iPad 2 announcement rumored for March 2

[mammador]

I don't even see the point of an iPad 2. The Galaxy Tab at present is the only true competition, along with the Xoom and the Playbook (weird name, sounds like a kindergarten kid's toy lol). If I were Jobs, I would wait and see how seriously Xoom and the Playbook or even a Galaxy Tab 2 eat into my market share, before releasing a second iPad.

Having said that though, an iPad 2 with 4G telephony would be cool. For all we know, it could be included when announced.

 

[theeedude]

My prediction is it's going to have a dual core chip. iPhone has been spec competitive with the Android devices out there at a similar time. I simply don't see Apple leaving an opening like this for Android tablets to claim technical superiority on. Also, they have a fully staffed chip design team that had to have been doing something for a year. If they really got nothing aside from a minor speed bump to show after a year, that would put them behind the curve.

 

[TheStu]

My prediction is it's going to have a dual core chip. iPhone has been spec competitive with the Android devices out there at a similar time. I simply don't see Apple leaving an opening like this for Android tablets to claim technical superiority on. Also, they have a fully staffed chip design team that had to have been doing something for a year. If they really got nothing aside from a minor speed bump to show after a year, that would put them behind the curve.

I am just not sure what the point of a dual core chip woud be, unless they revamped the multi-tasking significantly to be more like WebOS and the PlayBook, where things are actually running the whole time.

 

[zerocool84]

The Apple rumors game can be a volatile thing. Just as we'd heard about last minute alterations to the Apple TV before it hit the market, we've gotten word from sources that the iPad 2 slated to be announced next Wednesday will be sans a few of the features we'd previously reported. Notably, that SD card slot and higher resolution display won't make it into the new model (the latter we'd been hearing rumblings about for a little while). What's the cause of the switch? Well our sources weren't crystal clear on the exact reasons, but the gist of what was explained to us centered around vague "engineering issues" which may have forced some changes at the eleventh hour. It's worth noting once again that these sources have been dead right on specific Apple plans and specifications for unannounced products in the past, and we have no reason to believe these changes are due to anything more than legitimate engineering decisions made close to launch.

So what will we see on March 2nd? We're hearing it's most likely a thinner, spec-bumped variation of the original iPad with a screen size and resolution identical to the current model. More RAM (512MB) and a more powerful CPU (the A5) are expected as well. It's also a pretty safe bet the tablet will be sporting at least one camera up front -- though if some of those case mockups we've seen tell us anything, expect a shooter around back too. It's also almost guaranteed that we'll see the next version of iOS (number 5 in all likelihood, along with its SDK for devs), and an expansion of Apple's cloud services (that part is a little... foggy right now). Of course, that will perfectly set up Apple's announcement of the iPhone 5 in June, which is when iPad owners can likely expect to be using the new software. Regardless, we'll have the goods come next week, so stay tuned!

I really hope they announce a decent notification system. iOS's notifications downright suck and they got the WebOS guy a while ago so they're about due for it by now. Plus some wireless syncing would be good.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/24/sources-ipad-2-lands-in-thinner-body-with-spec-bump-and-cameras/

 

[Pliablemoose]

Yep. looks like a bit of an upgrade, the FFC will be nice, as well as the slimmer form factor.

The hybrid CDMA.GSM radio chip is likely a given as well.

Rumors about higher screen resolutions for version 3 (and a mid cycle update) are out there too.

 

[pm]

I really hope they announce a decent notification system. iOS's notifications downright suck and they got the WebOS guy a while ago so they're about due for it by now. Plus some wireless syncing would be good.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/24/sources-ipad-2-lands-in-thinner-body-with-spec-bump-and-cameras/

I agree. The iOS notification system looks antiquated compared to Android. It would be very nice if they improved it.

 

[amdhunter]

Damn. If the rumors are true and there is no resolution bump, I see no reason to upgrade. I don't care for a camera or SD slot, and I prefer the boxy shape over the mockups I've seen on Engadget.

I was already disappointed in the MacBook 13" today.

 

[kaerflog]

Damn. If the rumors are true and there is no resolution bump, I see no reason to upgrade. I don't care for a camera or SD slot, and I prefer the boxy shape over the mockups I've seen on Engadget.

I was already disappointed in the MacBook 13" today.

Me too.
I liked the older boxy shape instead of the edge like shape.
I thought the iPad was going to "wow" me into buying one even though I have no reason to.
I have a MBA 11" and its a much better device for me right now.

 

[SolidSnake42]

Nevermind...

 

[mnewsham]

I'm curious, am I the only one who doesn't really care that much about tablets?

I really enjoy'd Anand's article on the Motorola Xoom, the new android 3.0 UI is just really appealing to me, about a month ago I was in the same boat as you, i was not interested in tablets, at all really. I am fine with my DroidX then i saw the Xoom, to me anyway the Xoom seems like a larger more elegant DroidX and a wifi version would be perfect for home use for me. I never really "got" the Ipad it seemed more like a toy then a useful device for me. (I like the look and feel but in my short time using it i couldnt think of something i would use it for on a daily basis) With the Xoom i can see myself waking up picking up the Xoom off the bedside table and check the news/weather as I get ready and then reading news while eating breakfast and with the new UI of android 3.0 it looks like i could do that with home screen widgets. With that being said i think i will wait until the Ipad 2 comes out play with it for a while and compare my experiences with both. But i feel it may be the time for me to buy a tablet.

 

[SolidSnake42]

Honestly, I'd rather just have a great smartphone. More than likely I'll go with something HTC and with Verizon and to be honest, I don't want technically two smart phones to lug around and also have to pay separate data plans for each of them.

 

[mnewsham]

Honestly, I'd rather just have a great smartphone. More than likely I'll go with something HTC and with Verizon and to be honest, I don't want technically two smart phones to lug around and also have to pay separate data plans for each of them.

That's why whatever tablet I get will be wifi only, I don't need another data plan, my phone will be for out and about, tablet is home use only (for me)

 

[SolidSnake42]

That's why whatever tablet I get will be wifi only, I don't need another data plan, my phone will be for out and about, tablet is home use only (for me)

And honestly, I can't find a reason why I would constantly carry around something like that. I understand when a laptop is to be used, especially when visiting a friend, watch movies, play games maybe with them online, and also general work. I've had my laptop for 5.5 years and I barely even need to use that. I'm going back up to college to see some friends and for a BYOC up there, I won't need a tablet, I'll have my desktop. But yeah...

 

[hanoverphist]

ihave a good friend that is going to replace his laptop with an ipad. he borrowed another friends ipad for a month and found that he enjoyed it more than his laptop, and also that he rarely did much more than surf the web, play games and listen to music on his laptop anyway. there are different levels of computer users, he is definitely the target for tablets. i am not. i do have fun playing the games on it, but i dont think i could give up my lappy.

 

[Kaido]

I agree. The iOS notification system looks antiquated compared to Android. It would be very nice if they improved it.

No joke...there are like 5,000 alternatives for notifications in Cydia that are all 1000x better.

 

[preslove]

As someone who has held off buying an iPad 1 for this event, I really hope they don't pull another trick like they did with the Intel Mac Mini where the price on the base model moves up $100 to $599. That will leave the iPad 1 at its current price in secondary markets, which means I waited for nothing.

Unfortunately there isn't a lot of lower priced competition for the iPad yet, so there is no market pressure for Apple to deliver EVEN MORE for the $499 price point...

While they don't have competition yet, they will soon. I think Apple has priced the iPad like they have so they can completely own the tablet market and establish themselves as the dominant player. I think Jobs remembered losing the PC market to Windows & Gates, and doesn't want to repeat that again with Google or (less likely) HP. For this reason, I think $499 will be the base price for a while.

 

[Ichinisan]

I might get an iPad to develop iOS apps. I'm actually waiting for the price to go down first.

$500 is laptop-price...with somewhat less functionality. Either the price will go down, or inflation will eventually make $500 reasonable to folks like me.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I might get an iPad to develop iOS apps. I'm actually waiting for the price to go down first.

$500 is laptop-price...with somewhat less functionality. Either the price will go down, or inflation will eventually make $500 reasonable to folks like me.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/FB...co=MjAzMTE2MjQ

 

[alkemyst]

Yea, expect the iPad 3 (which may or may not come out in Sept) to be the true successor. Double Res screen will require more RAM (I am with Zerocool, the iPad 2 will probably be upped to 512MB or 1GB), a faster/dual core CPU and a better GPU to work right.

QXGA is going to be uber.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

No joke...there are like 5,000 alternatives for notifications in Cydia that are all 1000x better.

Really. I did not know you could use Cydia to improve the notification system. Wow, this is huge.

But they really do need to improve this POS notification thing. However, it's not as bad as it may seem. It's really an issue if you're doing stuff, and can be a real PITA. However, I do applaud Apple for really using the push notification system well. Android's push notification is as fail as Apple's notification badge. Gosh, why can't we combine the two systems.