14 DAY TRIAL // Technology industry experts are expecting Apple to launch a third-generation iPad that is even thinner than the current iPad 2, thanks to a new breed of ultra-thin batteries that Cupertino has reportedly set its eyes on.
Taiwan’s Economic News has learned that Simplo Technology Co. and Dynapack International Technology Corp. - both Apple contract suppliers of iPad and Macbook batteries - will post large profits in the near future thanks to their thinner, lighter battery modules slated to go in Apple’s iPad 3.
The hardware is widely believed to be priced 20-30% higher than the iPad 2 battery pack.
Scheduled to go into mass production in the first quarter of next year, the iPad 3 battery pack is said to be not only thinner and lighter, but that it will have a longer service life than the one currently found in the iPad 2.
Institutional investors also said the new battery pack will be required to meet CTIA IEEE 1625 standard for better quality and safety reliability.
This would ensure the iPad 3 will not be banned by companies like AT&T who carry the 3G-capable versions of the tablets.
iPad 3 is probably a long way from entering mass production, despite speculation that Apple would wish to speed up the refresh cycle of the tablet just to rub it in competition’s face.
The most likely scenario is Apple launching the next-generation of iPads in spring 2012, when a full year will have passed since the launch of the A5-powered iPad 2, and two years since the original post-PC Apple device debuted with much fanfare.
Setting the bar for what is possible in a 0.34 inch (8.8 mm) thick enclosure, the iPad 2 is commanding the tablet market by a margin, something its even thinner successor will surely be able to perpetuate.