If Amazon book release schedules are any indication (and they sometimes are), Apple may be planning to release the next version of their iWork productivity suite, iWork ’11, in October of this year.
The publication date of this German book on iWork 11 for Mac and iPad had previously been set this month, presumably to release along with the retail version of Apple iWork ’11, which had been expected by some to be released alongside OS X Lion this month.
The delay in the book’s publication date could reflect nothing at all, could reflect a delay in only the next iPad version of iWork, or could reflect a delay in the entire iWork ’11 lineup.
What’s interesting about the October publication date is that, being closer to the fall, ir is also closer to the rumored release date of a higher-resolution of the iPad 2, which may be called the iPad 2 HD, later this fall. Is it possible that they’re designing the next iWork to take full advantage of the iPad 2 HD’s improved screen?
While this is certainly a possibility, it seems as though it would make more sense to release it as early as possible (considering how anticipated the release is), and then merely update the interface later to work better with the higher-resolution iPad 2 HD’s screen.
Keep in mind that all of this is speculation – neither iWork ’11 nor the iPad 2 HD have been confirmed in any way by Apple, and book publication dates do not always reflect the time of their related product. Still, however, it’s intriguing to think about, and may well cast some insight on what the future may have in store for iWork ’11.