Bloomberg is reporting that production of the next-generation iPad is underway, and will be at full production capacity by February so supplies are in place for a March launch. In fact they claim that Foxconn factories will be running 24 hours a day to meet the production demands. The report also notes that the new device will come equipped with a quad-core processor, an ultra high-resolution “Retina” display, and faster 4G LTE cellular technology.
Bloomberg in an update to the article later noted that LTE is coming to the iPad and not the iPhone first because the iPad has a larger battery to better accommodate the power needs of the LTE chip.
All of these features, with the possible exception of LTE seem to be set in stone. The biggest reaming question regards the device’s design, specifically it’s physical depth. Some reports claim it could be up to a millimeter thicker than the iPad 2, while others claim it will indeed be thinner, while other claim it will look largely identical to the iPad 2. The design seem to be completely reliant on what technology Apple uses for the display. If they manage to use Sharp’s IGZO technology, the device could be the same size, if not thinner than the iPad 2.
With the information we’ve been consistently receiving, I would wager that the new iPad will have a Retina display, and a quad-core “A6” chip, and better cameras. Those two features aside, it seems to be a mystery. Apple very well might be able to shoehorn all of these features, including LTE into a smaller envelope. My gut tells me however, that the next-generation iPad will look a lot like the iPad 2. Just a guess though.
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TAGS: ipad 3, march, march 2012, next-generation ipad
