With the iPad 2 available for almost a year now, its time to say “Hello and welcome iPad 3”! Apple has already sent out invites to an event on 7th March 2012 in San Francisco, USA. The image on the invite looks like a new iPad with the statement, “We have something you really have to see. And touch” printed on it.
So, before we let CEO Tim Cook display this “new device” we thought we’d round up the rumours and expectations from the iPad 3 (or the iPad HD as some like to call it).
- Quad Core processor: With the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad core processor already kicking ass with its amazing processing power, we feel certain that the iPad 3 will be powered by Apple’s all new A6 processor that will be a Quad Core processor. Rumours on the Internet suggest that the A6 processor may be based on the ARM A15 architecture. We would be truly blown away if the processing power of the device were shown off with a stage demo of Infinity Blade 3!
- iPad Retina Display: We expected this feature with the iPad 2 and were left disappointed. Hence, we will believe the iPad’s Retina Display only when we see it. It is eminent that there will be a bump in the resolution of the devices screen. What remains to be seen is whether that resolution will hit 2048×1536 as reported by the rumour mills all over the web.
- iOS 5.1: With the launch of the new device, we think Apple may show off some tweaks to iOS and may just unveil iOS 5.1 beta. We expect the additions in iOS to show of a more seamless integration in the Apple eco system and some features that will be shared with the upcoming OS Mountain Lion.
- Siri and Bluetooth 4.0: These features sound like a given but sometimes its necessary to state the obvious.
- Better camera: It’s needless to say that the iPad2’s camera sucked (it was better than the iPad one atleast which had none!) and Apple may just bump the resolution of both the front and rear camera. We would like to see the rear shooter be bumped up to 8MP (like the iPhone 4S) but we would be happy to see it have the 5MP camera found on the iPhone 4.
- Bigger battery: With the rumour that the iPad 3 will be 4G LTE (maybe NFC) enabled, have a faster graphics processor and that Quad Core A6 processor we are all excited to see, its evident that the iPad 3 will support a bigger battery to maintain the 10-hour battery life standard set by its predecessor. Will this make the device thicker than the iPad 2? Guess we will have to wait to find out!
- New multitouch: With the “And Touch” added to the invite, we get the feeling that there are going to be some new multitouch gestures added to Apple’s arsenal. Maybe a button lessiPad where you can get back to the home screen by tickling it?
- A smaller Doc connector: If rumour mills are churning out accurate information, then the iPad 3 could be the first device to change the future of i-Devices docking. The rumours on the Internet suggest that the device will still have a 30-pin configuration but its form factor will be different. This may result in the device being incompatible with past generation Docs. Future iPods and the next gen iPhone too may incorporate the new connector. It would be great however if Apple made the new Doc connector compatible with the old one.If not, we may just end up with a lot of useless iPad Docks around the house!
- Universal band: With the iPhone 4S merging the GSM and CDMA bands in a single device, the same can be expected from the iPad 3. This feature will of course be available in the 3G/4G variants of the iPad 3.
- Higher price: Apple could maintain the $499 starting price tag for the iPad2 as the upgrade from the iPad 1 to the 2 wasn’t extremely significant. But this may not be the case here. Since Apple is cramping a lot of features in this “next gen tablet device”, we think the price may be bumped up anywhere from $50 to $100 for the entry-level version of the device (although we are praying to the Gods of tech this doesn’t happen).
