a year.
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TAGS: ipad 3, next-generation ipad, next-generation iPhone
