iPad 3 to launch second week of March and other Apple rumors

Rumour, rumour, rumour. We love it. Image: Apple.

As is fast becoming the norm here at Tech Herald Towers, we end the week as we started it… by bringing you yet more unsubstantiated rumor regarding the much talked about successor to Apple’s massively popular iPad 2.

However, while most iPad 3 whispers tend to come from ‘unnamed insider sources’ so easily cited by blog sites, this latest spewing of speculation at least has a tad more weight behind it—mainly because it comes from the Wall Street Journal’s AllThingsD offshoot.

According to the report’s sources, Cupertino-based Apple will officially unveil its next-generation iPad tablet during the first week of March, and the device will hit stores during the month’s second week.

The launch event is expected to take place at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco—a location previously used by Apple to whip the covers off several high-profile gadgets.

The March arrival of the iPad 3 ties in nicely with the (rough) annual product launch/refresh rhythm adopted by Apple. In that sense, it’s worth noting that the original iPad arrived in the U.S. on April 3 of 2010, and the iPad 2 on March 11 of 2011.

Following on from yesterday’s revelation that the iPad 3 will not run on quad-core processing, industry analyst Ezra Gottheil of Technology Business Research has posited that associated power requirements may force Apple to keep its new chip tied to dual-core structuring.

However, on the upside, Gottheil claims the new A6 processor will be markedly more capable than the current A5 chip, and other specification-based improvements should include a Retina display screen and support for Full HD visuals.

Throwing in something of a curveball, the analyst also posited that Apple will eventually roll out a smaller 7.0-inch variant of the iPad—which is a form factor used by many of Apple’s rivals but staunchly opposed by its now-deceased former chief executive Steve Jobs.  

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