14 DAY TRIAL // Apple is in talks with LED back-light unit (BLU) vendors who have presented the Cupertino giant with two backlight solutions to choose for its next-generation iPad, sources at Taiwan-based BLU makers said.
Cited in a Digitimes report, these sources said that Apple will equip next-gen iPads with LCD panels that boast resolutions higher than 2048 by 1536 pixels.
Apple will need to modify the current single LED light bar designed for the iPad 2, should it want to strengthen the brightness of the panels, said the sources.
One of the BLU makers suggested to keep a single-bar configuration with two LED chips inside. The other said it’s better to use dual-LED light bars, according to the sources.
It is believed that Apple will adopt the second design. The sources added that BLU vendors have also been able to solve issues related to heat dissipation and battery drain, both experienced in the past when using dual light bar designs.
It is highly uncertain whether Apple is launching an incremental update to the iPad, or a completely redesigned tablet in the coming months.
Going by the company’s annual refresh cycles, the next tablet should arrive sometime around March, yet industry experts have said that it will be an ‘iPad 2S’ (much like the incrementally updated iPhone 4S), not a full-fledged iPad 3 redesign.
Nonetheless, the next Apple tablet should pack a more powerful processor, more memory and perhaps even more storage, a higher-resolution screen (though not necessarily a Retina-level display), and perhaps new connectors as well.
Industry sources have indicated that even if Apple does launch only a minor update to the iPad 2, the tablet’s design will be thinner - a huge selling point for all portable devices, not just Apple’s.