Apple confirms iPad 3 event for March 7

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Apple confirms iPad 3 event for March 7

As expected, Apple has sent out invitations to select members of the media inviting them to a special event on March 7. The image accompanying the invitation features a finger reaching out to touch the Calendar icon on a noticeably high-resolution iPad screen, and the tagline “We have something you really have to see. And touch”. Notably, no Home button is seen on the device, although it may simply be rotated to the side. Apple is expected to unveil the third-geneartion iPad at the event; the device is expected to feature a Retina Display with four times the pixels, as well as 4G LTE connectivity and a new chipset, all in an almost unnoticeably thicker shell that we first saw at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. The event will be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco and will start at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.

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Comments

1

The wishful thinker in me is hoping there is more to the “And touch.” than the blindingly obvious reference to the new iPad being a touch screen device. The 4G touch was dated other than the retina screen when it came out in 2010 and it hasn’t aged well. Maybe we could get a retina iPad 3 and a mini-iPad with the hardware of the iPad 2 to replace the dated touch line.

Posted by Code Monkey in Midstate New York on February 28, 2012 at 10:00 AM (PST)

2

I believe your’e right. “And touch” being a new sentence, and the “see” piece certainly is re: the new retina display. Will the “iPad mini” really be a bigger touch? Seems like maybe yes. I think it would be a good move - the Kindle Fire shows the size is right for consumers…

PS - iLounge - I HATE your doggone captchas. I have to load about 10 to get one I can read.

Posted by sb on February 28, 2012 at 11:30 AM (PST)

3

While I personally hope Apple does produce a smaller iPad, like 8”, at the current resolution, I doubt we’re going to see that March 7th, and if they do make one it certainly won’t replace the touch. The iPod Touch can be had for $199 while an 8” iPad would likely cost $399 or more. Personally I’m not sure there’s a whole lot wrong with the existing Touch other than the cameras. And I’m not sure you can actually get a better camera in the thing without making it thicker.

I think a more likely pairing with the new iPad is an upgraded Apple TV. Given all the stories about stock running low on the existing model, with the iPad 3 rocking a new retina display capable of playing 1080p HD content, with AirPlay support for MacBooks in the upcoming Mountain Lion release, it only makes sense to upgrade the Apple TV to support higher resolution than the current 720p limit. Seems likely that its just a spec bump though, not some actual iTV product. Probably still in the same rounded square box.

Posted by Glenn on February 28, 2012 at 7:19 PM (PST)

4

“Personally I’m not sure there’s a whole lot wrong with the existing Touch other than the cameras.”

@3: You get an iOS device for the apps, and the 4G touch, due to the schizophrenic decision to give it a retina display but save about $1 a unit to stick with the 256MB of RAM of the 3G, is incompatible with a majority of high profile new releases even if the app descriptions don’t say as much. I generate 1 to 2 dozen app termination reports a day because iOS 5 kills any app that exceeds 25,000 page requests and that’s pretty much all of them at this point unless the devs spend a lot of time optimizing for the 4G touch.

So, Apple either replaces it, or they’ll soon see the 4G touch like the iPad 1: explicitly not supported for most high profile releases even though it’s the current non-phone, non-tablet iOS device.

Posted by Code Monkey in Midstate New York on February 28, 2012 at 7:37 PM (PST)

5

The hand in the picture is the wrong size for an iPad. Either Apple has found someone with a very small hand or the hardware in the picture is not an iPad…

Posted by Ian on February 29, 2012 at 7:09 AM (PST)

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