Taiwan sources expect next iPad to have Retina Display, USB
updated 07:50 am EST, Fri November 26, 2010
EDN expects iPad 2 to have Retina Display and USB
Industry contacts on Friday said they expected the next-generation iPad to revolve around five key changes. The centerpiece would be "new display technology" that would bring a Retina Display-like LCD. It would also supposedly gain a USB port, Taiwan's Economic Daily News was told, although this may be a second Dock Connector if accurate.
Other features were expected but have received more details. The dual cameras and a three-axis gyroscope were already anticipated both through leaks and through their presence in the iPhone 4. A smaller and thinner design may involve special tricks, the newspaper said. The rumors had Taiwan-area firm Tripod tasked with making a smaller circuit board to fit the design, and while the 9.7-inch screen should stay the same, it would reportedly have thinner glass to help reduce the size.
Production is still expected to take place at Foxconn's main Shenzhen plant, but Longhua and potentially the new Chengdu plant would pitch in. Apple wouldn't start ordering parts until early December, however, to keep the details secret closer to the first quarter 2011 release. The "last minute" change may be frustrating, the sources claimed, as companies would have very little time to refine their manufacturing processes before tasked with production. The touch panel supplier may have just two weeks.
The tips corroborate claims of components shipping in December with production to start shortly afterwards. Clues as to the exact release window haven't been given, but production would accelerate in February and may hint at a late winter or early spring appearance.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 2008
Apple has to do its best to stop early "leaks"
or the copycats will latch onto whatever is in the works. That's a pretty sad statement for the industry when all companies should have their own R&D teams with long term plans instead of having to rely on industrial spies to do their planning.