iPad 3 To Be Apple's 'Surprise' Release This Fall: REPORT

The iPad 2 is (presumably) still months away, and already tech blogs are buzzing about the iPad 3.

According to TechCrunch and Daring Fireball, Apple may be planning to unveil the iPad 3 later this fall. If the rumors are true, the appearance of this next-next-generation tablet would be a surprise, especially as it would come so shortly after the iPad 2, and as Apple usually sticks rigidly to its product development cycles. Given that the original iPad went on sale in April, Apple would be expected to release the second version of the tablet around the same time a year later.

TechCrunch writes,

We've now heard that this "fall surprise" is related to this would-be iPad 3. We don't have any more concrete information beyond that. But, as of right now, the plan is apparently to release one iteration of the iPad in the next few weeks. And then blow the doors open with another new version in the fall.

[...] But Apple has a history of not resting on their laurels. That's perhaps the key reason why they've been so successful in recent years. And that's exactly why they strike with the iPad 3 in the fall.

Now, I have no details as to what this iPad 3 would include. But one very solid guess is a retina-like display that the iPhone 4 currently has. There's obviously been many rumors of this for the iPad 2, but it's not happening yet. But perhaps it could this fall. Another, slightly smaller form factor will clearly be another guess. Steve Jobs has famously played down that idea in the past -- but he often does that and turns around with an offering.

In a post on the release of HP's TouchPad, which should be available sometime "this summer," Daring Fireball's John Gruber wrote, "If my theory is right, they're [HP] not only going to be months behind the iPad 2, but if they slip until late summer, they might bump up against the release of the iPad 3."

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that, according to "people familiar with the matter," the iPad 2 was already in production. Read more about the latest iPad 2 rumor here.

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Comments

[ButterFly 43]

03:17 PM on 02/28/2011

For Apple to release an iPad interation in the second and third quarters does not seem fiscally sound. Apple does not have a regular, high profile product update in Q2. Keeping the iPad annual updates in Q2 just makes sense to sustained sales. Moving it to a Q3 update in September,along with the iPhone update in July, and its other product updates in that quarter, doesn't make profitable sense. Speaking as a loyal Apple consumer and someone who has been waiting for an iPad2, since 1 came out last April, I would be extremely disappointed by the release of iPad 3, with significant features enhancements, only 5-6 months after the last iteration, and I think other IPad 2 buyers would be.It could affect brand loyality.

[joeythes]

05:48 PM on 02/22/2011

Steve told me that iPad3 will launch in place of iPad2.

[BlueIndependent]

08:05 PM on 02/12/2011

I put no stock in this whatsoever. Rumors like this are so easy to start, just like the Verizon trope did when Apple released the very first iPhone in 2007. If the rumor turns out to be true in any way, it'll be Apple flexing its muscles by making, perhaps, a smaller tablet with fewer features that may even have color options; think iPod Nano/Shuffle. Or, it could be a extra top-of-the-lin iPad 2 with a very desirable special feature. But that's a guess on my part. In no way do I see them putting out iPad 3 that shortly after iPad 2, in part because they'd kill all the existing iPad 2 buzz, and lose sales on those waiting until October. The iPad 3 would also have to be a good sigh better than the iPad 2, and all they'd end up doing is pissing off millions of iPad 2 buyers.

This is more Mac spliff smoking, of which there is plenty, and very little that proves true.

[Ronnie Avatar Dixon]

12:05 AM on 02/11/2011

Releasing two innovations to the iPad in the same year? Sounds very unlikely...

[Marlena O Neal]

10:38 PM on 02/10/2011

Jobs "Apple" would be a fool not to blow out an early release of #3 if he intends to suck up the
market share, and sweep the HP's tablet release under the rug. Of course if he times the release of #2 just right he'll already be pulling the carpet out from under HP's feet, the results are obvious
either way.
He, Jobs, plans his releases in time for income tax return spending and the x generation blast for spring break and as the new summer vacation playtoys each year - if only he would use that as
a tool to provide a discount (with legitimate school records) for higher GPA'S to further the future
of his school age consumers, now that would really give everyone an edge!
MO

[Solomon Utuedor]

09:36 PM on 02/10/2011

looks like apple is catching the Chrome fever. I'm currently using this Huffington web app and the presentation matches any tablet experience. On the long run , though , apple will have to drop prices. Otherwise they will have difficulty competing with Motorola , Samsung, LG , HTC who enjoy free powerful software from Google.

[Rudy Aunk]

01:16 AM on 02/11/2011

Hetep and Respect Solomon Utuedor good points on price. But you just can't beat the Iphone reliability and free help at an apple store.

[petekjohnson2010]

03:58 PM on 02/11/2011

Chrome fever? WFT?
So far, nobody has even come close to producing a tablet that matches the iPad in features and price. All we've seen are 5" and 7" devices that cost the same as a 10" iPad or are subsidized and require a data plan. Apple has so much cash that it is constantly buying up and locking in the best possible component prices in the industry. It is EXTREMELY unlikely that anybody is going to somehow magically best Apple on price.

[mccaffem]

07:51 PM on 02/10/2011

i dont believe for a min 3rd gen will be unveiled a single day before the usual 12mth cycle.

[StansDad]

07:01 PM on 02/10/2011

It's a meteor! It's a falling plane!
No!
It's the APPL stock!
NNNEEEEERRRRRooooooo *boom*

now to watch it skyrocket when the ipad 2 and white iphone go back out

[PCPrincess]

05:52 PM on 02/10/2011

LOL, just give me my number 2 already. I've put off purchasing an iPad, which will make my education much simpler and cheaper, in order to get the improved version. Will I care that there will be a number 3 a year after I've purchased my first one? Not at all. The improvements that are rumored to be on the 2nd iteration are the ones that matter to me: i.e. USB. I'm not even all that concerned about a camera or retina display. I just want to be able to plug that puppy in! I will have all school work and textbooks (in E-book form) on it and it will replace my big luggy backpack.

[dmsdzinr]

03:40 PM on 02/10/2011

Apple hasn't even released iPad 2 as of this date!

[Last chance]

01:48 PM on 02/10/2011

The daily picture of Jobs.....every day on HP, everyday, everyday....everyday.

[OneForTheMoney]

01:38 PM on 02/10/2011

I guess you are an all day sucker if you buy the first version of any Apple product. If Apple is great at anything it is making people feel that what they own now is obsolete.

[Aardvaark]

01:48 PM on 02/10/2011

Fanned. I'm cheap, and while Apple has shown the market for smarter phones and tablet computers, I'll wait a year to buy a rival copy. At first, it may have some bugs, but I won't buy the first one, so the technology can mature.

Microsoft was the worst at putting out vaporware - it's gotten better at delivering more bug-free products, but it used to be if you bought a new product from MS, you were a gamma tester. The tech market is filled with all sorts of dead ends until a product matures. As it matures and competition develops, the price drops. I don't have to have the latest, greatest, so I'll wait.

[Marlena O Neal]

11:14 PM on 02/10/2011

As with any manufactured product on the market these days, always wait for the kinks, gliches, bugs to be worked out and go with no sooner than 2nd generations as IPod would have already made known....what is it up to now 15th generation? Your point is a valid one but all manufacturers are creating "planned obsolescence" within their product lines to continually renew income....look at Gates and the "Windows" operating systems and it's still loaded with "bugs" and "fixes" and not by any means infallible, it would appear as both Gates and Jobs work for a "third world" government with all the snooping that goes on through their programs and apps into our every move, never would that happen in the home of the brave and land of the free.
MO

[Aardvaark]

11:42 PM on 02/10/2011

I kind of disagree with the "planned obsolescence" idea. What's happening is that with Moore's law in effect, as well as more bandwidth, which makes it possible to pack more and more capabilities into hardware. The technology, for me, is sufficient at this time on computers. Caveat: I'm not using my computer for business, so I don't see the need.

I also don't feel the need to stay connected 31 (joke - that's 24/7). I'll wait until the tech is more mature.

[LisaCACO]

01:30 PM on 02/10/2011

maybe the next Ipad farts glitter...I'd buy that one.

[krumudgen]

02:04 PM on 02/10/2011

and smell like an apple

[jsgaetano]

01:25 PM on 02/10/2011

After the insanity Apple had when they dropped the price on the iPhone, and the ordeal of the iPhone 3 and the 3gs... I seriously doubt Apple would release iPad 2 and iPad 3 like six months apart.
 
Now what they might do is have like an iPad 2, and an iPad 2gs or something like that, so release an "upgraded" version of the current model... but even that seems like it would be a huge ordeal that would just make the cultists angry.  Not that it would stop them from buying the newer models, however.

[hypnotoad72]

01:18 PM on 02/10/2011

What, not "magical" or "revolutionary"?  Just "surprise"?  I am surprised...  thanks for the viral vaporware marketing scheme.  I won't hold my breath.  Let's see the thing first.  As it stands, most cell phones carry twice the RAM of an iPad (512MB/256MB respectively, so much for iMultitasking on an iPad) and 1GB is just around the corner.  But that means Apple will have to add more RAM and find a new way to market a higher price to cover the costs.  (Most articles I've read compare a 16GB iPad with 256MB of RAM to run apps in with a 32GB Xoom with 1GB of RAM to run apps in and try to say the Apple is the better value.  Maybe it is in some respects, but you never skimp on RAM.  Bill Gates even once said 640k is more than enough...  for single-tasking or low-end fluff, sure...)

[jsgaetano]

01:26 PM on 02/10/2011

Gates also said that when a desktop was running a monochrome text display.  Context is everything...

[Aardvaark]

01:51 PM on 02/10/2011

The price of silicone got so cheap that it allowed MS to put out more features, color, and bloated software. Apparently, Windows 7 is smaller, with tighter code.