The rumors had been spreading that the iPad 2 was actually more of an “iPad 1.5” and a new version could hit by this holiday season. Well, according to the hit-or-miss DigiTimes, that’s not the case and we won’t be seeing an Apple iPad 3 in 2011.
The report said:
Sources from touch panel makers pointed out that Apple recently released its latest tablet PC plan and is asking the panel makers to provide products that are capable to support higher image quality than the current iPad 2 and Apple may even choose AMOLED panel or panel that support Full HD standard to accomplish the plan. However, since the project is still at the initial planning stage, the actual products are unlikely to appear in 2011.
There were two big rumors regarding the Apple iPad 3 coming out this year: Apple wanted to bring a Retina Display to its tablet computer and it wanted to permanently move its release date more toward the holiday season. This rumor seems to dispel both of those claims.
In our thorough review, you can see that we really liked the Apple iPad 2. It is faster, thinner, lighter and has a better ecosystem right now than any of its other competitors. Apple believe that 2011 will be the year of the iPad 2 and it’s definitely starting to look that way so far.
The competition isn’t just bending over and taking it though, as the Motorola Xoom is still cool despite some uneven features, the Samsung Galaxy Tab lineup is smartly evolving and the T-Mobile G-Slate looks like a fun device. It’s not just Android, as the BlackBerry PlayBook will hit the streets next week and HP’s TouchPad should be bringing webOS to the tablet space later this year.
So, if you purchased an Apple iPad 2 recently, it looks like you won’t have a case of buyer’s remorse … until next year, that is.
[Via DigiTimes]