iPad 3 lays the gauntlet down, what you should expect

Apple surely is pretty content with the iPad 2 after having sold record numbers in 2011 following up from the success it enjoyed in 2010 selling 14.8 million tablets. In 2011, I was one of the 300,000 standing in line to purchase the iPad 2 at launch. I even typed up a review of my launch day activities at Best Buy, were sadly, my mobility pimp Jeffery, will no longer be working.

Apple would go on to sell 15.4 million Tablets in 2011 and smash sales and profit records. So what’s next right? As rumors are continuing to pick up as we get closer to what is expected to be the announcement from Apple on March 7th about the iPad 3, there are a few things that we can look to expect.

First, do not look for a radical change on the design of the iPad 3. Looks like Apple was not only content with their sales of the iPad 2, but in the design itself. In the picture below you will notice that visibly larger camera optic that is said to be an 8 megapixel shooter, the same as the current iPhone 4S which is easily the best in any mobile device here in the United States. Also notice that the logic board is much larger on the iPad 2 which indicates the battery on the iPad 3 will be larger to help with the other advancements Apple is adding to it. In the next picture, it appears that apple has not moved far from the iPad 2 design except that it appears to be slightly thicker by 1mm.

So it is inside the iPad 3 that we will see changes taking place. So with the new 8 megapixel rear camera, also expect what we all hoped the iPad 2 would have, a retina display. With 2x greater pixel density, the iPad 3 will sport more resolution that a 1080 HD TV. If the speculation is correct, then the iPad 3 will have a 2048 x 1536 resolution which will bring video streaming and gaming to a whole new level. Currently the closest Android competitor, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer has a resolution of 1200 x 800.

Another heavily rumored improvement in the iPad 3 is the processor. The dual core A5 processor in the iPad 2 has been nothing short of spectacular, but the market has already seen the launch of mobile devices using Quad Core processors in several Android devices. Many looked for Apple to follow but now the A6 Quad Core rumors have cooled off and now it looks like the A6 will be improved dual core. Reasons for not going Quad Core could be many, but it makes sense for Apple as they have already upgraded a lot of key components and holding a Quad Core back for the next launch of the iPad 4 could end being pretty smart. Also, it would give developers plenty of time to prepare for the Quad Core with new Apps.

Some other new features on the iPad 3 we can expect is iOS 5.1. Addressing the battery life issue that didn’t happen in the update Apple put out 5.0.1, it looks like we can see some improved battery life as well as the edition of Siri. Yes, the iPhone 4S exclusive should be a no brainer for the more powerful iPad 3, and add a lot of value, if not humor to the device. Facebook integration, much like the Twitter integration we currently enjoy is also said to be included. Seriously Apple, how could 800 million be wrong? Another nice fix we hope to see is being able to edit your photo stream and see the results happen across all your devices. It’s sort of pain currently.

So are you going to join the legions of iPad fans and stand in line on Launch Day? Even though my buddy won’t be there, I expect I will be. My wife has already laid claim to my current iPad 2, but I hope she doesn’t read this article as it might be harder for me to keep her in my old iPad and not buy here the iPad 3 with all the upgrades!

[Sources: GottaBeMobile, Fix-iPhones, Apple Daily]