Although Steve Jobs and Apple are keeping it quiet about what’s to come, everybody kind of knows that a new entry in the company’s line of slates is in store. Probably it will happen in April- March of 2012, as Apple accustomed fans with a strict time line when it comes to releases. The first rumors about the next slate are circulating for a while- one even claims that the slate might be called iPad 2 Plus or iPad 2 HD and that the major change will be the fact it will come with a high res, retina display.
That’s also what the latest rumor claims, but for once we have more than words to offer you. A couple of mockups with the future iPad are now online. The so called prototype, designed by Guilherme Schasiepen, display an even slimmer iPad than the current slate. The iPad 2 is 0.34 inches thick, while the iPad 3 will lose some dress sizes and settles for 0.29 inches.
Also, the back of the slate will not be made from metal anymore, but from glass. Actually, I think, after looking at these pics, that it’s going to be a glass coating, while underneath you still get some sort of ultra light metal alloy. Of course, the curved design remains, but it doesn’t seem to be any major change in this department- it looks pretty much like the previous version.
Mockup and details with the iPad 3
The would be iPad builder also placed a 5 MP LED camera on the back, namely in the right back corner, which he thinks will be able to capture full HD, 1080p content. In front, there’s a less pretentious web cam to use with FaceTime. Stereo speakers will be positioned on the bottom of the device- one speaker on each side of the Home button, from the looks of it. Also, new antennas for WiFi and 3G/4G are also positioned on the bottom, a little further towards the edges than the speakers.
Of course, everybody expects a new, mind blowing resolution for the future iPad, which is said to be 4 times bigger than the current 1024×768. What doesn’t seem to change is the 4:3 aspect ratio, but this has something to do with the way iOS looks and its layout. Also, no word about hardware, but we can expect the future iPad to have superior video capabilities, considering the top notch resolution everyone expects.
Basically, this mockups don’t quite lift the smoke screen. We always expect from Apple to come with a slimmer device and improved hardware and these pics seem to suggest just that. Hopefully, Apple will come with some of their own input about their future slate before the summer ends. Check this link for a nice rendering with Guilherme’s mockup.
