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Apple's iPad 3 is approaching release, judging by the increasing frequency of leaked information emerging about it. The latest report suggests a launch event in early March, likely to be followed by retail availability shortly thereafter. Keep up with the history of rumors and speculation on the topic right here, and we'll make sure to keep you updated on any hard details about Apple's next great slate as soon as it becomes available.
28 updates and 4031 comments below.
1:05a
Apple introduced its $99 AppleCare+ protection plan back when the iPhone 4S launched last year, replacing the standard package. It still extends free repair service to two years from the purchase date, but also covers up to two replacements due to accidental damage — though you do have to shell out $49 a time. However, this plan is currently limited to the iPhone, with iPad owners' only option right now being the standard $79 AppleCare package that doesn't cover your butterfingered mishaps....
Mar 06 3:04p
When Tim Cook takes the stage tomorrow in San Francisco, a new iPad apparently won't be the only product announced. As we reported last week, a new Apple TV model is expected to arrive alongside the higher-resolution iPad update. We're told that the forthcoming Apple TV (the product is said to likely carry the same name as its predecessor) will have 1080p capabilities, and will work in conjunction with the iPad and other Apple devices to deliver new video streaming / mirroring functionality...
2:54a
You're interested in the new iPad, right? Of course you are. Why else would you be reading this? Well guess what? The Verge is going to be covering the unveiling of the next version of Apple's hit slate Wednesday, March 7th, 2012, starting at 10:00AM PST. And you're invited.
We'll have up-to-the-minute news, photos, and more from the event in San Francisco, so you can feel like you're actually there even though you're not. Or are you? No, you're not.
All you have to do is tune your browsers...
Mar 03 2:08a
With five days to go before Apple unveils its latest iPad, 9to5 Mac has apparently debunked a rumor that Cupertino's new tablet would come with a $70-80 price increase. The hearsay started when MacRumors reported on unconfirmed price comparisons of the iPad 2 and iPad 3 that showed up on a Chinese microblogging site. However, one of 9to5's sources tipped them off that the prices for the new iPad will remain consistent with first two versions, ranging from $499 for 16GB Wi-Fi to $829 for 64GB...
Mar 02 2:42p
We all know Apple's having a big event next week in which the company is expected to roll out the next-generation iPad, and all the signs point to the device having a 2048 x 1536 resolution. What we're not expecting to see is the next version of Apple's mobile operating system, but Ars Technica has uncovered some evidence that iOS 6 is at least in the testing phases on a next-generation iPad running at an increased resolution. While combing through its server logs, Ars found evidence of 346...
10:30a
It looks like there may be a little more fact behind some of the Apple TV fiction we've been hearing over the past few days. According to sources (as well as Apple Store stock counters), the current Apple TV is becoming increasingly sparse at stores around the country, with most locations reporting no availability at all right now. More tellingly, at all of the stores where the device is out of stock, availability is listed as starting on or after March 7th — the day of Apple's big iPad...
Feb 28 9:33p
It's like clockwork, really. When an updated Apple product looms on the horizon, prices for last year's model begin to plummet. The iPad 3 hasn't even been made official yet, and retailers are already taking some proactive steps to clear out inventory of its predecessor. Case in point: RadioShack. An internal company document provided to Engadget reveals that starting today, all iPad 2 models are seeing discounts between $20 and $50. The retailer's website confirms that the 16GB Wi-Fi...
12:04p
Yes, it's finally, really happened. We just received our invite for Apple's next big event — almost certainly where the announcement of the iPad 3 (or iPad HD, or some other name no one has guessed yet) will take place. The event is being held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco at 10AM PST, on Wednesday, March 7th, and the Verge team will be there covering the news live as it happens. Until then, let your imagination run wild about the next iteration of the world's most...
10:58a
A new quad-core iPad is set to launch at an event next week, according to CNBC's sources. The iPad 3, we're told, will feature LTE connectivity and get its unveiling at an event in New York City next week. This meshes with the things we've heard about the tablet's release schedule so far, and the idea of it including LTE was also recently floated by The Wall Street Journal. Whether it's quad-core or dual-core remains a topic of debate, but whatever the final spec sheet, it's starting to look...
Feb 27 10:11a
As rumors keep swirling about whether Apple's planning a dual- or quad-core chip for its upcoming iPad 3, new reports suggest the company may actually be working on both. As we reported last week, the part number scheme used for Apple's A4 and A5 indicate that an A6 chip would likely have the number S5L8950X, and not the S5L8945X reported to be in the next-generation tablet. Well, 9to5Mac reports that the newest beta build of iOS 5.1 actually includes references to the 50X and 45X, supporting...
Feb 21 1:32a
We've seen some images of the interior of Apple's iPad 3 casing design, and now what appear to be photos of the exterior are making the rounds, courtesy of M.I.C. Gadget. The design doesn't stray too far from iPad 2 territory, but it is noticeably thicker (presumably to accommodate LTE), with a more tapered shape. Although the angle presented in these images makes the difference in thickness seem quite stark, most rumors we've seen suggest the change will only be a matter of a millimeter or...
Feb 17 5:14p
We've been following the tale of Apple's "super high resolution" iPad since before The Verge was born, but now it seems we have our first proof of a real QXGA Retina Display for a 4:3 tablet. MacRumors got hold of a purported iPad 3 screen and put it under the microscope, and sure enough: despite having the same 9.7-inch diagonal screen size as the existing iPad and iPad 2, the new display appears to have four times the pixels. Now, we can't be sure that this screen is really going to be...
Feb 13 10:51p
One of the major question marks about the iPad 3 has apparently just been answered. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the iPad 3 will ship with LTE on board for both Verizon and AT&T, citing its venerable "people familiar with the matter." It's not yet known if Sprint will be able to pick up the iPad 3, although 3G radios on the device are apparently likely as the WSJ says that "When LTE isn't available, the new iPad will default to a slower network technology." The inclusion of 3G...
5:43p
We've been tracking iPad 3 rumors for some time now and they've begun to come to a head. The latest comes from iMore, which cites sources pegging Wednesday, March 7th as the date for Apple's announcement and The Loop agrees that will be the date. The first week of March lines up with earlier rumors, as well.
While parts for the iPad 3 have been trickling out for some time now, the exact specs for the tablet are not yet entirely clear. It seems evident that the iPad 3 will have a 2048 x 1536...
1:29p
With a steady drip of possible iPad 3 components leaking out, iLab has gotten hold of a back casing, 30-pin dock connector and a Sharp panel said to have an QXGA resolution which are all rumored to be a part of Apple's next tablet. The Japanese repair shop showed off the Sharp display last week, saying it had a 2048 x 1536 resolution which would give the new tablet a pixel density of 264ppi — not quite the 330ppi of the iPhone 4's Retina Display, but still a dramatic step up over the iPad...
Feb 09 9:19a
The iPad 3 rumors are starting to fly fast and furious — in the last day, we've seen a variety of alleged case shots leak out and heard that it should launch the first week of March. Now, Cult of Mac has gotten its hands on photos of what they claim are the iPad 3's case design as well as some internal components like the sleep / wake button, mute switch and volume rocker. These images show the iPad 3's case in much more detail than those that leaked out yesterday, but otherwise look...
8:42a
Apple's going to host a launch event for the iPad 3 in the first week of March, according to sources familiar with the company's plans, as reported by All Things D. San Francisco is the location of the event, but there's no date yet for when the upgraded tablet will be available to buy. This information meshes with the intel that we've been receiving about the iPad 3's launch, placing it around the beginning of next month. If Apple keeps to the same cadence as with the iPad 2, you can expect...
Feb 08 5:15p
Today the Apple rumor mill is fixated on a photo doing the rounds which allegedly shows the back housing of the next iPad (the iPad 3, or iPad HD, depending on who you talk to). The image, which surfaced on the Repair Labs Blog, is said to be similar to the previous model's back (that's the iPad 2 on the left, iPad 3 on the right), save for changes which will allow for a larger battery, slightly reconfigured logic board, new cameras, and a different screen. Normally it's hard to tell whether...
Feb 01 4:05p
BGR has obtained a number of images said to be taken of output from iBoot, Apple's iDevice bootloader, running in debug mode on an iPad 3 — and in debug mode, you're able to see some detail on the hardware running underneath. Notably, the processor is identified as model number S5L8945X, which is new — it's apparently a quad-core Apple A6, which is exactly what everyone is expecting: we saw the single-core A4 in 2010 and the dual-core A5 last year, and a variety of tablet and smartphone...
Jan 17 3:32a
Fresh instances that reference "J2" hardware in Apple's latest iOS 5.1 source code have been discovered. iMore published details of its findings alongside additional mentions of a J1 device, both are thought to be codenames for two prototype tablets that Apple is currently testing. A DigiTimes report in November suggested that the J1 and J2 include 2048x1536 displays, and references to the codenames were discovered in the original iOS 5 firmware.
iOS 5.1 beta 3 also includes mentions of...
Jan 13 4:14p
Bloomberg is reporting today that the iPad 3 has gone into production ahead at Foxconn of a planned March debut — manufacturing will apparently be running at full-tilt by February. The new tablet is said to have a quad-core processor, a high-res display, and LTE — all specs we've heard in the past, but Bloomberg says it has three sources confirming the news. Apple's said to be okay with the increased power draw of the LTE chipset because of the iPad's larger battery, and the display is...
Dec 29 1:43a
DigiTimes has come out with an unusually detailed report claiming that Apple will release not one, but two new iPads in January. There will supposedly be a high-end iPad with an 8-megapixel camera, a 1536 x 2048 screen lit by dual-LED light bars, a quad-core A6 processor, and a massive 14,000mAh battery that's nearly twice the capacity of the iPad 2. A mid-range iPad is said to have a 5-megapixel camera while the existing iPad 2 would continue as Apple's low-end option, presumably with a...
Nov 30 4:47p
We're still a ways from the next iPhone and iPad launches, but Nikkei is reporting that Apple is ready to bring LTE to its mobile devices next year. The publication claims Tim Cook met with executives at Japanese carrier NTT Docomo and agreed to launch the next iPad and iPhone on its LTE network, with the iPad launching in the summer and the iPhone following in the fall. This timeframe makes sense for the next iPhone, about a year after the iPhone 4S launch, but a summer iPad launch would...
Nov 24 4:35a
Sources speaking to the Wall Street Journal claim that Sharp is a new supplier of iPad LCD panels. One source claims that the relationship involves Apple investing in some of Sharp's Japanese manufacturing facilities. Specifically, Sharp's Kameyama No. 2 plant in central Japan is tipped to manufacturer LCD panels for Apple's next iPad expected in 2012. Sharp, an existing supplier of iPhone and iPod touch panels, will also be making panels for Apple's next generation iPhone, according to the...
Nov 22 3:22p
9to5mac went digging through Apple's iOS 5 code and discovered a reference to an unreleased device codenamed "J2" grouped alongside other well-known codenames like N92 (CDMA iPhone 4) and K95 (iPad 2). While certainly still unconfirmed, this lends credence to a DigiTimes' report from a few weeks back that indicated Apple was testing two prototype tablets, codenamed J1 and J2, that run 2048 x 1536 displays (sound familiar?). That's four times the resolution of the current iPad, twice for each...
Nov 03 12:43p
Notorious rumor-monger and industry rag DigiTimes has released two reports on Apple's plans for next year, and they're interesting if not particularly reliable. According to DigiTime's sources, Apple is planning a complete refresh of most of its product lines next year — meaning iPad, iMac, iPhone and MacBook Air. The MacBook Air received a new design in late-2010, and we're still hearing rumors about the iPhone 5 and iPad HD next year, so it's possible that at least a few of these will...
Jun 27 11:32a
You've probably been wondering what kind of relationship Apple must have with Samsung. On one hand, the two still have a contract to produce SoCs for its iPhones and iPads. On the other, Apple has filed a strongly-worded lawsuit against the company, claiming it "slavishly [copies] Apple’s innovative technology."
According to both a Merrill Lynch analyst in Taipei and "a plugged-in source" for Ars Technica, Apple and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) are in talks to have the...
May 13 6:14p
You may recall John Gruber of Daring Fireball positing back in early February that the iPad 2 would likely carry over the original iPad's 1024 x 768 resolution, while a possible new high-end model -- an "iPad HD" of sorts -- could take us into retina display territory as early as late 2011. Of course, we now know that the first part of Gruber's report is true: the iPad 2 ended up shipping at 1024 x 768. As for the iPad HD noise... well, thanks to a new Samsung component, it's looking more...
Mar 07 1:36p
New iPad is Apple's first LTE product, coming to Verizon and AT&T
The just-announced new iPad will be offered in an LTE version, marking the first time that Apple has offered a true 4G-enabled product. Of course, LTE support requires carrier partners with LTE networks, and both Verizon and AT&T are predictably on board — both with their own versions of the device (they've got different LTE networks that use different bands). In Canada, Rogers, Bell, and Telus will be offering it as well.
Of course, there'll be 3G fallback for when you need it; LTE is...
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