This is another one of those rumors that will not die. Ever since Daring Fireball’s John Gruber speculated that Apple might release two iPads in one year, rumors have gone rampant (because he’s usually right). Well, to add to the madness, DigiTimes is one again stepping in it, and reporting that Apple will release the “iPad 3” with a high-resolution Retina display in March, but follow up with the introduction of an “iPad 4” in October.
The report further notes that the Retina display would be the biggest selling point for the iPad 3, along with other smaller improvements like better battery life. Of course, couple this with the reports that emerged just yesterday claiming that this iPad 3 will be a minimal upgrade, and Apple will continue to sell the iPad 2 at a lower price alongside this new model in an attempt to fight against lower-priced competitors such as Amazon’s Kindle Fire.
I have a strong inclination to ignore these reports regarding the next-generation iPad. Besides the hogwash that is floating around the internet claiming the new iPad will be thicker, DigiTimes strikes me as increasingly desperate, and is throwing anything they can to get attention, especially the idea that the new iPad will be a lackluster improvement.
As I’ve noted before, I believe Apple would hold off on the release of a product, any product, until they had something truly awesome to offer. This idea that they would introduce an iPad wherein the only new feature would be a higher-resolution display strikes me as lame. Apple, even if it hurt near-term business, would wait until technology caught up and would build the next awesome iteration. Apple believes in awesome products, not market share like the reports seem to believe.
Plus, it seems that rags like DigiTimes are trying to temper expectations for the new iPad, because, you know, that iPhone 4S was such a let down because it didn’t have a 5 suffix. They wanted an iPhone 5, that looked like a silver bullet, could print money, and was powered on unicorn dust. Give me a break.
What I’m saying is, the next iPad may not be the greatest update, but it will be the only update, and a nice one. Oh, and DigiTimes is becoming increasingly flaky.
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TAGS: ipad 3, next-generation ipad, retina display
