14 DAY TRIAL // People close to Apple have revealed to a technology blog that Apple is now in “crunch mode” as it gears up to demo the next-generation iPad at an event scheduled in the near future.
Specifically, these people said, Apple is now “lining up apps both to demonstrate on-stage and to show off in new advertisements for its third iPad,” according to a TNW report.
Almost everyone agrees that the iPad 3 will focus on graphics. The tablet will not only boast a high-resolution Retina display, but also a powerful graphical processing unit (GPU), reports indicate.
Most voices regarding the A6 chip that will presumably be used in the next-generation iPad said the CPU would be quad-core.
More recently, however, it has been revealed that the processor will, in fact, remain dual core. The big enhancement will be felt at a GPU level, other people with knowledge of the matter have said.
A few hardware leaks this week have done a great job at painting an accurate picture of the tablet’s design which, unsurprisingly, appears to have remained virtually unchanged.
In (potentially) related news, Apple has recently ordered developers to start creating Retina-grade graphics for their applications.
The move would suggest that the Cupertino giant is preparing to discontinue devices like the iPhone 3GS, the third-generation iPod touch, and the ones that came before them. However, the end-goal appears to be having all iOS apps on graphics parity when the Retina iPad comes out.
The only Apple devices that feature a Retina display today are the iPhone 4, the fourth-generation iPod touch, and the iPhone 4S.
Reports also say that Apple will ship a more powerful camera with the new tablet. The one found on the current iPad is 1.3 megapixels. Some analysts believe a higher-resolution image sensor doesn’t make sense for a device like the iPad which very few people use to shoot photos and / or video.