iPad HD

The Apple iPad 2 has been out for almost a year now, so it's time to say hello to iPad 3 (or possibly the iPad HD, if new rumours are to be believed). And we'll be doing just that at an iPad 3 launch this week (Wednesday to be exact) - the subject of the event is "something you really have to see. And touch" says Apple. The web is teeming with rumours about the new iPad 3 / iPad HD processor, cameras and display, so we've gathered together as many details as we can on its possible specifications. Of course, some of these can be taken with a pinch of salt, but there's definite patterns occurring and we'd say the final iPad 3 release won't be that far removed from many of these rumours. It's time to place your bets, what do you think the iPad 3 / iPad HD will bring? But wait, what's this - Sky Bet has pulled its iPad 3 betting after certain trends occurred: "If the money is correct, then the new hardware will definitely not have a new carbon fibre casing, will not be called the iPad 2S and will have 128GB of storage!".The iPad 3 release date will be March or April 2012. We now know there will definitely be an iPad 3 launch event on 7 March and we'll probably also see the release of iOS 5.1 at the same time. We'd expect the iPad 3 US release date to be in early March and the iPad 3 UK release date later in the month. Apple news site iMore was right in saying the announcement would be 7 March, citing sources "which have proved reliable in the past" have confirmed the date ahead of any official announcement from Cupertino. On 27 February it was reported that the iPad 3 was ready to ship from Foxconn in China and a shipment would arrive in the US on 9 March. Digitimes reported in late November 2011 that panel makers had already started shipping panels for the new iPad 3 - a million in October and two million in November. Foxconn, Apple's major manufacturing partner, is said to have started production of the iPad 3 in January. 2012. A source at one of Apple's partners also told Bloomberg also stated that the company began production of the iPad 3 in January, with a view to reaching full volumes in February. Digitimes reckons the new model is expected to meet the heady heights of 9.5 to 9.8 million units over the course of Q1 2012. The Apple iPad 3 will have a quad-core processor It's probable that the iPad 3 will have a brand spanking new processor, Apple's A6 - which will surely be a quad-core ARM-based processor. Quad-core designs are coming from various ARM partners and the Tegra 3 has already been launched by Nvidia, as well as the Snapdragon S4 from Qualcomm. According to the Korea Times in November, the A6 processors are to be manufactured by Samsung, despite the companies' ongoing patent battles. Could it be based on the new ARM A15 core design? Apple iPad 3 display A retina display was widely predicted for the iPad 2, but of course the current iPad doesn't have a double-resolution display: for now, that's something you'll only get in the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. Could an iPad 3 Retina Display be on the way? It's the very first thing on our iPad 3 wish list. The exciting news is that it looks as though it is happening, with Apple reportedly testing suppliers' current shipments of 2048 x 1536 resolution 9.7-inch displays. More credence was given to this rumour in the days leading up to the launch. Now that iBooks 2 has been launched (as of 19 January 2012), we've also seen further references to 2x iPad screen images - these will, most likely, be for iPad 3. However, it's not always been plain sailing for the display - rumours continued over the summer and autumn of 2011 that the retina display in the iPad 3 was continuing to be a challenge Back in May 2011, we reported that the iPad 3 could launch with a Samsung-made AMOLED screen, following rumours that Apple was in talks on the matter with Samsung execs. There have also been more LG and Samsung rumours, too. However, according to the Wall Street Journal in late November 2011, Sharp will manufacture panels for the device. Apparently Apple is investing in infrastructure at Sharp's LCD plant. Further rumours said that Apple is looking to implement some nifty dual LED lightbar technology into the iPad 3, apparently in a bid to counter-balance the brightness issue that the Apple tablet may have, due to its super-high pixel density. A part leak in early December again pointed to a Sharp-manufactured 2048 x 1536 retina display and dual lightbar. More display details then leaked on 24 February 2012.