With the newest iPhone now reaching consumers, the rumor mill is quickly turning its attention to what will likely be Apple's next big release in the mobile iDevice realm - the iPad 3. According to published reports Friday, Apple is readying the new iPad 3 with a smaller dock connector.
Japanese news site Macotakara reported today (and included images that purportedly show components of the next iPad) that Apple will not release the third-generation iPad before March of 2012. But when the time comes for the new tablet to launch, it will sport a freshly redesigned dock connector. Is this riveting or groundbreaking news? No. But it's among the first credible tidbits of iPad 3 info we've encountered since attention shifted from the iPhone 4S to Apple's next major mobile product refresh.
According to a reliable Asian source in contact with Macotakara, the next-gen iPad will be identical in size to the iPad 2, yet no decision has been made as to whether the device will deliver the beautiful resolution that results from Retina Display. Some believe that the implementation of Retina Display will make the iPad 3 too costly for both Apple and consumers to consider as soon as 2012.
All told, the Macotakara report is probably doing more to discourage buyers from the iPad 3 than attract them to it. Without any evidence (at least for now) that the new iPad will deliver any substantial improvements over the second-generation tablet, the revamped dock connector (which will create compatibility problems with current devices/accessories that use the standard 30-pin connector) is hardly enough to restore the hype we understandably saw ahead of the iPad 2 launch.
Source: Macotakara
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