Josh OngJohn Gruber of Daring Fireball sparked the first rumors Wednesday when he mentioned that the HP TouchPad may "bump up against the release of the iPad 3" in a post. HP unveiled the webOS-based tablet Wednesday, though the device will not become available until "later in the summer."
After speculation arose that Gruber's comments were based on inside information, he clarified his thoughts as mere guesswork in a subsequent post.
"My gut feeling is that Apple will move the iPad to a September release schedule, alongside the iPods," he wrote. "But they wouldn’t want to wait over a year and a half from the announcement of the original iPad to announce the second one."
Gruber guesses that Apple will release the second-generation iPad "fairly soon," possibly in March with a shipping date in early April. The updated device would be faster, with "more RAM, maybe more storage, thinner and lighter, a front-facing camera." He also believes iOS 5 would be announced in March and ship in June.
"iPad 3, shipping in September, announced at the annual iPod event. Running iOS 5.1, same as the next-generation iPod Touch," predicted Gruber, adding that the release may be more like an iPad 2.5, iPad 2 HD or iPad 2 Pro— "a new higher-end model that sits atop the iPad product family, not a replacement for the iPad 2 models."
Gruber's conjectures were followed by a report from TechCrunch's MG Siegler that lent credence to the speculation, though for different reasons. Siegler cited a "very good" anonymous source that claims Apple is planning a "big fall surprise" related to the iPad 3.
"We don’t have any more concrete information beyond that," said Siegler. "But, as of right now, the plan is apparently to release one iteration of the iPad in the next few weeks. And then blow the doors open with another new version in the fall."
He went on to surmise that a third-generation iPad could have "a retina-like display" or perhaps "another, slightly smaller form factor," though Apple CEO Steve Jobs has downplayed the possibility.
While Apple has yet to formally announce the second-generation iPad, reports of the device have picked up steam as of late. On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple has begun manufacturing the next-generation tablet. As reported by AppleInsider in January, the iPad 2 is expected to be thinner and lighter, with a faster processor, more memory, a FaceTime-ready camera and an upgraded graphics processor.
For more, see AppleInsider's extensive coverage of the iPad 2.
Christine McKee
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AppleInsider Staff
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104 Comments
i am surprised gruber can write about anthing except baseball or his hate for certain political individuals.
One word: Bullshit.
More than one word: This is obviously never going to happen. Trying to release a 3rd-generation iPad less than half a year under the second one would destroy consumer confidence... How is this even news?
A fall announcement of iPad 3 seems incredibly ambitious, even by Apple standards. But they've done this before.
Anyone remember buying iMac G5s that were newly released only be to shocked at how quickly they announced the newer, better, intel iMacs? If memory serves, the time span of this painful upgrade was 1 or 2 months.
I like the idea of a March iPad 2 followed by a surprise iPad 2 on steroids in September. It makes sense if the primary innovation is a retina screen.
It does make me want to hold off on the iPad 2, however. I intended to do so as long as the retina display rumors were out there and seemed likely to occur.
Seriously? This is awesome news! I'm gonna skip the iPad 2 and go straight to 3.... Wait, Hans Gruber says his gut tells him this???? I don't trust that guy after he said we can take over Nakatomi Plaza without resistence. He totally missed the mark on that one.
This sounds strange to me. Possible, but strange. Apple appears to have carefully crafted a product release calendar for themselves that looks kinda like this:
January: Mac (granted this one has been less consistent and more sporadic lately)
April: iPad
June: iPhone
September: iPod
The brilliance of this is two-fold:
1. It keeps the products flowing and refreshing without stepping on one another by evening out engineering, development, production, etc.
2. It keeps everyone always anticipating and talking about Apple products all year.
Having said that, as more of a pure consumer product, a launch and availability for Christmas suggests fall as a good time for iPad (as well as iPod). But I think I'm sticking with the quarterly refresh cycle.