iPad 2 Specs, Speculation and Release Date Rumors
December 26th, 2010
CES and MacWorld are just around the corner, so it’s time for all the rampant speculation to start heating up about what exciting new gadgets are coming out in 2011. Among the rumors, many signs are pointing to the release of a refreshed version of Apple’s iPad (aka the iPad 2), and here’s what I’ve been able to surmise.
After scouring the web for the various rumors about the iPad 2, these are my best guesses of what we’ll see in the iPad 2 when it is announced:
- Front-facing 640×480 camera with FaceTime chat support
- High-res camera on the back (resolution unknown, probably the same 5MP as the iPhone 4)
- Dual-core CPU based on A9 ARM Cortex platform at 1GHz per core (likely to be branded “A5″ by Apple, just to confuse consumers)
- Improved sound, with a larger speaker on the back left corner of the iPad
- Addition of a 3-axis gyroscope to improve gaming and interactivity
- RAM increase from 256MB to 512MB
- Screen size will remain at 9.7-inches – no 7-inch or smaller version plannes
- Possible increase in screen resolution, leveraging “Retina display” tech from iPhone 4 (I have my doubts on the ability to do this on a cost-effective basis yet)
- Slightly reduced body size and a flat back instead of a curved one (time to buy some new cases)
- MicroUSB port to meet European regulations on mobile device chargers
- Announcement likely to come at MacWorld Expo between Jan. 26 and 29th, with the iPad 2 shipping sometime in February or March 2011.
- Pricing likely to remain the same as 1st gen models
Several of the rumors (rear camera, speaker cutout and size change) are reaffirmed by this video of a supposed “Crystal Case for iPad 2nd Generation” in the works in China:
As is always the case with rumors and speculation, there’s a chance I could be completely wrong, but check back here at the end of January, and let’s tally up how many I got right.
It all sounds great to me, but what I really want – and know we won’t get – is an SD card slot, 4G data network, and Flash support.
[sources: MaxConsole, Ubergizmo, iLounge and Device]
Comments (11):
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Categories: Computing Future Tech Gadgets Mobile Tech Technology
There will never be Flash support. And I doubt that there will be any SD Card slot. This would go against the rigorous controlling policies of Apple.
If you look for such features, I would recommend to get the Samsung Galaxy Tab, if you do not mind the smaller screen.
After showing my Tab, in the last two weeks 6 of my friends switched from the iPad to the Galaxy Tab and they are very happy.
I can still dream, can’t I? I just hate how small the screen is on the Galaxy Tab, and I’m still a bigger fan of the iPad’s user interface and integration with my other Apple gadgets.
If you have so many Apple gadgets and also a Mac Computer, iPad is a good choice.
IMHO the screensize of the Tab is not a problem as you get used to it within a couple of days. You also get used to it, that it fits in most of your Pockets (I have a long leather jacket, where it fits perfectly in its inner pocket).
I also love the possibilities on Android, which you do not have on the iPad. For me the iPad and iPhone are too much locked up.
A5 will not confuse consumers. It’s easier to say than “Dual-core CPU based on A9 ARM Cortex platform at 1GHz per core.” Now that would confuse most consumers. My Mom even knows about the A4 that is in her iPad and she isn’t tech savy at all. BTW, Flash works great on the iPad, iPhone and Android devices when you use the Skyfire browser. It’s the only way I’ve seen it work well on any of them, including Android devices. The way it works is that they do all the Flash rendering on the Skyfire servers and then just display the results on the mobile device in HTML5 so as not to deplete the battery and not cause any lag. Now they are all equal as far as Flash is concerned. If Android could only beef up their native email support, VPN access, and task management on the slew of Android-based devices out there, it might be able to compete on Verizon when the iPhone hits next week.
Gah. I’ve had nothing but slow performance with Skyfire, waiting for it to render Flash – never mind the fact that you really can’t deal with complex Flash apps in the browser like games.
Skyfire does not work in all areas. In Austria or Germany you get the message that it is not supported.
Anyway, Android 2.2 has good Flash support (native!) and on the Tab it works really nice.
And what do you mean with “If Android could only beef up their native email support, VPN access, and task management on the slew of Android-based devices out there, it might be able to compete on Verizon when the iPhone hits next week.”? Android has all these functions (just get right App) and the standard programs are good enough for most thing. Also on the iPhone and iPad there is a big flaw with Emailing: the IMAP support has an error where in some occasions it starts to generate same subfolder in himself.
I think the best path for the Ipad would be to hybred it with the mac, what would be so wrong with the ipad having the leopard operating system? Would be great to have a USB port. As it stands the Ipad its a larger itouch/Iphone. Now I love apple, iphone is great. But while tempted to buy an ipad I am not seeing a compelling product just yet. One of the big issues is that no browser on the ipad is compatable with my company webmail…. So I would have to carry a laptop and an ipad?? no, apple please make the ipad more business centric, with an USB port (for presentations) and a browser that will allow me to view every page like explorer does.
I’m sure we all want internet exploder, dumb ass.
What crappy webmail do you guys have? Even Outlook works in Safari.
Call me a Mac guy (since 1985) WITHOUT a BSEE, but I wonder what a dual core will do to battery life? A 10 hour battery is a huge selling point to the iPad. For those of us who were used to Crackberries which had a certain Cinderella addiction to nightly charging, I’m not so sure a lot of iPad buyers would trade the additional core for a 50-60% reduction in unteathered time, nor would they be jumping for joy with another pound in weight for a bigger battery. Once again, battery technologies always seem to be the Achilles Heel.
The Galaxy Tab’s reduced screen size is a crippler, IMHO, at least for me. The current iPad screen size seems to be a “sweet spot.”
More grist for the discussion mill…
http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/12/27/ipad.2.case.comparison.shows.major.design.change/