Tomorrow will mark one of the biggest days for technology news in 2012, as Apple will host a major media event, with pundits tipping the iPad 3 to finally be unveiled. As with any Apple event, speculation and rumours are flying. So to save you the trouble, we wrap up the major stories emerging and let you know what to expect from San Francisco tomorrow morning.
Dubbed the iPad HD, the 3rd generation iPad is widely expected to be the story that steals the show at tomorrow’s event. So what’s new?
Display
One of the most popular features of the iPhone 4 generation is the stunning retina screen. It’s sharp, vibrant and boasts a 960×640 display, touted to be the maximum number of pixels that the human eye can distinguish between at a usable distance. And until now, it has been notably absent from the iPad. Look out for the retina display to be a flagship feature of the new iPad, possibly boasting a screen resolution of up to 2048×1536 – 1.5 times the number of pixels as a full-HD television!
But what do all of those pictures mean practically? Take a look at the pictures below which show Food Run, a new application set to make its debut tomorrow. The application is coded entirely in vectors, which means that it scales perfectly by available resolution. The top image shows how the application would show on an iPad or iPad 2 and the bottom image on the new retina display.
iPad 1/2
iPad 3
Quite the difference!
Camera
To go with the new HD screen, several sources are reporting a new front-facing HD camera. An upgrade in resolution would do much for improving Apple Facetime as well as applications like the popular Skype.
Design
Design is one of the features a smart man would bet on being almost certainly unchanged. The iPad has become a pop-culture icon, primarily on the huge success of the streamlined design. If there’s any changes, expect it only to be on the thickness of the device to compensate for the new retina screen or the need for a large battery.
Under the hood
Why might that larger battery be required? Well the obvious answer would be longer battery life, but also worth considering is the higher power consumption required by upgraded internals. For starters, a retina display would almost certainly require an upgrade in RAM, moving onwards and upwards from the iPad 2’s 512mb. Also worth considering is the prospect that the new A6 CPU set to power the iPad 3 could be quad-core, with sources divided on the issue.
Availability
Apple’s never been one to muck around with releasing a product once it’s been revealed. Outlets are speculating a March 16th or March 29th release date State-side, followed shortly (hopefully) by a New Zealand release. To find out the latest on release dates and when you can pre-order yours, make sure you’re following us on Twitter and on Facebook!