Foxconn, Pegatron to ship first batch of 'iPad 3' units in early March - rumor
A new report claims Apple manufacturers Foxconn and Pegatron have begun assembly of the third-generation iPad and are aiming to send their first shipments by early March.
Citing a Chinese source, Japanese Mac site MacOtakara reported on Wednesday that Foxconn will take on 85 percent of the production load of Apple's next iPad, while Pegatron will produce 15 percent of orders, similar to the division for the iPhone 4S. If true, the report would appear to corroborate a separate rumor from earlier in the week that Pegatron had received a "small volume of orders" for the device.
The source noted that this year's earlier-than-usual Chinese New Year festival, which runs from Jan. 23-28, will allow for an accelerated production schedule for the next-generation iPad.
"This first lot production implements LCD's, which are produced by Sharp Electronics Corporation, and aims to be shipped at early March," the publication noted the source as saying.
The tipster went on to claim that some accessory makers have already obtained detailed form-factor information for the third-generation iPad now that production has started, with some companies claiming that form-fitted iPad 2 cases will not work with the new iPad. Though the publication's source stated that the "front rounding corner" would be the same in the next-generation iPad as in the iPad 2 and existing Smart Covers would be compatible with the new version, the report claimed magnets for the Smart Cover will be placed in a "different position."
Report author Danbo also speculated that the new iPad may be called the "iPad 2S" instead of the iPad 3, a move that would follow the naming system that Apple has used for the iPhone.
Some recent reports have suggested that a higher capacity battery could be the reason for the rumored slight increase in thickness on the so-called "iPad 3." Given that Apple's next-generation tablet is expected to sport an upgraded display that approaches Retina Display-like quality, a larger battery would presumably be needed in order to maintain the device's 10-hour battery life. Apple is also reportedly readying an A6 processor that could possibly feature GPU cores up to 20 times more powerful than current processors.
Comments
Why do this when the competition is not going to go there this coming year. Makes no sense.
No Retina-like display is what I predict. No use for it and lots of reasons to leave it out of this revision. No Retina = better battery life, lighter weight, more effective memory, faster performance, lower cost.
Why do this when the competition is not going to go there this coming year. Makes no sense.
Make insanely great products and stay several steps ahead of the competition.
Make insanely great products and stay several steps ahead of the competition.
"better battery life, lighter weight, more effective memory, faster performance, lower cost" is what keeps you ahead of the competition.
No Retina-like display is what I predict. No use for it and lots of reasons to leave it out of this revision. No Retina = better battery life, lighter weight, more effective memory, faster performance, lower cost.
Why do this when the competition is not going to go there this coming year. Makes no sense.
I had my doubts about it as well, mainly because of technical issue. But as a number of android tablets with high resolution (7" 1280x800, 10.1" 1920x1200) have not only been announced but are available hands-on at the CES, I think the iPad 3 will also have a higher resolution.
There is ofcourse still one problem for Apple, as mentioned before in that seeing the current state of iOS (to avoid the fragmentation/developers problem) would only allow for double the ipad resolution = 2048x1536. Don't know if any panel manufacturer can already manufacture this in the needed volume and the desired price. Although you would also have to take into account the different aspect ratio.
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Why do this when the competition is not going to go there this coming year. Makes no sense.
The current ppi of the iPad is 132, while the standard for most recent tablets has been 160+. The high end Transformer Prime will have a 1920×1200, 10'' screen (224 ppi). The more news I read about CES 2012, the more convinced I get that Retina iPad is a possibility.
Of course, the iPad will sell well enough even with its current screen, just look at how popular the 3GS still is.
PS. mausz beat me to this argument.
Of course, the iPad will sell well enough even with its current screen, just look at how popular the 3GS still is.
I went from ipad1 to ipad2, but after some time with it, I have found it does not offer any benefits to me.
The speed increase is not that big of a deal if you're not playing 3d games. The OS and browsers etc. are a bit snappier, but nothing shocking.
The new wifi antenna placement has given me all sorts of troubles. My ipad1 always had excellent wifi quality. But as I'm holding the ipad2 wrong
The form factor of the ipad2 is nicer than the ipad1, but its usability is worse. The curved edge does not play well with the dock connecter, and resting it on its side at an angle on a desk I always accidentally press the volume rocker...
Ok, a bit off-topic, this ipad2 review, but 1 month after shelling out the cash for the ipad2 (at launch) I already suggested to other interested people who were on a budget to just get the ipad1....
If the ipad3 does not offer significant changes I will probably skip it. A6 would not be a significant change for me, neither would be better battery life (it's fine as it is for my daily usage). High resolution display would be a significant change.
Now if they would add the possibility to stream a h264 mkv file from a samba share... but that's only a software change...
I emphasis I am purely speculating, I don't necessarily believe that we will see an October revison, just raising discussion points so please, no flaming
Awesome! Bring on the new iPad Apple!
After upgrading to the iPad 2, I thought this is it. no more need to upgrade for at least 2 - 3 years. But OMG this is going to be extremely tempting!
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Ok, a bit off-topic, this ipad2 review, but 1 month after shelling out the cash for the ipad2 (at launch) I already suggested to other interested people who were on a budget to just get the ipad1....
Similar arguments are probably why Apple doesn't sell the iPad 1 any more. With a retina iPad3, they might want to keep both 2nd and 3rd generation, to offer a cheaper entry level, especially considering the expected increase in competition.
I had my doubts about it as well, mainly because of technical issue. But as a number of android tablets with high resolution (7" 1280x800, 10.1" 1920x1200) have not only been announced but are available hands-on at the CES, I think the iPad 3 will also have a higher resolution.
There is ofcourse still one problem for Apple, as mentioned before in that seeing the current state of iOS (to avoid the fragmentation/developers problem) would only allow for double the ipad resolution = 2048x1536. Don't know if any panel manufacturer can already manufacture this in the needed volume and the desired price. Although you would also have to take into account the different aspect ratio.
While I have my doubts for the reasons Carmissimo stated his reasoning is sound. I have argued against all these other things no one else at CES has tackled but leaning toward Apple doing it because of a guy feeling based on many many minor rumoours.
As for your comment about Android tablets with high resolution, they are barely more than the iPad at 1024x768. Sure, they have higher ppi, especially at the 7", but so does the iPhone 4/4S at 326 ppi which a 2048x1536 iPad won't come close to.
Let me put it another way. That 1280x800 you mention is only 1 million pixels to push while the proposed HiDPI iPad is 3.1 million pixels. That 1920x1200 is only 2.3 milllion pixels.
And besides the things Carmissimo stated, they also have to be able to produce enough of them to make it viable for this release. Again, I think the rumours that they stated production of the panels last Autumn are feasible, but that is still a huge concern. Anyone can make a one-off product for CES that looks great in one light ? but you can't touch it, we'll put in demo mode or or have our staff use it ? it's another to get all the pieces working together that create a better overall user experience, not a worse one.
No Retina-like display is what I predict. No use for it and lots of reasons to leave it out of this revision. No Retina = better battery life, lighter weight, more effective memory, faster performance, lower cost.
Why do this when the competition is not going to go there this coming year. Makes no sense.
This iPhone 4 with is retina display sure is nifty!
and so on and so on.
If they don't upgrade the display, a lot of people won't consider upgrading which would be a huge concern. Doesn't necessarily mean doubling the resolution, but definitely have to improve upon the current one. You don't want ASUS to be named the leader of the tablet industry.
New customers are what drive Apple's record unit sales, not people upgrading from the previous model.
You can't just pop in a higher res display every year for fear of not getting any sales as possible. It's not feasible. Just look at the iPhone with 480x320 display that lasted for 3 years before they updated yet the sales were still higher each year.
Could they done incremental iPhone resolution upgrades to keep up with Android et al.? Sure, but that would have had plenty of negative affects on their ecosystem. Instead they waited until they could feasibly quadruple the number of pixels before they acted on it. The same thing will happen with the iPad.
Why do this when the competition is not going to go there this coming year. Makes no sense.
"Excuse me," Roosevelt said with a casual air, "Why should we bother with this atomic bomb thing? The Soviets aren't working on one, the Germans aren't working on one… What's the point of being ahead of everyone else?"
And earlier, in the 30s…
"Entschuldigung," sagt Herr Hitler, "Warum sollten wir bauen eine Autobahn? Die Amerikaner haben keine Autobahn…"
New customers are what drive Apple's record unit sales, not people upgrading from the previous model.
Upgrades provide a solid base, while new customers provide growth. Apple is clearly looking towards products with faster upgrade cycles than the traditional Mac.
Upgrades provide a solid base, while new customers provide growth. Apple is clearly looking towards products with faster upgrade cycles than the traditional Mac.
Macs historically have been updated more than once a year. iDevices have been pretty much on yearly update cycles.
No Retina-like display is what I predict. No use for it and lots of reasons to leave it out of this revision. No Retina = better battery life, lighter weight, more effective memory, faster performance, lower cost.
Why do this when the competition is not going to go there this coming year. Makes no sense.
If predict you are wrong. Apple didn't invest billions in Sharps's LCD production facilities for no reason.
Upgrades provide a solid base, while new customers provide growth. Apple is clearly looking towards products with faster upgrade cycles than the traditional Mac.
Macs traditionally have been updated more than once a year. Check out the iBook update schedule for just one example.
New customers are what drive Apple's record unit sales, not people upgrading from the previous model.
You can't just pop in a higher res display every year for fear of not getting any sales as possible. It's not feasible. Just look at the iPhone with 480x320 display that lasted for 3 years before they updated yet the sales were still higher each year.
Could they done incremental iPhone resolution upgrades to keep up with Android et al.? Sure, but that would have had plenty of negative affects on their ecosystem. Instead they waited until they could feasibly quadruple the number of pixels before they acted on it. The same thing will happen with the iPad.
I think it is both. Apple relies on existing users to upgrade. With Macs, Apple used to every couple of years dramatically change the design. That was to entice existing users to update.