Asian supply chain watcher DigiTimes has once again entered the iPad rumor fray, reviving rumors that Apple may release two iPads this year – an iPad 3 with a Retina display in March, followed by a much improved and revamped iPad 4 in October.
The report cites “industry sources” in Taiwan, and continues to claim that the iPad 3 is more or less what most are expecting, and will feature a QXGA “Retina” display with 1536 x 2048 pixel resolution, as well as better battery life. The internals of the device, however, may not be as spectacular as many hoped.
The October “iPad 4,” on the other hand, which will be released just 7 months after its predecessor, will bring far more advanced upgraded hardware specs, as well as “integrated applications” to compete with other tablets and take the iPad to a new level.
The 9.7-inch iPad 4 is expected to come with much upgraded hardware specifications and integrated applications so as to compete with an array of Android-, Wintel- or WoA (Windows on ARM)-based tablet PCs to be released in the fourth quarter, said the sources.
DigiTimes has a spotty record at best, and there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical about this report – it doesn’t make much sense for Apple to release two iPads in the same year. It would also be an unusual and historically unique move for Apple. It wouldn’t be fair to their customers, and would likely leave many buyers upset that they had just purchased an iPad only for it to become obsolete a few months later.
To be fair to Digitimes, however, this isn’t the first claim suggesting two new iPads will be launched this year. Still, it’s best to take rumors like this with a grain of salt.
