iPad 3 or iPad HD: Sifting reality from the rumours

With the next generation iPads coming out, we will take a look at what the Apple rumour mill is predicting and what we’re most likely to see from the newest version of the popular, pioneering tablet. As always with Apple, we’re left to scour a thicket of rumour sites including ones with sources deep in the bowels of the Asian technology supply chain. We’ll go from the most likely to the least likely in terms of form and feature. The most likely thing we’ll see with the new iPad is a high-definition screen, like the super sharp Retina display on the iPhone 4 and 4S. What’s interesting is that some reports are now saying that the new iPad will be labelled the iPad HD rather than the iPad 3. The Verge tech news site reported last July that just as the iPhone 4S is being sold as well as the iPhone 4 so that Apple can hit more price points in the market, the iPad 2 will continue to be sold alongside the iPad HD . This makes a lot of sense. Apple has positioned itself as a lifestyle technology maker. They are a luxury brand that focuses as much on style as on specs and performance, something that baffles and infuriates geeks who will focus on getting the most bang for your buck. [caption id=“attachment_236520” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=" Well, alongside the rumours about the next generation iPad have been rumours about the chip that will power it.  NYT"] [/caption] Apple will continue to sell its wildly popular iPad 2 at the same or slightly discounted prices while it sells the iPad HD with its gorgeous screen to professionals on expense accounts. Think executives and design professionals. Of course, it might not be an either/or proposition. Maybe we’ll see an iPad 2S and the iPad HD, allowing Apple to give the iPad 2 a refresh and a speed bump to compete with the army of Android tablets nipping at its heels. How will that work? Well, alongside the rumours about the next generation iPad have been rumours about the chip that will power it. Apple watchers have long been keeping an eye on when the company would move from dual-core to quad-core, a shift that many Android makers have already made with Nvidia’s Tegra 3 which powers the Asus Transformer Prime . The focus of these rumours has been on Apple unleashing the next version of its mobile chip, the A6. Of course, to give consumers even more choice, they might have a faster dual-core A5X powering new versions of the iPad 2 while the quad-core A6 goes into the high-end iPad HD . Now, we’ll end with the less likely speculation floating around. There have been persistant rumours that Apple would also releasing an iPad mini, a smaller version of its iconic tablet to compete with smaller tablets such as Samsung’s 7-inch Galaxy Tab. Cnet says that chatter is getting louder amongst Asian suppliers that they will be providing Apple with 7.85-inch screens for an Apple device, presumably the legendary iPad mini. The big question hanging over those rumours is whether Apple CEO Tim Cook is willing to go against the wishes of his iconic predecessor Steve Jobs. Just 16 months ago, Jobs ranted that a screen smaller than the one one the existing iPad wouldn’t work . According to the Wall Street Journal he said in a quarterly earnings call:

“there are clear limits of how close you can place physical elements on a touch screen, before users cannot reliably tap, flick or pinch them. This is one of the key reasons we think the 10-inch screen size is the minimum size required to create great tablet apps.”

Of course, Apple’s touch interface first gained popularity on the much smaller screen of the iPhone so maybe the thinking has changed at Apple. Whatever the case, we don’t have long to wait to find out what was unsubstantiated rumour and what will be reality.