14 DAY TRIAL // A report citing analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of Concord Securities claims that the iPad 2 will not, in fact, get a higher-resolution display, but that it will sport dual cameras, a higher clocked dual-core CPU, more RAM and anti-reflective glass.
AppleInsider informs that Kuo has “prepared” a report in which the analyst indicates that Apple will employ the 1024x768 display of the original iPad for the second generation device as well.
"The improvement of iPad 2 display," the report notes, "focuses on thickness and anti-reflection, not resolution. iPad 2 display module is 30~35% thinner than iPad 1 and it’s helpful for better form factor.”
Kuo reportedly said that, "Thanks to anti-reflection, iPad 2 could have better sunlight readable experience and it's helpful for Apple to compete with Amazon's fast growing Kindle business.”
The analyst went on to cite the reasons behind Apple’s decision to stick with the same display resolution - yield rate of panel making.
“At this point, making high resolution and bright IPS/FFS panel is not easy and the production volume and cost couldn’t meet Apple’s requirements," he wrote.
Moving on to the tablet’s internals, Kuo mentioned an [ARM] Cortex-A9 dual core processor running at 1.2GHz, “Increasing 1~2% single core processor clock results in a 3~5% power increase and dual core could get a better balance between computing power and power consumption.”
The iPad 2 will also have a GPU using Imagination’s SGX543 dual core graphics technology, Kuo said. This will make boost graphics capabilities 200~300% beyond what the iPhone 4 can do, he alleged.
Memory-wise, iPad 2 will gain the much-needed 512MB boost of RAM, which also reportedly runs at a higher clock speed - 1,066 MHz.
The device will boast not one, but two cameras. The front facing camera is 0.3 mega-pixel, and the rear facing camera goes up to 1 mega-pixel.
The previously rumored SD card slot is mentioned in Kuo’s report, albeit not confirmed as an addition inside the new tablet.
Instead, Kuo speculates that "There are more and more photo and video editing applications for iPad in App Store [therefore] The SD slot could let users easily transfer photo and video files made by DSC and DV to iPad and edit them.”
Finally, Kuo claims that Apple has given Foxconn the order for assembling both CDMA and GSM models, as well as a WiFi only iPad 2.
Production reportedly began this month with at least 4.5 - 5 million units being ready in 1Q'11.
The analyst said that Apple’s “iPad 2 will likely go to market in late 1Q'11 or early 2Q'11 based on supply chain shipment status."