Apple Had 3D iPads in Testing, Ditched the Idea

Here’s one piece of news that failed to gain traction recently. It appears that Apple has been fooling around with 3D capabilities on prototype iPad tablets to release a version that offered 3D as a selling point. The company, however, scrapped it because it wasn’t convincing enough.

A rather old report from Business Insider quoting an Apple connect reveals that "The iPad 3 was often called iPad 3D in early prototypes," according to this source.

It worked much like the Nintendo 3DS to achieve the desired effect, the source said, as opposed other solutions which require additional equipment, like special glasses.

Apple quickly ditched the idea, though. This person said it had something to do with marketing: "they didn't want it to be a gimmick," he said.

I agree. If you’re going to use a feature like 3D as a key selling point, it must work flawlessly. And in Apple’s case, the requirement should be to completely revolutionize the 3D experience on mobile devices.