As of yet, there is no hard evidence to support this theory whatsoever, but it’s just sneaky and daring enough that we wouldn’t rule it out of Apple’s playbook: Blogger John Gruber speculates that in the fall of 2011, Apple could release an “iPad 3” or at least an “iPad 2.5” hot on the heels of its as-yet-not-even-announced iPad 2 this spring.
Gruber, known for his connections within Apple and his habit of sometimes serving as a cipher for the company, stresses that this is purely his guess. One mystery this would appealingly resolve is the conflict between reports that the iPad 2 would have a so-called “retina display” and analyses debunking this:
How could Apple release a third-generation iPad just six months or so after the second one? Maybe it won’t be an actual next generation model. Maybe it’s more like an iPad 2.5, or iPad 2 Pro — a new higher-end model that sits atop the iPad product family, not a replacement for the iPad 2 models (which, of course, haven’t even been released yet).
Or: an iPad 2 HD. What if that’s the source of the conflicting reports of a retina display next-gen iPad? I am nearly dead certain the iPad 2 is going to have the same display resolution and size as the current iPad. I am not so sure at all, though, that there won’t be a double-resolution 2048 × 1536 iPad in 2011. Is that a technically aggressive release schedule? Absolutely. But Apple has invested $4 billion on some sort of unspecified components for future products.
Either way, it’s a step up from the mucus-secreting new MacBook Pro.
(Daring Fireball via TechCrunch)
