According to a report published earlier today, Apple is slated to unveil two new iPads next month. Details available after the jump!
The news comes from MacRumors – a blog dedicated to covering rumors surrounding Apple, Inc. and its products – in the form of a post in which they discuss a report sourced from Digitimes – a digital newspaper covering the supply side of the consumer electronics industry – which cites sources at Apple “supply chain partners” who claim that Apple is all set to unveil its next-generation iPad(s) at the MacWorld | iWorld event on January 26th, 2012.
The sources claim that two new iPads will be announced: a mid-level model and a higher-end one. Both models will have 9.7” displays with 2048×1536 resolution, quad-core A6 chips, 5 and 8 megapixel cameras. The higher end model will reportedly have double the battery capacity (14,000mAh!).
From MacRumors:
Aside from a surprise Apple return to Macworld|iWorld, Digitimes also reports that the new iPads will keep 9.7" screens, carry 1536×2048 Retina Displays, A6 processors, 5-megapixel and 8-megapixel cameras, and over double the battery capacity (6500mAH -> 14,000mAH) for the higher end model.
According to DigiTimes, the iPad 2’s price will be dramatically reduced in order to compete with the $199 7” Kindle Fire. Apple’s iPad lineup for 2012, then, would consist of an entry level iPad 2, a mid-end iPad 3 and a high-end iPad 3.
As we mentioned earlier in this post, the report comes from DigiTimes. DigiTimes is one of, if not the greatest, sources for Apple-related rumors. They’ve have a mostly miss (rather than hit) track record so you really have to take this with a pinch of salt.
The claims claimed by DigiTimes’ sources sound far-fetched to us. Apple keeps its product lineup as simple as possible; breaking the iPad into three separate products would, then, be a very un-Apple-like move. Besides this, the announcement will reportedly be at MacWorld – an annual conference that Apple withdrew from in late 2008. Apple has been successfully holding their own events in accordance with their own timeline, and we think they’ll continue doing that for the foreseeable future.
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